Christiana’a Top 5 New Japanese Vocabulary Words
The educational value of my trip to Japan summer was multifaceted – the main point was to learn about experimental methods for my academic research, but I also greatly improved my Japanese comprehension abilities by picking up a bunch of vocabulary that lies far outside of what my textbook teaches. I’ve become enamored with a … Read more
Season of Love
Almost any tourist book you pick up about Japan will tout how the country is a land of 4 Seasons – each distinct and beautiful. Like these distinct seasons, to me it seems that the Japanese have distinct times in life to do certain things. Previously, I’ve talked about the 青春 period of youthful discover … Read more
Christiana Learning Japan
As a foreigner, I do find the Japanese culture fascinating, especially since it is the prototype for a modern Asian society. More so than I feel in China, Japan has been able to retain its traditional identity (by this, I mean more than a nationalistic pride) while modernizing, synthesizing centuries of history and culture with … Read more
Why I Could Never Be a Japanese Girl
And I know – I already kind of fail at being a girl in the US. As my stay in Japan goes on, my perception that there’s something in my core constitution that is at odds with your average Japanese girl’s personality continues to grow stronger. By this, I don’t mean the usual independent vs. … Read more
Now, I’m in Japan!
It’s odd to say, but it’s actually taken me quite a while to realize that I am actually in Japan. Perhaps it was the week long orientation with the other foreign students and being shielded from awkwardness by my Chinese labmates here. Or, perhaps I hadn’t tried hard enough yet. But, recently, it’s dawned on … Read more
Kaho, Riho, Maho
I believe that the cutest thing in the world to a father are his daughters. I’ve finally arrived in Japan for my 2.5-month research exchange trip as part of the JSPS Summer Program for foreign fellows. As part of the orientation program, I was fortunate enough to be placed with a family of 6 (Dad, … Read more
Home Sweaty… I mean Sweet… Home!
So what do you do when you’re jet-lagged and still awake at 2:30 in the morning? Update your travelogue to remember how you got here, I suppose. To be honest, the jet-lag coming back east is a lot easier to deal with than the jet-lag you get when you fly west. Maybe it’s a combination … Read more
見た…虹
A typhoon was brewing in the south of Japan, but for two days, that didn’t matter at Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo, Japan. There, 45,000 people celebrated the success of 4 men at chasing their dreams and doing something that they love. For 20 years, these men have touched millions through their music helped to shape a … Read more
