Welcome to my last post of the year.
As 2013 draws to an end I see that I have made major steps in my personal and public life. I have had promotions at work, improved my Japanese language skills and met lots of Japanese people and attended lots of film festivals and watched lots of films and even achieved most of my resolutions.
My resolutions for 2013 were
- In 2013, I will go to Japan and blog from there (like Sadako’s Movie Shack!),
- In 2013, I will have a season dedicated to Hideo Nakata, Takashi Shimizu and Beat Takeshi,
- In 2013, I will review some older Japanese films,
- In 2013, I will write articles in different styles than the usual format,
- In 2013, I will speak Japanese and write Japanese every day and try and hook up with more Japanese friends to practice my conversational skills,
- In 2013, I will review more anime,
- In 2013, I will submit more reviews to the Korean blogathon,
- In 2013, I will attend more film festivals,
- In 2013, I will try not to bore you.
I did manage to review some older Japanese films (A Woman Called Sada Abe), I wrote different types of posts (Why Don’t You Play in Hell? Gif version), I met lots of Japanese in 2013 and spoke/wrote in Japanese/English every day, I reviewed lots of anime, attended four film festivals and… well that last one you can decide for yourself. People kept coming back to this blog so I guess I achieved that.
Unfortunately I didn’t go to Japan and that was my major aim for 2013. Instead of heading off to Japan I stayed in the UK and blew all of the money I saved for the trip on film festivals, films and every-day things like lunch at work, taking people out. That written, I did manage to get a little bit closer to film culture by being able to interview directors so it was kind of cool but I’m still disappointed that I never went. I don’t think I was ready. Next year or the year after seems more reasonable because I can plan, save money and improve my language skills and stick to my resolution to get to Japan.
2013 was good for languages because after meeting lots of Japanese in 2013 and putting in a concerted effort with extra lessons and practice I feel like I can hold a conversation that goes beyond basic phrases. I was watching Galileo Donna and able to follow the dialogue and understand the nuance of certain words used without looking at the subs for spells (not that subs would give the full info over the use of the word omae etc). That’s perseverance for you.
Looking at what I have achieved I’m surprised I got most of these resolutions done due to my
lackadaisical nature but a metamorphosis of sorts where I’m being much more aggressive about doing things is continuing. I have a huge backlog of reviews to finish. Some of them are already in my draft and just need images or to be published so 2014 will start with a bang so to speak.
Apart from the lack of Japan action I am happy with the fact that I am watching great films and informing the world about them in my own little way. This has allowed me to meet all sorts of people and that has been a lot of fun.
I would like to thank everyone who has visited my blog and commented on it and I hope you continue to come back.
And so 2014 will be continuing on last year’s resolutions just to continue that future which leads me to Japan and more films.
Now we come to the most important bit:
My resolutions for 2014
- In 2014, I will formulate a solid plan in aid of going to Japan either at the end of the year or in 2015,
- In 2014, I will continue to speak and write in Japanese every day and practice my conversation and comprehension skills with friends,
- In 2014, I will review more films and continue to write in different styles,
- In 2014, I will actually have a Hideo Nakata/Takashi Shimizu season and a Takashi Ishii season,
- In 2014, I will try not to bore you.
Happy New Year!
