When my birthday drew near, a Japanese friend whose birthday is a day before mine, taught me the word "arasa" (アラサー, "around thirty"). Shortly after, I turned "sati" (サーティー, "thirty").
Two nice things happened as I entered the 30s.
1) On the last day of my 20s (20代の最後の日), I began studying in earnest for the next JLPT exam.
Before, I had only *hoped* to pass the exam, which isn't the same as really trying. I had even started feeling, "I'll fail this time, so why even try hard?" The root, partly, was laziness. Though I've introduced more fun into my methods, there's just no avoiding old-school studying.
It felt good to smack myself in the metaphorical face and say, "Study enough so you *will* pass." (ぴしゃっ!)
2) That afternoon, I was playing Ni no Kuni, a Japanese videogame. With surprise, I realized that I was enjoying the game and had come a long way from the day I unboxed it 5 years ago.
The game was an expensive long-term investment I couldn't decipher, much less enjoy. I bought it as motivation to learn Japanese.
(Obviously, I wasn't very committed, since it's taken 5 years to finally understand! With a dictionary in hand, of course.)
I still don't know all the nuances or puns in Ni no Kuni, but it's a pleasure to look back and see that the passing years have brought some dreams to fruition.
**Note**
I also bought the game because it was co-developed by Studio Ghibli, features the music of Joe Hisashi, and came with a tremendously beautiful, erm... magic book.
