First off, let's listen to some background music while reading this entry, shall we?
The song above is "The sixth station," soundtrack of the movie "Spirited Away" by はやお みやざき (Hayao Miyazaki), the creator of Studio Ghibli (read: The Japanese Disney; I personally much strongly prefer Studio Ghibli, but let's postpone this till another post).
I've liked Japan since I was young. My childhood imagination was built on Pokémon, Sailor Moon, the Super Sentai series (which in my opinions is often way better the American counterpart, the Power Ranger); then I was attracted to the detective mangas - Detective Conan, Detective Kindaichi, Detective Academy Q (たんてい がくえん Q), and many more - as I grew up. Somehow I got used to the anime drawing style with big-headed, big-eyed characters (see Conan as an example) very naturally.
Because of the heavy influence, I always dreamed of going to Japan one day when I was young, and I did just that with the Princeton Global Seminar program in 2012. Spending 5 weeks in Tokyo and 1 week in Tohoku, I just grew to love this country more and more. I was impressed by a very dynamic society (definitely one of a kind in Asia, since nowhere else sells porn in a regular book store #cultureShock), delicious food, beautiful temples, awesome onsens, and more than anything, the people's politeness and hospitality.
Learning Japanese has been a dream that I've put off for way too long. Somehow I always got convinced that there are many more practical things to learn in life for my career and my future, so learning Japanese always comes second in my priority despite all the interests. This semester is my last semester at Princeton, and since I'm applying to a PhD program, I should be drowning myself in taking Math and Economics grad courses at Princeton for a stronger application. Then a thought struck me: "If I don't take Japanese now, then when?" Perhaps never. I was scared of the answer, so I signed up for JPN 101. Let's hope that this is a great crazy choice! がんばってね!
My first impressions of the class was that the professors are very friendly (and maybe speaking the stereotypical Japanese's "Engrish" accent on purpose :)? ), and that everyone else in the class is very comfortable practicing our broken Japanese together (which is absent in many language classes). So far so good, I've had no concern nor worry YET (I may change my mind once the semester kicks in - just wait for my complaint in later posts).
Let the adventure begin! はじめましょ!
P.S.: In case you wonder what my blog's name means, Chikara-meshi is a very wonderful (cheap) fast food chain in Japan that serves delicious beef bowl. Don't be put off by the term fast-food, since this is no McDonald. Give it a try when you go to Japan!
はじめまして、 クランビア マット です。 わたしは ノートルダム の だいがく の がくせい です。 どうぞ よろしく おねがいします。 (My name is Matt Krambeer, I'm a student at the University of Notre Dame, it's nice to meet you!).
ReplyDeleteThe thing that stood out to me about your post is that this is your last semester, and yet you are just starting Japanese. I find that interesting because I am doing something similar. I am actually in my 5th year of undergraduate studies at Notre Dame (ごねんせい です) and I just started first year Japanese. I had a similar way of thinking ("if I don't take Japanese now, then I might never be able to study it properly!").
I also really liked Pokemon growing up (actually, I still really like Pokemon!). And Dragonball. I can't get enough of those awesome fights.
Good luck with your studies, and がんばって！！