I planned my trip to Korea! I'm going to Korea in early 2025, in Late January to Early February, then heading to Japan for about a week and a half before heading back to the US. I'm excited that I've decided to do this trip and commit to it. It was a bit worrying, because it isn't typical to do longer than 2 weeks for a vacation, but I decided that I am willing to accept the consequences of whatever happens. Honestly, if it ends up that I get fired, I'm not too worried about it.

I actually bought the tickets several weeks ago, and I meant to write this entry a while ago, but I got distracted by other things.

I'll be going by myself. I have never planned a trip by myself before. It will be a very interesting experience. And no matter what happens, I'll learn from it. Maybe I'll hate traveling alone, but then I'll know that I hate it. Maybe I won't like Korea that much, and decide I don't want to go back. Or, maybe I'll have an amazing experience that changes my perspective on life.

For so long, I've been feeling like I'm not an actual agent in my life. I've felt like I just follow along. I have felt like agency was one of my highest priorities, and yet I was never actually using my own agency to do and try the things I want to try in a deep way. Sure there have been things that I try because I want to try. But it never feels like enough. It feels like I'm searching for something every time I try something new. And I haven't quite found it. Maybe I'll never find it. But at least I'm taking some steps to try.

That's enough of info about my trip. My Korean study has been going pretty well. If I'm being honest, I got really tired of studying flash cards. So I've been doing more audio studying. Just listening to things. I know enough Korean that I can pick up words here and there, and I can understand simple sentences. I've also taken up more video study too. I figured since I watch so much Youtube, why not make it aligned with my goals and watch Youtube in Korean instead? K-dramas are also something I've been watching more, especially while I'm on the treadmill.

I'd say on average I listen to about 1-2 hours of Korean a day. Which I want to bump up to 3-4 hours a day. It doesn't have to be focused listening, even passive listening is good. I've noticed that when listening, certain words that I recognize pop out at me, and I remember them a bit better. It's way easier to remember a word if I've heard it often.

I will write an end year review to reflect on my experience learning this year. It will be fun to compare what I've learned to what I've learned last year.