GWの日本語プログラムへようこそ
Welcome to the Japanese Program at GW
We would like to welcome the new first-year stu-dents in Japanese language. Ours is a program that strives to broaden your horizons and open your mind to a new and different culture. Currently we offer language courses at all levels—from basic to ad-vanced—as well as humanities courses such as Japa-nese Literature in Translation (Fall and Spring) and Japanese Culture Through Film (Spring). We hope you find the language challenging and the program inviting.
This is the eighth year of 「日本語にゅーす」 the Japanese Language Program newsletter. We strive to provide you with information of recent and up-coming events. Students are also a large part of this
newsletter and we encourage them to participate in this collective endeavor—as Elizabeth Butler, Jon Gaspar and Ben Robbins have in this issue. If you have any comments or experiences you would like to share with your fellow students concerning Japanese language learning, please contact your professor about your ideas. We look forward to hearing from you.
今年もがんばりましょう
おにぎりまん
留学情報会
Thinking of studying in Japan?
by Mona Camacho, Japanese Major
The Japanese language department is sponsoring its own in-formation session about studying abroad in Japan. Unlike other information sessions offered by GWU’s Office of Study Abroad, this session will be run by GWU students who have studied all over Japan. This meeting will allow students, who are thinking of studying in Japan, to hear guest speakers talk about their study abroad experiences in places such as Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nagoya. Moreover, Japanese foreign exchange students, who are currently studying at GWU, will be available for any questions and con-cerns you may have about studying in their home universities.
This is a great opportunity to get the most updated and accurate information about your study abroad options. In addition, there will be a slide show presentation that will highlight the fun things you will get to do while being abroad. If you want to learn more about studying in Japan or if you just want to meet students from the Japanese language department, come and join us on Friday, Oct. 22, 2004, at Phillips 209, from 3:30 to 4:30pm. There’s FREE food and we promise that you’ll have a great time! (Don’t worry, you don’t have to understand or speak Japanese. We promise!) RSVP by Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 via email to cettenom@gwu.edu or ysasaki@gwu.edu.
Blogs from Abroad
Recently, many of the students who study abroad have kept in touch with their families and friends by creating blogs—or weblogs, that “private” online journal that has increasingly become all too public. For many of our Japanese majors, the blog of choice seems to be Xanga. Below are a few random samples of entries, presented here with permission, of course.
by Kirsten SandquistRecently, I’ve tried (and failed) a number of times to put into words exactly what it is about Japan that makes me feel slightly uneasy, why it is that I can’t feel comfortable in this city as I can in most others. It doesn’t take much, I promise. The only city I have found myself in that I couldn’t quite handle so far is New York. There’s some-thing about the strict grid of the streets, the height of the buildings, the abundance of people, the sheer staggering *hugeness* of it that just makes me feel overwhelmingly small and alone. However, I can’t chalk it up to the popu-lation of the place, because I didn’t have that problem in Istanbul, which is even bigger.
After some time here, I have come to this final conclu-sion: It isn’t the size of the place that matters, it’s the aura. Europe is what I know, and Europe feels *old* in a warm, welcoming way. It feels aged, but still pulsing with vitality. I find the same kind of comfort in a European city as one feels in a stately old house. It’s as though it breathes, it speaks, it has a memory and a forbearing dignity all its own. Washington DC has this too, to a large extent, though it can feel somewhat manufactured, as in the classi-cally designed buildings and monuments, in the carefully planned capriciousness of the state avenues and round-abouts which, with the negligible degree of frustration they cause bring to memory the haphazard forms of the Old World, and preserve Washington from the atmosphere that has befallen New York. Far from being old, New York feels youthful and energetic, reckless and institutional at the same time, impetuous within the bounds of the estab-lishment, like an enterprising young executive racing hell for leather up the corporate ladder. New York has some-thing frantic about it, like the measured tick of time is more rapid there; hot-headed young ambition to Washington’s educated idealism and Europe's seasoned hedonism.
Japan is an entirely different case altogether. Neither frantic nor sedate, Japan feels embarrassed, as if the place itself isn’t quite sure how to reconcile what it is with what it wants to be. It's as if the self-conscious shyness of the people has permeated the buildings themselves, emanating from garish plastic signs and neon lights and misspelled foreign words. People are so concerned with image here, with being thought highly of, and they try just a little too hard, making it impossible to take them seriously, like an dejected prostitute whose gaudy clothing and extravagant make-up, meant to enhance her desirability, only make her look more awkward. I hate to use that metaphor, but I can’t seem to find another that fits what I want to say. Japanese cities are trying to sell an image that some-how doesn’t fit on top of what they had to start out with, and I end up feeling just as uncomfortable as they seem to be.
Of course, I haven’t been here that long, and who knows how my opinions will change with time?
Saturday, October 02, 2004
by Chris KeyashianThe Misadventures of Chippy:
So as you can tell it is now October 2nd. I am currently in a net cafe somewhere in Kyoto. I figure now’s as good a time as any to relay my initial feelings and experiences of this place.
The flight over here was LONG. But that's stating the obvious. Upon sitting down in my seat, fantasies and hopes swirled around in my mind. ::::maybe some hot Japanese girl will sit next to me:::: etc. Unfortunately I was surrounded by men. To make matters worse, the people to my right were Americans and one of them pro-ceeded to make himself completely and utterly drunk. He achieved this not very far into the flight, so I had to keep my headphones on and the music loud to not hear him hum or sing out random tunes... It was embarrassing. Oh well, what's a guy to do?
"Things will be better once I land" I told myself... Well that was sort of true. After making my way through im-migration I walked to the JR rail ticket counter and with the help of a woman near by I managed to purchase my express ticket to Kyoto. When I found the platform for my train, I watched in dismay as it pulled away. I had just missed it. "No matter" I though and proceeded to a nearby bench. A few minutes later, a man in uniform came up to me and we started exchanging friendly ban-ter in Japanese. We talked about Ichiro and how his kids go to school in Seattle and we talked about the weather. The entire time he kept assuring me that I could relax and that another train would be along soon but that it would have to be cleaned when it arrived so I should just continue to stay sitting at my bench. The ride on the train was surreal, I kept feeling like I was going to wake up and find myself in my bedroom in good old California, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, no such thing happened.
The friendly man who had made conversation with me was, as I later found out, the conductor for my train. An upstanding guy if you ask me. =) Every time the train stopped, he would walk from the caboose, where I was seated, to the very front of the train. Each time he en-tered and exited a car he would bow. I thought that was very interesting and was thus kept entertained. Right around when I was supposed to get off the train for Kyoto, another drunk man entered my life. This time, the man was a very, very drunk salary-man. He could not even manage to stay on his seat and instead was laying prostrate on the ground in front of his chair. When the conductor made his usual bow and entered the car, he stopped to tell me that the next exit was Kyoto and that I should prepare to get off. Immediately following this, the drunk man started cursing and muttering under his breath about his 社長 (thats shyachou) and kicking the wall very loudly. The conductor gave me a very embar-rassed look and tried to talk to the man. After telling him that he was on the wrong train and that he needed to get off, the conductor left into his booth. From this point on until we had reached Kyoto, the drunken man repeatedly kicked the wall with great force. It was kind of disturbing actually. Regardless I made it off the train and after tak-ing a deep breath navigated my way to the taxis.
Upon arriving at the taxi area, a car door opened automatically for me to get in. But before we could be off, I had to put my luggage in his trunk, a very tough task if you ask me... First of all, the guy couldn't pick up either of my suitcases. (they weighed 65 pounds each) And af-ter I put one in his trunk, we discovered that the other wouldn't fit in his trunk without a rope. After watching him fumble about with his rope and hook for the trunk, (he even tried hooking the rope to his exhaust pipe... was he crazy or what?) he came to the conclusion that we didn't need to tie his trunk shut and that everything would be ok... I entered the car and had my fingers crossed the entire time. Having done my bit of physics in high school I was certain that on a turn or when he ac-celerated off a stoplight, one of my suitcases would fall out of his trunk and be hit by the car behind us. Luckily this did not happen and everything in fact did work out. We soon thereafter arrived at my hotel.
Let me tell you, for a hotel with the word “Rich” in its title, I was expecting a little more. The room was so small that I'm sure lamangust would have sustained ma-jor head trauma were she to use the rest room... But that’s another story... Anyhow, after settling myself into my room and taking a shower I figured it would be a good time to look for a net cafe to recount my journey. While I walked on the street it was strange, roughly 70% of the people would turn their heads to get a look at me. I suppose I am quite a sight right now. White guy in a bright yellow Caesar's palace t-shirt walking briskly down the streets of Kyoto at 10:00 at night... I guess I kinda stick out. Did I mention that I’m white? I think I might stick out any time of day... Oh well nothing wrong with that really...
I'm really tired right now so I think I'm going to call it a night. Anyway, that pretty much catches me up to the present. More to come tomorrow or the day after... It all depends on when I can get to a net cafe again as this one is nowhere near my school.
Wish me luck on the walk back to my hotel,
To get more of Kiri’s contemplations, go to: www.xanga.com/lamangust. To read more of the misadventures of Chippy, go to: www.xanga.com/chippy94. If you’re interested in reading Carolina’s blog, you’re out of luck. Carolina has asked that her blog be kept private. But if you really want to read her stuff, all you have to do is cruise the blogs of other GW people and you will probably find a link.
Japanese Poetry in English
Land Survey of the province of Foggy Bottom, written some-time in the year 2004 as commissioned by Hanami-sensei. By Jacob Heller.My stride in this land
is as vast as my will here,
oh kingdom divine,
let me look upon you now.
Shiny dagger leaves
evergreen in Autumn's grasp
line concrete vistas,
tread on by one thousand feet
who know this land not.
Foggy Bottom glen,
province where steel giants reign,
lie bare before me.
Fair maiden, disrobe this night,
shed your gold raiment
amidst gossamer heavens
of Western periphery.
The 4th (starts with: let me look) and 12th (starts with "lie bare before") line should be indented if you want to keep the poem true to original form. It's just annoying to indent stuff in email.
Oh, and the "thousand feet" is another specific image of GWU. :P Think about all the international and transfer stu-dents "who know this land not". ;)
