Group Project!

にほんごのじゅぎょうは５じ４０ぷんから６じ４５ふんまでです。じゅぎょうはKent びるにがあります。さとうさんはにほんごのじゅぎょうのせんせいです。じゅぎょうはむずかしです、でもじゅぎょうはとてもたのしいです。わたしたちはまいにちにほんごのべんきょうをします。

コロンビアだいがくはニューヨークにあります。ちかてつやバスはべんりですから、ニューヨークはにぎやかなところです。おおきいビルやきれいこうえんがあります。わたしはコロンビアだいがくとニューヨークをあいしている！

このクラスのだいがくせいはおもしろいですね！クラスのはじめのまえに、あまりはなしをしません。しずかですが、みんなさんはともだちです。たくさん日本ごのクラスのだいがくせいはアニメがだいすきです。ナルトはすきなアニメです。そして、「スミスさん」と「たなかさん」は「うちはくん」と「ガーラさま」になる。たのしいです。クラスはおわりますから、かなしいです。じゃね！

TEAM アキコ！

This past week...

こんにちは！

わたしは　きのう　ともだちと　れすとらんに　いきいました。わたしたち　しゃぶしゃぶ (shabu shabu)を　たべました。しゃぶしゃぶは　とても　おいしいかったです！　そして　ばんごはんの　あとで　えいがを　みて、popcornを　かいました。でも　いま　Shakespeareの　れぽうとを　かいています。。。れぽうとは　むずかしです！　

じゃ　また。　

わたしの しゅうまつ！

こんにちは！

わたしは　ちかご(Chicago)に　いきました。わたしの　かぞくから　ちかご(Chicago)に　きました。わたしは　もくようびに　かぞくと　turkeyを　たべます。おいしかったです！　そして、きのうの　ばんごはんは　にぎやかでした。でも、きのうは　とても　さむかったです。どようびに　かぞくと　ちかご(Chicago)びじゅつかんに　いきます。でも、わたしは　ちかご(Chicago)びじゅつかんで　えいごの　パンフレットを　つかいます！

いってらっしゃい！

Class this past week!

Konnichiwa,

I thought class this week was great! じゅぎょおは　とても　おもしろかったです！I think I deffinitley need to work on my Japanese conversational skills, so having the Japanese visitors come on Monday was ideal. At first, I was deffinitely nervous. However, after making that first step in introducing myself in Japanese, I was slowly able to just focus on the Japanese I knew and less on my fear of messing up. The Japanese visitors were also so nice and encouraging, which really allowed me to forget about how self-concious I was about my verbal skills. I would really enjoy, and would of course benefit from it, if they came back. How did everyone else feel?

I also thought watching the Japanese soap opera in class was great! It's so hard right now to imagine ever being good enough at Japanese to fully understand all the dialogue, but it has deffinitely motivated me! I would love to one day be able to watch tv shows and movies with full comphresion.

Also, are any of guys in interested in placing into the Japanese I (second semester)? If so, let me know and we should approach Sato Sensei about the class and how to place into it.

Ja mata!

My Introduction! よんでくだちい。

はじめまして。キえんです。New York　ししゃの　キえんです。わたしの　めいしです。どうぞ。わたしの　でんわばんごうと　めいあどれすは　めいしに　あります。わたしは　あめりかじんです。わたhしは　あめりかじんです。Columbiaの　だがくせいです。べんきょおを しました。せんこうは　びじゅつしです。どうぞ　よろしく。

Manga!

Konbanwa!

For those of you who love/know manga well, could any of you possibly explain how it differs from Japanese anime?
Are they different, and if so, how? I might possibly incorporate it in my thesis, and so I was just wondering if any of you guys could fill me in. Also, are any of the manga/ anime characters androgynous, i.e. neither clearly masculine or feminine in appearence or coded to be read as both female and male?

Also, is anyone nervous about the listening comprehension part of the test?
I'm a bit scared that after only hearing it played once, I won't fully understand what's being said and thus won't know how to respond. I've been listening to the c-d, but still I have to play it twice or three times in order to complete some of the exercises. If anyone has any other suggestions about getting better at this, let me know! But I have a feeling it's just a matter of listening to the exercises over and over again. Yikes!

Ja-mata!

Konbanwa!

I thought I give some information regarding the contemporary Japanese artist, Morimura Yasumasa, to which I am writing my thesis on. This is my interpretation of him in my thesis, and importantly, not fact, for those of you who read this. But let me know what you think, and if have are interested in hearing more or have any questions, please let me know either via blog or in class.

Essentially, Morimura records and, in turn, incites his psychologically ambiguous experience with self-identity in the modern world by replacing the iconographic space reserved for protagonists in European art history and mass media culture with his own face and body. Thus, rather than discarding the Western canvasses which he states, “exclusively” dominated his academic “curriculum” in the aftermath of WWII, he decisively occupies them, forcing them to assume new ambiguous meanings concerning self-identification as his mere presence inherently dismantles gender and cultural boundaries in regards to identity. Having been born into a society of rapid industrialization, critically accelerated by the onslaught of American influences since the Second World War, his Japanese identity as portrayed by his self-portraits is not just another product of complete Western expropriation. Rather, his superior consciousness of identity is one of seemingly manifest contradictions as he exhibits himself as being neither male nor female and neither Eastern nor Western. This is exemplified in the self-portraits of him that I posted as he is subversively a blatantly Asian-looking male adult assuming the identity of a youthful Western female in his self-portrait, Daughter of Art History: Princess A, based on a portrait of the Infanta Margarita (1656) by Velázquez (image #1). Morimura is also without a doubt a man even though he is transposing himself as an infamous French female prostitute in Edouard Manet’s Olympia (image #2) as his chest is clearly that of a male’s and his challengingly direct gaze is that of an Asian man sitting on what is a Japanese Kimono.

Thus, currently as a part of my thesis, I am positing that Morimura’s self-portraits need not be viewed as an objective critique of the sanctity of Western art, but rather as a critical exploration of not only self-identification, but identity as ambiguous roles amenable to change, mutation, and instability as a result of the heightened self-importance and dominance of its cultural imperial rulers in the wake of WWII. This again, is just part of my project and discussion on Morimura. There is more, but unless you are really interested in art history, it may seem fruitless. Again, if you guys would like me to elaborate, clarify, or have any questions, please let me know! Hope you like the photographs!