Arghhh didn't post again, although it looks like everyone else has been having trouble keeping up as well. It actually seems so long ago that I asked everyone to do this. I was thinking about this today, actually. Summer was such a completely different feeling than the school year, yet the two worlds are in the same place. When I'm in Simmons, Atherton, Jeff's room or Cavon's room, the HUB, or Redifer, I feel like I'm back in freshman year. When I'm in The Mix, near Pollock, or walking down College Ave, it feels like summer. The worlds overlap and with it come the associated sights, sounds, even smells which reawaken the associated feelings. It's very strange--in a very ambivalent manner, for I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing. I've noticed how this year is already developing its new ambiance.

Another thing I started noticing beginning last year is that I think I'm becoming a little dyslexic, particularly when I'm writing by hand. I'm mixing up letters a lot and it's very frustrating; only recently has it started to pop up in my typing. I've also found myself to be stuttering and falling over my words more in conversation.

There are two explanations for this:
1. There is something wrong that has either been affected by my lack of writing by hand/spending too much time on the computer or may even be physical/genetic which is resulting in a decline of mental processes.
2. My mind is actually becoming more speedy, and because I think faster than I can write, type, or speak, I can't keep up.

I don't like either, honestly, although of course the second one is much more preferable than the first. But it's seriously become noticeable enough to me at this point that I've seriously been wondering if it's the first. And it scares me. Even if it's an irrational fear, I'd still like to know where it's coming from. I've always prided myself specifically on my high-level reading and writing skills, and for that to be affected in any way is just a blow to that pride.

On a related note, one thing I've been wondering is how quickly I'm going to pick-up Japanese. One of the reasons I'm a fast reader and a fast language learner is that I am incredibly partial to visual learning. When I take tests, I'll try to imagine where the information was on the paper I studied, and I do well with memorizing charts. Because of this, I am able to read quickly (and I believe this is the case for all speed-readers) because I have memorized what the word looks like and immediately know what it means, without any thought. So in recognizing the words and seeing them together, I can string together the meaning with little effort. Knowing the English letters has helped me tremendously also in learning Spanish and Italian, and I think that's why I've flourished in them.

So that's part of the reason why I picked Japanese. It's something completely different, not just another Romance language I'll pick up quickly. I have to learn not only new letters (hiragana and katakana), but also kanji (borrowed characters from Chinese). I have to learn how to recognize all over again, and it will be a process. For example, I recognize each individual Hebrew letter, but the only words I could say I probably recognize are "Adonai" ("God"), "sh'ma" ("hear," the beginning of an extremely common prayer), and "ani" ("I"). Maybe others. But because of this, that's why I have to sound out each letter in order to pronounce a word. Granted, I don't really know any Hebrew vocabulary and that doesn't help, but that's what it's going to be with Japanese. I feel like it's going to take a long time before I have a handle on the letters and then words. This will take longer; it will be a challenge I will appreciate.

Lisa pointed out today that I'm clearly more interested in language than in film. Recently I've started to wonder if maybe I should explore those possibilities. Or maybe I could tie them together somehow? I don't know, we'll see.