Archive for the 'Shumpei' Category

Inspired to do more…

I am inspired to do more. I have so many things on my to do list and so many things I know I need to do yet I don`t really seem to be getting to any of them….I believe I am in what some call a “rut”! I have spent the last couple of hours surfing around on blogs I read and looking up stuff and I realized that I need to take action- I need to get motivated.

My friend Mandy wrote “Have thought that perhaps instead of making so many to-do lists and planning, I should actually just take action and practice what I preach.” and continued on to write things she was working on for her 101 things in 1001 days list and she has already marked ONE OFF in just a day and I realized I need to be more like that! Jen had a rough couple of days and had to make a couple of hard decisions but she has bounced back and written about what she is going to do with her life and her plans sound so amazing (and yes I am jealous!) and again it made me realize that I too can achieve what I want to do! Deanne at Suzhizume (who has moved to a new location-update your links and reader all!)  is one of the people that inspired Jen and she is definitely worth a mention because she is such a fun loving, awesome, down to earth person (Who I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a few times- she is the one that inspired me to get some hula hoops!) who decided what she loved and is doing it and while I haven`t quite figured out what it is I love so much that I want to do I figure crossing some stuff off my to do list etc is going to help me head in the right direction!! She is such an inspiration! Another inspirational girl is Gala Darling, oh how I heart thee! This lady got up and went to New York and now has decided she wants to live there and is making her dream into a real possibility. If you have never read gala`s site then you simply must start now because it is fantastic stuff and I am so jealous (yet again!) of all the stuff she does- and she always does it so eloquently! She is a great writer, and I totally wish I could be more like her! And she used to do weekly resolutions which is what this post is actually all about!

I journal, and sometimes, after reading about them at Gala`s site ages ago, I write my own weekly resolutions in my journal and I realize that it is time to bring this back into my life- and sure it is another list but I do love lists and they do help keep me motivated! So here goes, here is my weekly resolutions for this week!

- hoop at least 10 minutes everyday

- track the food I eat in my little weight watchers book and do at least 4 walks!

- blog another 2 times

- Contact wedding celebrants (at least 2) and set up meetings for sometime in the next couple of weeks!

-Study Japanese for 3 hours!

-  and since it is nearly midnight I am going to think about this last one and make a decision on it by Monday! Or perhaps one of you might have an idea of something you think I should try and acheive this week in my weekly resolutions!

Thank you to all my bloggy friends out there- some of you I have met in real life and others I have yet to have the pleasure but the joy I get from following your adventures and reading your comments, advice and inspirational writing makes my day! I only mentioned a couple of you who have inspired me in the post but trust me, it is not only those I mentioned! My goals for the week might not seem like much but to me they are important and I promise I will try really hard to acheive them all!

Hugs to all, xoxoxo

Ps: All is going well with Shun- he is also inspiring me of late because he is trying so hard with his English already and it makes me realize how slack I have been with my Japanese study hence the mention in my weekly resolutions! Oh and in other news we picked up Abbey today and she is just adorable- Shun and I played with her all afternoon and it was delightful!!! And while writing this blog post- it was interupted by a howling little dog….but I went down to see her and she is doing ok now- I think she just woke up and forgot where she was for a minute!

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Shumpei`s here…

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Shumpei arrived safely on Saturday! And, when we got home he got down on one knee and said “marry me” and gave me the engagement ring featured in picture three!!! We choose it a couple of months ago but when I left Japan they were still making it- but now I can wear it everyday!!! You can`t see in the picture real well but it is a platinum ring with a white diamond and next to it is a small blue diamond. It is so pretty and I love it!

I promise a better update next time!!!

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Untitled…

  • Shumpei arrives in the morning and I am so excited. I still can`t quite believe that he will be here in Australia until next June. The next time we return to Japan we will be married?! I have just finished doing a quick clean up of the house and now I just have to wait until morning!!!
  • I lose .9 at Weight Watchers last night- This means I have lost about 5 and a half kilos since coming back to Australia!! I am actually quite proud of myself! Only another 10 or so to go!!!!
  • Wedding planning is crazy- I don`t know how people do it! I am now on a hunt for a celebrant, entertainment and transport (I didn`t realize we would need transport?!) and those three things weren`t even on my list of things to do for the wedding on 101 things in 1001 days- because I guess I didn`t really realize we would need them! There is just so much to do and I am excited, I am, but seriously there is only so many wedding dresses I can look at online before I want to gag! I am thinking I might go dress hunting in Septemer (8 months before the wedding?!). In other news I think I have found the person I want to bake our wedding cake- a cherry blossom one of course! Although I don`t need to order and organize that until after Christmas!
  • I have been sick for the last couple of days (It may have aided in the weight loss because I certainly wasn`t good on the weekend!)-just a cold but I missed work on  Wednesday and Thursday because I could barely get out of bed!!
  • I have had a craving for soup recently- I don`t even really like soup usually but I want to learn to make it and enjoy it- Anyone have any good, healthy soup recipies!
  • I am loving the hula hoop (although not much in the last 2 days)- I can now keep it up for awhile so am now onto trying to learn cool hula hoop tricks so I can get more into the hula hoop dance craze!!!! If you are interested in hooping yourself - then check out my friend Deanne`s new website about her hooping adventures in Tokyo or if you want some cool hoops and are in Australia (or overseas) check out bunny`s site and go to her shop to buy some super awesome hoops!
  • I have been reading up a storm recently (as well as watching big brother- I know it is sad but I just can not help it- It is so addictive- I am watching it now!)
  • I am just so happy that Shun is joining me in Brisbane tomorrow- did I mention that already? I love him and have missed him so much over the last two months! I can`t beleive I will be seeing him in just 12 hours!
  • Have a lovely weekend everyone!

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Not for me…

I didn`t get the job I went for as a Student Coordinator at the hospital. I had the interview the week before last and found out last Friday when the HR manager rang me. I was really dissapointed because I had felt like they had led me to beleive I had it in the bag and then they took it away (At the last minute they received an application from somebody that had a lot of experience doing a very similar job-where as I only have experience doing it for the last 7 weeks). I was depressed about it over the weekend but now I am more like “It obviously wasn`t meant to be” and I probably didn`t get it because something better and more suited to me is going to come up! Yay for positive thinking!

So I finish up this temp assignment next week and then I will be looking for another temp assignment to keep me going. I am happy to temp for the year it is just a little bit unpredictable and there is a chance some weeks I won`t have work which could screw up trying to save a little bit.  But I am trying not to think about the bad stuff that could happen if I can`t find work because in the past I have been really lucky and something has always come up!!!

Shumpei comes in just five sleeps! Saturday morning I will be going up to pick him up at the airport! He rang last night while he was at a goodbye party with Cat, James, Leader and our other friends (From when I was at uni in Japan) and I spoke to a couple of them. It was so good to hear Cat`s voice- I almost cried! I miss her and everyone so much…We have spoken a couple of times since I have been back in Australia but everytime I am just so happy to talk with her. Last night I also spoke with Leader and Junni- It was weird to be speaking Japanese again to someone other than Shun!

In other news if I lose .5kg on Thursday at weight watchers I will have lost 5 kilos since coming back to Australia!

Look out for P is for….. tomorrow!

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Ready to start again…

I think I am ready to start blogging again…I can`t promise it will be regular but Dad is out of the hospital and I am getting settled into my life back here. I think I was a little overwhelmed at first with all that was going on…coming back to Australia has been a huge transition for me and not having Shumpei around has also made things a little lonely. Even though I have family and friends here I had been relying on a completely different set of people in Tokyo and when I got back here I had to try and adjust.

Work is going well, still temping for UQ as student coordinator for medical students and I am really enjoying it. I have applied for a permanent position but they know I will only be here until next June so I am not sure if I will get it although it would be nice if I did. If I don`t though I am not too worried because I will just go temp somewhere else once this role is finished.

Shumpei has finally set a date to arrive and he will be here on July 12th, a little less than 4 weeks to go. He is getting very excited I think because he will be finishing up work at the end of next week and then will be able to relax for and get ready for 2 weeks before he comes.

In other news I have booked a photographer for our wedding. I am going with Sylvie from http://www.papillonstudio.com.au/ who was recomended by somebody at work. She was the first photographer I met with and I had an instant connection with her (so did my mum) and while I had planned to meet with other photographers (I had a list of those to contact!) I decided on meeting her that I didn`t need to. She really is lovely and I can tell she will do a great job of taking beautiful photos on our wedding day. She is local to the south side of Brisbane and has actually done weddings at Shangri-la before (where we are having our wedding) and taken photos down near the manly bay which is exactley what Shun and I wanted to have our extra shots done. So she is perfect! Next step is to find a celebrant and to book cars…..Then I might start looking at dresses!!!!

I did join Weight Watchers almost four weeks ago now. In my first two weeks I lose 2.3 kilos and then lost track a little and didn`t go last week cos I was at a doctors appointment with Dad but I am trying to get back on track this week with the walking and watching what I eat. I will go back this Thursday and while I don`t think I will have lost due to the last not so great 10 days but hopefully I won`t have put on either. I think since returning to Australia almost five weeks ago I have lost about 3 kilos altogether though so it isn`t going so bad. Hopefully once i get back on track with excersise and eating better and tracking what I eat then the weight will start to come off again.

I also ordered two hoola hoops the other day online from here and they should arrive sometime soon I hope! I think they get sent out of Sydney? So I can`t wait to get them and start doing some hooping!!!

I caught up with my friend Clarie (she is also one of my bridesmaids) while she was in town this last week which has been great. I hadn`t seen her since I was home at Christmas and she is now living in Mt Isa so I do not get to see her as much as I would like even though I am now back in Brisbane…..trust her to move away as I am moving back! I did some much needed shopping with her over the weekend and we caught up and had a look at some possible bridesmaids dresses! Having bridesmaids in three different countries is going to be a challenge!

I also saw the Sex and the City movie with my brothers girlfriend Gem (Who turns 21 tomorrow the darling thing!) and it was awesome. Definitely worth seeing even if you weren`t a Sex and the City addict!!!

Well I think that is enough of an update for now but I just want to say thanks to those who commented on my last post and also those who sent me personal emails or facebook messages. I am sorry If I did not respond to you all but it did mean a lot. It is nice to know that I had a lot of people thinking of me and sending good vibes to my dad. While he has awhile to go yet he is improving a lot and will hopefully go well.

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Memories of last time…

Last time I left Japan for awihle was almost three and a half years ago and it was three days before my 20th birthday. I knew I`d be back, and while I said a year, I didn`t really know how lon it would take. With out a doubt, the best year of my life was coming to an end.

To make it worse, five weeks earlier I had met Shumpei. I was in Japan almost 11 months and for some crazy reason fate couldn`t have brought us together any earlier it seemed.

The day I left was also the day two other exchange students were leaving so the kaikan, where we lived, was a buzz of activity and rushing around. Quite a few people had gathered to say goodbye. Shumpei had come by car the night before (Monday night) after work to stay. He had taken the following day off to drive me to the aiport.

I knew it would be hard to say goodbye. We all gathered downstairs, loaded luggage into the cars and I said goodbye to those not coming to the airport. And I started to cry. Leader, an awesome and dear friend, also had takent he day off work to drive the others going home to the airport plus a couple of others who were coming all the way out to say goodbye.

I cried halfway to the airport (It is a long drive!) and with Shumpei driving not really knowing what he could say to make it better.  Of course there were dramas at the airport. I had sent two boxes of stuff to Australia already but my suitcase still weight eight kilos over (I was literally pulling out clothes from my suitcase and throwing them in the bin at the aiport!) and I had so much hand luggage (My backpack was 18kg! Not to mention a laptop, large handbag and a bag carrying goodbye gifts I had gotten!). In the end, I can`t remember how much they charged me for the extra weight in my suitcase but it was about $500. I think mum is more likely to remember! I had an emergency credit card and I rang her in a panic not knowing what to do (While  Leader and Shumpei were withdrawing money from their accounts to pay for it also!) and she let me put it on there.

We ate dinner and Shun gave me a letter to read on the plane and we all got ready to say goodbye. I was crying so much and as I walked through the doors to get my handluggage x-rayed I was still crying and waving goodbye to everyone that had come.

Less than 12 months later I landed back in Tokyo on a delayed flight from London, where Shumpei was waiting for me at the airport!

This time is a little different! Again, I know I will be back. I even know it will more than likely be at the end of May or June. But I still have mixed feelings. I want to go back to Australia for a little while, I do. But I know if it is anything like the last time I left, I will miss Japan terribly. Shumpei and I will only be apart for 2 months but that is still the longest we have been apart since I returned to japan two and a half years ago. And my friends here, I will miss them so much. They are so great to me, especially Catherine and James. I don`t know how I will go in Australia without them!

Tonight is my goodbye party that Leader, Catherine and James organized. It is a formal place apparently so I have a dress and Shun will wear a suit and we will be meeting Cat and James early in Roppongi for a couple of drinks before we head to Omotesando! I am very excited but it will also be sad because today will be the day I say goodbye to my friends here in Tokyo, and for most it will be the second time I will be saying goodbye!

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Wordless Wednesday #3…

Another week, another wordless Wednesday. Check out here for all the other people participating…

Disney sea

Disney sea

Disney sea

Disney sea

Disney sea

Disney sea

See here for more photos from Disney Sea!

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Questions answered…

A couple of posts ago I asked my readers to ask questions if they had any…..I only received a couple but figured I would answer them in this post….

Mandy asked…What do you consider to be the three most significant days of your life?

Um I am really bad with these types of questions…because generally I have no idea. But probably the day I started highschool, the day I arrived in Japan for the first time and the day I met Shumpei. Just because they all made me the person I am now I guess….By the time I started highschool I was so ready for it…I needed to be in highschool and after coming from a very small Catholic primary school it was all so different. The day I arrived in Japan because obviously if I had never come to Japan on exchange that year then I never would of learnt to speak Japanese, make so many friends here and decided to come back. I say the day I met Shumpei is significant because he is the man I am going to marry!

Oh and meeting you Mandy when we were 4 as well!!! hehehe!

Sara asked… Kind of a geek questions but what manga do you have?

Actually I have no manga. I never really got into the manga craze but I once read Nana (like the first 2) and another one which I think was called Peach Girl. I am more of a Japanese drama girl….my favourites being Orange Days, Boku dake no madonna, Regatta and a recent drama called Puropozo Daisakusen!

Nay asked... Just to help you out with your blog posts, here is a question from me!
Would you say that your move back to Australia is filled more with excitement of going home, or sadness for leaving Japan? How is Shun feeling about coming to Australia for 1 year, giving up his job, losing his spot in the “Japanese job market” etc?

I think that my move back to Australia is filled with both excitement and sadness…I will only be gone a year though and I know Japan will still be here when I get back. I am a little nervous about going home….for me as well as Shumpei. I am nervous for myself because it is has been 2 and a half years since I lived back in Australia and even then I was only there for 10 months while I finished uni….most of my close friends are here in Japan and most of my close friends in Australia are no longer in Brisbane bar a couple! So that will be difficult because I have such a great support network of friends here in Tokyo who I will miss so much. But my family is in Australia and I need to be with them for awhile. I am nervous for myself also because I will need to find work and I know how stressful that can be! I am nervous for Shumpei because he is leaving his job and his friends and family behind and his motivation to do this is me….that is a lot to bear. As most of you know Shumpei`s English is not great and while it is getting better all the time he can`t really hold a conversation with someone that doesn`t understand Japanese…while he understands English quite well now he finds it very difficult to respond in English. I am hoping this will get better while we are in Australia.

It took Shumpei a very long time to decide to come with me. I had decided that I would be going back for six months whether or not he came with me or not because I needed to be with my family and he understood that. I gave him the choice and said that he could come of course….when he finally told me he was coming I cried. He had been thinking about it for about three months already and I really thought he wouldn`t come. As for giving up his job I think this is what he had to think about most. As some of you know the job market here is weird….people do not change jobs willy nilly and most stay with the same company for life. While this is changing a lot more now it is almost unheard of for someone to leave a job unless they already have a job lined up. Shun`s company has actually told him that he might be able to come back to his old job after 1 year….

I think the pressure from his family about leaving his job was more the problem that his own feelings about it.

Christelle asked …I’d love to hear more about your wedding plans, I know you said you couldn’t think about much before going to Australia, but you must have some image in your mind? Traditional wedding? Garden wedding? His family going to Australia for the ceremony? Big? Small?

When people ask me about my wedding plans I never know what to say because basically I haven`t done any. I never grew up thinking `OMG at my wedding I want to do this this and this` In fact I had never really given it much thought. But we have told quite a few people we are engaged and I am ultimately always asked the `What will you do for your wedding` question.

So far we have booked a venue…I wanted a place where we could have the ceremony and reception at the same place because we will have international guests most of which would not have transport to different venues. I also wanted it to be fairly local to the area that my parents live so my mum helped me book a place that had received some good reviews and had recently been done-up. We will be having a garden wedding and the reception in one of the function wedding rooms on site. The best thing is that this place also has a motel on the grounds so international guests will have a place (super close!) to stay!!! While I am Catholic, I never really had this huge desire to get married in a church and I quite like the idea of a garden wedding!

I have asked three friends to be bridesmaids! Catherine (who is here in Tokyo), a highschool friend Clare (who lives in Mt Isa for work) and Mandy (who reads and comments on my blog) who is my best friend from primary school and she lives in London. So yes my bridesmaids live in three different countries and none of them live in Brisbane where the wedding will be (Although Mandy and Clare are from Brisbane originally!) Shumpei has asked our friend James to be best man because we thought it would be best to ask someone that spoke English! hehe….It is great because James speaks Japanese fluently also! While James is actually originally my friend him and Shun have gotten really close and it was Shumpei who suggested we ask James (Although Shumpei had no idea what a best man was as the time) Shumpei has mentioned to a couple of his friends that he will need two more friends to be groomsmen it is something we can`t really decide right now because we are not exactly sure who is coming but I think he will ask two of his university friends! Having all of the wedding party so far away will make dress fittings for bridesmaids dresses a nightmare!

As for a theme, I am actually going to steal Nay`s idea (Don`t worry I asked her) and have a cherry blossom theme…as you can tell from my blog I love them!). While the wedding is in Australia Shumpei and I met in Japan, he is Japanese and ultimately we will be living here so it is very important for me to include something from Japan. I am not exactly sure how I will work it in but am thinking of cherry blossom invitations, cake, favors and maybe some decorations! Not really sure yet though and will have to wait til I get back to Australia before I decide anything for sure. I have also heard of a tradition they do in hawaii where they fold 1001 cranes which grants you happiness in your marriage. I like this because origami cranes are Japanese and I could give some to the guests etc but again not really sure about this.

I have no idea about colours yet though, this part is difficult as I love pink! and would love my bridesmaids to wear pink and for me to have pink flowers etc but I am not 100% sure yet. So maybe pink, silver and white for colours….

The wedding is not going to be very big. Maybe about 50 people. I thought less at first but I think a lot of Shumpei and my friends here in Japan might actually make it over for the wedding which would be fantastic. Obviously Cat and James are definitely coming but some other friends have said they would love to also!!! Shun`s parents are coming and maybe his grandmother and brother too!

The next question I am sure will be about the dress but this is something I really do have no idea about!

Because we will be having the ceremony in Australia a lot of people have asked whether we will be doing a ceremony in Japan also and at this stage the answer is no. But when we return we will have a ni ji kai for our friends and probably some kind of dinner with Shumpei`s extended family!

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Dots…

  • I always resort to dots when I have a lot of stuff to say but not much time to say it! Or a lot of random stuff that doesn`t really warrant its own posts!
  • I am starting the 101 things in 1001 days challenge on April 1st…with Mandy and Paul I think it will help get wedding plan stuff done as well as a fair bit of stuff I have on my life list! I first read about this on the blogs here and here and have loved reading about their progress! Does anybody else want to join in????
  • I am almost halfway through my encyclopedia of me meme and was wondering if anybody had any ideas of things they would want to see me write about for m onwards (I have L done!)
  • I have booked a flight back to Australia and my tickets have arrived…It is a one way flight leaving Japan May 13th and arriving in Brisbane early morning on May 14th…..The ticket was pretty cheap….only 60,000yen including tax (That is about 650 dollars I think?) and thank god it was cheap because I have no money! I took a lot of sick days in the last couple of months meaning my last pay check was significantly less than usual!
  • I finish work on April 11th so will have two weeks to pack up the apartment (We need to be out by end of April) and then another two weeks to relax in Chiba at Shumpei`s parents place until I leave to go home. And best of all I also have a weeks holiday next week…My second last week of work will be spent having a paid holiday. I like that! I am not sure how much relaxing I will be able to do at the in-laws place….I am not usually even allowed to put my own bread in the toaster…Shumpei`s mum insists on doing it for me. Let alone allowed to wash my own plates. This is something that really bothers me because I feel like I am taking advantage even though i offer EVERY TIME. I lived at Shumpei`s parents place for two months when I was first back in Japan…
  • Shumpei taught me to play Mahjong and I really liked it. It is a Chinese game that Shumpei sometimes plays with his friends at a place especially for Mahjong…Not many people know how to play it I think so chances are I will forget how to play it before I get another chance!
  • I read The Kite Runner the other day and it was awesome. Everyone should read it!
  • Oh by the way the two quotes that nobody got on my movie quote meme…..One was from The Blues Brothers and the other was from Moulin Rouge!!!
  • Oh I almost forgot!!! I got some more blog bling from the delightful Guera!!bloggersoftheworldthumbnail.jpg
  • I really liked this award because I love reading blogs from around the world and have been doing more of it recently. I was so happy when she passed this on to me. So I have decided to pass it onto some other ex-pats bloggers I read similar to like what Guera did!
    (I am not sure if they all read my blog or not though!) There are heaps of others I would love to pass it onto also but I am not sure how may I can pass it onto! Also I am not sure where this award originated but it is great!

  • My next post will be L is for…..

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J is for Japanese…

In an effort to improve on my writing I have decided to sign up for Encyclopedia of me which started over at Bella Dia (and which I found out about by reading Laura`s blog here...)

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J is for Japanese…

I have a love hate relationship with language learning….technically Japanese is the only language I have actually tried to learn (apart from some basic phrases while going through Europe and a couple of Maori words). I have talked a lot before on this blog about why and how I came about studying Japanese but hey, who wants to hear it again?

Like most people when they finish high school I really had no idea what I wanted to do…but I had decided that doing a course in Business/Creative Industries at QUT was what I wanted to study….but I didn`t get in…..In fact I didn`t get into my next four choices either. I got into my last choice, which I had put as a safety net (lucky huh?) and it was a straight up arts degree from Griffith University. I just want to say I have nothing against Arts Degrees (In fact I am so happy I did it because if I hadn`t I wouldn`t have ended up in Japan)

I was more than a little upset about it but by the time I started I figured that I better make the most of it and I had also discovered that I could do a PR major or Journalism major through the arts degree at Griffith which was something I had thought about studying if I had gotten into business! In my senior year at school I had also met Kanako a Japanese exchange student and had admired the fact that she learnt to speak English so well in her year in Australia. So I enrolled in elementary Japanese classes as well for my first semester as well as some psych courses and simple journalism/media courses. I had no intention of staying in the arts degree, I still had dreams of transferring out, that was until about three months later…

Uni wasn`t my first time studying Japanese….technically we did some basic Japanese at school in primary school (With good old Mrs Shield!) and also at my high school studying Japanese and German once a week was compulsory in year eight! But studying Japanese at uni, five hours on campus a week, plus home study was completely different! I loved it…and I was actually ok at it!

I applied to go on exchange mid year and left the following year for a year abroad at Seikei University in Tokyo….I hadn`t realized how hard it would be….Seikei didn`t really offer courses for beginners and that pretty much still what I was…( It didn`t help that I had not studied from Nov-Mar while I was on summer break waiting to go to Japan)I had one on one tutoring for the first couple of months because I wasn`t up to the same level that others on exchange were….Most of the friends i made in the first couple of months always spoke a little bit of English meaning I didn`t have to use my Japanese…..and my foreign friends all spoke English and Japanese really well so they could translate for me. I was gradually improving but not nearly as fast as I would of liked.

I loved Japan, I love the culture and the people and I was gradually getting a hang of the language and making friends that only spoke Japanese forcing me to speak more and more and then one day it all seemed to fall into place over the summer….and I could hold conversations and communicate and order in restaurants and read the menus and ask for help at the train station if I needed it. I think anyone that is learning another language gets to that point…where everything just clicks…

I am still a long way off from being fluent…and I still have a love hate relationship with Japanese study…..sometimes I love it, get right into it will study for a couple of hours a day and then it goes away again. I hit a brick wall and just give up on it for awhile……I always go back to it…..and I hope one day to pass level 1 of the Japanese proficiency test!!! Obviously the fact that Shun and I talk to each other in Japanese 95% of the time helps my Japanese except he knows the Japanese I know and talks in a way that is easy for me to understand!

My dream is to become fluent enough to read the newspaper and pass level one of JLPT….the problem is if I achieve that once I might just give up, and from what I have heard, If you don`t continue to study then it all just goes out the window!

The only way, for me anyway, to really learn a language is to immerse yourself in a country that speaks that language….so to all those language learners out there…..go spend six months in Spain or South America if you are learning Spanish, or a year in China if you are learning Chinese….It will make the world of difference to you language study…Not to mention it will be an experience you will never forget!

I am a little stuck with K is for….I haven`t decided what I will be doing yet! I can not believe I am almost half way though this writing exercise already!

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