My Day, in Japanese

きょう、はちじはんいおきました。バイオロジのクラスへいきました。そろから、ひるごはんをたべました。ワフルをたべました！ワフルがだいすきです！ごぜんじゅうじからごごじゅうにじまでねました。それから、にほんごのクラスへいきました。クラスで、がくせいのポッドキャストをききました。おもしろいですね！Actingのクラスへいきめせんでした。そのこわりにしゅくだいをしました！はちじに、Sci Fi Clubへいきました。All in all, I had a very good day! いま、ねます。さようなら！

Gothic Lolita

You know what really stinks? The fact that clothes like this would never fly in America:



Or like this:


These outfits are examples of a style called Gothic Lolita that is pretty much unique to Japan. It's influenced by rococo & Victorian fashion. Usually the colors used are black & white, but sometimes red, green, blue, or violet might be seen. There's lots of frills, full skirts, lace headdresses, and flat shoes. But Gothic Lolita isn't just a style of dress; it's a whole personality. The ideal Gothic Lolita girl is always very cheerful and polite. She tries to see the best in everyone and everything. She enjoys dainty, feminine activities like having tea parties or knitting in the garden. HOW ADORABLE IS THAT?! Fashion in Japan is really incredible in general, but Gothic Lolita is my favorite style of all.

In the anime world, Misa Amane from Death Note is an example of a Gothic Lolita girl:



Too bad Misa just happens to be a little bit twisted...!

さくぶん：てがみ

やまださんへ、

こんいちは！わたしはモトーラアリスです。ニュージャージーからきました。らいねんのなつ、にほんへいきます。わたしはコロンビアだいがくのにねんせいです。せんこうはシアタとバイオロジーです。にほんごもべんきょうします！にほんごのクラスでいまかんじをならいます。かんじはむずかしいですが、おもしろいです。だいがくのせいかつはいそがしいですが、たのしいです。わたしのへやがすきです。そして、しょくどうのたべものはおいしいです。ニューヨークのせいかつはにぎやかですが、とてもたかいです！ときどき、ダンスをします。ダンスがじょうずです。でも、スポーツがあまりじょうずじゃありません。。。ぜんぜんしません！

ろくがつよっかにひこうきでにほんへきます。よろしくおねがいします！

ありがとうございます、

モトーラアリス

New York Anime Festival

Hey everyone!

New York has long been lacking a serious anime festival, but this year, we're finally getting one -- and it's going to be HUGE. It's happening December 7th-9th at the Jacob Javits Center, which is this gigantic convention hall... I went there for Comic Con last year, it's a really big deal. So I am super super excited of course! Day passes are only $30, not really that bad for cosplays, panel discussions, screenings, and all that jazz. My best friend and I are definitely going... I don't know what day yet, but anyone who wants to join us is totally welcome! Yay. <333

Check out the website at www. newyorkanimefestival.com.

Noh Theatre

Last week we learned about noh theatre in my World Theatre class. I had heard before that noh is so impenetrable that it takes a good deal of study for a Westerner to understand it at all, and though that isn't quite the truth, it's not far from it, either! The noh stage is extremely important to the form. It has very exact standard dimensions and structure. Interestingly, nine large pots or bowls are placed under the stage to make the sound reverberate when performers stomp their feet!

Noh plays are usually tragic in nature. The picture above is from a play called Aoinoue, in which a woman (signified by a folded kimono at the front of the stage) is suffering from a mysterious illness. It turns out that a demon with a grudge (pictured) has been haunting her. A priest comes along and exercises the demon, after which the demon sees her own hatefulness, repents, and goes off to die. And here's a fun fact: scholars believe that the "mysterious illness" from which Aoinoue suffered was actually what we know today as anorexia.

The whole style of noh is very quiet, slow, and restrained. The music consists solely of a few drums and sometimes a flute. These features tend to make it a very unattractive form to Westerners. I agree with this somewhat -- I think noh is very interesting, but I'm not sure I'd want to go to a five-hour performance of it!

What I Did Last Weekend

せんしゅうのどようびに、ステージでえんじますみました。にちようびに、としょかんへいきました。にほんごをべんきょうしました。こんしゅうのどよび、うちえかえります。

Self-Introduction Composition

はじめまして。モトラアリスです。アメリカからきました。じゅうきゅうさいです。わたしはコロンビアだいがくのにねんせいです。わたしのせんこうはシアタです。どうぞよろしくおねがいします。

"If it happened in the world, and it doesn't make sense, you know it happened in Japan."

I heard a newscaster say that on MSNBC this summer and thought it was hysterical. (He was leading into a story about a violinist performing for an audience of people tucked into beds.) I think that quote sums up why I love Japan so much.

First Entry

Konnichiwa minasan! My name is アリス．私はだいがくのにねんせいです. I placed out of the College's language requirement with my Latin AP from high school and convinced myself never to take a language again. Why take six classes in the exact same subject when I could be taking six completely different theatre or psychology classes (my two expected majors) instead?

But then, two months ago, in the throes of summer boredom, I returned to a love I had a long abandoned: anime. Yes, I admit it, I am mainly taking Japanese because I am an otaku. Since I was kind of indirectly immersing myself in the Japanese language every day, I figured, why not give it a serious shot when I get back to school? I mean, the only other "foreign" language I know has been confined to the realm of overblown academics for the last millennium, so it can't hurt to learn a language that will actually be useful. Not to mention that I have a really incredible ability to memorize information, and I wanted to try putting it to use for something besides learning lines for a play.

Well, that's about all for today. I'm really excited for the rest of the semester YaY!!