Composition #1

こんばんはみんださん。わたしはジェニーです。わたしはこのだいがくのあたらしいがくせいです。おせわになります。アメリカじんです。カリフォニヤからきました。わたしはこるんびあだいがくのよねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはアメリカです（politicsをとyouthをとおんがくをべんきょします）。おいいしすしときれいなくつとsouth americaとcapoeiraとにほんとすきやきsongがすきです。Graffiti Non-profitのしゃいんです。わたしはおもしろいです。どうぞよろしく。しつれいします。

I need a やすみ！！！

すみません　みなさん、

I have been so busy this week that I have abandoned my blog. I am in the process of writing my undergraduate thesis, and a huge draft is due すいよび (a day before our exam!!). Fortunately, I love my thesis topic. I find it really interesting, but because I am so emotionally invested in it, I get devastated when it doesn't go well. My problem is that I always pour my heart into my studies, so when I fail, I feel as though I have failed myself. But only in subjects I care about (like にほんご, my thesis, etc). Subjects like math and science don't affect me as much ^--^.

Also, I am getting ready for my post-graduation life by applying for jobs--a very stressful and time-consuming process. I am applying to work at a cause-marketing firm (where corporate marketing tools are applied to social justice causes), a production team called Engels Entertainment, and a team in DC that organizes campuses nation-wide in a fight for global trade justice. I would love to work for any one of them, but whew, it isn't easy.


Anyways, does anybody know how to post mp3 files? because I have some great songs by "ちぼまっと" and "Smokey and Miho" (japanese and brazilian duo) that I would like to share.


Also, it looks as though Japan has created a Japanese answer to Myspace...it's called MIXI:
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/02/18/ap/hitech/d8najs800.txt
http://mixi.jp/

I think I'm going to set up an account. that is, when I get a やすみ.

ジェニー

interesting...

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3055/context/cover/

Moving to Japan

It has been decided. I will live in Japan. This has been a latent fantasy of mine, and seeing as I am at a point in my life of ultimate flexibility (fresh out of college...what better time than now?), I'm goint to indulge myself.

So, does anyone have suggestions for study programs, or teaching english programs? I would love any input!!

help please. someone posted this comment on my blog:
がいこくのことばをべんきょうするのはたいへんですよね。でもスペインごがはなせてべんりですね

...and I fumbled around with it for a while until I remembered that I CAN'T ACTUALLY SPEAK JAPANESE. seriously, I don't even recognize half the characters in the second sentence.

question: Is the gesture in this video used in a negative sense? Normally, in the U.S., "kissing up to someone" is equated with "brown-nosing", a social practice that, in certain contexts, is look at unfavorably. Is that how it is used here? Or is it a compliment to "kiss up to someone"?
http://one.revver.com/watch/48814

One interesting thing I've learned recently, related to Japan:
The Japanese have a very interesting and contradictory relationship to their chopsticks. Apparently, it is natural to develop a relationship with your own personal set, and it is considered unsanitary to eat with a "re-usable" pair in a restaurant. So, for a long time, people would carry their chopsticks around with them. But then, what started with a surplus in the lumber industry ended up being the beginning of the disposable-chopstick-industry. This seems natural enough, except for when you factor in the huge amount of waste (albeit, biodegradable) that comes with so many used chopsticks. This is where it gets tricky--the japanese have a fairly progressive stance on environmental issues, and this disposible chopstick phenomenon seems to run counter-intuitively. ah, how interesting when gastronomical tradition and environmental philosophy collide!

Also, I need help learning how to type in Japanese. I set up my computer so that I can do it, but when I tried to teach myself the keyboard basics, I got too confused. Can I bring my computer to class?