It is a lull in writing on this blog for reasons I don't know at the moment. I probably am just a little tired and finding that I have less time to self reflect and write. There have been a lot of things I have been thinking about but usually end up forgetting about them, that or I've just been too lazy to write.
I've found that I've become much less motivated to write. The reasons why are probably numerous. For a reason, I have started keeping more to myself as of late, meaning that I do much less communication and at the same time, I realize, I have also have started to lose my communication skills in tandem.
There aren't a whole lot of people I can communicate at the same level that I think at, with some of the language barrier here. There are still many cultural "in" things (like old TV shows or want not) that I don't get either. From time to time, I find myself the odd man out and have gotten used to it, so I usually don't mind finding my own ways of going about and enjoying myself. Usually, just walks or heading out to new places I've never been to on my own.
Anyways, when it seems I am ready to come back out to the world again, I will make my return. For a person that has usually seen myself as an extrovert, I am also finding plenty of peace spending time on my own.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Upgrades
I bought my computer last year and it's amazing how prices for hardware has dropped.
Last year, I spent about $260 for a 19" monitor. One of these monitors now costs about $130 in Japan. A 500 GB hard drive ran me about $80 last year and this year, I can get 1 TB for about $70.
It's amazing how quickly prices fall. It's ironic how quickly the price of computer hardware drops but yet there are incredible opportunities if this hardware could be put to good use. The average person out there doesn't even come close to making 50% continual utilization of their PC.
I've decided to buy 2, 1 TB hard drives and a TV tuner for my PC. I'll be using it to record Japanese TV shows for when I want to watch them. Going to be trying to improve my Japanese by watching some TV and finally getting myself immersed in the culture. I haven't owned or watched TV regularly for the past 5 years. I've gotten used to it... but it comes at a cost: I tend to be out of touch with the average joe over here.
I'm going to have to understand these people so I'm breaking down and going to try and watch some TV and see what happens.
Last year, I spent about $260 for a 19" monitor. One of these monitors now costs about $130 in Japan. A 500 GB hard drive ran me about $80 last year and this year, I can get 1 TB for about $70.
It's amazing how quickly prices fall. It's ironic how quickly the price of computer hardware drops but yet there are incredible opportunities if this hardware could be put to good use. The average person out there doesn't even come close to making 50% continual utilization of their PC.
I've decided to buy 2, 1 TB hard drives and a TV tuner for my PC. I'll be using it to record Japanese TV shows for when I want to watch them. Going to be trying to improve my Japanese by watching some TV and finally getting myself immersed in the culture. I haven't owned or watched TV regularly for the past 5 years. I've gotten used to it... but it comes at a cost: I tend to be out of touch with the average joe over here.
I'm going to have to understand these people so I'm breaking down and going to try and watch some TV and see what happens.
Dealing with People
One thing about being a foreigner dealing with locals is dealing with disagreements. Sometimes it seems like the cards are stacked against me sometimes, there is somewhat of a cultural difference and at the same time, I appear asian enough to understand the Japanese cultural norms. Then there is also sort of a language barrier, though I wouldn't call it a "barrier" in the normal sense, but my linguistic skills seem to be lacking for me to come off as someone with tact.
This is a source of a lot of recent frustration, leading me to be either annoyed or somewhat depressed when things don't go right.
One of those unfortunate things about language, is it is not nearly so important as what you say, but how you say it to garner the support of other people. There has been many a time when working with other people where i've been right but not persuasive enough to convince people that I am right in a diplomatic kind of way-- in the kind of way that they feel good about it.
It's damn trickly and somehow, I have lost patience when dealing with people. I used to be much better, but when things need to be done, I've hit the point where I don't want to waste time arguing with people and go off and do my own thing.
I think it's something that's developed after moving out and becoming more independent-- I've gotten used to having the freedom to doing my own thing... can especially be a problem if you've become good a becoming resourceful in the way that you don't need to rely on anyone else.
What results is that sometimes you can make the objectively right decisions, but still be politically wrong. Life can be a bitch that way, especially when a person like me operates on the belief that making the right logical decisions should be independent of the person. I've been right in many cases, but not politically correct and dealing with politics in a different language can be a pain... especially if you want to be good a diplomacy.
Nope, it's not one of those things I am good at and I've already stepped on a few toes. Working in a company is kind of different from doing work in a lab... the difference is that I've already proven my self once and its easier to earn the respect of peers in the same age range. Working in a company with much older people tends to be kind of tricky.
Sometimes, I think that this is possibly one of the reasons why not a whole lot of new, dissruptive technogies/business models are created with a group of older people... but I digress.
I need to get around this problem... I need to be better at expressing myself in Japanese. I still have a hell of a long way to go.
This is a source of a lot of recent frustration, leading me to be either annoyed or somewhat depressed when things don't go right.
One of those unfortunate things about language, is it is not nearly so important as what you say, but how you say it to garner the support of other people. There has been many a time when working with other people where i've been right but not persuasive enough to convince people that I am right in a diplomatic kind of way-- in the kind of way that they feel good about it.
It's damn trickly and somehow, I have lost patience when dealing with people. I used to be much better, but when things need to be done, I've hit the point where I don't want to waste time arguing with people and go off and do my own thing.
I think it's something that's developed after moving out and becoming more independent-- I've gotten used to having the freedom to doing my own thing... can especially be a problem if you've become good a becoming resourceful in the way that you don't need to rely on anyone else.
What results is that sometimes you can make the objectively right decisions, but still be politically wrong. Life can be a bitch that way, especially when a person like me operates on the belief that making the right logical decisions should be independent of the person. I've been right in many cases, but not politically correct and dealing with politics in a different language can be a pain... especially if you want to be good a diplomacy.
Nope, it's not one of those things I am good at and I've already stepped on a few toes. Working in a company is kind of different from doing work in a lab... the difference is that I've already proven my self once and its easier to earn the respect of peers in the same age range. Working in a company with much older people tends to be kind of tricky.
Sometimes, I think that this is possibly one of the reasons why not a whole lot of new, dissruptive technogies/business models are created with a group of older people... but I digress.
I need to get around this problem... I need to be better at expressing myself in Japanese. I still have a hell of a long way to go.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)