This time of transition seems like it will persist for awhile. I'm focused on finding new ways to improve my skills in hearing and reading Mandarin and Cantonese.
It's hard for me to book-study at a desk... keeping wanting to get up and do things. Best technique is for me to get outside and sit for an hour or two. Favored places are out of traffic and wind, where I can smoke a pipe, look off into space as I mentally process a new item. We're coming into the rainy season in San Francisco, and that removes some of the predictability of an outdoors schedule. I'll be going into Golden Gate Park after writing this, and have a few good places picked out. Still need to find some comfortable bars South of Market where I can go after a short day at the office. Because of all this, I don't think I'll be on a predictable book-study schedule for a few months.
My iPod Nano hasn't wanted to start up since I got back from the PRC in November. Ended up using an old iRiver U10 that I had in a gadget box. The buttons are a little more fiddly, and I haven't figured out its playlist format yet. I'm glad to be getting out of the Apple walled-garden... my last iPod/Mac combo had about 80 gigs of accordion music (with both drives now inaccessible), and the most recent Nano/Mac combo rotated in scads of language-learning CDs. Once I digitize something I don't want to be locked into one brand of device.
I walk/commute about two hours a day, 20-25 miles a week, with partial-attention given to courseware, repeating and anticipating aloud when traffic permits. At my home desk there's often a Mandarin or Cantonese movie or show on. I always carry a leather wallet of flashcards, and there's usually at least one book in my bag. Wherever I can sneak in a few moments of attention, I do.
Progress seems slow without those steady benchmarks of chapter after chapter. I'm consciously retrenching in my study materials, trying to consolidate areas I explored over the last year... it's not the most encouraging feeling to say "oh yeah! I forgot that", but that's the goal... work that existing material, get a better foundation.
For manipulation I'm enjoying the cane each day, and juggling more types of rope at home... have also picked up some materials on manipulation of playing cards, a longtime hobby.
The ropes I work with usually have a small weight at each end... favorite is a small silk bag with a few spoonfuls of sand or a dozen coins or so. The most common lengths are armpit-height, full height, and height-and-a-half (like a 9' jumprope). It's very difficult to describe the curves and momentum shifts of rope-juggling in words. A tethered projectile will want to proceed indefinitely in its direction of movement, and the whirling system accumulates forces put upon it. A lot of the interesting stuff is in letting the rope wrap around the body before using the muscles of the trunk to unwrap it in a new direction, unleashing all the stored kinetic energy of the rope's wrap and the body's twist. The rope can be slid between the hands to shorten and lengthen the circles, which can also have surprising interactions with direction and velocity. The more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn.
No firm travel plans, although I'm interested in Yunnan and the southwest, and am still very curious about Xiamen, Piano Island, and the coast. The place I think most about is Hong Kong.
It's hard for me to book-study at a desk... keeping wanting to get up and do things. Best technique is for me to get outside and sit for an hour or two. Favored places are out of traffic and wind, where I can smoke a pipe, look off into space as I mentally process a new item. We're coming into the rainy season in San Francisco, and that removes some of the predictability of an outdoors schedule. I'll be going into Golden Gate Park after writing this, and have a few good places picked out. Still need to find some comfortable bars South of Market where I can go after a short day at the office. Because of all this, I don't think I'll be on a predictable book-study schedule for a few months.
My iPod Nano hasn't wanted to start up since I got back from the PRC in November. Ended up using an old iRiver U10 that I had in a gadget box. The buttons are a little more fiddly, and I haven't figured out its playlist format yet. I'm glad to be getting out of the Apple walled-garden... my last iPod/Mac combo had about 80 gigs of accordion music (with both drives now inaccessible), and the most recent Nano/Mac combo rotated in scads of language-learning CDs. Once I digitize something I don't want to be locked into one brand of device.
I walk/commute about two hours a day, 20-25 miles a week, with partial-attention given to courseware, repeating and anticipating aloud when traffic permits. At my home desk there's often a Mandarin or Cantonese movie or show on. I always carry a leather wallet of flashcards, and there's usually at least one book in my bag. Wherever I can sneak in a few moments of attention, I do.
Progress seems slow without those steady benchmarks of chapter after chapter. I'm consciously retrenching in my study materials, trying to consolidate areas I explored over the last year... it's not the most encouraging feeling to say "oh yeah! I forgot that", but that's the goal... work that existing material, get a better foundation.
For manipulation I'm enjoying the cane each day, and juggling more types of rope at home... have also picked up some materials on manipulation of playing cards, a longtime hobby.
The ropes I work with usually have a small weight at each end... favorite is a small silk bag with a few spoonfuls of sand or a dozen coins or so. The most common lengths are armpit-height, full height, and height-and-a-half (like a 9' jumprope). It's very difficult to describe the curves and momentum shifts of rope-juggling in words. A tethered projectile will want to proceed indefinitely in its direction of movement, and the whirling system accumulates forces put upon it. A lot of the interesting stuff is in letting the rope wrap around the body before using the muscles of the trunk to unwrap it in a new direction, unleashing all the stored kinetic energy of the rope's wrap and the body's twist. The rope can be slid between the hands to shorten and lengthen the circles, which can also have surprising interactions with direction and velocity. The more I learn, the more I realize there is to learn.
No firm travel plans, although I'm interested in Yunnan and the southwest, and am still very curious about Xiamen, Piano Island, and the coast. The place I think most about is Hong Kong.
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