by KathleenJ on Wed Dec 11, 2002 10:32 am
Hee...that was great. I think I'll send the link to my Japanese class studybuddies.
I'm actually really glad I chose Japanese as my language option. It's got that tear-your-hair-out complexity factor and it took up about as much time this semester as all my other classes combined, but what the hell, I find it that much more interesting.
I used to have this fantasy that I'd like to spend a year in Japan after graduation, maybe teaching English. But I really don't think I'd adapt well to the whole psychological thing of always being an outsider in society. Hell, I even feel like that here sometimes...so wait, maybe it wouldn't seem so weird. But anyway, I've given up on that idea, also for practical reasons, but I'd still love to visit someday.
I think my Japanese class this term was outside the norm, in that it was taught by a guy (non-Japanese) that actively encouraged anime geeks. When a couple people cited anime as their reason for taking the course, he thought that was perfectly cool. When the class didn't understand things, he'd sometimes say things like "C'mon, this phrase is in anime all the time!". He was really good natured and the class was a lot of fun.
The language I took all through high school was French, which never held any great interest for me. But hey, now I can read what Canadian cereal boxes say no matter which side is facing me.