Welcome to Jen's Lazy Days 🌸
Hello there, it’s Jen, the person behind this blog page. This is my little cozy corner of the internet: a space for all those random thoughts, ideas, and projects that don't quite fit into my main blog, but still deserve a place. Think of it as organized chaos or as some people may call brain dump notebook. From random explorations and findings, to Japanese language reflection notes, to occasional behind-the-scenes updates on my main platform, and honestly, just the everyday reflections of a Toronto-based Chinese girl trying to figure life out one day at a time.
What You May Find Here…
The Random & The Interesting
Not everything fits neatly into lifestyle and travel categories. Here, you'll discover tangents like observations that sparked something in me, and those "wait, I want to share this too" moments that don't belong on my main blog but shouldn't disappear either. Things like going to a concert experience to what is it like going on a digital detox and the journey and the struggles of one’s life.
The Personal Stuff (Yes, We're Going There)
This is probably the most "me" section of this whole space. I'll be writing about the very unglamorous, very real journey of someone trying to get their life together, because not everyone figures it out at the same age, and that's okay. Expect honest thoughts on finding your passion later than expected, the weird in-between feeling of growing up as a Chinese in a westernized country where you're sometimes too whitewash for one side and too Asian for the other, and all the little things that don't have a clean answer yet. Come along for the ride with no highlight reel here.
Japanese Language Journey
This will be my one of my lifelong learning journey as I am on a mission to somehow improve my Japanese: reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills, so I can navigate Japan with more confidence every time I visit. You will mostly find my honest reflections on what it's like to learn a language while not living in the country full-time. It's slow progress, as there is no perfect way of learning a "new" language, but it is real progress for someone out there. My goal is not getting fluency overnight, however, it is being able to understand conversations naturally and get around without relying heavily on Google Translate and to watch anime without English subtitles. I can listen and understand Japanese to a certain extent from watching anime when I was young, but never have an opportunity to enhance that ability or interest. Now, I was thinking that it is better to be late than never.
A Bonus Discovery: Cantonese Writing
Here's something I did expect a bit – by learning Japanese kanji, I'm indirectly picking up Cantonese writing too. As most of Chinese lessons and classes here in Toronto are more focused on Mandarin aspects while Cantonese classes seem like becoming less popular as time goes on and I don't have much interest in learning Mandarin growing up here. I feel that if you learn something you do not have any interests, it would be much harder to absorb the knowledge and skills. Anyways, back to the main topic, there are not many Cantonese based classes nowadays. My Cantonese skills are mostly decent for a Canadian-born Chinese, meaning that I can speak and listen well, but reading and writing have always been my weak spots. For instance, if you push me into a mainly Cantonese community, I am able to talk to people in Cantonese easily, but if you want me to order items off the menu, it would not be fun without English assistance.
Since Japanese kanji and Chinese characters overlap significantly, studying one is helping me unlock the other. It's like getting two language skills for the price of one, which feels like a pleasant experience on this learning journey.
Behind-the-Scenes & Blog Updates
Want to know what's actually happening with my main blog? Here's where I share the process, lessons learned, what I'm working on and so on and so forth.
The Pace & The Promise
I would not be posting here as frequently as my main blog, maybe once a month to once every two to three months or so, to even many posts at once and disappear for a while ➡️ hence the name "Jen's Lazy Days". This space is intentionally slower, more flexible, little to no photos/pictures, and less polished. It's where I write about the journey rather than the destination, and where being consistent is less important than being authentic. It's the director's cut of my creative life, the unedited version that didn't make it into the highlight reel, the works in progress, and the passion projects that simmer on the back burner.
Let's Connect
I hope you're reading this because you're interested in my Japanese language learning journey, the occasional mini-adventure, the unvarnished life musings of an untypical Chinese girl who's trying to figure things out, or the BTS - aka. behind the scenes stuff (not the Kpop group BTS, although those guys are pretty cool too 😂) on my main blog. Whatever the reason, thank you for finding me.
Thank you for stopping by. Enjoy the coziness.
ありがとうございます。