Turning Japanese

It is very likely that I will be taking my JLPT this year. Probably in KL, there are very strong rumours that a band I follow will be playing the day before the exam. Even without these rumours, I will probably still go to KL. I have friends there. It'll be nice to hang out.

I need a break anyway.

I've just updated my Japanese blog. I do it once a week. I promised my Japanese teacher that I will present her a journal entry every class so that's why I do it. It's ok but it's still very hard for me to do. Thinking in Japanese is still kinda hard. I really do want to become fluent so I really hope this will work.

There is no other way for me to practise in a real life situation. I need more opportunities to use Japanese, preferably in a real situation. Class is ok but it's only 90 minutes a week. Hardly enough.

I wish there were more hours in the day. Look at the time now. I have to work tomorrow.

Speaking of work, big event next week. I will be working on Sunday. Not really looking forward to it but the extra money will come in handy.

Overall, this year's been pretty good so far. I really hope it will end well, now that the final quarter has started.

Some time ago, I consciously decided to further reduce the potential for drama in my daily life. It's been working. It's unfortunate but there are certain types of people who are best avoided.  Not to be antisocial or anything but some people are best kept at arms' length. Troublesome people are only worth the trouble when they mean something.

I suddenly wish I was this clinical years ago. Could've saved myself (and my friends) a lot of headache.

Gosh, look at the time!

Oyasumi!

A Challenge

It's still quite hard.

I just updated my Japanese blog. I still find it hard to blog and think in Japanese. I know quite a lot of grammar, my vocab has gotten better but still...

I suppose there really is no other way to learn a language besides constant repetition and practice.

Learning a language, this is something that most of us never really think about and probably take for granted, having learnt all the languages we know from childhood through the natural ways.

When you're an adult, it's quite different. This I now know.

Months ago, I stated on my FB wall that my attitudes towards people with poor English have softened. It really has. If you don't learn it from childhood and in school it really can be a major challenge, especially if you have no environment to immerse yourself into.

Immersion. I wish there were more Japanese people around here for me to talk to. Without this, it will take sheer brute force to improve.

I took up Japanese to challenge myself and to figure out if Ole Rusty here in my head is still functioning. It still works, that much I know at the moment.

But I admit, I never realized the magnitude of the actual challenge. To be fair I set the bar pretty high but still, a bigger challenge than I could imagine.

And I haven't even talked about studying kanji yet! I do want to though, really I do. I know some already and it has opened up a whole new world, mentally speaking.

It's a major challenge. But I've also come to really relish the experience. It's fun and it's been helpful in so many ways.

I hope I get better at it and not disappoint my teacher. And maybe, I can help her improve her English along the way.

It's the least I can do for her, she's been great. They all have been, really.

Time for bed!

Restart

Oops. I guess I still can't find the drama needed for good posting.

I'm thinking about creating another blog strictly for Japanese practice. I might even do it tonight.

Lately, I've been really going at it. It's a big, big challenge. It's gotten to that point where the novelty has worn off and it's all serious work. I have to remind myself to back off a bit and enjoy the experience.

I have enjoyed it up to this point. Being crap at something isn't usually something to be happy about but in this case, I think it's a good personal experience.

I'm really crap at it. My Japanese sucks, much worse than my guitar playing :-p

I sometimes worry that I might piss my teacher off with my apparent inability to progress. There IS progress to be fair. Just not fast enough for my taste.

Well, one has to start from somewhere I guess.

Now, how would I rewrite all this in Japanese?

Checking In

Wow. It's been more than 1 year! Talk about procrastinating.

So many things have changed ne? The interface looks different. I'm going to have to re-explore everything again..

Anyway, just checking in. Not unlike a land owner going back to kampung to check on a piece of abandoned land, overgrown with weeds and random wild fruit trees.

So many things have changed...

So, hello again world!

And should I change the theme? It's kinda boring at the moment...

Quarterly?

No we haven't closed down.

This blog is fast becoming some sort of quarterly publication at this rate. I admit. The desire to blog these days is not very strong anymore. Which is unfortunate.

I've been finding myself being pressed for time these days. There's stuff like Twitter and Facebook, guitar playing, hanging out with friends. There's too much to do suddenly. Or maybe the days are getting shorter? Technically, they are since that big Tohoku earthquake last month. What was it? 0.8 seconds or something.

I don't even have time for gaming much these days. Oh yes, then there's Japanese.

I've started a JLPT course. Classes are on Monday. It's tough but I like it. It's sort of strange to enroll in something purely out of interest. I remember a time when sitting for a double period would bore me out of my skull.

Things are progressing well. I can read kana now. It's really cool to be able to read an entirely different alphabet.

Our instructor is quite nice. Hiroshima native. One of the draws of the course was the idea of being taught by a native speaker. Of course, there's the cert itself.

Talking about courses, I've been thinking about taking drum lessons too. But I think I'm going to KIV that one for now. Too many things on my plate at the moment.

Lately I've been thinking about time and how it suddenly seems to pass by so fast. Then I think about that time before the cure, before being "normal". Being clinically depressed was a blight in my history and to be honest, I regret not dealing with it any sooner. How things could have been different?

Alas, the damage is done. At least life is quite steady now. Things aren't perfect but they'll never be would they? I'm old enough to know that.

So until my next quarterly update...

February Update

Blogging from phone again. I've had this phone for a month now. I come from a time before internet, a time when public phones were cutting edge, when u had to arrange meetings with friends a day in advance.

I know how it works but the idea that can do so much on a phone is amazing..

So, what's been happening in February?

There was CNY. I went fo just one house so nothing much to say there.

I've been jamming with the guys. It'a great but we're not very good yet. My guitar playing has gotten better. But I'm still nof very happy with it.

So much I need to learn.

If I could I want to get myself a bass guitar and a drum kit. I like playing thise too..

I guess that's it. There isn't enough drama and angst these days to use as blog fodder. Still don't want to blog about politics or current events or other people.

Ok, later then..

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Android

This is probably the longest gap between posts ever. As usual, not much to rant about these days.

I'm quite zen-like these days. It's not that life is better. Make no mistake, it still sucks.

But it's really not so bad. Anyway, I bought a Garmin-Asus Android phone. It's awesome. I've been meaning to get a smart phone and the CNY sales period gave me the chance.It's mine boggling. It's phone. And it's a tiny computer at the same time. And I can install stuff on it!

I sound like this because I'm old and I remember phones that did nothing but call and text and tell you the date and the time.So yes, I'm enjoying it.

I also jammed yesterday. Been doing that for awhile now. Yesterday we didn't know what to play so we improv'd. I conjured up some lines on my guitar and it actually sounded like music.All that scale practice is paying off! To actually hear it is pretty cool.

So now I must keep working on technique, speed and stamina. And here I thought I had hit a wall again..I guess that's it for now. No that I can do this on a phone, I suppose I could update more often.

Short updates though. The tiny keyboard's a real bitch to type on..