I go tutoring twice a week. Today is tutoring day.  Since I am bilingual, I am teaching the kid 2 languages. Hence, the twice a week tutorial. Teaching isn’t all fun. There are good days when he actually wants to listen and do what you ask him to do. But there are also bad days when you simply have to lecture and raise your voice just to make him write down 2 words. On days when the weather is warm and nice, we’d even have our lessons outdoor in the garden. They have this nice koi fish pond complete with a pond skimmer to keep the pond nice and clean. However, since it is still cold, we have lessons indoor.

Although I feel like staying home and just read or study Japanese, I do look forward to tutor. Seeing how well your students do in their studies, keeps you motivated.

Young children sure do love to imitate what adults do. They love to play pretend games. I can still remember how I love to play house with my friends. Now, my young daughter loves to pretend making coffee or cook something for me. And sometimes we would even play shop together. For now we would play using real money and some items we find around the house as merchandise.

So now I’ve decided to get her a toy cash register. I have to say even I myself enjoy play shop with a cash register. Even though it is just a toy one.The cash register is simple - no Epson tm-t88iv - but it provided us hours of fun.

As a child I never really like dolls or play with dolls. Even now as a mother, I even prefer my daughter to play pretend games like this rather than dressing up dolls. I think she learns more this way. She practice counting the money, learn about what having money means, etc.

I just wonder when can I be the shopkeeper sometimes.

I went to the first Japanese class last Friday. One of the few things that we did was ‘Japanese numbers’. I can count in Japanese but somehow , just like learning any other new language, it takes time to be able to connect visually with what you know. For example when I look at the number 9, in my mind instead of the Japanese ‘kyu’ I’d think of  ‘nine’ and I have to translate it to Japanese ‘kyu’. So it takes a few seconds to realize what it is in Japanese,the number that I’m looking at. It would take a little bit longer to connect visually when I hear the numbers said by native Japanese.

So we had an audio lesson where we have to listen to a couple of Japanese speakers say some numbers (big digits) and we have to write down what we heard. It was tough. So the entire week I have been doing a little Japanese number drill. Everytime I go out and see numbers on car plates, billboards, posters etc, I’d recite the numbers in Japanese as fast as I could. I realize it takes me 0.05 seconds to recognize 6 as ‘roku’, 7 as ‘nana’, 4 as ‘yon’ and 9 as ‘kyu’. The rest of the digits are easier. With this little practice I think I am a little better at saying the numbers quiker when I see them. But I’m still slow at recognizing numbers when I hear them.For the listening problem, I am using Pimsleur Japanese audio lessons to help me a little with that. Not easy, but with practice I’m sure I can go over this ‘bump’ somehow.

Sometimes people say that having more choices in life is good, like when you want to choose which college to go to, the delicious food that you may order in a restaurant, truck accessories that you want to buy, etc. But choices can be a cause of problem or headache. Times when you just don’t know what to do or choose to do.

There are days when I feel like wanting to get a full time 9-5 job. While other days I feel like continuing tutoring and have flexible teaching hours. Both have their pros and cons. So which one should I really concentrate on? Looking for a job of finding more students?

I suppose I have to use the old method that I used to do when I’m in such circumstance. Write down on paper the pros and cons of both. From there I see which one is the best choice to make.

I went to visit the language school last evening. According to them I am the second foreigner who found the school. First one was a girl from Azerbaijan. They asked me how did I came about finding them. So I told them that I googled and found a link to their web address through a blog.  Therefore, there are 2 of us that are looking forward to Japanese lessons in English. Maybe I should suggest to them to get the best seo software so that their website can be found easily or I should help them find students and ask them whether they would implement reward program - like discount for every student we find for them.

They suggested to me to either go on Saturday to see how the class is (which is by the way already near half through the syllabus), or I go there this evening - the Azerbaijan girl would be there. I said I’d go there this evening. I’m curious about the girl.

So I’ve finally decided to try enrolling myself in a Japanese class.  I am going to visit the school this evening, meet up with a teacher and maybe have to sit for a test to see what my level is. I have to admit that I am nervous. Not only because I haven’t been sitting for exams, for what seems like, decades, I am also not confident enough whether I can remember all that I’ve learnt. Now that is a little drawback about self-studying. I don’t really have a routine and I study when I feel like and I don’t utilise what I’ve learnt afterwards. Hence my decision to look for a language school. I need routine, I need other students to practice with. What ever it is,I really do not want to start back in the beginners’ class.

To go to the school I’d need to do some 15-20 minutes of walking and about 30-45 minutes of bus ride. Well, roughly an hour. That is the nearest school that I’ve found so far.  To tell the truth, I have never done so much of walking  or going on public transportation back in M’sia. I walk more here. So no wonder I can keep my weight low better. Just like taking thermogenic fat burner supplements. But I don’t mind at all.

Above all, I really hope everything will go well today. Not like the first time I went to check the school last Monday.

There was a time as a teenager I would collect inspirational articles I found in the newspaper and magazines. One particular magazine that I loved to read due to the wonderful articles was ‘Reader’s digests’. There were many stories by real people about their love, sacrifices, overcoming of hardships that would make my tears just well up everytime I read the articles.

Now, again thanks to the internet, I read and collect articles online.  Here’s one of my favourites that I found on the reader’s digest website.

“Forget Me Not -Suffering from extreme amnesia, he remembers nothing — except the woman he loves.”

It’ is a story of Clive and Deborah Wearing. Clive was a renowned composer and music conductor, while Deborah was a choir singer when they first met. They were just like any other loving couple, who wanted to start a family of their own, until a tragedy struck them. Clive was infected by the herpes simplex virus, cause of the cold sore. The virus was never detected - lay benign for years - until he lost all his memories.

Reading about the Deborah’s patience & sacrifices, Clives pain of not being able to remember anything longer than seven seconds and yet never fail to tell how much he loved her , is sobering. I realize how lucky I am, I realize how life can just turn upside down in just a few moments. Make the best out of what we have is what I’ve learnt. Things may not be going right at times, but at least I have hope to make it better, and I still have those whom I love dearly with me.

Spring will officially start on the 20th of March people say. Which means we have a little more than a month left to go. I do not know

why I have this feeling as if we are having a long winter. Maybe because of the frequent snow fall compared to other years? Perhaps. I’m just missing the sun a little bit.

When I think about it… Just wonder how those people live in Alaska or somewhere where the winters are longer. Well, at least they don’t have to worry about finding the right age spot remover when they’re old.

Huh, look at me, expressing my longing for warmer days. When people from warmer climated countries would be longing for colder days. I guess people will never be satisfied with what they have. 

I just watched one of Ghibli studio’s anime - Only Yesterday. It’s about a Japanese lady reminiscing her childhood days and moving on to the next level of her life in the present. In the anime movie, there are scenese when she and her friend as children had to attend radio exercise sessions in her summer holidays.

This radio exercise accompanied by special music is what the Japanese call, “Radio taiso”. The Japanese been doing it since world war II and practiced by every one - school kids and even office workers. This morning exercise has become part of Japanese culture and perhaps it wouldn’t be too much to say that everyone in Japan would know the exercise ritual by heart. It is said the purpose of this exercise is not only to promote good and healthy lifestyle but also to create unity among classmates and co-workers.

We love Japan because they produce cool animes, good Japanese dramas, horrifying ghost movies, amazing gadgets, and much more. Perhaps we should even try to bring this Japanese tradition into our schools and workplaces. Hey, it may even help get rid of belly fat faster.

Gosh, it has been some time since I last updated this blog. I was busy. That’s all the excuse I can give.  Would be nice to say, “Hey, I just came back from one of those nice long Outer Banks vacations!”. But unfortunately I can’t. I was busy with other things in my life.

However, I am glad to say that I have found a few job opportunities that require English speaking people. That is a good start. I have applied 4 jobs today. Will be checking the website for more jobs at least once a week from now on.

I really need to get my life together back - get a job, go for language classes, make new friends, be happy with myself.