Never Argue with the Sensei

It doesn't matter if you are right or not...

Last night I'm at Kyudo and I'm practicing my firing sequence. At the same time Sensei is actually on the firing line.

An earthquake hits, not a big one, but enough that it shakes the place... Sensei and I both pause a moment, then continue our respective procedures when the building stops shaking.

Afterwards I say to sensei: "If you hear the rumble of the earthquake before the quake (And we did), then the epicenter is really close."

"No, if the epicenter was really close to us, we would have been bobbing up and down. That earthquake was far away, we moved side to side."

"I don't know... maybe" I demurr, suddenly aware that I don't know how to say anything indirectly (for example, I don't know how to say "I understand that if you hear..." or"I hear that if you hear..." ) I can only state a fact, which has a very direct connotation... and is conveying a very different tone than I want...

"How many earthquakes does Colorado have?" He asks, gently.

"None..." I reply.

He nods pointedly. I am suddenly painfully aware that knowing a little of a language is actually worse than not knowing anything at all...

it turns out that the earthquake epicenter was a little over a kilometer away from the dojo... in geological terms, directly under us...

The most frustrating thing is that I'm communicating! But I'm not learning the language fast enough to cash the checks my newfound communication is writing.

I constantly think "I wish I were younger", my 34 year old brain just doesn't want to learn as fast anymore.... then I look at my kids who are half my age and are squandering their chance to learn their second language and I suddenly realize, I had the opportunity to learn Japanese when I was 17 too... and I let that chance slip away, chosing instead to hang out with my friends and stuff...

And now I pay for that choice. Interesting, isn't it?

---Me.