video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLQeEuf3eXshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLQeEuf3eXs

おりがみ！(origami) :)

おりがみはだいすきです。

After moving back from tokyo, I forgot most of the japanese I had learned, but not some of the japanese traditions! mainly: how to make origami.   Its a lot easier to practice making origami than japanese.

right now I can make: crane, cup, doll, ninja star, bunny (うさぎ）, flashing camera, jumping frog, balloon, a box, lotus flower, tulip, and probably some others that I cannot think of right now.

I really like making origami, usually cranes, out of things that are not origami paper.  Usually with gum wrappers or recites, I make tiny tiny cranes.  

My sister and I (when we lived in Tokyo circa 1999) once tried to make a cup (a very simple, three fold origami) out of our bedroom carpet.  It was huge, and could only stay together if we were holding up the rug.

here is a youtube link of a cool animation of crane making:
one of the comments is in japanese and has some of our vocab in it!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iVP0tzwhVc

しゆうまつ

きんようびにぱちをいきました。どようびにしちじにおきました、そして”rowing"へいきました。"football game"へいきませんでした、でも、”tailgate"をいきました。てれび（arrested development) おみました。

まいにち

まいにちわたしはポプタトおたべます。くらすおいきます。しゅくだいおします。にほんごにべんきょしますでコルメンモルスセンタ。まいすようびわたしはとわたしのともだちはたべまう。つぎわさひわしゅくだいしますそしてねます。

はじめました！

わたしわレベカホルムバグデス。アメリカじんです。にねんせいです。せんこはせいじがくとけざいがくです。

One of my favorite things about japan is さくら, which hopefully translates to: cherry blossoms.  Even though Tokyo had very little greenery, there seemed to be cherry blossom trees all over the place, and they are gorgeous.  My favorite part about cherry blossom trees is how the petals fall, they look like soft snowflakes!  

When I lived in Tokyo, I walked to school everyday with my sister, sometimes my Dad would come along too, before catching the subway.  My school had a very pretty and expansive entrance with cherry blossom trees.

Here is a picture of my sister, my dad, and me, under the cherry blossoms.  you can see the fallen petals on the ground, also, its hard to tell, but we threw petals up in the air right before the picture was taken. 

beginning japanese

I am excited to learn Japanese.  Today is the first week of our new class, which we will have five days a week!  My friends seemed to be much more impressed with my learning Japanese than Spanish.  The foreign characters give it a certain "wow" factor that Spanish can't compete with.

My interest in japanese (nihongo) started in 1999 when my family and I moved to Tokyo for my father's work.  I only lived their for about a year and a half, but it was quite a learning experience.  I become moderately good (for an american fourth grader) at japanese while I lived there, but have since then been slowly forgetting everything I learned, so much so that I could not understand even the instructions on the placement exam here at nd.