Twitter: The Endless Question (#5 Today) in Book One: The Not So Daily Briefs 2014

Okay, last entry for the day- promise. When my mind gets started, sometimes it is hard to turn off… lol… one of the reasons I don’t blame girlfriends who have left me or my wife when she is just “tired of listening.” My mind thrives on the deep end of life and refuses leaving like a small child being told it is time to go to bed!

Plus… on the bonus… this is a bit light and silly! And also, likely something I’ve openly debated repeatedly.

Japanese or Korean?

I’ve always wanted to learn an Asian language. I mean… seriously. It is me. I’m the gaijin that goes to bat anytime race discussions ignore Asians entirely. My friend group always had a Korean, a Vietnamese and usually either a Taiwanese, Philipino, or Native Hawaiian. NOT that I chose friends on race, merely that I chose friends based on who lived near me and what we were interested in. Before you mention how important it will be to learn Chinese… that shit is insanely hard! I do understand the value, of course. Politically and economically, learning Chinese will be one of the most valuable non-English languages for the world market in our lifetime. Further, the language has a rich cultural history and a brilliant art form. I know all of this! My Uncle/Godfather/Aunt/Cousins lived in Hong Kong for 8 years… and one of my cousins just finished a 3 year teaching stint in Shanghai. Further, my sister-in-law works at an Animal Science Laboratory at a college campus and a lot of her co-workers are native Chinese speakers. Hell, two of my friends in law school were native Chinese speakers. I get the importance of the language… it has already been removed from my “which language to learn” pros/cons sheet. The cons won.

The whole long list is really down to TWO (but sometimes three).
Periodically Thai will reappear on the list for a number of reasons. Primarily in that it seems like a beautiful bizarre hybrid of Indian and Chinese. However, Thai doesn’t stay for long because… I don’t really think I’d get a whole lot of use out of it.

No, the two Asian Languages that are always debating in my mind are Korean and Japanese. Pros/Cons pretty neck and neck there… while also, incredibly different. For example- political importance? Korean- rates highly. NoKo is a current place of interest and no matter what happens to NoKo, SoKo is an ally and really amping up their cultural exports. Japanese- mid rate. Japan is still in the midst of a difficult recession that continues to make them less and less relevant in economic arenas. On the other hand, the Japanese Constitution still requires Japan to rely strongly on allies like the US for international defense. Another example- entertainment? Both rate highly. Music, movies, television, cartoons… I strangely have a lot from both countries. More Korean Music and Movies; but More Japanese Television and Cartoons. As to vacation- both are equally likely, even for my wife. Seriously- I ask her sometimes to help me break the tie… and she can’t figure it out. She usually suggests Japan but that is just because she knows it better and, while threat of China is important, SoKo is under constant threat of NoKo aggression.

It is just… the least important inner debate I have, but it is constant and there is never a clear winner.

JAPANESE
OR
KOREAN?!

日本人
または
韓国語

일본의
또는
한국의

Last updated January 04, 2016