Brendan's blog

 私はごぜんしちじごろにおきました。 それから、私はともだちとあさごはんをたべました。 たまごととうふをたべました。 私はとうふがすきです！ それから、じゅうじごろにクラスにいきました。 ごごじゅうにごろにひるごはんをたべました。 としょかんでべんきょうしました。 はちじごろにばんごはんをたべました。 ごぜんじゅうにごろにねました。 (Image generated by Gemini.)

わたしはヘズバーグにいきました。ヘズバーグであそびました。ポップがすきです！星野 源と藤井風がすきです。 I really enjoyed this year's Sakura Matsuri! I encountered several songs that I will definitely be adding to my music playlist, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn a bit more about a culture outside of my own. It was impressive seeing how creative all of my classmates in the Japanese Program are! The festival was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad that we all had the opportunity to participate.

わたし は うち に かえりました。 それから、わたし は かぞく と あそびました。 それから、かぞく と いっしょ に たべました。 かぞく と いっしょ に ケーキ を たべました。 わたし は ケーキ が すき です。 かぞく と こうえん に いきました。 それから、たくさん ねました。  (Image generated by Gemini.)

I attended an interesting event this past Monday; it was a talk by Dr. Keita Moore from Ohio State University titled Space Invasion: The Birth of the Japanese Arcade and the Politics of Public Space . I like video games, and I am interested in learning more about Japanese culture, so this seemed like an event that would be right up my alley! Dr. Keita Moore is a very smart man. The concepts that he discusses are very complex, intellectually challenging, and at times, difficult for me to wrap my head around. From his talk I have a basic understanding of his argument that play is not an apolitical activity; rather, it is fundamentally oriented by specific situated social politics. An example he gives is the complex interplay of the "fu-e-ho" (the law regulating entertainment in Japan) and the formation of public machine-based play, particularly in arcades. He explains how this law literally drew public play into the realm of politics by setting boundaries around where, when, an...

 After doing a bit of exploring online, I am very fascinated by all the different uses of katakana that I have seen. We have already seen katakana used for loanwords, like テレビ (television). I did not realize, however, that many katakana loanwords are borrowed from languages beyond just English; for example パン is a katakana word for bread—just like the word "pan" used in Spanish and Portuguese.  One of the most interesting discoveries for me was that there are many loanwords that both English and Japanese have borrowed from another culture. For example, I never considered that "rucksack" might not be an originally English word. It turns out that the word "rucksack" actually originates in Germany, with "“Rücken” meaning “back” and "sack" meaning "bag." The katakana version of this is  リュックサック (Ryukkusakku). Isn't that interesting? I think that the use of katakana in these contexts really makes the words stand out from typical Jap...

 I had a pretty relaxed spring break. For several weeks, I have been recovering from a pretty prolonged viral infection and have finally reached a point where I feel almost  totally back to normal. It was nice to just chill at home, watch movies with my family, and meet up with some old friends. Here are some activities that I do often or rarely: 1. わたしはあまりあさごはんをたべます。 2. わたしはよくみずをのみます。 3. わたしはよくテレビをみます。 4. わたしはよくべんきょうをします。 5. わたしはあまりゲームをします。(It can feel like a lot of work to play video games when I want to relax. I've come to enjoy just watching playthroughs on YouTube.) (Image generated by Gemini. Don't ask me why it counts "1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5".)