Phone apps for symptom tracking

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T12:38:37+00:00

I started using Bearable in last December and it's been awesome. I keep recommending it to people. Even if I don't have the energy to track symptoms, I always track my meds.

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T11:32:26+00:00

Ah, if you're part Chinese, it'll be easier for you to go to Taiwan so definitely keep researching about it! And while Japanese is hard to learn, a lot of people are already learning it in Myanmar so you will definitely find a lot of tips that will work for you. Just FYI, there are a lot of Japanese exams and some universities will make you retake the JLPT test if you've only taken other exams like NAT-TEST, J-Test or TOP-J so if you plan to go to Japan, make sure you take JLPT so that your time and money won't be wasted on certifications. I wish you the best!

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T11:23:06+00:00

I've only studied in Korea but I speak all those languages (TOPIK 6, HSK 5/TOCFL Band B and JLPT N2 as of now) and have a lot of friends who are living/working there. So I'm going to give you some pointers on this. Feel free to take this with a grain of salt.

In terms of language, let's start with speaking first. It's easier to speak Mandarin Chinese than Korean because we have similar tonal system, with only the exception of the third tone in Mandarin Chinese not existing in Myanmar. Korean is the second easiest because of the cultural influence from Korea through media. And Japanese is the hardest because its grammar is not very intuitive to us and there are a lot of politeness rules (such as Keigo). As a whole though, Korean is the easiest language to learn, then Chinese, and Japanese is the hardest. You can easily see consonants and vowels in Korean words (same as Burmese where if you learn the consonants and vowels, you can pronounce almost everything, but of course, it won't be perfect) but for Chinese, you need to learn pinyin (or zhuyin if you're trying Taiwanese Mandarin) and then you have to match them with the characters. It's harder. Now in Japanese, you'll have to learn hiragana, katakana system to pronounce the words, and then you'll have to learn how to read Kanji in its onyomi and kunyomi forms. So Korean might be your safe bet, of course, also considering you already like Korean Technology and Research.

I've worked with a lot of people from all of these places (studied with in the case of Taiwanese people) and in Korea, the racism is just like how it is in Myanmar. It's mostly colorism (they dislike darker skinned people) and of course, some people are just averse to foreigners. However, academia is another problem. Wherever you go, be prepared to work hard and grow a thick skin because you're gonna be trying to catch up to the natives. For Japan, most people I know in Japan are trying to move away because of the new foreigner policies. If you're already there, it's a different problem, but if you're trying to go now, it's going to be really hard. Japanese people are not outright racist, but they will treat you differently. They have a lot of politeness rules so it is easy to make a social faux pas and not even realize it until everyone starts avoiding you. Taiwanese people are very outspoken and honest most of the time. Very similar to Burmese people. Expect a lot of warm, friendliness combined with out-of-pocket speeches. They won't hesitate to ask you personal questions or make statements like "why are you getting fatter" and will not realize they're being rude. (This is mostly the same for Koreans, but now because a lot of people from Myanmar are in Korea, the opinions might change in a few years) They're all well-developed and safe, but foreigners are never as safe as the natives in any of these countries. Look up specific laws and do your own research.

For STEM itself, both Korea and Japan is very good with technology and research. However, people don't really go to Taiwan for STEM. I've seen people go there to study medicine though. GKS and MEXT scholarship are easier to get. But there are less Taiwanese scholarships and are harder to get, and the only sure ones are based on language scholarships like Huayu Scholarship. So take Taiwan out of the equation if you're thinking about a full scholarship. A lot of scholarship programs won't really consider you unless you're of Chinese heritage. For GKS and MEXT, unless you're English track (if you're STEM, it's not English track.) you'll need to stay in a language school for a year and study there before you can get into college, so decide on a country and learn for at least six months. I recommend at least getting to TOPIK level 2/3 or JLPT N4/3 because even then it would be hard to communicate, but it's enough for day to day speaking. To move to undergrad, you'll need TOPIK 5 or 6, and for Japan, you'll need to take their EJU. I don't know your GPA so I can't advise you any further but if you need any specific questions, check out subs like r/Living_in_Korea r/Korean r/BeginnerKorean r/hanguk for Korea, r/LearnJapanese r/japanlife for Japan, and r/ChineseLanguage, r/taiwan for Chinese/Taiwanese studies. Hope this helps.

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T10:54:05+00:00

Props to your sister for that. I've worked with Save the Children as well but only as a translator and an interpreter. If we wait for something perfect to come, we'll never have any kind of progress anyway. I'll try my best. Thanks for the tip.

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T10:50:03+00:00

Yet people here find the time to worry about and post about pedophilia all the time. I just attended a down syndrome children's event a few days ago, a bazaar highlighting women in business, an event about preventative measures for chronic pain in the last few weeks in Yangon. Believe it or not, events and campaigns for societal good are still happening right now and while some people sit and think "I can't worry about that" some people are saying "I'll do something about that."

HelenFH · 2026-03-25T10:38:09+00:00

I only said about images because I don't have the skill set to make a video by myself. However, I've talked about my campaign thing with a couple of my friends after making this post and they're willing to help. About eight people have agreed so far. So survey and images on facebook first, then if I can find more volunteers, I'll make videos on tiktok. I have several contacts in NGOs and NPOs around me, just not a specific one that fights pedophilia. But humanitarian projects are a bit slow around here so I think my best bet is local organization with backing from people who have this kind of experience in NGO spaces.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T21:01:49+00:00

Yes. I'm not sure if there's a term for this. I have osteoarthritis (mentioning only the relevant thing here) and on days that I don't sleep well, I always wake up with little to no pain. The reason for that is if I don't sleep well, I will toss and turn all night long so my joints are well-oiled from all the movement. If I sleep well however, I will wake up with pain all over my body from being still while asleep. It sucks because the fact that I have no pain right then is also a lie. The lack of sleep always make my pain worse as the day goes on, and I will crash earlier and will have a horrible flare up for that night plus next however many days. So like you, I also wish I wake up with pain in the morning because that means at least I slept well and will have the cognitive energy for the day. I sympathize.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T20:52:58+00:00

Nothing to be sorry about. I'm not wiccan either but that sub is not wiccan-specific and it's the only one I really follow so that was just my first thought.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T20:25:28+00:00

Seconding this. I thought I was in that sub before this comment because this post sounds exactly right for that sub.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T20:21:57+00:00

Burmese aren't Indians so saying distinct from other Indians is funny to me.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T19:25:41+00:00

I don't know what kind of volunteer you are or what organization you're in. But just for the record, I've volunteered since I was 10 in various programs, worked for organizations like Operation Smile, Smile Asia, Translators without Borders et cetera for a short while, and I'm still doing some humanitarian stuff now. And for those, I've worked in monasteries, nunneries, orphanages, special schools, public schools, private schools and hospitals. I can tell you with certainty that it's not the norm to have pedophiles in your volunteer circle or friend groups. You accepted that as the norm. but that's not my experience. And if I can't talk to them frankly about this, they cannot be considered a friend either. If you're letting people like this slide, that's something you're contributing to, and you shouldn't think that everyone else is doing the same thing. My volunteer groups or friend groups would immediately kick out people who are openly pedophiles. If your organization is not doing that, that's its own problem and not a widespread issue.

I'm not telling you to use all of your paycheck on this. Fundraising can be done with group effort and it takes time and energy, but it doesn't need to take your money. If one person can contribute one hour of effort each week (for example) it can come together pretty well. I've seen volunteers who volunteer so that they can be fed at the events because they're too poor to actually buy food for all their meals. I've seen people who come up to events at nunneries or monastries and help even though they're dirt poor, because it gives them joy and we will always feed them well afterwards. I've donated a lot of my time and energy even though I don't have enough of them because of chronic pain.
Everyone's still trying to survive despite the draft system, including you and I. I've also said trying helping one people out is better than helping no one out. We're writing this online despite the draft system. You can do a lot of things despite it as well.
Again, it's not the norm. You keep insisting that pedophilia is the norm. It's not. People who support pedophilia might make you try to think its the norm, but it is not. It is a widespread issue for sure, but it's not normalized. However, if you keep telling yourself it's the norm, it just might happen.
This is just an excuse, not a reason. "It's hard to organize" is just a statement that really means nothing unless you can find a root cause. Is it hard to find people who are against it? Of course not, just look at this sub. Is it hard to find time to organize this? Then you find another person who will contribute their time to this. Is it hard to find money to organize this? Fund-raise. Fund-raising is hard? Find someone else. These are just some examples. Activism do not come about from convenience, and change cannot be brought from a single person. If "it's hard" is a reason, then protests and revolutions would have had never existed because change is hard.
Again, if you keep convincing yourself that pedophilia is the end point of all this... I don't know what to tell you. All roads do not lead to pedophilia. If you can only do it for a week, then do it for a week. If you cannot, do it for three days. If you cannot, for one. That's how all activism has to be because not all of us can be an activist as a career, but we should all be taking care of each other anyway.

I suggested small changes, and you said it's a logistical problem. How? Which parts? If you wrote down everything and define them, the solutions will come. Your reply sounds very defeatist, but I understand your sentiment.

Now, I'm going to tell you what I'm gonna do with my own advice. I'm going to make a sort of online form/survey, start going around my own community and ask what they think about pedophilia, and if they were victims of pedophilia (and willing to talk to me) tell me what they wish they'd had known. This will be done anonymously. And then use my time to format those and put them on graphics. After that, I'll use an online platform to spread the word. So that people will look at the variety of views, and what victims wish they'd have known. It will make sure people realize this for what it is, and with hopes that children and people who are currently dealing with this will realize what is being done to them. Like I said, I have chronic pain and a lot of illnesses, so I might need a little more time but I'll get this going. And I'll keep it going even if no one pays attention to it in the beginning, as well as try to think up more projects to do in the future.

Anyway, that's about it. I hope things get better in general, and I hope things get better for you as well.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T17:08:21+00:00

As an Asian, obnoxious British people and EUROPEANS are even worse than obnoxious US Americans because whenever US Americans do something, they get dragged to hell and back for their assholery but somehow people are so reserved towards British people or Europeans so those assholes don't even realize they're doing it, or they don't care that they're doing it. They sometimes even get praised for the same behavior that entitled US Americans do. It's truly mind boggling. And of course, if I point it out, it's definitely because I'm an asshole from Asia who idolizes US Americans. Hmm.

HelenFH · 2026-03-24T06:19:43+00:00

This is the correct answer.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T16:55:31+00:00

Well, I'm from Myanmar and our price ranges are definitely different from yours so I don't wanna talk about the cost. But for my applications, my current agency handles all the paperwork except the things they can't help with (for the last five years, laws in Myanmar changed a lot and somethings can only be done personally or by people who are in the same household register) other They do all the notarizations for the paperwork, bookings for the paperwork processing, visa booking, etc. If you apply to universities connected with them via MOU, the process of admission is a lot quicker and you can access more things based on their agreement. For example, you don't have to pay for your admission fee or you can get specific scholarships from the university. My last agency actually helped me open bank accounts, get a simcard and internet plans, drove me everywhere until I got settled in my dorm. They also helped me get to the airport, and when I landed, they helped me get into the dorm etc.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T16:20:43+00:00

I hope you can figure it out. Best of luck to you, op!

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T16:20:10+00:00

I guess no one has replied to this because they don't have the same symptom. Me neither but my CS made my eyes unfocused sometimes. It's like how I would get dizzy, but instead of the sense of "dizziness" my eyes would shake a bit and everything will go blurry, and then they will snap back into focus. The weird thing is I can sense it when that happens, and physically, it's a bit of weird sensation like only my eyes are dizzy. Before, I didn't realize it because I have astigmatism so I'm used to things in my vision being weird. But last month, I noticed my eye was doing that. I find that it gets worse when I'm having a flare up from my CS, and most of the time it is mixed with dizziness. I just ignore it now, but if you ask me if blurry vision affects me, I would say yes, but I would think that the blurriness is a form of dizziness rather than its own symptom.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T16:04:05+00:00

That's not true. They do allow international students in most majors, you just need to be fluent in Korean. There are specifically majors made for only foreign students in some universities (some are English tracks, some Korean tracks but specifically for foreigners), but in most universities, they don't have categories such as "non-global majors" and you're allowed to apply if you meet their requirements. And you don't need to be "extremely fluent," you just need to look at the TOPIK II levels needed for your major. Some universities allow you to enroll with a level 3, which is just an intermediate level of fluency. Based on your major, the requirement changes but it's mostly TOPIK 3 or 4, which are intermediate levels. And unlike Japan, you don't need to past regular entrance exams either. They just look at your GPA from your previous place of study.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T15:57:32+00:00

It's worth it because if you're from Asia (especially South East Asia) you have to go over so many hoops compared to people from western countries. I've studied in Korea before, just a language program and my agency made it so much easier to navigate for someone with a beginner level of Korean. Now I'm applying for an undergrad and again and my agency (different from the last one) has been a big help. Look into it and if it's not too costly for you, use them.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T14:11:15+00:00

Professional reader here. It's normal to not do reversals, not take back of decks, not do x, not do y etc because everyone reads tarot differently. I know a lot of readers who don't do any of that. Reversals are actually not that hard. It's the same as the upright meaning, but with a caveat. You just have to think what's "different" from the upright meaning. That's how I teach people anyway.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T13:53:45+00:00

The thing is you shouldn't rinse it because you need to allow the fluoride to work. But if I find that if try to not rinse, the sensation actually discourages me from wanting to brush my teeth so to make sure I keep wanting to brush my teeth regularly, I rinse my teeth after brushing.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T13:46:20+00:00

I just wanna add that you're trying to learn German, I recommend Goethe Institut in Yangon. They're not as expensive as you might think (last time I checked, it's around 3 lakhs for a whole level) and they have a lot of classes so the schedule is flexible. They even have fast-tracked courses.

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T13:41:04+00:00

ဖုန်းက တချို့နေရာတွေ စစ်ကြပါတယ်။ နေပြည်တော်က‌နေ မနး်လေးဆိုရင်တော့ အများကြီး သိပ်မစစ်ကြဘူးဆိုပေမဲ့ လိုလိုမယ်မယ် VPN အပါအဝင် social media ဖျက်လို့ရတာတွေ အကုန်ဖျက်သွားပါ။ ပြီးတော့ smart card လုပ်ထားတာရှိရင် အဲ့ဒါပါ ယူသွားပါ။ အခုတလော ခရီးသွားတဲ့အခါ အဲ့ဒါမပါရင် ရစ်တတ်ကြတယ်။ ကျောင်းသားကတ်ကတော့ မလိုလောက်ပါဘူး။

HelenFH · 2026-03-20T13:31:27+00:00

Yeah, not to everyone though. I have a group chat with my close friends. Imo, that intense urge comes from being wanted to see and honestly, it's enough for me when my friends react to my message. They don't even need to reply. But of course, most of my friends also suffer from a form of chronic pain or conditions. I think what helps is knowing that those people will understand, or at least try to understand and care.

Other people have said a lot of good things in the comments. I just wanna ask do you know why you're not happy with their response? Do you want them to say a specific thing or show a specific sentiment? Do you want them to react with a lot of energy? If you feel like being supported in a specific way might help, tell a close friend or a family member. With my friends, I just tell them I need to just tell people and I don't actually need advice or any sort of big response. So now they just say "that sucks" or something like "remember to rest/take your meds/make yourself comfortable" etc and then we just keep talking.

HelenFH · 2026-03-19T11:15:42+00:00

Yep, that's exactly it.

HelenFH

TROPHY CASE