I’m Learning Japanese

I am very excited about making this week as productive as last week was. I woke up early to do some personal, and frankly frivolous, things so I have the rest of the day to conduct business. I’ve been working very hard on my time management. I think most people who really know me know that I like to get involved in things. I get very excited about them and then run myself ragged trying to find a way to fit everything in. I’m trying to re-train my brain to see things a bit differently and learn how to say no. I hate saying no. I hate limits. I much prefer the idea that a person can find a way to do it all. I still believe that, but I also have to acknowledge that it is nearly impossible to do it all and do it all well. So I’m pairing down as my current responsibilities begin to finish themselves and only taking on the projects and things that I really want to do as opposed to just anything that sounds like it might be a good idea.

One of the things that I’ve been trying to keep up with, that I did while working out this morning, is maintain my and learn more Japanese. I went to Japan several times with my ex-wife and fell in love with the country. The culture, the public transportation, how clean it all is, and the fact that people just have a whole different outlook. It seems silly, the outlook bit, but there is a different sense of responsibility and work and life. This is not to say that this outlook is better, I mean extremes exist in all cultures. I’m sure we’ve all heard about business men on all night benders, suicides and people who watch Pachinko balls all day, but I have a great deal of respect for the Japanese way of life. One of the things that I have been planning, one of my goals for the last few years, is a big trip. There are several stops planned, but I want to spend a good amount of time in Japan. While I wait I’ve been trying to keep up with my Japanese. In addition to the CD’s that I originally got back in two thousand something, my friend Sam pointed my to a podcast called JapanesePod101. To be honest I don’t actually use the site. The site costs money, as all things of value should, but I just don’t have it to spare right now so I subscribe to the podcasts via iTunes. I love these podcasts! I listen to all the levels that are available and try to push myself to understand what the instructors are talking about. Part of what inspired this blog today was that I listened to one of the all Japanese audio-blogs today and understood what they were saying! Not every word, but a lot of them. Enough to actually follow along. It was really great!

As I take a look at how I spend my time now I’m glad there are a few things that I can do at the same time. Podcasts and exercise are a pretty obvious one – as I’m sure many of you know – but also blogging while rendering and finding money while eating and a great deal more while doing other stuff. I’m looking forward to being more productive.

Oh, and I just got another political cartoon from my friend Scott that I thought I’d share too! I think it’s important to remember, no matter whom the president is, that nothing changes over night except the weather.