Brendan's blog

ごぜんはちじに おきます。 ごごじゅうにじに LaFun で ひるごはんを たべます。 さんじに としょかんで べんきょうします。 ごぜんじゅうにじにへやで ねます。 かようびと もくようびに ごご さんじはんに にほんごの クラスに いきます。

わたしは おんがく（Jazz と R&B）と ゲーム が すき です。 わたしは Nintendo の Pokémon が すき です。 My mom was pretty influential in shaping my early music tastes. She exposed me to a lot of the music that she listened to growing up in the 70s. One of my favorite bands is still Earth, Wind & Fire—one of, if not the first, major groups that she shared with me. From there, I have carried my love of music into my own journey, exploring all types of artists in genres that are in any way adjacent. I still call myself a Pokémon fan, even though it's been several years since I last played a game! (USUM was the last I played; ever since the games switched to being on the Switch, it just hasn't been the same. Buying a new console was a bit expensive at the time, so I mostly would watch playthroughs online.) Even so, Pokémon will always hold a special place in my heart. I have not been keeping up with the new games too much, but my brother did show me Starmie's Mega Evolution, and I thought it look...

I'm really enjoying our time together, and all that we are learning! It is interesting that I am now able to see my own handwriting 'emerge' in my hiragana…I find writing out hiragana characters a lot more fun than the English characters that I am used to! It is a bit of a challenge for me to keep some of the grammar rules straight; I have been trying to learn my parents' native tongue, Tagalog, and I am still at the very beginner stages, so I have some trouble, sometimes, remembering if I should be using the Japanese or Tagalog grammar structures and which is which! It is really a gift to be able to learn languages and about each other's cultures and grow in connection with our global human community. Anyways, here is my introduction: はじめまして。わたしのなまえはごんざれすです。わたしのせんこうはいがくです。わたしはよんねんせいです。わたしのしゅっしんはいんでぃあなのぐれんじゃーです。 どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

こんにちは！ For today’s blog assignment, I wanted to share a song that I discovered several years back and really enjoyed. Around 2018/2019, when meme culture was coalescing around the ‘vaporwave’ aesthetic, I (along with several millions of other people, it seems) stumbled upon the song “Plastic Love” (1984) by Mariya Takeuchi in my YouTube recommended feed. (Perhaps you've seen this image before? This is the most iconic image that many people associate with its 2018/19 surge on YouTube. It comes from an unofficial fan-posted video of "Plastic Love" that amassed around 20 million views before being taken down, even though the image was originally the album cover for a completely different song by Takeuchi.) I was immediately drawn to the song's nostalgic, city pop sound and quickly began begging my mom to play it during our drives to school. Interestingly enough, I never really took the time to consider the lyrics of the song until today. Its lyrics depict a woman who ha...

For today’s blog assignment, I watched a Japanese street interview YouTuber, named TAKASHii. In the video, TAKASHii asked various Japanese locals “What do you think about the United States?” Some things that interviewees said were that Americans are very friendly and that they enjoyed consuming American media, like Orange is the New Black and Red Dead Redemption. Others said that they believe that Americans have a lot of freedom of expression, especially in regard to style and individuality and joked that they were quite envious of that freedom. One interviewee used the expression that in Japan, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered.” In early adulthood, he decided to leave Japan for several years because he was very much his own individual and did not want to conform to traditional norms. I would agree that Americans enjoy a great degree of freedom of expression, but at times, I feel like this individuality can be too overemphasized; sometimes hyper-individualism privileges personal...

こんにちわ！My name is Brendan, and I am excited for this upcoming semester studying Japanese with you all! I have enjoyed various aspects of Japanese culture from a very young age, from video games to food and television. The first video game that I ever played was Pokémon HeartGold , and I have been a fan of Nintendo ever since. Over the years, my brother has introduced me to other Japanese media, as well. Recently, I have been watching the first season of One-Punch Man. I think it would be very cool to consume these media in their native language and understand what is being said. I am excited to learn more about Japanese culture and get to know all of you better. どうぞよろしく。