Composition 3

２０年の私。

私はコロンビア大学でべんきょうをおわりました。

それからだいがくいんのべんきょうおわりました。

かんきょうせいぶつをべんきょうします。

そして私はコロンビアだいがくのきょうしです。

コロンビア大学は私にお金をあげます。

このお金で国でけんきょうをべんきょうします。

いつもニューヨークへかえります。

そこでけんきゅうしつとじっけんしつではたらきます

先生と学生とはなひます。

けんきゅうろんぶんをかきます。

毎晩ロングアイランドへ車でかえります。

私のうちからうみを見ます。

でも山がだいすきですから、

ふゆにバーモンとへかぞくとともだちとかえります。

いつが私はウィリアムズ大学ではたらきたいです。

バーモントのちかくにそのきれいなだいがく

がありますから。

２０年ごのモリーンのうちです！

（それはウィリアムズ大学ですよ！とてもきれいなだいがくですね）

今、ケラスはおわりした。

今日私の日本語のケラスはおわります。

日本語のケラスはとてもおもしろかったです。むずかしかったですから。そして、とてもたのしかったです。さとう先生はしんせつなせんせいでしたよ。

I am very happy to be taking Japanese II with さとう先生 next semester! And I know I'll see many of you there! So, for being such great classmates this semester - ありがとうございました！Good luck to all with final exams, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

For your enjoyment:

I think that this above photograph is really interesting - seeing the full-size Christmas tree in a more traditional, Japanese-style home.

Apparently Christmas decorations are even more beautiful in Tokyo than in New York! :P

Also, I really enjoy seeing Colonel Sanders dressed up for every season. When I was in

岡山 in July he was holding a watermelon, now he's Santa!

私のはいく！

私のはいく！
私はこのはいくがすきです。
なつがだいすきですから、このことばもすきです。

I was told in the posts that the particles should not begin or end the lines, and that the words I used do not qualify as "season words" that would make this a haiku. Please let me know why that is? I like the sentiment of this poem, so I am leaving it as is, as I don't really know how best to alter it.

Just consider me the James Joyce of haikus.

なつのそら

のしたにテント

でねました

はいく。。。

こんばんは、

これは私の俳句（はいく）：

なつのそら

のしたにテント

でねました

Do I need to say テントのなかor does　テントで　make sense, since that's its function?

『テント』はえいごのことばですから、

私はカタカナで『テント』をかきました。

私はアメリカのバーモント人ですから、I want to create the image of tents American hikers and backpackers use. I would assume modern-day Japanese hikers use the same type of tents...but my dictionary only gives the katakana word. I do not know, but perhaps a Japanese word for tent might imply a different style of tent? Or some sort of traditional tent or other temporary shelter?

This is me sitting under a"living area" tent at a campsite on the Long Trail after a long day of trailbuilding. It's canvas tied to four trees. :)

This is the kind of tent American hikers sleep in:

このともだちはいちばんいいテントがありましたよ！

(his tent stayed the driest! our tents were all flooded when it rained heavily... :( ....)

Anyway, that poem was just a rough draft, so I will keep thinking about the grammar and reworking the words. Soon, it will be perfect!

私ははいくのえをかきましょう！

いま、おやすみなさい。。。

Composition

Composition: Letter to Host-Family

山田さんへ、

はじめまして。私はモーリンです。じゅうきゅうさいです。
アメリカのバーモントからきました。私はコロンビアだいがくのがくせいです。
にねんせいです。コロンビアだいがくがすきです。
いまこうこがくとかんきょうがくをべんきょうします。
私はにほんごをべんきょうします。クラスはむずがしいですが、おもしろいです。
私はしんせつなとおだちがあります。
私のせいかつはとてもたのしいですよ。
こがつにとおかにひこうきでにほんへいきあす。

よろしくおねがいします。

モーリン

１１月５日


Also, don't be alarmed - I changed my name from モーリン to　モリーン, in the interest of having it sound more natural.

When I went to Japan in 2007, my teachers taught me write my name マウリーナ and so I was MAH-OOO-REE-NAH for the summer. Either way, モーリン or　モリーン is a significant improvement.

みなさん、ごめんなさい !!

-

"Oh, dear! It appears I have been quite remiss in my blogging."　

月にブログでかきませんでした!! Oh, no!

これから、私は月曜日と水曜日にブログてかきましょう。

私のせんこうはArchaeologyとEnvironmental Biologyです。私のクラスはあまりやさしくないですよ. But, rule #1: No excuses. Blog like a champion. I definitely need to take advantage of our blogging project here - so far it's been really helpful to practice Japanese online! So, again, ごめんなさい、and I am especially sorry for those who have been assigned to read and comment on my blog.

しつもん。。。かんじ！

In the Lesson 9 Vocabulary...“かない”(wife) のかんじをみましたか。“家内”です。The Kanji reminded me a lot of the kanji for "prison," which is 囚. Is there any relation between 囚 and 内?

ポチャッコ！

わたしのfavorite にほんのcartoon character はポチャッコですよ！サンリオのいぬです。そしてとてもかわいいです。

I have never really watched anime much, but when I was much younger my part-Japanese cousin used to give me all kinds of ポチャッコ gifts! わたしはしばしばポチャッコをかきます。My suitemates liked my little drawings, so I made this one to welcome everyone to our suite! :)

じゃ、またあさって！

～モリーン

カタカナ Analysis

これはわたしのにほんごのハリーポッターのほんです。
ハリーポッターとアズカバンはカタカナでかきました。
This makes sense, because Harry Potter is a foreign name, and Azkaban is made-up.
　
トトロもカタカナでかきました。わかりません。　
The name is not a loan word - maybe an onomatopoeia, or for more emphasis.

わたしはこんばんこれブロゲをおわります！
じゃまた。

にちようび

にちようびにわたしはともだちとWashington Square Park いきました。
Strand Bookstore もいきました。
それから、Max Brenner もいきました。
チョコレトをたべした。(free samples are great for broke college students!)

I will continue when I get home tonight...!

コーヒーとどーもくん。

どーもくんはかわいいです。

コーヒーはおいしいです。

What's not to like?

This little Japanese cartoon guy is all over the packaging at 711 now. I saw the advertisements EVERYWHERE when I was on Long Island last weekend.

Just thought I would share with y'all.

Vermont Curry

こんにちは。

きょうわたしはごぜん３からごぜん７までねました。

Ew. And then I tried to take a nap but was interrupted by a fire alarm.

That's the price you pay for living in the LLC.

Even so, I am in a good mood! Because　きょうは さむいです！

Autumn and Winter are my favorite seasons of the year.

My friends back in Vermont called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me about the first time temperatures dipped below freezing overnight - and now they're telling me that the leaves are starting to really change! Ahhh! Vermont is so, so beautiful in the fall - especially where I'm from. Here's a picture of Bennington Valley! It's from the internet so it's not great, but for my next post I will dig up some that I took myself and post them.

Being in the city feels especially foreign at this time of year. In Vermont, I'd probably be outside raking leaves. But here it's been feeling like summer beach-weather, even into last week! Last year in the city I felt the same way - just a little off.

I don't feel the seasons as strongly here. New York is dominated by brick and concrete, metal and glass. The only real perceptible change is in the temperature, maybe the humidity. And the ten trees in our courtyard shed their leaves in November. In Vermont, the whole atmosphere, the whole environment changes. You can see it, smell it...it's really fantastic, you're completely overwhelmed with Autumn.

Anyway, this also got me thinking..."How can I ever explain this to someone in Japanese?"

Because...I have no idea how to spell Vermont in katakana. "Vermont" seems like a difficult collection of sounds to translate (same reason my name usually wound up sounding like MAO-UH-REE-NA until someone showed me a simpler way to spell it).

THEN. I remembered when I went to Japan two years ago, one of two things would happen when I said "Vermont" with my lovely American accent.　

1) People would have no idea what I was talking about. So I'd say it was a very, very small state near Canada. And then everyone would marvel that I was from Canada.

2) People would say some odd tagline or a bit of a jingle from a commercial. Nobody ever explained what they were saying/singing to me!

I felt like a joke.

It took me weeks to discover THIS in a supermarket in Okayama:

Thank you very much. That was a pretty great moment.

I brought back two boxes so my friends and family could revel in how widely respected our beautiful little state is in Japan. And since I remembered this silliness, I was able to find a box with katakana instead - such as this fine gentleman is enjoying below:

And so, that's how I recently learned how to spell バーモント。やった！

Why I'm Studying Japanese

I have chosen to study Japanese in college for a few different reasons!

In June 2007, I went out of the country for the first time.

The Experiment in International Living (EIL) was promoting a special scholarship program in Vermont. Some Asian corporation was attempting to strengthen its relationship with Vermont - why, I don't know! - and was sponsoring high school students to study abroad in Thailand, China, or Japan. While the program in Thailand was my first choice, my mother thought this country was too dangerous and forbade me to go! I then chose Japan, because it involved a homestay and language classes.

It turned out to be a great decision. I spent the summer in Okayama, Japan, and was able to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and the island of Shikoku. During this trip, I made many friends. I still keep in touch with my host family, and some of the fellow American students who also went with this program. I have unfortunately forgotten much of the Japanese I learned on the trip, and I would love to be able to write to my friends and host family in Japanese again soon.

While studying here at Columbia University, I have gotten interested in Film Studies and Environmental Archaeology. My particular interest in each subject led me to Japanese again!

There are many Japanese directors I have come to admire in the last couple years (such as Kurosawa, Suzuki Seijun, and Ozu Yasugiro) and it would be great to better understand the culture and social structure examined throughout their films.

To become an Archaeology major and prepare myself for Graduate studies, I am supposed to have a reading knowledge of two languages. Since I already know Spanish and some Italian, I decided it would be fun to pick a completely different language! So, feeling a little nostalgic for that trip to Okayama, I choose to study Japanese.

As far as this class goes, I am mostly worried that I will have terrible pronunciation. Oh, I'm actually more worried about having to learn Chinese characters! But even though I've missed a few classes and need to catch up on the material, I think this class has been a lot of fun so far. I especially loved when we heard "Sukiyaki" in class. :) My host-grandparents actually played that song for me once, so it brought back a good memory. I think that it was fate that the professor chose that song to play! It must mean I've made a good decision.

Maureen

Blogはたのしいです。

わたしはマウリインです。
じゅきゅさいです。
アメリカ人です。アメリカのヴェロモントからきました。
どぞよろしく。

コロンビャだいがくのがくせいです。にねんせいです。
にほんごはたのしいです。