ニ十ねんごのわたし

２０３３年にサンフランシスコにいます。Google のしゃいんです。かぞくにとてもしんせつなおっととかわいいこどもがふたりいます。それから、いぬがいます。ちいさいうちにさんでいます。でも、とてもきれいなうちです。

わたしのはは、ちち、とあにがサンフランシスコにいます。わたしたちわまいしゅうえいがをみます。そして、わたしのうちのちかくにこうえんがあります。サンフランシスコのでんきがすきですからまいにちこうえんをさんぽします。

わたしのやすみ

せんしゅうのどようびとにちようびにわたしのうちへかえります。こんしゅうはしけんがみっつありますから、べんきょうします。そして、ときどきねます。そして、スーパーへいきます。さらに、わたしのははのりょりをたべます。とてもおいしいです！

 

ここはかわいいいぬです。

Being a Nerd

I think that watching anime always has a certain connotation in the US -- it's perceived as something weird. In the past when I mentioned watching anime to some friends, they reacted in surprise, telling me that usually people who watch anime are "a little odd". Often, they cite examples of stereotypical anime lovers as those who come into school with Naruto headbands, randomly squeal Japanese phrases, and cosplay poorly.

I understand that whenever something is taken too far it can be weird or off putting, but I don't think it's correct to be so quick to judge a whole genre of entertainment. It's extremely close minded to automatically dismiss anime and the people who watch it. I'm sort of being hypocritical, since sometimes I don't want to be associated with those who cosplay or obsess over anime. But when it really comes down to it, I really enjoy watching anime just as much as I love watching Breaking Bad and Supernatural. I think that people should be free to love what they want and express that love in whatever way they want to without fear of being labeled a freak. Perhaps in some way I kind of envy how confident those who go to Cons can be about their love of anime, scifi, etc. Hopefully someday I will also be equally confident and be able to proclaim my love of all things "nerdy".

I think Wil Wheaton says it best in his little speech "What it means to be a Nerd." from the Calgary Comic Expo:

“When I was a little boy, people really teased us about that, and made us feel like there was something wrong with us for loving those things. Now that I’m an adult, I’m kind of a professional nerd, and the world has changed a lot. I think a lot of us have realized that being a nerd … it’s not about what you love. It’s about how you love it.

So, there’s going to be a thing in your life that you love. I don’t know what that’s going to be … and it doesn’t matter what it is. The way you love that, and the way that you find other people who love it the way you do is what makes you a nerd. The defining characteristic of [being a nerd] is that we love things. Some of us love Firefly and some of us love Game of Thrones, or Star Trek, or Star Wars, or anime, or games, or fantasy, or science fiction. Some of us love completely different things. But we all love those things SO much that we travel for thousands of miles … we come from all over the world, so that we can be around people who love the things the way that we love them.

That’s why being a nerd is awesome. And don’t let anyone tell you that that thing that you love is a thing that you can’t love. Don’t anyone ever tell you that you can’t love that, that’s for boys … you find the things that you love, and you love them the most that you can."

進撃の巨人

先週(せんしゅう)の日曜日(にちようび)、わたしはともだちと進撃の巨人をみます。進撃の巨人は日本製アニメです。進撃の巨人はとてもゆうめいです。そしてあたらしです。四月(よんがつ)のじゅうろくにちにはじめました。The premise of the show is that giant humanoid creatures called Titans (巨人), that range from 3 -15 meters tall, have taken over the Earth and forced the human race to retreat into a system of concentric walls. The Titans don't seem to be particularly bright, but their size, strength, and agility make them formidable opponents that have the ability to wipe out humanity. They eat humans, but for some reason don't seem to require them as sustenance. As most anime are, 進撃の巨人 is a little strange, but the art style is quite unique and beautiful (きれいい), and I look forward to watching the rest of the anime. とてもおもしろいです。In this anime, the protagonists are named Eren Jaeger (エレン・イェーガー) and Mikasa Akerman (ミカサ・アッカーマン). I look forward to more character development and awesome battle scenes.

わたしわアニメが大好き(だいすき)です。However, I have not regularly watched 日本製アニメ seriously since high school, and it was nice to get back into anime after deciding to take にほんごのクラスfor fun. Some of my favorite 日本製アニメ include Full Metal Alchemist (鋼の錬金術師), Code Geass (コードギアス 反逆のルルーシュ), Bleach (ブリーチ), Soul Eater (ソウルイーター), and Ouran High School Host Club (桜蘭高校ホスト部). I am also a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki and Satoshi Kon movies (For example, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, Millennium Actress).

I would consider myself an animation junkie in general. As I am interested in art (see my portfolio: http://crystalywang.deviantart.com/ ) and one of my ridiculous dreams would be to work at Pixar someday. わたしの夢 (ゆめい)です！

きょうみませんでした。しゅくだいおべんきょうしました。そして、としょかんではたらきます。いそがしいです。

わたしのははの誕生日

きょうはわたしのははの誕生日(たんじょうび)です。五十七(ごじゅうなな)さいです。 
ケーキと中国(ちゅうごく)の麺(めん）たべます。中国の人(ひと)はみんなたんじょうびに麺(めん)をたべます。さらに,わたしはははににチョコレートをあげました。わたしの兄(あに)ははなをあげました。わたしのちちもはなをあげました。

Why I am Learning Japanese

There are a myriad of factors that piqued my interest in Japanese. Initially, I watched a lot of anime and Japanese dramas in middle and high school and became very interested in the culture. Even though I could only understand subtitles, I found the Japanese language to be very lyrical and pleasing to the ears. I also had many Japanese friends in high school, including one guy from Kyoto. One of the biggest reasons (embarrassingly) that I have an interest in Japanese culture is that I also love Japanese food and would eat nabeyaki udon every day if I could.

Not surprisingly, I was strongly discouraged from taking Japanese by my parents. My parents have the immigrant mentality of "practicality", and saw learning Japanese as a frivolous waste of time.  Also, because of the tensions between Japan and China in World War 2, my parents have a wee bit of a bias towards Japanese people. My parents did not like that I watched Japanese shows or wanted to learn Japanese, but now that I'm in college, I have more freedom to choose the classes that I wanted to take. Because of this, I decided to take Japanese purely for fun in my senior year at Columbia.

Although I have a very strong interest in Japanese, I am an Applied Mathematics major, and do not find learning languages an intrinsic skill of mine. It was only after taking Japanese that I became cognizant of how outside my comfort zone I was. Although I try to study hard, I feel that I am still slower than the other students in picking up new phrases and sentence structures. However, I will try my best with practice to speak Japanese well!

I am excited because I will be able to appreciate and understand Japanese shows more and hopefully eventually go to Japan to visit. Just last week, I was able to read a sign that said " ニューヨークすし"　It was pretty cool.

わたしはクリスタラワンです!

皆さん（みなさん）こんにちは!　はじめまして。わたしはクリスタル・ワンです。ニュージャージー州（New Jerseyしゅう) からきました。コロンビア大学 （だいがく）の学生（がくせい）です。四年せい（よねんせい）です。どうぞよろしく。