Life

[tegan]

I applied for the perfect job. Really hoping I get it.

[Bjorn]

I applied for the perfect job. Really hoping I get it.

 

Hooray!  You've got it!

[mikemariano]

I will be taking a vacation to Toronto from June 11–16!

 

Right now I have plans to see plays at the Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival, but no plans for anything to do in the city itself.

 

Are there any must-sees in Toronto?  Does anyone have any tips for someone traveling outside the US for the first time?  Is it worth it to get a SIM card for my unlocked phone?

 

I see from our Idle Thumbs map that Spenny is the only self-identified Toronto resident.  Anybody else around?

 

Thanks!

[Badfinger]

I applied for the perfect job. Really hoping I get it.

 

GOOD LUCK!

 

GOOD LUCK!!

[dibs]

Good luck Tegan!

 

I'm out of a job on the 30th:/ Boss is hopeful that he can get enough funding together to hire us back with only a week break, but i have to be pragmatic and start the job hunt process all over again. Aiaiai.

[N1njaSquirrel]

Good Luck Tegan!

 

Here's hoping you Te-gain your dream job! 

 

I think starting at all and not stopping is more important than where you start. The Genki textbooks are good, Kim Tae's site is good, lang-8 is helpful for getting some practice actually expressing yourself. The speaking part is the hardest since you can't self study it the same way.

 

Also to add to the list: Minna no Nihongo and www.jisho.org.

[Azniac]

I've been lowkey lurking these forums, but I never got around to posting. Here's to actually maybe becoming a bit more active.

 

I recently started an internship, and everyone here's really nice. It's my first week and so far I've spent most of my time setting up my work computer and the software/tools I'll need while I work here. I haven't gotten anything concrete done, and I'm nervous that I'll fail horribly when it comes to actually having to dive into the code. I've struggled a bit with Impostor Syndrome in the past (specifically in regards to programming) but I still can't shake this weird feeling of dread.

 

Here's hoping everything works out.

[pabosher]

Best of luck, Azniac! I think the key thing is to remember that they wouldn't hire you if they didn't want you there. I have this all the time as an actor - the sense of dread and of not-belonging - but then I remember that I was cast for a reason: because I suit the role. It's the exact same thing with any job! If you are still really nervous, take your boss aside at some stage and say "Hey, look, I'm feeling a little insecure - could you promise me that, if I start going down the wrong path, you'll tell me that I am so that I can fix it?"

[eot]

Also to add to the list: Minna no Nihongo and www.jisho.org.

classic.jisho.org

I don't like their redesign.

[SuperBiasedMan]

That is exactly how I felt 4 months ago! I didn't study programming in college, I had self taught some and didn't even really think I should apply for the job... But then I got it. Also no one else here knows any programming at all so if that stuff breaks it's on me, and maybe the IT guy if he knows anything about it, so the impostor syndrome was a rough burden.

It worked out pretty well for me though, now I'm the dude who keeps making the computers go faster. Hope it goes well for you too!

[Twig]

I think starting at all and not stopping is more important than where you start. The Genki textbooks are good, Kim Tae's site is good, lang-8 is helpful for getting some practice actually expressing yourself. The speaking part is the hardest since you can't self study it the same way.

That's definitely true and it's probably my biggest hurdle, heh. That said, besides learning the vocab/kanji (which is really just a lot a lot of memorization), the reading/writing part was always easiest for me. I mean I guess that's probably usually true when learning a language, but I loved learning how to draw all the different characters.

 

The speaking part, on the other hand, I was garbage at. Just a pile of steaming hot garbage. I could ask vague directions and order food at a restaurant at one point, but any conversation was unlikely to happen.

 

Also to add to the list: Minna no Nihongo and www.jisho.org.

CONSIDER IT ADDED.

[Merus]

I've been lowkey lurking these forums, but I never got around to posting. Here's to actually maybe becoming a bit more active.

 

I recently started an internship, and everyone here's really nice. It's my first week and so far I've spent most of my time setting up my work computer and the software/tools I'll need while I work here. I haven't gotten anything concrete done, and I'm nervous that I'll fail horribly when it comes to actually having to dive into the code. I've struggled a bit with Impostor Syndrome in the past (specifically in regards to programming) but I still can't shake this weird feeling of dread.

 

Here's hoping everything works out.

 

Hey Azniac,

 

I've been here too, so don't get discouraged when you start diving into the code and it's way too complex and you just don't get it. This will happen! It happens to everyone, which is why most good developers will get you started on something simple like commenting or tracking down a bug, so you can just read the codebase and try and understand how it works.

 

For your impostor syndrome, remember that as much of a fraud as you might think you are, you're probably not Paula, and Paula got hired. So this is what an actual fraud looks like. For most developers I know, if you can nut out FizzBuzz you're good enough. (I realise that if you can't nut out FizzBuzz that this isn't going to be comfort to you, in which case I apologise and only hope that you decide to either work really really hard to catch up, or change careers.)

[osmosisch]

Are there any must-sees in Toronto?

I really loved taking a day trip to the Toronto ISlands. Besides that the big tower (I forget the name) was fun to take the view from.

[tberton]

I will be taking a vacation to Toronto from June 11–16!

 

Right now I have plans to see plays at the Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival, but no plans for anything to do in the city itself.

 

Are there any must-sees in Toronto?  Does anyone have any tips for someone traveling outside the US for the first time?  Is it worth it to get a SIM card for my unlocked phone?

 

I see from our Idle Thumbs map that Spenny is the only self-identified Toronto resident.  Anybody else around?

 

Thanks!

 

Not currently residing in Toronto, but I'm from there, so here goes. The CN Tower is pretty impressive, if big tall things interest you. You could go see the Blue Jays play if you're into baseball (although the Blue Jays are not good right now). If you like board games, there's my former employer, Snakes and Lattes. For museums/galleries, there's the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Bata Shoe Museum downtown, with the McMichael gallery a little ways northwest of the city. For nature stuff, there's High Park and the island, as osmosich mentioned.

 

That's stuff off the top of my head. Any specific interests you have that could help me narrow stuff down?

[aprettycooldude]

Glad to hear things are better Grayson. Hopefully things keep heading upwards.

[dibs]

Go to centre island an rent bikes and cycle around all of it! I worked in the CN tower when j was in Toronto for the summer. I was one of the people taking photos of tourists.

[WickedCestus]

Speaking of Japan (a few pages ago), I just got accepted for an exchange program at my college to go to Tokiwa University in Mito for 4 months starting in September. I'm thinking of going a few weeks early and checking out Kyoto and Tokyo a bit as well. I'm very excited and nervous. If anyone has suggestions of good places to go or things to do I'm all ears! Or just general tips for not making a fool of myself. 

[JonCole]

Kyoto -

 

Fushimi Inari - really cool temple/shrine thing, it's the one with literally thousands of the iconic orange Japanese arches

Nishiki Market - food, shopping

Iwatayama Park - we just called this place Monkey Mountain, basically you walk up a mountain, hang out with monkeys, get to feed them, it's a nice day hike if the weather is good

 

I did some other stuff while I was there last, but I honestly got the very most enjoyment out of walking around the city, poking around grocery and convenience stores, etc. If you find yourself in Kyoto Station and want to catch a bite to eat, they have a pretty good rotary sushi place which was half good for the experience (it's a great way to try new types of sushi) and half good because the fish was just really delicious.

 

(also, if you're willing to go out a little farther to Osaka, Nipponbashi/Den Den Town is great for video game/otaku stuff)

[Gwardinen]

For most developers I know, if you can nut out FizzBuzz you're good enough.

 

Had never heard of that before. Just did it in Notepad to see whether I could remember how to code at all.

 

For some reason part of my brain forgot about for loops, and so I used a less efficient while loop, but it seems some programming has stuck with me and my little program would indeed FizzBuzz accurately.

 

I wish I had time/reason to actually code regularly again.

[mikemariano]

Go to centre island an rent bikes and cycle around all of it!

 

Thanks osmosisch/tberton/dibs!  Bicycles, baseball, and towers were all part of my Chicago trip last year so I should keep it up!

[Merus]

My friends and I did a room escape last night! It was called The Enigma Room, and we did one themed around going into someone's memories to find their most precious memory. It was really well put together - it was all completely automated, and they were able to do things like custom radio stations, holding poses and re-arranging pictures.

 

We also (metaphorically) smashed it! It was a room that was apparently a little hard, with a success rate of about 20%, but we got out with 10 minutes to spare - or at least we would have, had we worked out the lock for the exit door was open.

[Azniac]

So, coffee. How do you like to take it?

[Badfinger]

In a cup, please! Mug also acceptable.

 

e: when I'm being my snobbiest, burr grinder, aero press, black. Black in general. I prefer medium bodied South and Central American coffees, I've found. 

[JonCole]

I like to take it like a hipster baby. $170 Bonavita drip coffee maker, burr grinder, and then I take 2 creams and 3 Splendas. 

[jennegatron]

I just walk down the coffee aisle of the grocery store and take in the smells, and then never ever drink it because I hate bitter drinks, and if I wanted to just drink something full of cream/sugar & get caffeine I'd just drink a soda. (I do very much like tea though, specifically black tea with mint. I drink that with no cream no sugar.)