Change of plans and Kpop news

          Today was the day I was supposed to be announcing my surprise but alas, life got in the way and I am jot done putting it together yet so it will have to be shifted to next month...2020 is definitely a ride. Instead let us do something that we have not done for a while, Kpop News.

          Yesterday was a bitter sweet day. EXO’s Chen (Kim Jongdae) enlisted into the military. We as EXO-Ls were worried that we would not get a photo like we got with the other boys but finally finally we got some. I was so happy to see that picture because we got to see two things: Chen’s beautiful smile surrounded by his brothers and Suho. Suho being the good leader and brother was there to see his brother off. I was so proud of him. I was sad that Kai was not there but he probably had a schedule that he couldn’t cancel and said his goodbyes previously. 

          It will be a year and six months before Jongdae is free and I hope by that time the haters would have moved on or calmed down or whatever so that our boy can live in peace. 

          Before he announced his enlistment Chen released a single which was so heartfelt and so beautiful but felt like a goodbye for now kind of song. Our feelings were confirmed when the next day his enlistment was announced. He suffered so much for doing something that normal human beings do everyday. I hope he has time to heal and that he is safe and happy when he comes back. 

This is the single cover:

Here is the song he released before enlisting:

And here are the beautiful pictures we got as teasers for this song:

He is so handsome in these photos. Chen has one of these faces that grow on you the more you see him and learn about his personality. 

Finally here are the pictures dropped to bid him goodbye for now. 

See you later Soldier Kim Jongdae. Stay safe and happy and remember we will wait for you until you come back.

Language Study Strategies - Summaries

           One of the things that help me retain the lessons that I take with my teachers is to summarize the lesson after it ends. Basically, I summarize the grammar points that we talked about and if there are any new words that I learned in that lesson, I define it. I find that it helps cement an idea or grammar point and helps me find points that I may be shakey on so that I can ask my teacher for clarification or research it on my own. 

          One of the things that help me do that is to have a template for lesson summaries that I can always use. This means that my notes are always neat and I can keep them in one place which helps me find them later. I started out with a predesigned template from www.etsy.com but then found that they just didn't give me enough room to do what I need so I came up with my own version. 

          My template is quite simple. I have a page with the title "new words" where I add the new words that came up in the lesson and after defining them I write my own sentences using these words. This helps me see how that word is used and also helps me memorize it.  I can add as many pages after that as I need. The next page is "summary of grammar points" and this is where I summarize the grammar points for that lesson and write sentences that show how these grammar points are used. Again I can add as much pages as I need to complete my task. The final page is a "questions" page. This is where I add questions that I need to ask my teacher and then record the answers they give. I also add any corrections to my own sentences that they provide. 

          This template also works with self study books and Udemy classes. If you don't have a teacher to ask then you can go onto applications like HelloTalk and iTalki and ask people on there to look at your sentences or ask any questions you may have. I sometimes use these applications anyway because I'll get answers from native speakers and look for the natural organic way of saying something. I hope this helps you with your studies, and if you do use this strategy please let me know about the results.

Switching off

           While I was doing my reading for my Celtic Scholar blog and my Korean reading I looked at all the books I had around me on the table and realized that it has been a long time since the last time I read a book just for pleasure. I'm not even sure how long it has been since I read a fiction book. So as part of my daily winding down routine I was going to read a fiction book for 15 - 30 minutes minimum. 

          I still have not mastered the part about reading every day but when I have been able to read my fiction book I've noticed how happy my brain was for getting a break. I realized that previously this was my way of relaxing and switching off my brain.  

          I also looked at my weekly study/work load and realized that there was no days off. I mean once in a while I would feel like my brain was not functioning and I would not do something on that day but I have no specific days off. I have decided that Friday and Saturday are going to be my off days. I'm going to watch movies/dramas, read and just veg out and switch off.

          I also have not picked up a brush in months...not since the beginning of the year I think and so I have also decided that on my days off I will be doing that if I am inspired. 

          Why all this you ask? Because I have not been feeling inspired or creative lately and I think this is because I just have not switched off my brain voluntarily and regularly since January of this year. Work has been kicking my ass and my studies have taken a lot of my time and I've had no me time in forever.

Switching off is important for creativity and for being able to go on with your life.

Monthly Update (September - October 2020)

           This month I did a 3 months goal refresh so I didn't do a monthly review because that goes into the 3 months goal refresh. This would be the first time I use the format I made for myself inspired by the power-sheets. 

It is pretty simple and contained all the important points and goals that I wanted to focus on in the next three months.

          The next thing I did was put together my cover page for October. I had an idea in my head but in the end it did not end up looking like I wanted it to look.

I should have printed October 2020 on a white paper and glued it to the cover page. It was just too busy to be simply written on. Eh...you live and learn.

          I put together my calendar for the month of October and it was really easy now that I had done it last month. But first let me show you what my September calendar looks like. The read lettering are all the things that I had achieved for that month.

And this is October's calendar.

          Monthly goals are next. I needed to go back to both my 3 months refresh and the goals from the month of September. As I working through my goals for September I had sticky notes added to that page to things that I wanted to do this month.

And this is the goals page for this month.

          My trackers are very important to me and so this is the page that comes next, I'm going to start with my tracker from last month.

And this is the tracker page for this month.

I think it looks better this month :-)