Merlin 2018

[Xenops]

My aunt just told me that my dog passed away.

I don’t know if I will go back to the states now.

I am sorry for your loss. I had lost two cats over the years. The latter one died eight years ago, and I still dream about him.

Since you said you do not have money to fly back sooner, and since your reason for doing so is no longer there, I would recommend staying in Japan until your scheduled flight back home. Even though you are suffering a loss, I think you can find things to do and to see that would make it worthwhile. I can't count the number of people that have said to me, "Japan! You're so lucky! I wish I could go there". Not everyone can just pack up and go.

[reineke]

I'm sorry about your dog but stay put.

[schlaraffenland]

Sorry in advance, as this is a sad update.

I just learned that my dog is not doing very well. Or that she is dead I am not sure which my aunt meant. I think she just means that she is sick but I don’t really want to ask her to clarify, because I’d like to think that she is just sick.

I wish that I could just fly home tomorrow. I really just don’t have the money.

So my study plans for today are cancelled.

And maybe for the next few days/weeks.

I'm very sorry to hear that. <3

(Edited because when I posted, I hadn't finished reading the thread and didn't realize that you had already, alas, heard more definitive news.)

[SophiaMerlin_II]

Well, there’s no reason to sit around moping around I guess.

I’m bought a flight to Korea, so I guess I need to learn Korean basics now. ^^;

And I need to keep up on the Japanese or all that hard work I put in was for nothing.

So I’m going to try to do:

• 1 hr Japanese study
  
• 1 hr Korean study (30 min letters, 30 minutes survival phrases)
  
• 1 hr research Korea (All I know about Korea is where it is on a map)

I’ll also be starting an online certification program mid-April, so there is that to look forward. I imagine that will be about 2 hours of work per day.

[DaveBee]

I’m bought a flight to Korea, so I guess I need to learn Korean basics now. ^^;

Is Korea a way-station on your return to the USA, or do you intend to stay there for a while?

[SophiaMerlin_II]

I’m bought a flight to Korea, so I guess I need to learn Korean basics now. ^^;

Is Korea a way-station on your return to the USA, or do you intend to stay there for a while?

I plan to stay there for about 3 months.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

I studied Korean for 7 minutes yesterday. I need to focus!

[SophiaMerlin_II]

Well... I practiced some Japanese in the club the other night, including screaming obscenities, so I suppose that’s something.

I’m currently entering all the (paper) flash cards that I basically already know, into Anki, to keep a hold on my perfectionism.

I really, really need to make this be the start of getting back onto the Japanese study wagon. I have less than two weeks left until my next date...

[SophiaMerlin_II]

Turns out my family needs me back in the States and I’m not excited about it. But I am actually releaved that I don’t need to learn Korean. It feels to me to be impossible to pronounce ^^;

Because of what I want to do in the future, I will (eventually) need to learn some Korean and Cantonese. But I don’t really even want to think about that at the moment.

My new goal (probably dumb) is to try to get a super basic grasp of all the Joyo Kanji in the next 3 months, which is around 25 kanji per day or so. I do way better than a lot of other foreigners at getting around, even ones that speak better than me, because I am better able to “read” than them. I mean, obviously it’s not “real” reading... I still consider it to be some kind of parlor trick really, but it is crazy helpful.

[SophiaMerlin_II]

I need to stop with the crazy goals

At this point I’m just entering into Anki any new words/phrases/kanji that I learn. I feel like this really would have been the most effective thing from the beginning because throughout the day, people teach you words. And obviously those are important... or people wouldn’t teach them to you!

But also, Tokyo feels so comfortable at this point. It doesn’t really feel like a “foreign” place anymore. Announcements and signs in Japanese don’t really bother me anymore so I feel more comfortable now.

I may try to dabble in Korean and Cantonese when I get home, maybe not. And maybe some research on Hong Kong and Seoul, or not. But I really do need to continue Japanese and work on Spanish.