Three months beginner's class finished last Friday. Regardless of fluency or literacy, one of the greatest achievement from this term is that I marked only one day absence (make-up class was offered, fortunately) and that I did not skip any home assignment. Such a good student! :-D



Simplified Chinese characters should still come with pinyin typeface to pronounce properly. Simple greetings, basic grammars, and pronunciation with proper toning are at my fingertips. The entire course plan guides me to three more terms (consecutive nine months, too long journey though) to get ready for minimal daily conversation. In other words, I can say, "I just started three months ago. I just got involved as a novice."



I did not put my name on the next term roster to have a kind of break. So many affairs challenging, compelling, obligatory from office to home are awaiting me these days. Furthermore, my brain is inundated with enormous amount of vocabularies from English, Amharic, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. (mother tongue also needs some improvement this moment)

It's high time for me to sink heat on my CPU. I have to forget what I had learned so far to recollect them some day even though this strategy may be adverse to the principle of forgetting curve by Hermann Ebbinghaus. Or, my brain will become walking explosive. :-D

Let me summarize what I have done in 2008 to reflect what I have done well or wrongly, expect this year's outcome based on this reflection, and feed myself back toward additional and continual challenges which I will devote myself to this year. I might miss several events or happening to put on this post, though. I don't care because here is blog space where I can show whatever as they are. Let me make up those missing items next time or mention them in connection with future 2009's blog posts!

Well done

Japanese learning: I completed six months beginner's dialog courses beginning Japanese character writing in Hiragana and Katakana. I marked attendance ratio by 100%. Monthly step wise test scores marked high (sometimes great!) enough for me to move on to the next grade. I failed in accomplishing seventh class owing to yearend drinking session and personal affairs. However, I came to know how and what to study next. I've just got back from Japanese Chinese character lecture (Kanji). Good student, Hyok!

Blogging: Settlement in nexcess.net March enabled stable operations in running Movable Type with satisfactory quality of service that I wanted from a web hosting service. I got accustomed to manipulating movable type at my disposal. Apart from technical attainment for blogging, I posted 80 articles on this blog with topics ranging from blogging, voluntary services, donations, almanac to trace back important events in the future, meditations, and so on. In sum, stability made me concentrate on article contents itself without time consuming relocation from one hosting service to the others.

Office affairs: Insight, logical thinking, how to make a decision, how to assist manager's decision as a reporter; these are what I attained and got to understand as a company employee as well as a quality assurance engineer in practice not in theory. I will not leave more about this matter because disclosing details on what I have done 2008 at office can be violation of information security guideline at Siemens :-) Anyway, well done, too!

Friendship: There was no dramatic advance in the number of friends that I kept in touch with. My mobile phone now holds nearly 150 phone numbers with around 30 frequent contacts. Adding, modifying, and deleting contact information all through 2008 finally ended with that figure showing the same status in 2007. We say, "Making a foe is easy, however, keeping friendship is far more difficult." In this regard, I succeeded in doing so at the high expense of drinking day time after trekking and night time after work! :-)

Failure, undone, and/or done wrongly

Exams and tests: I marked worst grades and lower points in tests and examinations than I expected while preparation. I have nothing to excuse about the result though I have something. Let me take them as they were. Test is a glass clear transparent to all takers at test date; whoever got a good luck in marking only correct answers from random picking, whoever outperformed without in-depth preparation, whoever suffered from lower health condition even with fullest knowledge, and whoever.

Book keeping: Beginning 2008, one of my resolutions was to keep a book to make cash flows visible and tangible. However, I DID NOT (not "could not") with two excuses; one was because I was lazy (a little understandable) and other was because I could not find appropriate electronic double entry booking application (nerdy am I). GNU cash is now available at my hand. It's clear what I have to do in 2009.

Diary keeping: It's also from my laziness. The last diary article appeared at September 16. I have nothing more to say about this.

Roadmap establishment: Regardless of this summary of 2008, this is never ending task while I am alive. At this moment, I have no direction to approach, no clear picture about who I am and what I have (not financial meaning but potential standpoint), and no roadmap toward my future life as a result. The roadmap that I had established upon university entry made me who I was as of 2002 when I joined Siemens whereas there had been so many successes and failures altogether against short term plans in the middle of chasing the clear ward. Who I am and what I have now are, of course, dramatically far from what I had imagined. Nevertheless, that roadmap always played a critical role and mirror in spurring me whenever I became lazy and gauging whether I was deviated from proper track or not. What shall I have to follow this year? :-(

One frame presented upon my return from Ethiopia hung on a wall for a long time. The frame was made from coarse materials showing Ethiopian lady performing coffee ceremony in front of incense pottery. Long time eroded it day by day; several characters attached on it fell down already. The color of photo has faded with the passing of time. The value priced in money is very low. However, it's unmovable evidence that I had been to Ethiopia and I got invaluable experience from there. Today, I made up my mind to put it in a safe place to protect it from damage.

I could realize that too many souvenirs took much space at home. They were from largely Japan, Ethiopia, USA, and other places I visited or friends did. Re-arranging them into appropriate slots took nearly all day. I could recollect beautiful memory linking a souvenir and whoever gave it to me. Fullest smile stayed with me all through the arrangement. What a virtue of travel and staying overseas!

Life is, I think, the trace of facing something bad, good, wrong, or whatever in series or parallel day by day. Today, my fault made something spoiled in vain. I could expect difficulties in accomplishing it, however, never imagined the failure I faced in the morning. Pretending as if I were calm all through today, I revisited the point where critical fault in decision making happened one month ago. I came to admit my fault logically for sure. As clear as glass!

To be fair, I've got a message from a Japanese friend, saying that he was on business in Seoul, after a long interval since the last meeting a year ago. He is about to return back to Japan tomorrow. I just dropped reply with all my heart because I had an appointment tonight. Then, I've got a call from a friend, high school alumni, saying good news that he attained a supply contract with one of major information service providers in Korea. It was in six months that I received a call from him!

One bad thing and two pieces of good news balanced one another. This is life :)

The second term of elementary Japanese class finished with quiz. Unlike someone sensitive and talented in language acquisition, I used to pour more amount time. Diligence would make up deficiency to review, practice, memorize, and repeat what I had learned from class. However, underlying limit in time allocation for language learning keeps me behind of class pace nowadays. Quiz score confirms my justification. I am still confused with pronouns, suffixes, and conjugation that are core elements to boost minimal communication. I will change learning pattern decisively and immediately!

The first month of elementary Japanese class duly has gone tonight! Hiragana and Katakana made me nearly crazy beginning the class. As of today, the class covered character sets, numbers with their derivations-another crazy part, calendar, and basic declarative sentences with nouns and pronouns. Quiz for the last day reminded me of weakness and strength. Identified weakness, in other words, what I could not complete this month, was volatile remembrance in numbers and calendar. Here below is scanned copy of tonight's quiz. You can look up question and answer details by clicking each shots. Done it, but... need more improvement. I am happy with advance by one step. Next step will go forward from November 6!

Something that we can not speak about is what we can not understand! One of purposes to learn a certain language would be to understand culture from it. I started to attend Japanese class starting this month. Reading characters is under control. New era is now in front of me. Even though I can not understand respective sentences that I can read (pronounce), I get ready to study more thereafter. Figuring out the meaning of sentences that I can not understand by looking up dictionary became pieces of joy in daily life. However, it's still difficult for me :) むずかしい　にほんご

Undergraduate school days (especially, for sophomore) were full of taking challenge and striving against it. Getting up early in the morning shaped daily lifestyle as a part of that challenge. I managed to make it a rule to start a day with fresh air. During the fall as well as winter season in Korea, early start is to break darkness at 6:00 or even at 7:00 sometimes. In other words, I faced dark mornings nearly one third days of a year! Since graduation, then, all through up to now, laziness could be overlooked with the excuse that I am a salary person competing intensively every day and night! I allotted free time slots only for sleeping. :) The photo below was taken near a depot when I waited for the first bus to catch up Japanese class scheduled to start from 6:45. I could feel the same that I had felt at that time! Can I return back to that time?

• Summit in Pyongyang between Roh and Kim (평양 남북 정상 회담)
• Lee Seung-Yeop hit the 30th home run this season; Yomiuri Giants got the first rank in Japan's Central League. (요미우리 자이언츠 이승엽 시즌 30호 홈런; 팀은 센트럴리그 1위)

I never dreamed that I would restart to learn Japanese! When I got C+ grade point from elementary Japanese course in University, I could say good-bye to Japanese without any hesitation. No further consideration changed my mind because C+ grade point meant complete failure that I had no potential to make up that subject. However, a certain necessity has arisen to lead me to book store to pick Japanese text book as shown. Fluency in Japanese became inevitable challenge in my life. Japanese IME installation completed today. I will be able to put Hiragana on computer system with ease, hopefully, sooner or later.

Churaumi aquarium keeping the world biggest water tank made me totally excited viewing whale shark seven meters long in front of my eyes! Spectacular views from so many species attracted me all through staying there.

We drove to northmost point of Okinawa. On the way reaching there, visiting local markets and looking around seaside gave me another fun, an experience of nearly untouched community from industrialized or westernized Japanese society.

Yes, I had half day to return back to Korea! The last night only with my friend was complete full of awamori.

Photo set

Shurijo castle? Chinese style castle in Japan!

Historical fact shows that Ryukyu Kingdom centered in this castle lasted over 500 years independent from main land regime, maybe, due to geographical separation. You can imagine it from world wide map, if available. Trade over Asian region and diplomatic practices with China played a great role in forming Ryukyu culture. Imported Thailand rice gave birth to awamori distilled from it. Ryukyu dance reflects inferiority in relation with China.

Sefa Utaki, the sacred place believed to be created by goddess of Okinawa, had a view point toward Kudaka island also sacred. There was nothing in particular for me except triangular shaped stone tunnel naturally (I am not sure) eroded. The whole area is a world heritage.

The third visit place, theme park for cultural experience, was just so so. We returned back to Nago a little earlier; We dove into awamori pool earlier, too. Another ex-JOCVs joined dinner with us.

Photo set

June 28, I swore that I would complete full verision of travel itinerary in Okinawa. Hmm... It is nearly five months since my escape from awamori swimming pool. :) At last, let me sketch something Okinawan starting this scratching.

Upon the pick up by Japanese friend, we visited the Former Japanese Navy Underground Headquarters located in southern part of main land. One of ruins during world war II, but well preserved, showed just tragedy that post war generation including me can and/or may not understand. After a short go-around, we moved to peace memorial museum. (For more information, refer to brochure)

It was a museum keeping typical items, such as miniatures of war fields, photos of war veterans, documentaries of war in live, and so on. However, my intention was to visit memorial stones located along the seashore, in front of it. Names of war victims including around 90 Korean were inscribed to propitiate their souls. God bless all of them!

Facing awamori at dinner was a peculiar experience in drinking life. High rate alcohol volume like whiskey made me drunken but feeling high spirit. Another delight was drinking over fresh seafood with ex-JOCVs in Okinawa!

Photo set

During my stay in Ethiopia as Korea Overseas Volunteer, we KOV and Japan Overseas Cooperative Volunteer (JOCV) members had a regular sports event apart from daily and private friendship exchange in their duty stations. Staffs from Embassies and regional offices were also welcomed. We approached one another by playing bowling and softball game. However, I have no more contact with them upon my return to Korea. Maybe, others, either. :( I wonder what they are doing in Korea, in Japan, or overseas where they live.

Photo set here

2,500 yen per one night! This rate can go down to 1,300 yen for over eight nights. Nago city government offers accomodation at Nago International House in promotion of international friendship exchange. The House is located near coral beach as shown below.

Red colored building on the roof is main facility in which office and Japanese/western style halls are located. The building on the right side is lodging house. Reaching coral beach requires only 20 second walk! Unfortunately, it seems that information on Nago International House across the world wide web is extremely limited as shown from google search result as of May 23 :)

For more information, you can get English version of leaflet and guest guide.