"Welcome to Kevin Michael's HomePage" KevinMichael's Profile
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- Travel Pages (73)
- Photos (1,086)
- Videos (3)
- Badges (6)
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If I could live a few thousand years without the whole aging process, then I'd live in hundreds of cultures and learn thousands of other languages. Alas, my greatest limitation is not money but time. Money I can make. Time is ever fleeting.
I'm not content with mediocrity. Doing is everything, or it is at least how I look at what needs to be done, what I should do, and what I wish to do. Life seems to have more meaning by being an active participant than just watching it all go by. Therefore, I make it a point to stick to my goals.
Starting from desire, life is richer for not simply imagining doing things but actually doing them.
I've met people back home in California who think that I'm living the kind of life they'd like to live and they wish that they could do the same. The thing is, that they could do the same. Of course, I spend a good portion of my year working, but then during my vacations I take off & go to somewhere other.
I don't think, "Ok. I want to do it." I think, "Ok. I'm doing it!"
It's really a life style choice. You either go through life doing the things you'd like to do or you go through life being a wannabe. Imagine when you get too old to do the things your dreams are made of. What a waste to go through life just wishing to be or wanting to go somewhere else and missing opportunities because of indecision or lack of motivation.
Hopefully, those of you who need it will find inspiration. And for my fellow doers in life, you probably need no encouragement from me. I am further inspired by the adventures of other VT travellers and how they've shown the world... that life is about doing.
My wife and I were married on February 14, 2004 at 2:00 in Niigata City. She is the greatest treasure of my life and I have never been happier. Our marriage is the most defining chapter of my life so far. Our plans are to travel together to many places as our future unfolds.
I`ve been living in Japan for more than 15 years now. Life here is not really so different than life in the United States. We have a smaller place than my family back home but, I also think we have a lot more serenity. Other than the loud noises that occasionally come from some governmental wannabe (broadcasting loudly from a car or truck at 2000 decibels as they go by) Japan for us is relatively quiet and relaxing. It's life in the slow lane.
Goals accomplished:
-High School wrestling & Black Belt in Judo
-Read & Write Hiragana & Katakana (I know... it's not such a big deal)
-Illustrated over 30 children's books
-Play the acoustic guitar, the piano, & the flute
-Developed, illustrated, and created hundreds of teaching materials
-Married the most wonderful woman on Earth
Continual goals:
-Been running a Japanese company for over 15 years
-Body building
-Salsa dancing
-Travelling with my wife
-Japanese & Kanji (little by little)
-play baseball, mountain bike, & hiking
Future goals:
-buy a home
-travel to Ireland again
-travel to Greece
-travel to California more
-travel to Hawaii again & again
From top to bottom left to right:
Ryouka & Yuujin (our Japanese Niece & Nephew) in Niigata, Japan in front of our school Christmas tree (my honey's brother's kids).
Ryan & Eric (our American Nephews) in Beijing, China (my sister's kids) in a 2-kid bicycle pulled stroller.
Casady & Kaitlin (our American Nieces) in Tracy, California (my brother Shane's kids) outside waiting to ride with Santa.
Uncle Matt (my brother-in-law) and my brother Pat's kid's identical twins Catherine (Kitty) and Elizabeth.
Sophie, Miles (the oldest), Brendan, Liea, my brother Pat's other kids.
Sophie and Liea are fraternal twins. So, in total my brother Pat has 6 kids.
We have 2 more coming I've heard.
We like to really bring the Christmas experience to our students here in Japan so we put in a lot of work to make it happen. The kids love it and have a great time. Santa joins us every year.
Explore the World
KevinMichael
“Respect and care for the Earth & make a lesser impact.”
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- Member Rank:
- 0 1 7 0 2
- Real Name
- Kevin O`Neill
- Location
- Niigata, Japan
- Member Since
- Oct 4, 2001
- Website
- niigataenglishschool...o.com
- 374 Reviews
- Add Friend
- 1,086 Photos
- Send Message
Badges & Stats
- 374 Reviews
- 1,086 Photos
- 125,193PageViews
- 8 Countries
- 45 Cities
- See All Stats
- See All Badges (6)
Latest Activity
- created a Vancouver Travel Page "Vancouver"
- Uploaded a Photo to "Vancouver"
- Uploaded a Video to Niigata
- Wrote a Review Irish Pub with Great Food & Beer in Beijing Restaurants
- Commented on Pavlik_NL's Profile Page
-
updated their Profile Page "Welcome to Kevin Michael's HomePage"
- Replied to tranceperent's Miscellaneous Forum Forum Question "Interesting home remedies !"
- Posted in Help & Technical Forum "Posting new sites and uploading"
Photos
See All Photos (1086)Top 10 Pages
-
Top 5 Page for this destination
Niigata
Intro, 87 reviews, 209 photos, 4 travelogues
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Nagasaki
Intro, 26 reviews, 96 photos
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Top 5 Page for this destination
Mount Shasta
Intro, 17 reviews, 52 photos
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San Francisco
Intro, 19 reviews, 44 photos, 1 travelogue
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Top 5 Page for this destination
Ise
Intro, 13 reviews, 45 photos, 1 travelogue
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Beijing
Intro, 15 reviews, 41 photos
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Fraser Island
Intro, 17 reviews, 38 photos
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Japan
Intro, 13 reviews, 35 photos, 1 travelogue
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Hiroshima
Intro, 10 reviews, 38 photos
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Tokyo
Intro, 16 reviews, 31 photos
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Work Abroad
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Comments (43)
Happy birthday, Kevin!
A warm happy birthday greeting from Malaysia.
You have a very good motto that I would like to share.
Hi Kevin! Thanks for your comment. Although it was not stated that Bridalveil falls was the highest, I have changed the text a bit so that further misreading will be minimized. By the way: you have a wonderful homepage here! Smile from the Netherlands, Paul
Happy Birthday! Nice Japan pages!
I have gone through ur pages....a person who is highly self motivated..your goals will take you anywhere. i would suggest youngsters to follow you...
I recall being somewhat deafened on the streets of Tokyo by an electioneering vehicle (or should you say loudspeaker with wheels?). My trip there was a short one, so I plan to go back
I'm a new member and I've been reading up on Japan and China. I'm going to be an exchange student in China for 1 year and when I graduate I intend to go live in Japan someday. Your comments on this page have inspired me so much to do it!!
Beautiful page! I'll be in Japan soon, and hopefully Niigata again!
Hi!! Thanks for your comment!! I didn't think on it before, and it's really a good option!! I'll try to contact them. Thanks again!
Yes, indeed... THE Drury Lane. I moved to the UK 4 years ago to be with my sweetie. Before that, I was in NY for a very long time as I'm old. :-) Life here is different but good - always pluses and minuses to everything, as you know.
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