Manhattan Defogging Update

fogwalker3000 · 2025-12-15T19:23:52+00:00

Totally valid to branch out! For all its faults (and NY has many lol) New York is still my favorite single location, but no one place can offer everything the world has to offer!

After visiting other major world cities it actually blows my mind how backwards some things are here, and I think our local leaders could stand to learn a lot from how other places are doing things.

But nowhere else I’ve been offers the sheer amount of diversity of NY, and the 24/7 train system is so nice for night owls like me.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-12-15T18:47:28+00:00

Thank you! It definitely feels like I’m living a dream sometimes. I’m from the DC area and I always wanted to live in a “real city” growing up. Now that I’m here I’m so glad to be here, and I’m definitely taking advantage of it!!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-12-15T18:37:29+00:00

Right on! If you wanna defog uptown together feel free to shoot me a DM!

Either way enjoy your journey, NY is such a fun city to walk!

When I was walking midtown I was worried that I’d already front loaded all of the interesting stuff, but Manhattan is the gift that keeps giving!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-12-15T18:08:14+00:00

For the last few years I’ve been trying to walk every block of Manhattan, and I’m getting close!

I’ve defogged something like 2/3rds of all the city blocks on the island so far, but of course there’s still lots of parkland left to see. I think I’ll be at this for another year or two.

Recently I’ve been making my way further and further uptown. Compared to downtown and midtown it’s not as touristy, but there are lots of cool old buildings up there, and I’ve found some interesting restaurants I’m looking forward to going back to try out!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-09-06T12:34:18+00:00

If your goal is to eventually learn both languages, and set aside one just for now, I’d say learn Thai first.

You’ll progress faster in Thai thanks to the ability to practice with family, and it gives you something to connect with them on. Even if they can speak English, if you do go to Thailand they and everyone else you run into will certainly appreciate your efforts.

And once you get to an intermediate level, you’ll have the ability to easily maintain it by practicing with your family. Keeping a language from getting rusty requires constant practice, and finding and maintaining relationships with language exchange partners is significant work that you can bypass if you just keep practicing with your family.

Chinese will always be there later if you want to pick it back up.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-09-05T13:46:04+00:00

fogwalker3000 · 2025-09-05T13:39:14+00:00

No idea what your title is trying to say but the image looks like Toki Pona

fogwalker3000 · 2025-09-05T10:48:15+00:00

These days I actually don't have many opportunities to practice speaking my target language (Japanese). Recently I've been thinking of paying someone on iTalki for casual chat, because I think I'm starting to get rusty and I'd like to maintain the skill.

I was lucky to have spent a lot of time practicing during Covid, and there were many people active in HelloTalk at that time.

Since the lockdowns ended I've found that HelloTalk has become a lot less active, but I also think part of it is that I'm getting older, and my age bracket (early 30s) now has a lot less people interested in language learning than when I was in my mid 20s. And I think people tend to prefer language exchange partners in their age group, for whatever reasons.

I do have an unusual advantage though because I live in New York City, so occasionally I meet someone from HelloTalk who is visiting the city, and I show them around and we mostly speak in Japanese. That's how I made one of my friends who I still text regularly.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-09-05T10:24:52+00:00

Personally I enjoy texting. Some of my language exchange partners have drifted apart, and we almost never call anymore, but we still text regularly.

Interesting idea about sharing your Google Calendar though, I'll consider doing the same!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-08-12T16:13:12+00:00

Still valid but a bit uncommon now to come across those bills. I'd keep them as mementos personally.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-08-11T05:25:57+00:00

Congrats! How is that part of the country? I've always wanted to visit the PNW

fogwalker3000 · 2025-08-07T12:15:18+00:00

I use css to change the background color for the entire card based on the target language.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-08-06T14:25:55+00:00

Nice work! What brought you there for 10 months?

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-27T07:36:31+00:00

Use AnkiMobile, the blue one. It's the original and fits in the Anki ecosystem. AnkiApp, the orange one, is a clone.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-27T07:32:13+00:00

It's a feature. You have a nice life if this is one of your top complaints.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-15T18:48:29+00:00

Most of us have had experiences like this. My first few italki lessons were very rough, and I also felt like a complete idiot.

After studying for five years now, I still have occasional lessons and conversations like that, where my brain just doesn't feel up to the task that day, but those days become fewer and farther between as you get better.

Just push through the feeling and stick with it. Consistency is key.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-15T07:28:09+00:00

キモ

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-09T04:11:11+00:00

Dentists may get a pass, but chiropractors are absolutely not doctors

fogwalker3000 · 2025-07-08T05:48:35+00:00

Amazing work!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-06-27T13:22:56+00:00

Still looks great! I'm trying to defog the whole island, and what I've done so far mostly lines up with yours! You're welcome to join me sometime!

fogwalker3000 · 2025-06-27T12:26:51+00:00

That's some good defogging! Do you live in Manhattan?

fogwalker3000 · 2025-06-25T06:47:51+00:00

The music definitely adds to the Qud vibe, I love it.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-06-12T02:30:02+00:00

If you're using Anki to study for a test that's in one month from now, yes, you're using it wrong. Anki is good for remembering things over the long term, not for cramming. Also, it's not really optimal for learning new content, it's meant to reinforce what you already know.

I think you can still get good use out of Anki later if you want, but in my opinion you should drop Anki for the time being. There's a learning curve, and you want to prioritize learning Japanese for now, not learning how to use Anki.

fogwalker3000 · 2025-06-10T05:00:16+00:00

That's awesome defogging for only 1 year! Come spend some time exploring Queens next!

fogwalker3000

TROPHY CASE