I am very passionate in a way that I have many different hobbies, passions, interests.
Some time ago, as I was discussing with someone, I found out that I knew and could do a lot a things. They asked if I could speak other languages, sew, knit, cook, play musical instrument, do horse riding and so on and my answers were always the same… It was a definite yes!
I am very active and I learn what I don’t understand or don’t know. Sometimes I even look for the origin of some words as I find that very fascinating. I am so into learning that doing or knowing it become very natural. So natural that I don’t even think about it anymore until I’m asked about. Oops!
I have been doing horse riding since very young. Not the peaceful pony ride you can imagine but mostly the rodeo ride with very stubborn and sometimes violent horses that need a lot of patience. I am so patient and understanding that some people are even surprised by me. It is very important, even more in the work place when one has to deal with all types of customers.
I also learned that if one can’t find what they want, they have to make it. That is how, while living in Japan, I ended up building my very own spice rack from scratch since none of the nearby store were selling those kind of furniture. I could have gone to Ikea but I didn’t want to rent a car to go there just for a simple spice rack which was, actually, quite easy and fun to make! This thinking followed me on many other projects, the last one being the repair of a very old Game Gear that I had since my childhood. I couldn’t find anyone cheap or nearby enough to repair it so I bought the pieces and repaired it myself (I even changed the screen to a LED one). If I can’t get it or have it repaired, I do it myself because I know I learn fast. Truth be told, if I did not find a template for my blog I would have learned CSS code to make my own though I have to admit it would have taken quite a while to have my website done.
I like to listen to music but also play music. That is how I learn to play the electric guitar and electric bass while in high school. When I got my school diploma, I started to learn violin then went on a full study of sanshin, an Okinawan traditional music instrument, playing. Also, since last year, I have been playing the celtic harp and am always smoother by the beautiful melodies I can play on it. All of that was, obviously, self-taught. Even though I haven’t touched my violin and sanshin in months, I know I have not forgotten how to play them but I am focusing on the celtic harp which also helps me learn music theory.
As for learning, internet is a great friend for any self-taught learner who knows how to search correctly. When one knows which key word to use, sometimes just three simple words can help us find our treasure. Being trilingual, searching anything I want become very easy since I can find additional information when searching in different languages.
Learning foreign languages is also one of the things I love to do. To be able to communicate with people from different countries and cultures is a must and can brings us such joy. No more misunderstandings and frustrated misunderstood people. Another reason I love to learn foreign languages is being able to learn about a different culture and history as each language have words that refer to their culture or their history. They even have words which we can’t translate with a simple word like Wanderlust (Wanting to go hiking – German) or さすが (as expected, as we thought, etc – Japanese).
Speaking about Wanderlust, that is a wanting I frequently have. Working on a computer may be way less tiring while still being funny, going on a hike is one of the activities I love to do. Walking in the mountains, or in a forest, while listening to the birds singing and the lapping of the river. I even like taking a stroll in old historical wards in the cities and admiring those history-filled buildings. I got my love for history thanks to my career as a tourist guide in Tokyo. By the way, did you know that you could find the zero-kilometer mark for all Japan in Nihonbashi? That is where the five major merchant roads of Japan, called the 五街道 (gokaidō), started. Two went up towards Nikko while three of them went to toward Kyoto during the Edo period.
Each new experience is for me the beginning of a new hobby or passion. And who knows how many other hidden skills I have acquired until now? They are so many of them I even forgot what I was able to do while still being able to do them!
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