Why Japanese?

こにちは！

はじめまして。Mayhewです。いちねんせです。よろしくおねがいします。

So that about sums up what I can say in Japanese, besides a few numbers. I am excited to begin learning Japanese at Princeton and (hopefully) work towards fluency.

I chose to study Japanese for a variety of reasons. At an early age my older brother exposed me to stories about samurai and Japanese martial arts such as aikido and I think the interest in Japan stuck, hiding somewhere in my subconscious. Around sophomore year of high school I became more interested in Japan and began thinking about learning the language. I enjoy Japanese history, culture, traditional arts, anime and manga, and its music. I hope to study abroad with the Princeton in Ishikawa program this upcoming summer, and possibly for a semester in the years ahead.

I am excited to learn Japanese. I have never been fluent in a second language and am determined to do so with Japanese. So far class has been fun and I hope it stays that way! My first three days at Princeton have been extremely busy, but I enjoy (so far) all of my classes. I am nervous to see how the academic workload turns out, paired with my desire to participate in extracurriculars.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Y%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB_Chikanobu-Protecting_his_master_Tsugunobu.jpg

どうぞよろしく！
Mayhew