せんしゅうの しゅうまつ My Typical Weekend :)

せんしゅうの　しゅうまつの　どようびのあさ　ごぜんにじごろ　おきました！　でも、きんようび　ごじさんじゅっぷん　ねました！　(a bit of an accident, I was simply resting my eyes　:/ 


どようびのあさ　レクスで「Recker’s」あさごはんを　たべました。でも、あまり レクスで　ごはんを　たべません。


ごぜんしちじごろに　ダウンタウンに「downtown」 いきました。まいしゅう　たいてい　ダウンタウンに  いきます。チコリ カフェで「Chicory Café」おちゃを「tea」のみました。そして、どようびのごご　ぶつりがく「Physics」と　にほんごを　べんきょしました。

チコリ カフェ

チョコレート　カフェで「Chocolate Café」ひるごはんを　たべました。そして、よく　チョコレート　カフェで　べんきょしました。

チョコレート　カフェ

ノオトルダムの　フットボールゲームを　みませんでした。あまり　フットボールゲームをみません。
にちようんび　スタバで　ぶつりの　ほん　よみました。そして、ぶつりの　しゅくだいを　しました。にちようびのばん　じゅうじごろに　ねました。

ぼくの まいにちの せいかつ My Daily Routine

まいにち　ごぜんごじごろに「approx. 5am」　おきます。りょうの　へやで　あさごはんを　たべます。そして、りょうで　ぶつりがく　と　にほんごを　べんきょうします。まいあさ　タイチー「tai chi」を　します。そして、まいあさ　じゅぎょうに　いきます。ひるごはんを　たべます。でも、テレビを　みません。たいてい　スターバ「Starbucks」で　じゅくだいを　します。

サウソ　べんど「South Bend」の　スターバ

たいてい　スタバで　コーヒーを　　のみます。　ノートルダムだいがくの　ス「campus」へ　かえります。ダイニングホール(dining hall)で　ばんごはんを　たべます。

ノートルダムだいがくの　キャムパス

まいばん　ごごくじごろ　シャワーを　あびます。たいてい　くじはんごろ「approx. 9:30pm」ねます。

にほんの しゃくはち Japanese Shakuhachi Flute

おはよう　ございます。Here are some things I learned to say this past week to add to my self introduction:
はじめまして。ブルネット　です。ぼくは　ノオトルダムだいがくの「University of Notre Dame」　がくせい　です。せんこうは　ぶつり　と　いがく「Physics in Medicine」です。そして、よねんせい　です。カリフウニア「California」から　きました。どうぞ　よろしく。

I would like to share a Japanese object called a shakuhachi 「しゃくはち」。しゃくはちは　ふえ「flute」　です。

しゃくはちis traditional Japanese instrument, made from the base of bamboo.　As we learned last week「はち」Hachi is the number 8. 「しゃく」Shaku is a unit of length that is very close to 1 foot. So shakuhachi is actually the traditional length of the instrument, 1 しゃくplus はし“other things” I think the smaller measurements are「すん」。The shakuhachi I have been trying to play is not made from bamboo but is a plastic imitation to scale. (Some people even make shakuhachi from PVC pipe).　I bought one because I enjoy its relaxing sounds and use it for meditation.

The notes are traditionally written in katakana, ロ、ツ、レ、チ、リ、ビ、ハ。

Shakuhachi is typically made from 2「に」pieces, convenient for transport :)

I will try to put a video of my attempt of playing shakuhachi either later today, or in a future post. Just bought mine a few weeks ago... so maybe later is better. Okay, have a vid :) lighting isn't the best. Using learned にほんご from first two weeks for very rough じこしょうかい。みて　ください。

こんにちは せかい 「Hello World!」: )

はじめまして。ブルネット　です。どうぞ　よろしく。

I am very excited that am learning Japanese にほんご,日本語 !

I have wanted to study にほんごsince freshman year, but scheduling conflicts prevented me from getting the class... until now, in my senior year! I had to jump through some hoops, but I'm in the class now and the first week has been great! :)

I have experienced some amount of traditional Japanese culture second hand - here in the United States, as my mom and her extended family is Japanese (but she knows virtually no日本語 ). Her maiden name is Mitsunaga – みつなが。It would have been easier to adopt a Japanese name for class if I had inherited her family name!

I chose to make my last name「ブルネット」“Burnett” although baa-ne-tto may have been an choice thats easier to say. Perhaps I should ask my dad how his business counterparts in にほん address him. Actually, I remember now, he goes by his first name, "Scott-san"「スカトサん」!

I spent some time learning hiragana and katakana characters over summer. It was very helpful to practice reading the characters on signs and posters around where I live in California - at Marukai まるかい and Mitsuwa みつわJapanese stores and such. I attended a few Japanese おぼん festivals with my family as well as an event called “Nisei Week” in the Little Tokyo District of Los Angeles. I got the chance to recognize some more Japanese characters in Japantown S.F. during a visit to San Francisco. But when it comes to kanji, わかりません。I like that the computer converts words to kanji : )

I hope that this year in Japanese language will give me a good foundation that I can build after I graduate this spring. From the way はなぶさせんせいhas conducted the first week, it looks like I will definitely learn a lot! I am fascinated with the Japanese way of life, particularly the quality of just about everything the Japanese do. I feel that much attention and care is put into Japanese work and products.

On a different note, I recently started listening to Jpop about 6 months ago after I first heard a J-electropop group called 「パフューム」(Perfume). There is a clip of one of their singles below.

Also, it's fun to watch bits of modern Japanese culture via Japanese television clips on Youtube. I greatly enjoy these things even though I do not know what they are saying! Studying にほんごwill help me with this.

じゃあ　また。