What happens next

My final Exams started in February this year and stretched out till mid-July. After that, I was pretty much crushed and did need a few weeks to really get back into some sort of routine. It’s normally more easy for me to study some Japanese daily if I’m studying anyways. So even if my time has usually been more scarce in these study-periods, the study-mindset always helped me to stay on track. And I always wanted to do everything else except studying for the stuff which I needed to, of course.

After the whole celebration and organization-part which took the better part of July, I finally went to spend a three-week summer vacation in the South of France together with my girlfriend.

Unfortunately, we had a severe car accident in the first week. Another driver from the opposite lane crashed full-frontally in our car. The first thought that popped into my head was that he was suicidal and till today I really don’t have any other explanation for what happened and how it went down.

I was contemplating telling you all this what happened and in the end, decided for it. This blog has always been much more than just a collection of study-materials and ramblings about stuff from Japan. It’s a personal blog and that coupled with all the wonderful people reading and commenting were the reason why I love writing and creating this site.

So, I wanted to share my current feelings of starting something new, of the feeling that I want to improve, to get things done most importantly: Focus on the stuff that matters.

But what does really matter?

To make things short, I came to the conclusion that everything that feels good matters. And writing this site, talking with you about Japan and everything I connect with it always made me happy.

I never wanted to quit Japanese Tease for good but the last few years of my dentistry studies combined with working on my Ph.D. took a lot of strength and motivation to really invest myself in Japanese at the same time.

So again after everything that happened recently did a little more soul-searching and re-evaluated a lot of priorities in my life. Or rather the ones I set for myself. I was always a little too materialistic. Not in the sense that I wanted to flash with expensive brands, but more like that I probably would postpone a short trip somewhere for buying a new camera instead.

Today I try to do the opposite and focus more on experiences rather than things. I’ll probably move to my girlfriend for a couple of months until we finally find a nice apartment for both of us and in the process of moving, I’m trying to slim down everything I own. And have in mind that I’m a collector in my heart.

What’s up with Japanese Tease?

But now on to my plans for this site now that I’m finally a working dentist (as of this September :) and don’t have to study in the nighttime anymore. After the big picture-deletion and juridical problems in early 2018, I’m not really happy with the incomplete look and feel of the site.

I’m still unsure if I just want to delete all the articles where I don’t own the rights for the pictures or just leave it as it is. But let’s be frank: All the articles without pictures are just not the same and are really stressing me out a little when I encounter them.

Maybe someone has a tip for me on how to handle this? I always wanted to have a site where every article mattered. Some more than others but browsing through it should always be a fun, consistent experience. And yeah, articles with all the pictures missing are not exactly fun.

If you have some thoughts about all this, please share them with me. The best thing about writing this blog has always been the comments and interactions with you. This is really all that counts for me, to know that some people are actually reading and (hopefully) enjoying the stuff I make :)

What happens next

I’m a big Things user which started with my last semester. Around the time now in 2018. It’s a marvelous little tool that really helps me to stay on track, not forget anything and just have an organized, thought-out roadmap for bigger projects.

And it’s also great to add little “routines” to remind you of your Japanese studies (currently using it for JALUP). I’ll take about all this in more detail sometime but right now I’m compiling a little road-map for Japanese Tease.

With article-ideas I always wanted to write about and some new ideas for restructuring the site. Any ideas or feedback would really be greatly appreciated.

Regarding the non-materialistic me: I just picked up a new Fuji camera to replace my old XE-2. I really loved the little things but I wanted a little more comfort and faster autofocus so I went for a XT-2 which I got for a real bargain because a newer model is out for some time.

So, one point on my Things list is getting more into photography, taking better pictures for you and preparing for my next trip to Japan in late 2020 ;)

It’s still nearly a year until then but that’s one of the main goals for 2020: Visiting Japan again.

Like always, thanks for reading and would love to read your thoughts and ideas in the comments.