A new reality?

So I set my fb settings to Spanish - mostly interesting and good mini immersion, except the “translate this post” now translates things into Spanish lol.  Theoretically more practice but mostly really just shows how much I still have to learn *sigh*.  And also, it now takes real commitment to translate posts in other languages - at very least cut and paste into google translate.  First world problems :)

Also, I bought myself an Oculus Quest, which I’ve been wanting since well before it was available for purchase *g*.   It’s one of the first wireless VR systems and I am having so much fun.  Lol first sad thing - the vr living room is much nicer than mine.  Ah well.  Also - with the lens correction I can almost completely undo the double vision I live with all the time - so my vision in VR is also better than in reality.   Sheesh

It does require more space than we technically have in the house, which is awkward, but am making it work.   

I managed to get 10k steps without leaving my tiny living room lol - amazing.   Although Sasha gets very concerned when I’m playing - really doesn’t understand what’s going on and wants to either join in or help.

Also moderately entertaining watching C play Beat Saber lol - I’m sure I look absolutely ridiculous myself.  Esp since I discovered you get more points for bigger motion.   But I was always the kid who lifted or turned the controller with the motion, so really I was clearly just ahead of my time.   I’ve also never spent so many hours consecutively playing video games in my life.

Can’t claim it was a productive day - in fact decidedly the opposite of, but I was highly entertained :)

If time flies when you’re having fun, what does it mean when it goes backwards?

So my days are always back to back meetings. It’s very rare I have dedicated work time, since mostly my job is herding cats and solving other people’s problems and I need to talk to them to do that. Other than an introvert’s exhaustion at the end of each day, this I’m totally used to and completely fine with. 

So explain to me why today, when my 11:30 meeting ended 10 mins early I thought, sincerely and completely, “oh good, I have 10 minutes to prep before my 3:00”. Ummmm wtf? I genuinely thought it was day-end. And totally stunned and confused that it’s actually only lunch time. Lol. On the plus side - I have all kinds of time to prep for said meeting (I really only need about 15 min and I can steal that between now and then) but the time reality gap is a little bit hard to take. Yikes!

Ah well - I got to live two days today ;)

Unexpected results

So I've been doing the exercise program Transform 20.   And mostly using it to make sure I get something that resembles exercise, not because I felt it was getting any actual results (it's only 20 mins / day and uses only body weight, so my expectations aren't high).  I'm in the middle of the 4th week and felt I was getting about the results I expected.  lol.  I know the scale isn't moving, and I haven't got to the second measuring day yet so not sure there.  But we'll see.

Anyways -- today I just didn't have it in me.   I don't really enjoy the 20 routines -- they're not horrible, and the 20 mins goes fast, but just meh.   And today I just really didn't want to.   So I decided to do Core de Force Shred 2.0.   And here, I discovered that Transform 20 really is getting results.   I had an *amazing* workout and was faster and stronger in all the moves than I've been previously (2.0s of Speed and Shred are go-to workouts for me when I want to burn off steam -- lots of punching and kicking ;).   So yeah - I'm going to be super sore tomorrow, but so very please with what I just did :)

What was I thinking?

Had a great Spanish lesson last night, and homework this week doesn't look insane (seems to be an every-other-week thing, one week reasonable, next week crazy).   And I made the mistake of taking a nap after work today, which means I'll be up for hours (loving today but already dreading tomorrow!).    So brilliant me decides "hey, why not try to translate an old Flash into Spanish."   Right.  I see no possible flaw in this situation.

So I pick one that is A - short, and B - not particularly descriptive (my vocabulary is still pretty sad).  Trying to be realistic here...

And, because I wanted to see what I could actually do -- I set rules.   Google translate only for mandatory vocabulary that I couldn't think of a substitute for (eg, no cheating and dropping whole sentences in) -- AND I would write out those words so I have them for later (this is standard practice for me).   BUT - I could use whatever text books, homework, or internet *teaching* resources required to look up how to do something as necessary.

Right - so story is written mostly in past tense -- no problem.  First sentence, good to go.  Win.

Should've quit while I was ahead...

But wait.  Spanish has two past tenses (that's a lie, but I'm simplifying here).  Two that were required by my second sentence.   And in theory, I know them both.  If you ask me to conjugate a word in either, I can do so.  Maybe iffy on some of the irregulars, but the general concept is there.   I even theoretically know when to use each one.  Theoretically.  Turns out the reality is pretty vague *sigh*. And while my CR teacher actually got the concept through my little brain, it's not in there solidly enough to make executive decisions *g*.   And not allowed to cheat with google.  So I guessed.  And in at least one case, I used the same word / situation twice, so I guessed the other way just to be sure I was right at least once.  Lol.  Right.

Then there's a tense for I "would do X" - not really sure what it's called or what it would be in English, but at least it's pretty consistent.   So filled in a few of those.

And future is easy.  Very easy.

So done right?

Oh no.   Cause just to make life exciting, Spanish has the subjunctive.  Yeah - that's about as fun as it sounds.  Essentially anything opinion / emotion / non-fact based uses a whole nother tense.  So all those previously learned future, present, past 1, past 2 skills?  Yup - only cover a portion of situations.  Frig.   And this one I've had only the vaguest exposure to -- as in I know some key trigger words that mean you should use it ("I think that..." the next verb will probably need it) and how to form it in present and one of the pasts.   And that's it.  So frig.   Needed both google and text book to guess when I should perhaps use that and remind me how exactly to make it happen.

Sheesh.

So yeah - my easy challenge?   Took almost 3h to translate 7 paragraphs.  And yes, I'm stubborn enough that I was determined to make it through.  And my brain is so spun now, I basically sent it to my teacher with a "I don't know what just happened, can you help?" lol.  We'll see if I get a response ;).  It wasn't actual homework and is definitely out of the realm of appropriate level (the class I'm in hasn't learned any subjunctive yet) so she doesn't deserve to have to correct the disaster it likely is.   But I suspect she'll be more amused than anything, so we'll see.

Choose your own adventure TV?

So I was more amused than I expected to be by today's discovery.

I was looking for background noise on Netflix while trying to assemble some Ikea furniture.  I found "You vs Wild" and didn't really thing anything of the title.  It features Bear the survival guy who I've seen on various other background noise shows in the past.  Sure why not.

So I turn it on and away I go.  But wait!   It's not *just* background noise.  In fact, it requires at least slight attention because it's interactive?!?!  

Lol it goes for a little bit and then you get a choice -- the first is something like "I have space for one more item in my pack, do I bring my grappling hook or my sling shot?" and you use your remote to pick which one you want.   Your choice will definitely have future repercussions.  For instance: at one point I got a snarky "well if I had my sling shot I could..." lol.   And at another he definitely got food poisoning a few choices after I had him eat something he really shouldn't have.

Yes it's certainly very simplistic, but I was amused and it kept my attention for a couple episodes at least.   I admit I will probably watch more later.  Frustrating though, if you pick wrong, you have to redo the whole episode from the beginning -- you can't just redo the last choice.  And my ridiculous TV only fast forwards 10 seconds at a time, so this quickly became very frustrating.    The first episode I flew through, no issues.  So I actually figured every choice was acceptable and it just changed how the story went.   But no.  In episode two I made a few choices that resulted in "I'm going to have to call my rescue team now.  The mission is aborted." and then you have to restart from the beginning :( 

On the one hand, it's very hard to take seriously -- I'm sorry, you're in this situation and you want *my* opinion on how to survive?   Dude - I haven't so much as set up a tent in more than 20 yrs.  On the other hand at times I want very much to pick the "right" solution and get him through safely to finish the mission.   But then there's the devil on my shoulder who asks "well what *would* happen if you tried to swim under a crocodile?"  lol.  These are important questions I never knew I needed answered.   Spoiler alert - it seems you cannot kill off poor Bear in his own series.   The worst you can do is put him in a situation where he has to call for air extraction ;).  But if you're bored, it's a moderately amusing way to kill some time.  Not quite TV, not quite a game...   Somewhere in-between.

Exercise would be so much more rewarding if the calories screamed as you burned them

A completely miscellaneous post of random things.   Consider yourself forewarned ;)

I've started a new exercise program -- to be honest, it's entirely an act of desperation to get me moving again.   Transform 20.  20 minutes a day for 6 weeks.  It involves a step -- which I didn't have on the first day.  Didn't think it'd make all that much a difference but I was wrong.  So very wrong.  The step exponentially increases the difficulty.   Lol other than that first day, I've yet to make it through the whole 20 minutes, but honestly it's nothing compared to some of the other programs.  Partially because it's only 20 mins, and partially because there's only bodyweight exercises.

80 Day Obsession has gotten me the best results, and I was tempted to go that route.  But I've never made it more than 20 days into it because the woman leading it drives me insane *sigh*.  It is also an hour each day, and at the moment I just don't have that in me.  Mostly cause if I don't work out before work, I won't do it at all.  And I'm not getting up that far ahead of time.   Mornings and I are not meant to be...

In other exercise news:

My dragon medal arrived this week -- it was surprisingly good quality.  Quite pleased :)

I'm really enjoying my Spanish lessons.   We get homework each week -- usually it's a few exercises in the textbook and away we go.  Listening exercises - which were the bane of my childhood experiences with French -- are my new favourite.  They literally tell you the answers!  lol.  But then last week, we had "write a biography of a famous Spanish person."  Uh - that's a bit of a jump...   Okay, so...  I want famous for something other than being famous (so no actors, singers, youtube stars, etc) -- and preferably female.  That combination cut out...  Almost everybody?!?!   Especially when I deemed that "royalty" fell in the famous for being famous category unless they actually did something with it.

My search was further limited by the fact that I was searching in English.  Lol - yes, I realize it would be a better learning experience to research in Spanish, and likely open up the range of people who meet my self-imposed categories, but...  I only have a week between classes and I really didn't want to spend my every waking moment on a homework assignment.  So, English research.   But I did find one -- "The Lieutenant Nun" lol - not so much famous, but at least lived an interesting life.   One that had to be significantly simplified to fit into my vocabulary capabilities *g*.  I was reasonably pleased with the results though and it went over well in class, so deeming that a win.   And for comparison, from my classmates we had a drug king pin, a celebrity chef, and a painter.  It made for an interesting homework review.

Also - we got our syllabus for the next several months.  Which A - is way more detailed than I was expecting, and B - there are 4 exams?!?!  I'm pretty sure that was not mentioned when I signed up for this ;).    Oh - and a pass is 75%?!?  Lol it may be time to go back to self learning ;-P.  But yeah - the classes are good, and I'm really enjoying them.

And yes I'm still reading Harry Potter -- I'm on all of chapter 4.  Poco a poco...

The Dragon Within

So I did my dragon race yesterday. My dragon within was horribly, painfully slow.  lol ah well.  At least it's done.  I have to admit the individual race idea feels a whole lot like just randomly buying medals *sigh* but it did get me off the couch to run 5k - which likely would’ve been a short stroll without the motivation, so deeming that a win. Also supports Alzheimer’s research which, well, I’d really appreciate it if someone smarter than I could solve that challenge sooner than later so happy to support. AND I’m going to get a dragon medal - so really, going to deem that a win ;)

Adult language learning

So the other day Harry Potter taught me that “shhhhh” in Spanish is .  Lol this amused me more than it should’ve.  And ajá = aha!  lol - the vocabulary you don't learn in the textbook.  Also, it’s taken me a week to get through one chapter.  Yikes!  For something actually painful, I am enjoying it more than I'd expected.  Everything I've been reading to date has been learner-focused, so very careful to use limited vocabulary and simplified grammar.  This is just a story, so I feel the grammar is a lot more natural and while this makes it more challenging (a WEEK for ONE chapter) I think it'll be helpful in the long run.  There's a lot of googling to get through a chapter; I'm pleased any time there's a full sentence that I truly understand.  Often I can get through a few paragraphs where I understand concept if not literally every word.  But then I'll hit something that I have absolutely no idea what is going on.  Lol

Last week I had my first Spanish class (well, first in Canada) -- my teacher is from Madrid (like arrived in Canada 2 wks ago) and I'm quite pleased both with her and the level of the class.  It's the right degree of challenge and I feel like I'm in the middle of the group capability wise, so all good.  It's a B1 class, so pretty pleased at that; I'm pretty proud to have made it there.  And follows Cervantes which is the same methodology that the school in Costa Rica followed which is cool.  Very conversational practice focused which is, of course, exactly what I need.  Textbooks, aps, and google can teach me grammar and vocabulary, but conversation really requires live people ;)

None of my classmates have pets though?!?  What kind of group have I landed in?!?   Lol not quite as good a fit personality-wise as the CR class was, but sobeit.  

Still not quite sure why I'm doing this, other than that it amuses me.  I like that it requires 100% of my concentration so challenges at work and life just stop because I can't give them attention while I'm learning.  My own form of meditation ;).  Lol ah well.  I also finish class feeling much like I do after a serious workout -- slightly stunned and slightly high.  Lol I have previously written about some of the random exercise adventures I've undertaken, but this one is entirely of the mental exercise variety.  Now, if only it got the same benefits as cardio ;)

Just when I think I’m getting somewhere...

Harry Potter was first released when my cousin was little and just learning to read.  I remember being at the cottage listening while his mom would have him read a page - as slowly and painfully as young children learning to read do - and then she would read a few pages to progress the story and give him a bit of a break.  Together over the summer they worked through the novel and gradually his reading improved.

So now I’m trying to read it in Spanish and wow is it ever just as painful.   Lol and while I don’t need an adult to read to me - cause let’s me honest, I’d understand even less if it were being spoken - I’d really appreciate at this moment to have a page in Spanish followed by 2 or 3 in English ;)

I’m just hanging on to the hope that my vocabulary and grasp of miscellaneous grammar that I'm not familiar with yet improves (eg it took me the longest time to figure out that pensándolo (and other 'olo' endings) = lo pensando.  The added accent completely threw me off.  And google couldn't even help with that one *sigh*)

To that end - I’ve signed up for actual, traditional, complete w text-book lessons :).  Lol it was rather serendipitous actually - the day I got home from CR, there was a fb ad for a local Spanish school having an open house for registration for spring lessons.   When I had called them last year they had no adult lessons at a time I could attend, but I figured I’d drop by and see.  Had interview / impromptu language placement test and turns out they have a class at pretty much exactly my level (they’re apparently slightly ahead in speaking, slightly behind in grammar) that starts next week at a time I can attend.  Win!   AND they use the same program as the school in CR (not certified yet but said they’re working toward it, but using the same resources and methods).  So yeah - all things came together and I’m pretty excited about it :)

A day of dramatic contrasts

So I’m sitting in the bank - which you go through an enclosed metal detector to get in, to get my exit visa. Lines in CR have chairs - as the person in front goes up, everybody moves over one chair, or up a row. Lol.
We’ll see - the security guard seemed to understand what I was after and pointed me to this line, so fingers crossed ;)
Last class this am was mostly conversational. It’s tradition here for students to give a speech to the school on their last day. Over the years I’ve trained myself to be a reasonably good public speaker, but let me tell you, switch languages and that all goes out the window. Lol I was very definitely reading from my paper with little to no inflection *sigh*. Ah well - they’re definitely used to that and I wasn’t the only one on my last day.
Chair line is moving quickly - I’m in the front row (of 2) already. Which is good cause I’m supposed to meet friends in 15 mins and since none of us have SIM cards, coordinating things is a bit more of a challenge.
We got a report card and a certificate :). Lol also got a textbook recommendation from my prof for a good book that had answers in it (v hard to self teach w no answers!)
——
So the bank experience was a horrible fail. Apparently there’s a form you need to fill out but they don’t have it there and I couldn’t understand her rapid-fire explanation. I did ask her to speak slowly because I’m learning but she had zero patience for that. So 30 mins of beautiful sunlight wasted and I still don’t have an exit visa. Fail.
Next effort is public transit - hopefully this goes better than the bank!
——
So public transit was a win! Made it there, and home again. Although home again took significantly longer due to traffic and the bus was standing room only. I got the last seat (sorry Emma!) and even still it felt claustrophobic. But - got on the right bus, had the right fare, and made it where we intended to go. Win.
San José was an interesting experience. Our goal was two different bus stations for the girls to buy tickets for their weekend adventures, and a book store our prof had told us about.
Well - turns out the bus stops are not in particularly good areas of town. Despite the fact that it was broad daylight, we were warned a couple times that it was dangerous and we shouldn’t be there. Somewhat scary. One girl stopped us when we were looking at our map sort of on the edge of the good area (it was a very clear delineation) and A - gave us directions, B - warned us to be back before dark or take a cab, and C - told Emma to carry her backpack on her front or things would be stolen from it. Yikes!
But we made it to the station, got the ticket purchased, and made it back w no drama. So that was good. Was interesting to me though the dramatic difference between the good part of town and not. Nice, clean, colourful, populated (and didn’t seem to be tourists at all, although certainly had a tourist vibe), lots of art/sculptures/murals/etc, people hawking goods, open park space, car-free walkways, lots of shops, etc. Vs deserted except for bus stops with long lines and tons of traffic, buildings in disrepair or falling down, cracked or non existent sidewalks, colourless, etc. Very dramatic difference basically from crossing the street. Certainly I wasn’t particularly comfortable being there - and had it been dark or I’d been alone, I definitely wouldn’t have. We’ve agreed that the girls going back there tomorrow will take a cab all the way.
However - the nice portion was really interesting. By far the biggest store we found was the first bookstore, so that was awesome :). Sculptures everywhere, murals on the walls, interesting cafés, every kind of shop you could imagine. Yes first bookstore - we may have gone in two ;). Disappointed you can’t browse books?!?! They all have plastic wrap on them. But I’m disproportionately excited I found Harry Potter in Spanish lol. Was way too expensive on Amazon. AND I could easily read the first paragraph. Win! I also bought what I thought was the book version of Siempre Bruja, which I watched a little of on Netflix, but it’s not actually. Lol so I’ll just have to read it and find out if it’s any good. Came from the teen section so prob a stretch for my abilities at the moment but I often enjoy YA fiction so here’s hoping.
Anyways - after that we mostly just wandered. Sophie knew of some good cafés so we headed there and got some food. There was also another bus station there in a much nicer part of town, so we didn’t have to walk back anywhere scary ;)
Sad to say goodbye to everybody - it’s amazing how fast you connect in circumstances like this. And I’ll definitely miss the lessons - they were really amazing. But tomorrow morning I head home.