きまつしけんの週

ここです。来週はきまつけんがあります。むずかしくて、いそがしくて、たいへんですよ。月曜日と木曜日と金曜日にテストーがあって、水曜日にペーパーをかきます。だいじょおぶですよ。

そのあと、ふゆの休みがあります！ブラクジャクにかえって、ひまです。ここふゆの休み　アリゾナ州のフィニクスにフトボールゲームにいきます。とてもたのしいですよ！

サクソフォンのビデオをみて下さい。ウアンピスのおんがくです。たのしみます！

アメリカのうち

私のりょうのへやは　とてもいいです。　へやの中おおにソファがあって、おおきいです。　アメリカのうちは　ふとんがありません。　でも、ソファがあります。　すみにテレビもあります。　へやのみぎにベッドがあります。　つくえとてんすのうえにベッドがあります。　ほとんどまいりょうのへやは　どうようのです。　へやのひだりルームメートのベッドがあります。ソファのちかくにいすです。

サクソフォンのビデオみて下さい！とてもいいですね。アッタクオンタイタンのおんがくです。

対話(dialogue)

シュテイ:　おはよう、ポトマンさん！
ポトマン:　おはよう、シュテイさん！さくや　なにを　しましたか？
シュテイ:　ゆうめいな　にほんじんの　ばしょ(place)に　ついて(about)　よみました。
ポトマン:　あ、そうですか。　なにを　よみましたか？
シュテイ:　つくじの　いちばに　ついて　よみした。　とても　おおきい　さかな(fish)のいちばですよ！
ポトマン:　かっこういい！とうきょうの　ちかくに　ですね？
シュテイ:　はい、わたしも　くなさきに　ついて　よみました。とうきょうの　ちかくが　ありません。
ポトマン:　そうですか。　いしの　ちょうこくが　ありますね？
シュテイ:　はい、ちいさくませんでした。ふるい　ですよ。
ふせせんせい:　おはようございます！
シュテイ:　あ！じゃあ、また　ポトマンさん！
ポトマン:　じゃあ、また　シュテイさん！

In the spirit of Halloween, enjoy this arrangement of "This is Halloween."

しつれいします！

わたしの うち

こんばんは！

わたしは　ミスーリしゅうの　ぶらくじゃくから　きます。　それは　サイント　ルイスの　ちかくに　あります。　おおきくません　です、でも　ふるい　です。　きれいの　こうえんが　あります。　とても　いい　です！

この　ビデオを　みます！　いい　です！(Hopefully this one sounds familiar!)

がんばろう　こんしゅ！

シュテイ

Just a little カタカナ

In my search for katakana expressions, I found a website that detailed 30 useful カタカナwords and key points about using them.

To start, one word I found interesting was a fairly common one that I had already run across:

１．アパート
　　Or, "apartment."  What I found so interesting about this is that it actually tends to have a pretty negative connotation associated with it.  It is usually more acceptable to say マンション which (while phonetically being "mansion," is just a better word for condo or apartment.  So don't be shocked if your friend tells you they live in a mansion rather than an apartment.

２．ビーエス
　　I know what it sounds like, but it's just an abbreviation for "broadcasting satellite."

３．ファイト！
　　This one is commonly used as a cheer, not egging someone on to fight as it may sound if you know the English word.  The best translation is "Go for it!"

４．オートバイ
　　This one means motorcycle, or, more directly, auto-bike.

５．サービス
　　This one sounds quite a bit like "service," right?  True, but the actual meaning is "free of charge" or in some cases "self-sacrifice."  This one tends to lead to some problems for customer service clerks, as people like to complain a ton and expect some self-sacrifice from workers.

きょう、わたしは　ステパンフィレド(Stepan Fields)で　フットボールガームを　さいせい　しました (played)。  りょうに　かえりました。りょうで　にほんごの　べんきょうを　しました。わたしは　コーヒーを　のみます。ねません。

みなさん、サクソフォンの　ビデオを　みます！

This one's another anime theme, coming from "Lupin the III," as shown in the thumbnail.  Though I love all members of the saxophone family, my favorite is easily the baritone or "bari" sax.  For those not familiar with saxes or music in general, that's the big one, shown in the bottom-right window.  I love the sound of the bari sax.  I don't really know why, but belting out those really low notes feels so satisfying to me.  The reason I'm saying this ties into the reason I really like this arrangement.  Not only is this really jazzy, but the bari sax has an awesome bass walk that this guy performs really well.  From the perspective of someone who has been playing for years, I'm very impressed with this guy's lung capacity and breath control. Enjoy!

しつれいします！

シュテイ

Binardさん

A couple of weeks ago, I took a rare opportunity to hear a distinguished poet give a lecture about his life and views on nuclear weapons.  I will admit that I had to miss the very end of the lecture (I had to go to marching band rehearsal), but I very much would have like to stay and hear him finish.  Having never experienced life in Japan, I had never really thought about what it must have been like when the United States effectively started nuclear warfare by dropping those bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Since he had lived in Japan for 25 years studied the topic, he really came back with a unique perspective on nuclear warfare.  I found what he said about the factories/facilities that
manufactured the weapons taking blasphemous names to particularly interesting.  For those readers who may not have been in attendance, one of the factories in Japan that manufactured the weapons took the name of the Buddha, using hiragana instead of kanji.  In America, the name of the test of the atomic bomb was Trinity.  Binard commented on how both nations blasphemously named these tools of destruction after the head figures of each country's most practiced religion.  To me, it looks like a God-complex.  As if these weapons have such immense power that they somehow match God.  I found the connection that Binard made to be pretty profound, and as I said earlier, I wish I could have stayed until the end.  Alas, we all have jobs to do, and the beginning of one of mine happened to cut into the end of another.

With that, I can only leave you with another video of some awesome saxophone music (featuring a trumpet this time!).  This one's a cover of a vocaloid track called "Just Be Friends" and features some good improv.  Enjoy!

Just a Quick Update

おはよおおございます！

にじゅっぷんに　にほんの　じゅぎょうが　あります。

Go Irish, Beat Jackets.  What a game it was.  The Irish are 3-0 and #6 in the country!  UMass is coming in next to try and slow our roll, or injure more of our starters, or both. I'm not really sure anymore.

Hope you all enjoyed your respective weekends and clobbering the Irish greeted those bees with.  I know I did.

Your saxophone arrangement for this post is the theme from the anime series, "Case Closed" or "Dectective Conan." The show started in 1996 and is still going on today, in addition to having a really catchy theme song. Enjoy!

じゃあ、またあ。

まいにちのせいかつ

わたしはごぜんしちじはんにおきます。コーヒーをのみます。ごぜんくじはんにじゅぎょうがあります。ごごろくじはんにバンヅにいきます。ごごくじにしくだいします。ごごにじにねます。

こんばんは。

初めまして。シュテイです。わたしはノートルダムだいがくのがくせいです。せんこうはせいぶつがく。あめりかじんです。せんねんせいです。どうぞよろしく。

すみません。I certainly have been remiss in updating my blog, but better late than never, I suppose!
   

Yep. That guy right there is none other than Hayao Miyazaki, world famous director, animator, and co-founder of Studio Ghibli.  I only came into Ghibli fandom a couple of years ago after seeing Spirited Away for the first time.  I am still working on watching all of the films, but they definitely have me hooked.  One of my favorite things about Ghibli films is their consistently high quality soundtracks.  For those who may not know, I play the saxophone in the band here at Notre Dame and am a bit of band geek, so I tend to pay a lot of attention to the music in movies.  In fact, a couple of weeks ago while trolling around on YouTube, I found a medley of songs from Ghibli movies arranged for saxophones.  Naturally I found the sheet music so I could play it, so that will be a fun project for me over the course of this semester! Here's the video I found so you can listen to it as well and hear how cool it is! Enjoy!

I'm signing off for now, expect another update from me very soon!
しつれいします！

Why am I taking Japanese?

I've had an interest in all things Japanese for a good while now. Back in high school, I did history projects about Japan and learned about a few myths and legends, and those things are what got me hooked. I always wanted to learn more, and it wasn't until I got to Notre Dame that I realized that I could actually take classes about Japan and related things, so I decided to pick up a Japanese minor. I am here in Japanese now because I finally was able to fit the class into my Biology major's schedule. I am beyond excited to be in this class now and am looking forward to a fantastic year!

-AWS