Japan - Hector Quintanilla

kobe marathon 2022 - sub 2:50

2/22/2023

Starting a running career or rather than calling it a career I would call a way of life, can bring many positive changes to your life. For me, it was a catalyst for quitting smoking and drinking. Additionally, running has also helped me to sleep better. In this blog post, I will share my personal experience of how my almost four-year running career has had a positive impact on my life.

Before I started running, I was a smoker and used to drink quite frequently. I would go out with friend on weekends and smoke about two packs of cigarettes and drink about 10 cocktalils, sleep at around 2am... It what just a bad way of living. I decided to stop smoking just because, there was no particular reason or objective. I just felt I've had enough. So, I tried to quit smoking and drinking several times, but I found it challenging to stick to my goals. However, when I started running, I found that I had a new focus in life. Running gave me a sense of purpose, and perhaps a sense of achievement.

As I started to take my running more seriously, I realized that smoking and drinking were holding me back. I could not perform to the best of my ability with a smoking habit, and drinking made me feel sluggish and unmotivated. It was at this point that I realized that I wasn't addicted to these two but I was connected to them in a deeper way.

Quitting smoking was not easy, it tooks me about 2 year to finally be able no to think about it. But running helped me through the process. Running gave me a new addiction, a healthier one I want to believe and it helped me to deal with the cravings that came with quitting smoking and drinking. I found that running gave me a sense of accomplishment and helped me deal with stress and anxiety.

2021,light at the end of the tunnel

12/28/2021

It is incredible how much life can change when you make the decision to work on yourself. I’ve always been trying to become what I thought people needed me to be, wanted me to become and for some reason I was able to achieve so much with this way of living. I would push myself to accomplish things I wouldn’t even want but that help me get to where I currently am.

My life in Japan has been amazing. I have heard many stories of people living abroad and saying that it is really hard for them, how often times they feel homesick and wish to go back home. Perhaps it is because they don’t speak the language or maybe they just don’t like living in Japan. However, for me I have been able to be open about my feelings and discover the things that I love as well as accepting that it is okay to feel the way I do.
There is a T.V show called “How I met your mother” where the main character is constantly looking for her “one” and only partner in life. He often falls in love quite quickly, idolizes his partners and ends up breaking with up soon enough. Well, that is something similar to what happened to me. I would immediately project all the things I wanted onto them and had a very high expectation of what I wanted.

Not only with romantic partners but with friends as well making my life very difficult to handle. I constantly cancel plans or lie that I have plans with people because honestly I have no interest whatsoever in hanging with people who bring me no joy.

Over 100 miles!

6/28/2020

When I started running I was so afraid of going out for a run over six miles. I still remember the first time I ran a 10K. I was living very close to Osaka Castle located in Morinomiya, Osaka. It was a cloudy day looking like it was about to rain. I was thinking on running only two miles, go back home and cook dinner. In the middle of the run it starts raining; it was the first time I experienced running in the rain. I felt a sensation I've never had before: a feeling of excitement, a feeling of being alive; maybe it was the first time I experienced the so-called "runners high".

When I looked at my watch I was incredibly surprised... it was the first time I ran a 10K. I wanted to keep on going but I knew too much too soon is just a bad idea. That was the first time I ran a 10K.

Just two years ago I used to smoke over 10 cigarettes and drink two beers a day. I am currently running five to six times a week with an average of seven miles per run. I have never felt so alive, so energetic, so healthy. Last month it was the first month I ran over a 100 miles (205km).

I chose this picture because this is the embodiment of how I currently feel. During a pandemic that doesn't look like is going away anytime soon I have been able to find happiness in the things I can control. I love where I am in life and only looking forward to what the future holds.

I will focus on the things I can control and that is my mind. I can control what I accept into my body and mind. It is within me to be successful and to be successful there is nothing better than surrounding myself with like-minded people.

Thank you for joining me through this change and self-worth journey.

running community

6/28/2020

This year has been one hell of a ride starting with a new half-marathon PB, reaching 1,000 followers on Instagram followed by finishing my first ever marathon after quitting smoking.

Running has become the most rewarding activity in my life helping me overcome my fears, my doubts, my concerns etc. If I don't get something I wanted that is okay because there are many others things out there for me to grab. A wish is something that lasts for a while, a dream is something you don't forget until you get it.

When I stopped smoking, the beginning was hard and I thought I was not going to be able to do it. Nonetheless, six months in I knew I was done with it. After getting used to running, I was having a hard time understanding my body. I had no idea how my body reacted to several activities or situations.

Getting to know people, getting to spend time listening and sharing stories, getting power and motivation from others who also want to get better is beautiful and priceless. It is true that you are defined by the people around you. It is difficult to see how toxic a person or environment can be until someone challenges you or you realize that you are overreacting to a situation that doesn't require your energy or effort.

My running community continues to expand and I can only say thank you to all of you who continue supporting me and pushing me to be a better instructor, leader, and guide to all.

2017 and 2018...what happened? Part one

1/13/2019

Its been two years since my last post. Many things have happened, many changes have occurred: some sad, some bad, some good, some great, some awful etc. But here I want to share a little bit of the latest changes, some achievements and of course some of the failures I have experienced for the past two years.

One thing I can say for sure is that I am about 70% pleased as to where my life is at and as to where I think I am headed. The other 30% is trying to think about what should I do next meaning: should I stay where I am? Or should I try something new? We all go through hardships in life, we all are fighting demons day and night trying to be the very best we can, but it doesn’t matter how hard we try we still fall out short to our own expectations.

I tried many times thinking about coming up with the best way to start writing these past two years in a blog I left for dead. And as they say we can start from the beginning. 2017 was one of my favorite years in teaching, had a great partner new, yet ready to tackle every challenge. The other class members were amazing and little did I know, that other teacher would become my best friend in Osaka. If it wasn’t for him I might be somewhere else in Japan.

In December 2015 I decided to embark myself in one of the most difficult trips of my life: quit smoking. I was able to hold for three months and then gave in once, then quit again and slipped again over and over that year. But I was able to not smoke for several months consequetively (a big major win!). 2017 came by and “tried” to smoke a single cigarette a day (idiotic) couldn’t control it and ended up going back to being a smoker... at least until June.

Osaka, After a year

11/12/2016

my life in Osaka

So there's definitely much to say about what has been going on with my life this past year. To be honest, many many changes. The most important being (I think) stop smoking. Well, I have been trying for around 11 months and I have slipped several times but I'm proud to say that within these 11 months, if I put all the days I slipped I smoked around 30 days. In my book that's a pretty good deal.

I never thought it was going to be this difficult. But, I learned something quite interesting about myself and how I used to deal with certain problems.

2016 has been a year with so many ups and downs.
Ups

Trying to stop smoking (December 2015)
Started running (best so far, 10k in 50 min)
Started painting again (characters and graffiti)
Got rid of two debts! (some others still to go, but what a feeling!)
Started my own Spanish blog (www.masparami.com)
Started cooking proper meals
Made profit from my blog
Bought my beautiful set of copic and le plume markers
Still in love with my job

Downs

Horrendous dating life (>.<')
Continued lack of self-esteem and confidence
Constant mood swings

In the end, I'm pretty anyone who's reading this might think, you're ups are by far way better than your downs. Someone other might even say that those downs have no co-relation with my ups. My ups clearly show an attempt to make my life better. From those horrendous dates I had I did learn some valuable stuff. Thanks to one I started my "unsmoking" life and thanks to the other selfish prick I regain my love for painting. So, of course the ups surpass the downs in every way. But, why do I still feel empty? Why do I still feel in need of attention and validation? Well, again thanks to those dates I learned that I want everything to be perfect and such thing doesn't exist and even though I know this I still pursue it.

I decided to be my own man. At 29 I decided to start looking for myself and stop trying to please everyone. I only need to please one person and one person only, myself. I need to impress myself, I need to love myself and accept and be proud of my own skills.

For example being proud of my drawings:

Pikachu graffiti

Pikachu

Hola graffiti

Hola :)

Oh well, all I can say is that I'm definitely proud of what I have achieved this year. I want to say I'm happy with my current life style but I can't. I definitely need to start doing more of something. I don't even know what, but I'm certain about something. Is that from this moment on I will start focusing my energy and thoughts onto what I like. It might sound a bit selfish and childish, especially being 29 and all but I need to start somewhere. I have been doing everything feeling less, feeling that I'm not worth it, feeling that I owe everyone an apology, feeling targeted etc. Time to start seeing and doing thins differently!

Thank you!!!

New life: osaka, japan

7/25/2015

First impression:

I've heard so many things about Osaka people being different from Tokyo people. So far the biggest difference I've seen is that the city of Osaka is way dirtier than Tokyo. In terms of people, Osaka people tend not to follow rules such as speaking on the phone while on the train, cutting in line when the train approaches and if you bump into someone else I haven't heard that many "Sumimasen or gomen nasai". But, then again, everyone has a different story to tell.

I've been here for two weeks and this is what I feel; Osaka is dirty, rude, straight-forward whereas Tokyo is clean and fake. I say fake because they'll never tell you how they feel about something. They'll just take it in and move on with their lives whereas Osaka people or Kansai people will definitely let you know how the feel about something in particular.

Nonetheless, I'm enjoying it down here and hope to stay here for a while.

work

My new job comes with lots of new challenges: classroom management, lesson planing including but not limited to Social studies, Math, Science and English. Last Thursday I had the chance to cover for a K-1 class and I have to say, even though I was nervous, I had a great time being with the children. They also seemed to have a good time. We spoke about Spain and different countries. We also made the classroom flag (Go Penguins!)

So far I'm super excited with what this company has to offer. It's overwhelmingly high the teachers with an educational background. My previous job: I believe I was the only one with a background in Education.

I feel like a complete beginner but that's good as I'm getting motivated day by day. This coming week is "Mad about Science". I've already have some ideas for what to do the entire week.

Thank you Osaka and thank you new company!

Time to say goodbye

7/13/2015

It is incredible how fast time goes by. Looking back to when I first started I never thought I would achieve this feeling of success in such a short time. From all the jobs I've ever had, even owning a company, nothing ever made me feel so good about myself: changing lives, teaching, seeing children grow, creating a positive atmosphere where everyone is happy to come and have a good time with you. I never felt so loved in my life, never felt so accepted or wanted. Sadly, my objectives in education are not what the company is aiming for and thus, I needed to start looking for new opportunities where those objectives can be met.

The last couple of months were difficult. I experienced all sorts of emotions, love, disappointment, anger at my peers, invaluable, belittled etc. I didn't see much support from the company that it got me thinking, is this the place I want to build a career in? It is an "educational" institution. However, their objectives are far from what a true educational institution should be about. It should be about increasing the curricular level and most importantly, taking care of your students. There's no limit to them, and push you to do things they haven't even done before (for a single teacher school) but there's a limit to one's effort, energy, and motivation.However, despite everything that happened, I am still forever grateful for making me realize I'm on the right path: education.

Out of the blue, I got contacted by someone who's connected in the educational world and asked me to have a phone call. We ended up talking for over 3 hours and recommended me to some international schools in Japan. I gladly accepted the offer and was interviewed by one of the top international schools in Japan, located in the Kansai region. They asked me to do a presentation in front of children and choose a topic related to their age: I chose living things. I got wonderful feedback; they offered my a position on the spot...

Now here I am, telling everyone I am leaving: It's heartbreaking and extremely sad to say goodbye to students you've nurtured, "raised", and helped throughout this last year and a half. But, it's time to say goodbye and look for a brighter future. A future that will bring me a sense of achievement in the educational world; a place that will reward me not for my 入会's but for my strong desire to build a better curriculum. A place that will push me further into what I want to build in life: my own school.

Thank you so much Tokyo. I will always treasure my time here!

鎌倉大仏！Kamakura, The great buddha!

8/25/2014

高徳院大仏ーthe great buddha of kamakura

Kanagawa's small city Kamakura is sometimes called the Kyoto of Eastern Japan. This is due to it's numerous temples, shrines, and resemblance to the city located in the Kansai region, Kyoto. That's why, I decided to give it a try.

I went to visit The Great Buddha of Kamakura, a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Buddha located at the Kotoku-in Temple. The funny thing about it is that you can actually get inside for 20 yen (20 cents), the interesting part is -- there's nothing inside...

ピカチュ大量発生チュウ！Pikachu's week!

8/18/2014

Pikachu's week in Minato Mirai Yokohama!

ピカチュウ大量発生, which means "An outbreak of Pikachus", ran from 9 to 17 August in Japan's second-largest city,Yokohama. It hosted a week-long festival dedicated to the one and only most popular cartoon and video game franchise, Pikachu,

You could see Pikachus everywhere in the area, including the Nippon Maru where a large Pikachu can be seen on its bow. However, I find Pikachu's entrance a bit disturbing .

I am a huge fan of this little buddy that it really surprised me how Yokohama had a Pikachu outbreak. A large Pikachu balloon, Pikachu's march, Pikachu bus, Pikachu bus driver etc.

This event made me feel like I was 12 again, playing Pokemon red version on my big gray game boy (not even GB Color). Ah, the good old days.

Here's a small video of the Pikachu march:

Thanks and stay tuned for the next post!

Author

Self-motivated individual with a high passion for motivating and encouraging people to take risks. Having started my journey in Japan in 2014 I have encountered many downfalls that have contributed to my current success both in my private and professional life.

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