ウィケッド: "ここはエメラルドシティ"

I have been singing this for the entire day, but unfortunately I can only pick out a few words out of the song like ここはエメラルドシティ, としょかん、and すてきよ. But I did notice that in order to fit with the music, they used a lot of dictionary form!

ゆうめいなうた: すばる

This song has been stuck in my head for the last few days. I first heard it while in Taiwan when my cousin who speaks fluent Japanese did it at karaoke. Yes, it's seems like a fairly old song, but I have to say, the song is pretty epic. I've noticed that recently, I'm starting to understand more and more of the song, which is very exciting!

Composition 3: 二十年後のわたし

わたしはわたしの仕事（しごと）がすきです。わたしの仕事はとてもたのしいです、そしておもしろいです。わたしはニューヨーク・タイムスの食べ物（たべいもの）と旅行（りょこう）のへんしゅうしゃ。

わたしの仕事は外国（がいこく）にありますから、一か月に二回（にかい）外国へ行きます。わたしはレストランへたくさん行きます、そして食べいます（たべいます）。それから、レビューをかきます。わたしは飛行機（ひこうき）のマイレージプログラムにひゃく万マイルあります。

わたしはときどき外国にいますが、ニューヨークはいちばんいいまちです。わたしはきれいアパトがあります。セントラル・パークの近く（ちかく）にあります。

生活（せいかつ）はいいですね。。。

クレプの レシピ

こむぎこが１２０グラム
たまごがみっつ
バターが２０グラム
バニラ・エッセンスがしょしょ
さとうがしょうしょう
ぎゅにゅが３００mL

バターをあついフライパンにひきます。きじをフライパンにいれます。そして、いっぷんぐらいやきます。いっくりかえします。トッピングをクレプにいれます。おわりました！

ニューアーク空港

ニューアーク空港はユナイテッドとコンチネンタルのあたらしハブ空港です。Flickr: Bjørn Giesenbauer

木曜日はサンクスギビングでした。わたしは今週うちへかえりました。この時間ニューアーク空港（くうこう）から飛行機（ひこうき）でいきました。ニューアーク空港は便利（べんり）じゃありません。ニューアーク空港はとてもふるいです。TSAのラインは長い（ながい）ですよ！JFKはニューアークよりいいです。

United and Continental are merging at the end of the year to form one of the world's largest airlines. Newark will become a new hub for the merger. Unfortunately, with United as my airline of choice, I'm stuck with flying out of this airport as United starts to reduce its flights out of JFK (Chicago O'Hare was cancelled this year. All international flights have been pulled). After working for an entire year to hit the 25k mark for Star Alliance Silver status, I've hit a dilemma. Star Alliance is definitely the strongest of the three major airline alliances with the most number of destinations worldwide, largest network of routes, and great opportunities to redeem miles. But then, I will be stuck flying out of an airport that is difficult to access from Manhattan that has long security lines even for elite members, and is generally outdated and not a pleasant experience.

Is it time to pull out and join American Airlines and the One World Alliance?

はいくとせんりゅう

プレゼント
たのしいですね
げんきのひと

やま、さくら
はなみをします。
ピューピュ。

MSワード
べんりじゃありません。
DOCほぞん。

Composition No. 2

やまださん、こんいちは。

わたしはアレクスです。コロンビアだいがくのさんねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはれきしです。わたしにほのごがすこしわかります。

ニューヨークのせいかつはにぎやかですが、とてもしろいです。ニューヨークはべんりです。まちのちかてつとバスはとてもべんりですが、あまりきれいじゃありません。ニューヨークのたべものはおいしいですが、たかいです。

わたしろくがつよっかにぜんにく（All Nippon Airways)でニューヨークからとうきょうまでいきます。

よろしくおねがいします。

カタカナ commentary

(Wait for the very end where they say どうもありがと、さよんなら).

This video shows how Katakana's usage fluctuates depending on its context. In the most textbook sense, Katakana provides a way to express and distinguish foreign words and names. At the end of the video, however, we see that a phrase in Japanese (どうもありがと、さよんなら) is transcribed into Katakana, rather than writing it in Hiragana and Kanji. It's somewhat amusing to listen to the cast of Harry Potter struggling through reading Romaji transcriptions of Japanese on the teleprompter, especially with domo arigati said by Emma Watson (Hermione Granger). The Katakana at this point, therefore seems to highlight the cast's foreign accent, demonstrating the multiple uses of Katakana that are not usually found in the traditional textbook. It therefore seems that the rules on using Katakana are less rigid and more flexible.

Another interesting Katakana was found when browsing through the photos I took this summer. At a JR Station in Tokyo, I saw the sign written 御茶ノ水, which uses the Katakana ノ instead of the Hiragana の. This is quite interesting for the fact that Ochanomizu is an established neighborhood of Tokyo. It would seem likely that they would use Hiragana for an area that is local in Tokyo. My interpretation a this point is it may seem likely that the Katakana usage is to emphasize how the place is special. It gives the place a unique naming structure that makes the name pop out. If you know an exact reason why, I would appreciate the commentary.

飛行機（ひこうき）安全（あんぜん）のビデオ

飛行機（ひこうき）安全（あんぜんーsafety)のビデオはおもしろいです。For some reason, I've always found airline safety instructions quite funny. As much as I hate listening to them when flying (and I fly a bit too much), I enjoy reciting them in both English and French (I'm still working on Spanish and will hopefully master them in Japanese one day). I especially like the one in Japanese because of the katakana they use when describing the safety features: シートベルト, フットレスト, さんそマスク.

ANA is one my favorite airlines. I frequently use them when traveling since Narita is a convenient transfer point for most destinations in Asia. Earlier this year, I was choosing my airline to commit myself for silver status. Because ANA was part of the Star Alliance, I ended up committed myself to United Airlines (they also have a hub at SFO and will be merging with EWR's Continental this year). I even rejected taking a non-stop flight on American Airlines and flew into Philadelphia and continued by train to New York just to earn enough miles for the Star Alliance Silver status. Pretty crazy, right?

JAL:




ANA:

コーヒー

コーヒーがすきます。わたしはまいにちコーヒーをのみます。Yes, it's a horrible addiction that has been draining my bank account, but I love the taste of it. Recently, I've been on a mission to find the best coffee in New York City. わたしはまいしゅまつあたらしコーヒー店へいきます。 So far, I've enjoyed Abraço in East Village and Café Pedlar in Brooklyn. スターバックスがすきじゃありません...

日本の電車

日本の電車と新幹線がすきです。新幹線は快速です。私のブログの名前は"Transfer at 新宿駅”です。新宿は東京のbusiestの駅です (also the world's busiest)。

Tokyo has one of the best examples of how cities can efficiently run a transit system. It really puts the New York Subway to shame. Tokyo's trains are always on time, always clean, and much faster than driving a car. Despite it being very crowded at rush hour, it's very orderly. People line up before the train arrives, let everyone off... and then the crunch begins (we all have seen videos of people getting shoved into the train cars).

I also think that the train systems in Japan is one of the easiest to navigate. Sure, the Tokyo railway network looks like a giant bowl of ramen noodles, but the signage is super clear in both English/Romaji and Japanese. If you ever get lost, it's easy to go to the きっぷうりば or ask someone on the platform, "この電車は___駅にとまりますか？"

Announcements are in English and Japanese. Screens also show Hiragana in addition to Kanji and Romaji.

"Local" is clearly marked (各駅停車), while in New York, trains switch tracks all the time.

おいしい

日本の食がすきです！おいしいです！
I love eating...

 

 

Introduction (English)

Konichiwa, my name is Alex. I'm a junior at Columbia University studying history and sustainable development. I'm from San Francisco, but living in New York City for the last two years has made a sworn Manhattanite.

I've always wanted to learn Japanese, but only now have I had the opportunity to do so. I have visited Japan twice, both times as a few day stop-over en route to Taiwan. The food was amazing (so many dishes you cannot find here in the United States!), the culture is quite wonderful, and I found the people to be very accommodating.

An interesting quirk about myself is that I have an obsession with public transit systems. Every city I go to I have to try out the subway and learn the "next stop" announcement. Ask me to do a particular city's announcement and I'll probably be able to do so. One of the first phrases I learned in Japanese was: "この電車は山手線内回り、新宿、池袋、方面行きです。次は品川、品川、お出口は、右側です。This is a Yamanote Line train bound for Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. The next station is Shinagawa, the doors on the right side will open."

I have a particular interest in the relations between Taiwan and Japan. My maternal grandmother and her siblings were born in Tainan, Taiwan, which at the time was still a Japanese colony. Looking back at old pictures, you can see her family dressed in the traditional Japanese kimono. While I never met my grandmother before her passing, her immediate family all spoke Japanese fluently, and like many elder Taiwanese, have a unique sense of nostalgia for the pre-war period (partially due to the turbulent period that succeeded afterwards). It's interesting to note that even after Taiwan was handed back to the Republic of China, many of my relatives in Tainan prefer to speak Taiwanese and Japanese rather than Mandarin Chinese. My granduncle watches more Japanese television than any domestic channel. The Japanese language is still quite apparent and popular in Taiwan and many of my relatives learn both Japanese and English in school. Taipei is claimed to have the highest concentration of Japanese restaurants outside of Japan - not to forget the high concentration of Mitsukoshi and Sogo department stores. Even the names of neighborhoods have a lasting presence of the Japanese language, like 西門町 Ximending, an area of Taipei, which uses 町, a character that is rarely used in Chinese, but very common in Japan town names.

My father's side is originally from Canton, China, but most of his relatives moved to the United States long ago. Both my parents speak two different dialects and since they both grew up in the States, we use English at home.

Learning Japanese this year will be quite an adventure, and I look forward to it!

Introduction

こんにちわ。わたしはアレクスです。サンフランシスコからきました。わたしはコロンビヤだいがくのさんねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはれきしです。