End of the (school) Year
It's been a slow week...
Exams are over, but we still have a few classes (meaning 3 this week for me). I still have to come to work, but I have been losing the motivation-battle to get ahead on my independent Japanese studies. I feel like my friends that arrived at the same time as me and I are definitely getting to a pivotal point where a lot of us can now communicate a bit. At the same time, I'm also hitting a plateau or downward wave where I feel like the process is halting and am getting frustrated with language barriers. I suspect my coworkers are starting to realize I can understand more than I can say, they have been showing some higher expectations for what I should be able to communicate on my own (which is good), and I can now pick up a good deal of what is announced in the morning meetings. My knowledge is, however, still pretty random and needs more concretization. For example, I understood that we were going to have an earthquake drill during 3rd period from the announcement on Monday morning this week, but still needed help ordering tickets to the sumo tournament.
Planning
So the opportunity cost of hitting the Japanese books has basically been planning for upcoming visits and events this spring. This is my Type-A side brightly shining through, but I am definitely a planner...and it's fun to know I have some adventures and big visits around the corner. Claire is coming on Friday and I have almost her entire trip planned out, and my friend Brianne and I have been collaborating on our travel itinerary for our trip to Korea when Joe comes in late April. I recently decided to run for co-chair of a local volunteer committee, and will be planning events and supporting local charities, which is pretty exciting and a lot to look forward to, as well. The girl who held the same post for the last two years is moving, but did an absolutely amazing job (seriously – HUGE shoes to fill – you can tell she has experience and passion for it), but I think that we are probably going to choose a few charities to personally support and start from there.
Marathon
Still no major updates on how I did for time on the marathon or who finished. I did find out that only 60% of the female participants completed the race, which was surprising. I am recovering well in general, but have only gone for one short run and don’t have an appetite to start running more quite yet. My knee and muscles are fine, but my toes are still in a pretty disgusting state, so shoes are an issue (and so much for wearing the black, open-toed, wedged-heels I just bought for spring anytime soon!). Bummer.
Exams are over, but we still have a few classes (meaning 3 this week for me). I still have to come to work, but I have been losing the motivation-battle to get ahead on my independent Japanese studies. I feel like my friends that arrived at the same time as me and I are definitely getting to a pivotal point where a lot of us can now communicate a bit. At the same time, I'm also hitting a plateau or downward wave where I feel like the process is halting and am getting frustrated with language barriers. I suspect my coworkers are starting to realize I can understand more than I can say, they have been showing some higher expectations for what I should be able to communicate on my own (which is good), and I can now pick up a good deal of what is announced in the morning meetings. My knowledge is, however, still pretty random and needs more concretization. For example, I understood that we were going to have an earthquake drill during 3rd period from the announcement on Monday morning this week, but still needed help ordering tickets to the sumo tournament.
Planning
So the opportunity cost of hitting the Japanese books has basically been planning for upcoming visits and events this spring. This is my Type-A side brightly shining through, but I am definitely a planner...and it's fun to know I have some adventures and big visits around the corner. Claire is coming on Friday and I have almost her entire trip planned out, and my friend Brianne and I have been collaborating on our travel itinerary for our trip to Korea when Joe comes in late April. I recently decided to run for co-chair of a local volunteer committee, and will be planning events and supporting local charities, which is pretty exciting and a lot to look forward to, as well. The girl who held the same post for the last two years is moving, but did an absolutely amazing job (seriously – HUGE shoes to fill – you can tell she has experience and passion for it), but I think that we are probably going to choose a few charities to personally support and start from there.
Marathon
Still no major updates on how I did for time on the marathon or who finished. I did find out that only 60% of the female participants completed the race, which was surprising. I am recovering well in general, but have only gone for one short run and don’t have an appetite to start running more quite yet. My knee and muscles are fine, but my toes are still in a pretty disgusting state, so shoes are an issue (and so much for wearing the black, open-toed, wedged-heels I just bought for spring anytime soon!). Bummer.
posted by Brenda Ann Elizabeth McKinney @ 8:03 PM
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