Why I Chose To Study Japanese...

From the age of four, Japanese was the first culture that I full embedded myself into and made an effort to involve myself in. In fact, it was a part of the first hobby that I found in life. Aside from the usual playing with dolls or begging to paint makeup all over my parents' faces like most little girls, the first hobby that I became fond of was Obon and Japanese Folk Dance.

Enchanted by the beauty that my Sensei possessed as I watched her grace through every motion and through every step of each song, I knew that Japanese Folk Dance was a passion I was going to pursue. Continuing to dance until today, I am still reliant on listening to the lyrics of each song and marveling in the charm that each word SEEMS to portray.

Sitting at the kitchen table with my grandma, just before she passed, I would always nuzzle my way onto her lap and reach for the Japanese dictionary she had shelved next to her. Every day that I saw her, I'd make it a point to have her teach me a few more words. As time flew by and I got older, however, my curiosity died down as I began to take my culture for granted. I had been attending Japanese dance class every Monday and, although I still found it to be beautiful, I started to see it as more of a skill and a hobby rather than a piece of who I am.

Since then, my grandma has passed and I regret not taking the time to continue my lessons with her. Yes, I still spent time with her and I involved myself in the culture every time I asked her to let me cook so that I could learn, but the language was something so important to her and I feel like I let her down not having committed to it more. Instead of learning "base 'te'" conjugations, I asked her to teach me how to cook things like Nishime and Okonomiyaki.

Reaching my teen years and a peak educational period of my life, high school, I realized that I needed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and set goals toward achieving them. After involving myself in numerous clubs and continuing with the extra-curricular activities that I had been enrolled in along the way of my life: Japanese dance, Hula (Hawaiian dance), Tahitian (dance from Tahiti), Maori (New Zealand dance), Kumon (Math and Reading program), SCUBA diving, weight lifting, and Piano, I really found who I am and what I want to be.

Aside from my aspirations of graduating from Columbia University with a major in Physics and a Concentration in Business Management, I realized that I wanted to exemplify each culture that pertains to my ethnicities and to spread the knowledge and practices of my traditions and culture. In order to do this, however, I cannot just dance. I need to learn the delicacies, the history, the myths, the traditions, and most importantly, the language.

There is so much that goes into and that comes from knowing the language of a people. For instance, just from learning the bit that I have in my Japanese I class, I can already see how important politeness is to the people of this background.

So why did I choose to study Japanese? The answer is more complex than anyone will ever know because in order to understand my answer, you must first understand my passion and that is something that I find unmeasurable. For now, let's start with this little introductory post and let's just first start with a few of the most important reasons for me.

1. I want to be able to understand every piece of beauty that I embrace when I dance each song at Japanese dance classes and performances. I want to possess each word and put them to action. I want to use each action and put them to beauty. I want to display this beauty in a way that I'll inspire another four-year-old who just stopped by to watch a dance class next to my grandparents' house just as my Sensei inspired me fourteen years ago.

2. I want to make up for lost time. I know that there is no turning back and I can't physically study with my grandma as I had the chance to do so long ago, but I know that she is watching down upon me and will be so proud of me when I speak to my grandpa and the rest of our family in the native tongue that she wished so much to see me pursue. I want my grandma to see that I am sorry for giving up and that I am continuing to learn so that I can finally finish what we started when she first started teaching me.

3.   I want to embody what it is to exemplify my culture in full. I want others to learn of my culture and I want to be the one to teach them. I want people's lives to be impacted for the greater as I show them how beautiful and amazing Japanese language and culture is.

As far as I'm concerned, this doesn't even cover half of my reasons in choosing to study Japanese. But for now, let's leave it at this and see where my next posts will take us. I already know that Tatsumi Sensei will evoke more passion in me as he continues to teach us the language and pieces of the culture. This is only the beginning.