2008年4月25日金曜日

今学き

私は今学きはむずかしくて、たのしいと思います。たくさんのしゅくだいをしたり、友だちとおもしろいエベントに行ったりしました。たとえば、ワッシントンDCにさくらまつりに行きました。今日本語一年生のフィナルプロジェクトをしなくちゃいけません。

So far, we've worked really hard together to get it done for Monday. We decided to include video clips instead of just using still photos, so we've spent a lot of time filming and editing. Yesterday, honya-chan and me finished editing the final copy and recorded our vocal parts. I gave Andreano the CDs with the audio and the edited photos this morning, and he's going to finish dropping the audio and the still shots into the movie we have this weekend.

It's been really great working with honya-chan and Andreano - they're both very determined and want to get things done early. Plus, Andreano has access to all the good equipment that the newspaper here uses, so that's been really nice.

Filming in the car, however, was a little interesting. I think we have on film someone almost getting hit by a car - silly pedestrians - but that's not good footage to use for encouraging people to come here. (The pedestrian actually didn't get hit - though he did punch the passing car - and it wasn't us that almsot hit him. Honest.

I'm looking forward to presenting this, because it's going to be a nice relaxed class presentation where we actually get to see our final project. That, and it'll be the first time that honya-chan and I get to see the finished thing - so there might be some suprises.

The blog this semester has also been rather interesting. I feel like it's been hard commenting on classmates' blogs at times because everyone's busy so sometimes there aren't new entries to comment on. I also felt strange at times looking at other's blogs, especially if we knew structures they didn't and vice-versa.

I've enjoyed having the confidence boost of finding out that, unlike first semester, I can now pretty much write a real entry in Japanese. Sure, it's a little silly most of the time, but it's fun, too. It's also great to be able to comment and receive comments in different languages, because then you know that you're being understood whether its correct grammar or not. I suppose the more relaxed setting of the blog helps, too. There's more pressure to actually try and do things than there is to just get it done right and be safe.

Granted, at the same time, I know we're all making mistakes in our writing and that's difficult if they aren't caught. It's easy to just fall into the habit of using the wrong thing, and then it's difficult to break that habit. So, hopefully, none of us are doing things like that consistantly.

2008年4月18日金曜日

先週まつ

先週まつにはさくらまつりとたいこやことのパーファーマンスでしたので友だちと車で行きました。土曜日の早朝に友だちと会いましたので、金曜日に早くねなくちゃいけませんでした。それはちょっと大へんでしたが、私は大丈夫でした。ウアシントンDCまで二時間ぐらいかかりました。私たち車でとてもつまらでした。元気なおんがくがないんでしょう。さくらまつりでたくさんの食べ物の売てんやおみやげの売てんがありました。そして、たくさんの人がいました。たこやきとたいやきを食べたり、げいしゃをみたりしました。三時間半ぐらい家に帰りました。


それはたこやきです。たこやきはOctopus in Fried Ballsです。とてもおいしいです!


たいやきはFish-shaped pastry with sweet bean pasteです。みどりじゃありません。。。

日曜日にたいこやことのコンサートでしたので、友だちと行きました。そのコンサートはきれいで、げんきでした。The group that did taiko drumming was called Nen Daiko, and they were amazing. The acoustics in the building were so wonderful - you could feel the music just as well as you could hear it. I was also surprised that so many of Nen Daiko's members were female - there were only two or three men in the whole group.


これはこととしゃみせんですが、コンサートでしゃみせんをひきませんでした。

これはNen Daikoです。一ばんの映画はおみやげです。日曜日に見ましたが、このバーシオンはちょっと長いと思います。二ばんの映画もNen Daikoですが、そのおんがくを見ませんでした。

2008年4月11日金曜日

スピーチのレフレッシオン

たくさんのデタイル「Detail]をはなしたいですから、えい語を書いてもいいと思います。

Speech... I hope

Alright... I'm really disappointed with my speech overall. I open the file, and I listen, and I realize - ho boy did I pronounce my major wrong. That's just... sad. And disappointing. Beyond that rather large mistake, I ended up with a strange accent through the whole thing because of my nerves. And I think I was trying too hard to not cough, which resulted in some funny noises when I paused. I'm not happy with the way I paused in mid-sentence over the particle 'を' either in the first paragraph.

However, I'm also happy that I didn't completely freeze this time as I did the first semester. I don't really have fears about speaking in front of people usually, but I suppose I'm not confident when it comes to speaking in Japanese in front of the class and not within the class, if that makes any sense. Also, memorizing the speech and having the notecards there just in case were a big help. Last time, I didn't have detailed enough notes on my notecards, so they weren't really helpful. I do think that I might have relied on them too heavily, even though I knew the speech pretty well, but I do remember looking up and being comfortable with what I was saying still at times.

Overall, I think I'm also happy with the grammar patterns and the flow of the speech. Last time, I had regrets about not using certain things or not having enough variation - and I feel like I got this this time around.

As far as questions go, well, I guess it was hard because my topic was hard. But I suppose if I could make up 水をエックズペリメント[Experiment]します then it couldn't have been but so bad.

2008年4月3日木曜日

私はアイデアがありませんから、今週のトピックを書きたくありませんが、私はがんばります。

このスピーチには私のせんもんを書いたり、フィルとリップも書いたりしました。私のグルプでアンドレアノさんは日本でジェットプログラムを書いたり、こちらのせんもんも書いたりしました。そして、私とアンドレアノさんはゆめを話しました。一番のドラフトでアンドレアノさんはかたかなをつかりませんでしたが、二番のドラフトのほうがいいだと思います。

スーさんのスピーチで高校生の時にホームコミンだーンスを書いたり、病気の時も書いたりしました。それの時はちょっと大変だと思います。スーさんの文ぽとたん語はとてもおもしろくて、いいと思います。

あっー!私の三番のドラフトを見てください:


私のせんもんはかんきょうか学ですから、今たくさんのじゅぎょうをとっています。かんきょうか学のじゅぎょうではよくせかいの事をならいます。だから、か学のじゅぎょうの中で、私はかんきょうか学が一ばんおもしろいと思います。私は大学の時の前にかんきょうか学がすきでしたが、大学にはいった時に、せんもんを分かりませんでした。でも、一ばんのかんきょうか学のじゅぎょうをとった時の後で、せんもんを知っています。私は長いペーパを書いて、むずかしいしけんがありますから、じゅぎょうは大へんです。でも、それはたのしいと思います。今はるになりましたから、じゅぎょうでおもしろいところに行きます。

先しゅうの土曜日に私はかんきょうか学のじゅぎょうのフィルドトリップに行きました。シャーロッツビールからフレドブリックズバーグまで車で一時間半ぐらいかかりました。それからガベメントの会社員に会ったたり、マリランドに行ったりしました。会社員はじゅぎょうにかんきょうか学をおしえました。土曜日はあたたかい天気になりましたから、学校の行こうはとてもたのしかった。

私はかんきょうか学が上手になったたいですから、三年の後私はかんきょうか学の会社につとめるつもりです。

ーー
私は今週末に四番のドラフトを書きたいですが、まだはじまりません。

A Kappa Explanation

I'm sure by now some people are confused as to the images I've chosen and the video clip below. The clip below, in case you can't read the rather blurred kanji, is from the anime Gensomaden Saiyuki by Kazuya Minekura. The opening isn't as full of pretty fluorishes and whatnot like the actual episodes are.

Why am I explaining this, you may ask. Well, it all has to do with the kappa nickname that I tend to use - in case you didn't figure the kappa part out by now from the signature on the left. Kappa was the term incorrectly assigned to the Saiyuki character in the original Journey to the West series, Sha Gojyo. Gojyo was a sand demon in the original Buddhist myth about a Sanzo priest traveling to India to meet the Buddha. A kappa, however, is a water demon whose favorite food is cucmbers and who carry water dishes on their heads. This is not Minekura's Gojyo, either.

Still lost? That's good - I'm not there yet. In Kazuya Minekura's version, which is far more of an action and personal discovery piece where the four main characters (five if you count Hakuryuu the dragon who can turn into a Jeep) are trying to prevent Gyumaoh, the Demon King, from being reborn, than a religious treatise (though there are a lot of philosophical aspects and debates buried within it), Sha Gojyo is actually half kappa. You can tell he's not human or demon from his red hair and red eyes. I bet now you know who he is in the clip below.

I got the nickname Kappa from Minekura-san's Gensomaden Saiyuki series, prescribed by a group of friends that seems to perpetuate it regardless of who I'm around - it's actually migrated with me past highschool. Gojyo's personality has some rugged edges, though he's really a big brother type beyond that. He's also the fair bit of a romantic, once you get past the playboy aspect. While there are plenty of differences between myself and Gojyo (mainly the whole he's a guy and I'm not aspect), the name persists.

So, longer than anyone cares, this is your kappa signing off.

Gensomaden Saiyuki