This weekend much didn't happen at all, so there is very little to update on. The work was like usual, interesting but routine-like. I am still working on drawing new designs of characters for a mobile game. On top of that I keep designing new banner ads to promote new games, using Photoshop.
I went to Akihabra again, no surprises there, it's a place to go every weekend, because there's much to see there and a lot to wonder and find. But even Akihabara has become a bit dull for me now that I've spent countless hours walking its streets and shops, almost knowing them all like the back of my hand. At first it seemed like a huge place, but give it some time to explore for couple weekends and you notice Akihabara is very small, but compacted with hundreds of shops next to each other and on top of one another. So it is a big place, but not wide to be honest. This little disappoints me, because walking far and wide is what I like to do. Though Akihabara is not the only place that has a lot of Anime and electronics to sell. I may visit some other towns just as glorious as Akihabara.
A small cosplay event in Akihabara. I Managed to take a picture of these two guys dressing as Final Fantasy characters.
For the past couple weeks I have been eating almost nothing else but Curry rice, which is still my number one food in Japan. On top of this Ogawa-san showed us a nearby american restaurant serving steak drizzled in fat and barbeque sauce, very tasty but very expensive as well.
Last friday, I attended a SakuraHouse event. It was the Saint Patric's event, held 1 week earlier to its real celebration date. One Irish girl had also attended the party, and I had a chance to speak to her and learn a lot about England and Irland. She teached me many things, like did you know that Irland has its own language? It is a dying language according to the girl, but she spoke it to me, and I could not undestand a word she said, it was not english.
I also met some Japanese people. They could speak English, but nothing close to fluent, though anytime a Japanese person can speak any level of English, it amazes me. I spoke to them for hours, and I learned so much from them, it was a blast. At the end of the event, we learned that we had the same direction to home, so we sticked together and continued our conversation. We came to a point where both wanted to exchange contact information, so that we may keep in contact and meet in the future. We have already made plans to meet again for a sunny bike ride and perhaps a Geisha night show, if my workhours at the office allows me to do so.
I was having too much fun at the Saint Patric's event that I forgot to take pictures of it, so here's a random picture of nearby my house.
I have been spending most of my time learning more Japanese. Kanji has started to form nicely in to my head, making patterns of how to remember complex symbols easier. There is still a lot to learn, but I'm in no rush. I had a chance to speak to couple foreigners who are fluent in Japanese, and I asked them how did they tackle learning kanji. I learned few great tips from them which has significantly improved my understanding of kanji and how to learn them faster. One of the two who I spoke to claimed, that it is possible to learn all the common 2000 kanji within only 6 months. Now that I have tested his method for a week, I can confirm that there is truth to his words. If I continue using his method, I may very well be able read Japanese completely within the end of this year. After all, I already know around 200-300 kanji, so there is less for me to learn already. What excites me the most in learning Japanese, is the moment when I see a kanji I have just studied and thus I can read it. This happens all the time when reading manga in Japanese, or when walking the streets of Tokyo. Even at work I happen to see familiar Kanji which helps me to do my work. So studying Japanese has really been a great experience to me, something that no longer is a chore to me, but rather something I enjoy to do, even when it's hard to learn.
Now that I have spoken to Japanese people in their own language for a while now, I can finally give my full opinion on the language itself. Whoever says that Japanese is an easy language to learn is a liar. Learning japanese may be easy for some, but understanding it is a beast of its own. At first you might learn a word, but soon you realize that the word has multiple different meanings and way of spelling. There is so many exceptions in this language, that it even leaves Japanese people wondering the meaning, so they have to ask about it. For example: Shiritsu (しりつ) means both private and public, so when saying this, only by seeing the written word in kanji, they can understand which one you mean. This is very impracticle in my opinion, and I see no reason why there would not be own word for Public, rather than making it the same with its opposite word: Private. This is just one of the many examples. Only through speaking the language can you learn the exception words, which there are many.
A picture of my kanji study book's page, explaining a word for Float, which has 4 different ways to spell, all which you need to remember.
This is just one of the many Kanji you need to learn, and the more useless the word's meaning is the harder it is to keep in memory, but you still need the kanji to read other words that may use the same kanji with it.
Is learning Japanese worth the tremendous effort it takes and the countless hours of headache it gives from time to time - definitely yes! I would not see any reason for anyone not to learn this language. You don't need to like anime to find a reason to learn Japanese, there is much more to this country than just that, though being able to enjoy all the entertainment in Japanese is pretty amazing. There is an ocean of Anime and video games not available outside Japan. People with skill both in English and Japanese are wildly treasured here, becuase they can help companies to do business overseas. There are very few foreigners who can speak Japanese, and very few Japanese who can speak english. Due to this very reason, knowing both will make you successful no matter what you do here, someone is bound to take interest in your skill. But business is not the only reason to find Japanese language worth learning. The people open up a new world like no other. Japanese people are one of the most interesting people I have ever had the pleasure to talk to. Each one holds a unique story and interesting opinions over different matters, ones that makes you rethink many things that you were taught as a child. You can really learn a lot from Japanese people. The only challenge is to make them open up to you, for many don't like to speak their mind publicly.
But whether you decide to start learning Japanese is all up to, I don't judge. I just wanted to give couple reasons why I think it's worth learning this language. After all, there is never an excuse to not learn something new in life. Learning Japanese have made me understand how small my world was with only knowing Finnish and English. While English has made it possible for me to experience many great things in my life and meet and talk to many great people, I find the little Japanese I know now has already in such a short time build a bigger and more rich experience for me. If I didn't know any Japanese when I first came here, I would have missed out on so much, which I would have regret aftewards. Now that I have had the experience with the language that has given me all the reasons to keep learning Japanese, there is no doubt in my mind that I will speak this language fluently one day.