California

This summer, I lived at Caltech in Pasadena for an internship.
わたしはNASAのJet Propulsion Laboratoryのかいしゃいんでした。
ろくがつからはちがつまではたらきました。

                             

The best part of California was probably the food and weather. I didn't own an umbrella, and I've been told it rained twice while I was there. Of course, with as little water as there was, the sprinklers were on all night, every night, for every patch of grass. As for the food, it was really just in しょうとうきょう (Little Tokyo) and Chinatown that the food was great. 大黒家 (Daikokuya) has the best Japanese food I've ever had. The ラーメン (ramen) with チャーシュー(sliced pork) was the best I'd ever eaten. IPPUDO NY in downtown Manhattan is at a very close (more expensive) second place though. Additionally, there were very cool stores, and in one I met Nicolas Cage (an anime store). I also went to Lancaster, which according to Youtube is best known for its fights... Lockheed Martin's decommissioned jets and planes were on display around there.

 

I'm here because...

Hi, my name is Stephen Pomes and I'm a senior electrical engineering student at Columbia University specializing in analog circuit design. I chose to take Japanese for many reasons, but mostly because of my interest in Japanese movies, anime, and video games. I've been playing video games since before I could read and many of my favorite games originate in Japan such as the Final Fantasy series and Metal Gear Solid series. Growing up, I also played games like Pokemon and Super Mario Brothers and watched anime such as Dragon Ball Z and Gundam Wing, all of which come from Japan.

I find it difficult to write hiragana perfectly, taking into account both stops and continues on every character. It's especially difficult for me to emulate the lifting effect that is done with a paintbrush. I still feel very accomplished since now I can actually read hiragana and it doesn't just look like a huge jumble of drawings anymore. On the other hand, it has been relatively easy to get started with the speaking of the language as I have already been able to pick up some vocabulary or phrases from anime and movies I've watched.

Introduction

こにちわ。はじめまして。
わたしはポメスステフエンです。
わたしはアメリカ人です。
ニューヨークシティからきました。
コロンビアだいがくのだいがくせいです。
わたしはえんじにあのがくせいです。
わたしはよねんせいです。