I’m struggling with what to write, to be honest.
I think a part of it is that I’m far more depressed then I usually am, but that’s not all of it. I just feel like I’ve said everything interesting that I have to say, and everything else just seems to be a rehash of some old post from here or there. There are only so many ways to say “Japanese is hard”, and Japanese popular culture, as I’ve mentioned, seems mostly to be a very broad, very shallow sea – one that’s quickly exhausted if one is going for any kind of meaningful depth. Manga, manga, everywhere, and not a page to read.
A part of the issue, I think, is that I’m talking about something I don’t know much about from the perspective of someone who lacks the resources – for whatever reason – to find out much more about it than I already know. When it comes to Japanese culture, all I’ve really got are youtube videos, the random book I manage to scrape from Half Priced Books, or Kinokuniya, or my sensei. And that’s about it. I can’t go any deeper, because I lack the connections and resources to go deeper.
Being completely honest with myself, this is probably the reason that this blog hasn’t gotten very far – not that I expected any different. I’m not bringing anything new to the table. No particularly new observations, no unique tidbits, no cultural observations from the heart of Tokyo. Just some guy from Texas blathering on about things he doesn’t understand.
I can keep learning Japanese, but truthfully, I have no idea where to go from here.