Back in town

... with a renewed zeal for a former linguistic venture, but I can't let it get in the way of Hebex, which starts in 18 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness how are we less than three weeks away? Oh yeah, this is how:

March 11, 2010: Little brother arrives in Taiwan.

March 12, 2010: We leave for Italy

March 13, 2010: We arrive in Italy. Ten-ish days in Europe.

March 22/23, 2010: Back in Taiwan. Catch up on previous week's worth of EVERYTHING. Brother in town, seeing Taiwan, doing stuff, catching up, playing.

April 4, 2010: Thailand.

April 9, 2010: return from Thailand

April 11, 2010: Dog sick.

And here we are, 18 days away from start of The Hebrew Experiment. I just posted on my other (first) language blog about my recently revived, re-inspired interest in a serious pursuit of Thai. However, we're coming down to the wire on the start of Hebex, and have I done ANYTHING to prepare for it? NO!

As it should be. No one gets a head start. The prep, or I suppose better referred to as the setup, is part of the process. On Iron Chef, when the guys run to their stations to start breaking down the wild boar they've been given or the ducks they're going to debone, they're being timed. It's all part of the process, and it's something they learn to do quickly because it's a critical step toward the final result. I have bought a few notebooks, pens, flashcards and Post-it ® notes, but haven't even begun compiling an English vocab list I want to translate into Hebrew. "An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure," or something about how preparation is just as important as the process itself. So, with only 18 days to go, the task is seeming daunting, looming, maybe even overwhelming. We'll be looking to find ways to record our progress, and would love to have suggestions in this regard.

May 1, 2010.