So this week we are to write about what makes a good blog. It's tough to think about - I guess soon we will be able to start writing posts in at least mostly Japanese; that is way cool I think and will improve our blogs somewhat. Other than that, I think a good blog post includes a bit about what we are learning in class and how the writer feels about it, (for example, right now Chapter 4 is pretty tough but I am excited because we have 'and' now, as well as a bunch of other useful things) a bit about what is going on in the writers life outside of class, and since we post of Fridays, perhaps a bit about the weekend (I am working a lot this weekend, and that is it basically) and maybe some random thing the writer is thinking about. It should be interesting but also potentially helpful to other students.

So Chapter 4. It is pretty hard, and I am working harder than ever, but it is worth it because I think I am improving a lot. My class grade is currently not exactly where I would like it to be, but I am confident that I will be able to bring it up to something I am happy with by the end of the semester if not sooner. Isn't it crazy that this semester is already half gone? It feels like it just started, and then we have midterms and stuff all over the place.

Then outside of school I am excited for a new job I just started; my friend Rick just opened a cafe on the corner, and in about a month I am going to barrista-ing there, but already I have started working as the cultural attache, and yesterday I set up a gallery showing with a local artist; next week we are going to hang the show. In addition, Rick knows tons about coffee but not much at all about tea; since I used to be a tea nerd and still drink enough tea to sink a horse I am going to be the tea supervisor. All these jobs; I am going to need to print business cards I think. Basically I am going to set up the tea menu and show Rick how to make green teas and Yerba properly. I love green tea (particularly くきちゃとほじちゃ） and I lived for a bit in Buenos Aires and picked up a fondness for Yerba Mate, but nowhere in the US I've been makes it properly. So basically I am super-stoked for this job and you guys should come check this place out, it is nice and close to the university and cheap and delicious: Fox Park, Between Black Cat and Baha Bean!

TEST

Oh no. Oh goodness. I have been studying for this test all tonight and I wonder if it will help. Maybe I am stressing about it too much and I am going to make myself blank out when it comes time. Maybe right now I am just rationalizing reasons not to keep studying. Maybe I need to sleep. But I can't anyway, other things to do. Goodness me, what a funny life we lead.

So this どようび　I am doing a film project with some friends. The concept is make a film in 二十四hours, you get the topic at ごご九時, write the script, shoot the film, edit it, and turn it in at ごご九時 am the next day. And then a grammar sheet on げつようび! Awright, who needs sleep. Spanish students, I bet.

I also think I figured out hiragana and katakana, but I have to restart my computer first so we will see. Here's hopin'.

Edit: as you can see, I have figured out ひらがな　and かたかな。

So currently kanji is actually not as hard as I expected it to be - it takes a bit of work but it is actually not as terrifying as I thought it might be. The real difficult bit of this chapter is the grammar stuff - mainly particles I think. I understand when to use the different particles but it is sometimes hard to tell if I need a particle at all. Anyway, I am sure I will figure it out.

I just got back from a roadtrip my friend Charles and I took. We went to Richmond to visit Katie again, and then down to Williamsburg to visit my brother at William & Mary - he was throwing a party with the theme '100 years of solide dudes', which turned out quite nicely. Williamsburg seems like a boring town though, so I'm glad I went to UVa. I'm spending the rest of the weekend studying, catching up on reading, and working - though a few friends and I recently got some golf clubs at goodwill and are probably going golfing tomorrow, which promises to be fun.

Chapter 3

We have just started Chapter 3, and dang if it isn't complicated. The verb conjugation seems not so bad, I think I will get a handle on it with practice, and even the new particles are okay and pretty much make sense. Kanji, however, is a different story. Most of the kanji this time aren't so bad, but the kanji for tokei bodes ill for the future. It is so many tiny lines that have such specific placement, and it seems like this is more typical of kanji. I know for sure I will be asking the Chinese speakers in our class for help with that... I'm sure it will make sense with time, but for now I am utterly bamboozled.

This week was extra tough because I had a Sociology exam on the same day as the Japanese chapter test. But I made it through okay... In a few hours I am headed to Richmond to visit my friend Katie at VCU and go to a concert there, which will be fun. The girl who i am going with is taking a night Japanese course at UVA and it's interesting to see the different method her teacher is using - (they only meet once a week,) they are mainly learning complete sentences and phrases and such. I guess if you can afford to meet every day you can go more in depth as to what you are learning.

Anyway, as hard as it is, I am really glad that I took this class, I feel like I have already learned so much, and while it can be hard to keep up, I am confident I will make it to the end.

Katakana! Yikes!

So continuing on in the whimsical world of JAPN 101 is turning out to be in some ways more difficult than I expected, but in many other ways, much simpler. It is difficult in the sense that I spend lots of time on it, hours every day, and it is very troubling to remember all the rules and such, and drills and quizzes can be stressful and I sometimes just blank out on the answers - but I am amazed at how much I have learned in a few short weeks! I have learned a whole new alphabet entirely, and most of a third! In a few days I am sure I will have completely memorized katakana. Two whole new alphabets, and many many grammar rules have been impressed upon me, and even though we are only in week 4 (I think) I remember them all. I don't remember ever learning anything this fast, much less a totally abstract thing which I basically have no frame of reference for (another language which is totally unrelated to english).

Anyway, I plan to spend alot of my weekend studying katakana - I feel like the rules for katakana-izing foreign words is mainly guessing based on pronunciation. Most of the rules are pretty logical - just kind of approximate a word and usually it is correct. I still can't figure out typing in hiragana though; I can read it on my computer now, but when I went to regional/language settings, japanese was not an option. I guess I can use the lab computers if i need to, but it would be nice to be able to type on my own computer.

Here is the website of my Japanese class:
http://uvajapanese102.blogspot.com/
Look at all the other blogs of my classmates!

Hajimemashite! Watashi wa Max Dreyer desu. Baajinia daigaku no ninensee desu. Senmon wa Ongaku desu. Baajinia no Charlottesville kara kimashita.

Welcome to my Japanese 101 blog! I will try to do most of it in Japanese but since we have only just started my vocabulary is quite limited. Currently I am trying to figure out using hiragana on the computer so I can write this properly! Can anybody help me with that? I tried to go to microsoft.com but they say I have to use microsoft office to download the 'japan pack'. Sore wa takai desu ne!

Doozo, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!