Reality BITES!

Well today was going along wonderfully. My Family and I were getting TONS & TONS of Christmas decorations from the garage when the phone rings. I know what you are thinking...."Is it Santa?" No, it was a a very good friend of mine that lives in Japan. The City of Nara to be specific. Anyway, Nao-Chan (Her nickname) was talking away to me in English and she said, "Candi, I have been thinking we always speak English together these days & never Japanese." I agreed but I said hey, we have been speaking in mostly English for the last 2 years. Anyway, Nao-Chan decided to speak completely in Japanese and I was stunned. Why, stunned you may ask....Because I had to focus to be sure I understood her. Some words I even needed a translation! (These were words I previously knew well) I was shocked! At one time in my life I was reading, writing & speaking on an Advanced Intermediate level in Japanese and Spanish. Now, apparently I am leaking my Japanese language knowledge like a damaged balloon. Now, I am in Florida, the land of the Spanish language so being here makes practicing Spanish much easier. Japanese however is another story. My Japanese friends and Educators are not in my area & most are still living and/or working in Japan. Today, was truly a wake up call. Either I need to use my Japanese or it will be gone for sure. When I was working in Japan my brain was in overdrive & I was soaking up the reality of the language and the dynamics between Formal & Informal Japanese. Now, look at me! Here is a truth even more strange, 2 weeks ago I had a dream completely in 2 languages ONLY - Japanese & Spanish. I woke feeling confused and uncertain what had actually been said. Anyway, I knew this would happen when I returned to focus on my Mother's health but I guess I was just amazed how much you loose and how quickly. I will NEVER regret my choice but sometimes I wish I could have my cake and eat it too.