Sign Language Ahoy!
I love my mom. She knows about my research to make Nightingale, and how I'm trying to study Braille and Sign Language to make the story as authentic as possible. So she went and got me two books on learning Sign Language! <3 It's actually a lot easier than I thought. I'm naturally a kinetic learner (I learn best through physical motions and activities) so I'm really having fun teaching myself the basics.
I got another book which has more phrases. This is so cool, I normally only ever had books like this to for trips to other countries. Having a Sign Language phrasebook makes me feel like I'm preparing to go to a country of deaf people. (Well, in case I do, I'll be well-prepared now!)
My new blind friend who I met at ASIANIM told me one could learn Braille in half an hour. I think he's overestimating my abilities, but I do think it's not that much harder than learning Hiragana or Katakana, which both took me less than a week. He also showed me some cool things when we took the train and subway back to Brussels, like how to feel for the raised lines in the station that tell a blind person where to find points of interest, such as maps, stairs, platforms, and information booths. And I always thought those stripes were for decoration... Ah, you learn new things every day.
Also, while in NYC, my parents saw Carrie Fisher do a live comedy show. I thought the Playbill poster image was very amusing:
I got another book which has more phrases. This is so cool, I normally only ever had books like this to for trips to other countries. Having a Sign Language phrasebook makes me feel like I'm preparing to go to a country of deaf people. (Well, in case I do, I'll be well-prepared now!)
My new blind friend who I met at ASIANIM told me one could learn Braille in half an hour. I think he's overestimating my abilities, but I do think it's not that much harder than learning Hiragana or Katakana, which both took me less than a week. He also showed me some cool things when we took the train and subway back to Brussels, like how to feel for the raised lines in the station that tell a blind person where to find points of interest, such as maps, stairs, platforms, and information booths. And I always thought those stripes were for decoration... Ah, you learn new things every day.
Also, while in NYC, my parents saw Carrie Fisher do a live comedy show. I thought the Playbill poster image was very amusing: