CURIO
Last night after I came home from hanging out with some good friends of mine (I BLEEDIN' LOVE THESE BLOKES) I started going through my translation notebooks, looking for one that wasn't full--I was sure there was a fresh one in there somewhere... and while I was doing this, I discovered some of my journals mixed in with the translation notebooks. Out of curiosity, I opened one up, flipped through it and started reading it.
To my surprise, it was a journal from almost exactly two years ago. I had just been talking about that time period with my afore-mentioned friends. It was around that time that we all met each other for the first time (well, kind of) and we all started working at the same place. It's a bit convoluted, so I won't get into it. (Going off on a tangent, that was also the summer I began putting together the Suikogaiden Translation Project. It's cool that it's still alive and kicking! I'm so glad I've got all these dedicated people working with me. :3) Plus, that was the summer I went to JAPAN! (ye gods) with two of the three friends I was hanging out with yesterday. We're all interested in Japanese... the language primarily, but the culture, people, media, etc, too. I want to become a professional translator, Alex wants to become an English teacher (teaching Japanese students, haha), Squiggle wants to minor in Japanese--not really practical since she's going into graphic design, but noteworthy all the same, and Colleen is... well, interested in the language too, though perhaps not as much as Alex, Squiggle and I. I guess she's bigger on the anime / drawing side of things than in translating or anything. But I digress.
I forget my point. "orz
Ah. I think it was that lately I've been lamenting my lack of time to work on translation projects. And looking through my journal from two years ago, it struck me that nearly every entry spoke of some progress on some translation project or other. And indeed, I believe these last two summers were the most productive I've ever been, in terms of translating and scanslating.
However, the things I've been doing in place of translating--school, real life, hanging out with my friends a lot more. (Making friends more, perhaps, haha.) These things are worthwhile as well. Most would probably say worth more.
It pains me to think that it's a trade-off--that I can either have friends and hang out with them or I can spend time working on my various translations. I'm sure there must be some line inbetween I can find to walk.
I'm sure, as well, that if I were to become faster at translating, then translation projects would go quicker. Not that I lament the time it takes, but it's a factor to consider.
Hanging out with my friends often involves studying Japanese, in some form or other.
I've been itching to sit down and work on something just to see if and how practicing speaking, listening, and writing Japanese more has improved my translation skills.
Well, whatever. It's nothing to get your panties bent out of shape over. (Haha, I think I just combined two idioms.) I'll just keep doing what I want to do, keep hanging out with my friends, keep doing homework (a lot of which is quite interesting, but again, the time factor!), and try to find the time when I can to sit down and work on translation projects, draw, read, paint and play videogames. It'll all work out.
Curio - Something unusual--perhaps worth collecting.
An object such as a small ornament which is unusual and fairly rare. [Source]
...Well! You learn something new every day.