Living in Spain and being fluent in Spanish have long been a dream. Now Spain opens-up its border and I don’t need visa up to 90 days. We still work remotely and most of my teams are in Europe and Asia so time-zone would work. I asked “mama” in Costa Rica to give me the …
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Happy 10 Years Birthday, Duolingo!
I read Duolingo’s co-founder’s post on Linkedin for its 10 years anniversary. I found out that I’ve been using it to learn Spanish since 2004 (8y+); I have daily goal to pass 3 lessons a day. I love it and have recommended the “green little bird” to many friends. Tks and congratulation to Duolingo team …
Serendipity
House is again not able to be closed. More drag yet I appreciate the serendipity: it gives me additional time to discuss with other unit’s tenants. It also enables me to take a trip back to CT sooner, to visit some old friends after 3-4 years. Stay positive and appreciative no matter what! Everything will …
Happy Mother’s Day
Last year I spent Mother’s Day with my Costa Rica family. We had a picnic at a son’s front yard, I helped plant 3 mango trees there; then “mama” and I headed to family’s 2nd home, a place I love in the mountain area. We enjoyed yucca, chorizo, tortilla on the stone bar with “papa” …
I Can Do it
House drama after drama: tenant negotiations, permit application, closing extension, etc. It’s frustrating to see that people know what to do and reminded by others yet don’t do it till last minute. It amazed me, telling the truth and being collaborative (for some people) could be so difficult. It’s also sad to see highly educated, …
For Joe
I joined Sales & Marketing Toastmaster in Oct ’19. Immediately, I was impressed with Joe’s wit in the table topics and how he presented…full of energy yet relaxed, everything flew naturally and it felt so “easy”. Moreover, he got everybody laugh. Regardless of the topics, Joe was able to tell a story and put the …
Believe
I watched an interview of a para-athlete who ran on 2 prostheses after Boston Marathon. He came to Alaska from Africa with a running scholarship then lost his legs by frost yet he had a big smile on his face…he said “I’m the same person, strong…believe your mind, you can do anything…Thanks to the organizer …
Blessing
It would be lovely to close the purchase; a home would be a big present for myself yet confirming extension and lock-in rate offered assurance. I ran to Starbucks to claim my free b-day coffee yet it closed earlier, well, good day (much warmer than the past 2 days) to run and get fresh air. …
Risk-Taking? Accountability
Aunt’s friends admire her ‘bravery’ to take risks膽子大. Aunt said she is not brave, neither gambling; actually she is conservative. What she does is to assess the risk and determine if she can manage the worst case scenario, if so, go for it. Once she made the decision, she’d stick to it to make it …
Learn to be Smarter
Is intelligence born with or can it be learned? Cognitive test comes in variety yet questions usually fall into 3 categories: numerical, verbal, and spatial. I took a free course online, learned to identify pattern and calculate math faster. After 3 hour study, my score has improved significantly. Practice makes it better and we all …