A New Attitude: Back to Studying Japanese

I've been home from Japan for about a week now, and I have been setting time aside to do some Japanese studying just about every day.  I returned to Anki with fresh, new decks since I unfortunately lost all of my old ones.

Right now, I'm flying through the N5 Vocab deck, and I'm working on the Jalup Beginner 1000 again.  I feel like I should be way further along than this, but I don't mind having a refresher after not having a chance to actually "study" for a few months.  I will say, however, that my listening ability improved quite a bit while I was in Japan, and it's especially noticeable when I'm listening to music.

Anyway, what's new about my attitude this time, you ask?  This is going to sound crazy, but previous times that I've studied Japanese, I was so dedicated that I would study for 3-4 hours a day and eventually burn out.  I wouldn't give myself days off, and my Anki reviews were "everything."

So... my attitude is much more relaxed now.  I'll study on the days that I can, and yes, I know this can be a dangerous mindset, but if I'm too serious, I'll burn out and quit again.  It'll work out alright, and now I have friends that are motivating me to study Japanese more.

But for now, I want to study and not write this post.

See ya!

Adam
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Nearing the End

I can't believe I only have 9 days left with all of Group 6... It's been an amazing summer, and being separated from them during my last week in Japan is seriously going to bum me out. 

We still have a few nights off, another USA Summer Camp session, and a short trip to Kyoto planned before we break apart for a week. 

So, to my team, in order of appearance from right to left...

Ahmed... You're a great guy, and you're crazy around the kids. Keep up the good work at our last camp together! And I'm glad your feet healed up well.

Phoua... You're extremely nice to everyone, and I never took your kindness for granted. You work well with the campers, and they seemed to love doing camp skit with you at the camp we just finished. 

Kao... We're going to have a blast in Gifu, but it's going to be odd not being surrounded by the rest of Squid Squad while we're there. Here's to the last week of the trip!

Hope... You're just awesome! You're easy to talk to and are always approachable, so thanks for being such a strong asset to the team. And I love your symbolism, by the way. 

Amanda, Amanda, Amanda... Thanks for putting up with me through all of these camps and for all of the camp drama. You're seriously one of the coolest girls I've ever met, but that wasn't a surprise since Emilie told me that you're awesome before this trip even started. 

Adam... Okay, maybe I should skip myself...

Sam... I seriously couldn't have imagined Group 6 without you on it. You're one of the coolest guys that I can call my friend, and I'm going to miss you a ton after this trip is done. Maybe we'll have to have a few drinks...or a lot of drinks in Oshkosh or La Crosse sometime!

And to everyone... You made this summer the best one I've ever had. Yes, I loved being in Japan last summer, and there's no replacing my original team, but I at least have two teams to see when I go home in a couple weeks now.

But for now, let's enjoy the time we have together and make our final camp the best one yet.

Squid Squad!

Adam

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