I am blogging-impaired...

Aaagghh!  Blogging isn't exactly my forté...  How are all you guys making your backgrounds so nice anyway?  I'll trade cookies for blogging advice! ^^"

Why Japanese?  My parents are from Taiwan, which Japan ruled for about half a century.  Although Taiwan has been independent from Japan since 1945, Japanese culture remains palpable in Taiwan to this day.  For instance, most people from my parents' generation know basic Japanese greetings that they learned from their parents, who learned Japanese when they were in school.  During these (long) nights when I'm wondering why my brain just can't remember all my hiragana, I wonder if my grandmother had as much trouble with her hiragana as I'm having.


Remember how, in one of our earliest classes, Nazikian Sensei told us that, in Japan, mall employees line up to bow to customers when malls open in the mornings?  Well, Taiwanese people do this as well.  We don't keep these Japanese customs out of habit; we simply love everything Japanese.  This love stems from childhood.


As your typical Taiwanese girl, I grew up watching (a lot of ) anime.  I watched "Grave of the Fireflies" with my onii-san when I was four.  If you haven't seen it - be prepared - it will make you cry ten tissue-boxes worth of tears.  I've seen every Miyazaki film the guy's ever made (yes, including "Ponyo" =] ).  I've seen every single episode of "Sailor Moon"... more than once.  Please don't make fun of me!  If I had to choose though, "Doraemon" occupies a very special place in my heart.


My older brother used to say that he was like Doraemon, and I was Doraemon's little sister, Dorami.  Onii-san's long grown out of his Doraemon obsession, but to be honest, I still watch episodes of Doraemon during my spare time.  There's just something very comforting about a cat-like robot who has crazy gadgets that can, say, do your homework for you as you sleep.  You guys probably think that I'm the most childish person ever (I can't really offer much in my own defense), but if I can ever watch a full episode of Doraemon without subtitles, and still understand everything, I'll probably cry a lot of tissue boxes, and then treat myself out to really fancy sushi.


I'll admit that my Doraemon obsession definitely compels me to continue to work hard in this course, but there are other reasons why I want to learn Japanese as well.  There's the reason that I share with all of my classmates: Japanese rocks.  Then there's the fact that I've been called "日本妹" all my life.  The nickname literally means "little Japanese girl".  I'm not sure why people mistake me for a Japanese girl all the time (will Nazikian sensei know?), but even when I'm in Taiwan, people think I'm Japanese. If I ever become un-broke, I'd really like to go to Japan.  Maybe I'll feel at home there.  And maybe, the next time someone asks me if I'm Japanese, I'll actually be able to fool them for a little bit =p.

Even though this has taken over my life, I must say, I'm really glad that I decided to take this class.  I'd probably die in a day if you left me in Kyoto right now; I'm tired and sleep-deprived, as I'm sure many of you are also; I still can't remember all my hiragana; I'm going to fail my quiz tomorrow if I don't start studying soon - but - I just love this class.  Oh, the pleasures of being a masochist!


Well, here ends my first (real) blog post ever.


Jaa mata ashita!