By Aeris Golden-Thompson

This year I attended the annual 2020 Japanese New Year Festival Celebration, hosted by the Japan Commerce Association of Washington, DC. I attended this event last year as well, but this time was a little different, and a little more scary for me! This would be the first year I was going alone! I’m a very shy and nervous person by nature, and on top of that, going to an event where I’d only be speaking Japanese totally freaked me out!

I was running a little slow that morning, and after some makeup mishaps, I ended up getting a huge clump of mascara stuck under my eyelash that I just couldn’t get rid of without taking off my entire makeup look!  So my vision was slightly impaired, as a black dot obscured the top left corner of my vision (;___;). I think the nerves got to me in my makeup application process. So much so that I was frazzled after leaving the house, only to realize I was a few minutes too slow, and missed my bus! I ended up just walking the two miles to the metro station closest to me because another bus wouldn’t come in my neighborhood for another hour!

Soon enough, I arrived at the festival, and found it was just like I remembered. I went over to what I thought was the ticket counter and handed them my ticket, but failed to say anything! What an embarrassment! After they tied the band around my wrist I mumbled out a quiet 「ありがとうございます。」、 And went into the festival!

At first, I noted that I couldn’t see very well, and put on my glasses to see better. It was just like I remembered! There’s a vendors row on the right when you walk in, filled with Japanese toys, snacks, and assortments of candy! On your left is the entrance to the games area, with karuta, a Japanese card game in which you have to listen to a speaker announce the first half of the poem and you have to find the card with the second half before your opponent, being the eye-catching attraction. In front of me was the shrine. It’s quite hard to miss, with the big red gates and all.

Now, I was waiting for my other classmates to arrive, hoping I didn’t have to explore the festival alone. My palms were sweating, and I ended up standing in a corner on my phone for a whopping total of: 20 minutes! I’m sure I stuck out like a sore thumb. The whole time my internal warning system was screaming at me to turn around and get out of there! I really felt like I might cry. The event is mainly for Japanese families, and everyone there seemed to know someone, even the people who weren’t Japanese came in a group of friends, and I felt so awkward for being alone.

Thankfully, Sato-san from the Japanese Embassy (who’s visited our class many times), came and talked with me, and that helped ease my nerves a lot! In the end, I gave in, and decided I’d enjoy the festival for myself, and take the chance to step out of my comfort zone. I made four goals for myself before I could leave the festival.

1st: I had to go buy food from the food stalls near the shrine.
2nd: I couldn’t leave the festival until at least an hour and a half passed.
3rd: I had to buy something from the vendors tables.
4th: I had to go get an omikuji (fortune slip; basically describes your luck and gives you advice to boost it) from the shrine.

I managed to complete all four!

First I went to get takoyaki, a fried ball of octopus topped with Japanese mayo and bonito (dried fish flakes), which by the way, was the best takoyaki I’ve Ever Had. Seriously, it was so good! All the tables were full, so I ended up sitting on the floor to eat it, next to a group of girls I didn’t know. This was hard for me, and I got really self conscious, thinking that people would judge me or stare at me for eating on the floor, but I focused on my food and kept going. Then I decided to get up and go get my fortune told!

I slowly walked into the shrine, and quietly waited in the short line to shake around the container. Once it was my turn, I shook the container too hard, and when I flipped it, two sticks dropped out! I could barely mumble out apologies as my brain was so frazzled and didn’t know which language to respond in! Thankfully, the girl handling the container was very understanding and handed me my fortune. Not to anyone’s surprise…. I received average luck. At this rate I might as well have received the worst luck ;o;! How many more times must I mess up at this festival, I thought exasperatedly, and moved to go buy something from the vendor’s table.

I ended up browsing the table for a while before selecting three Hello Kitty Marshmallow Chocolate Pies! I really liked that type of treat, as I’d had it before, and I also like Sanrio, so I was very excited to get them. Sanrio is a Japanese company that makes cute character merchandise! My favorite of the Sanrio character series is Little Twin Stars and My Melody!  I opened one of the packages to eat, hoping it was Hello Kitty shaped; however it was just a normal circle pie. No problem, because pie is pie after all! It still tasted great!

I went on to go stroll around the festival a little more, and then I noticed the time, and left to go home, feeling very proud and accomplished. I made a lot of mistakes, but it was a good learning experience, and showed me that I need to start practicing speaking more, and be more outgoing. I really started to have fun after I broke out of my shell a little despite making mistakes. I want to go again next year! Hopefully not alone, but if I am, that’s okay too! 😀

I also wanted to do this blog in Japanese to help improve my ability to talk about the events I go to, if you would like to continue and read below!

今年もJCAWの新春祭りに行きました！去年行くことがあるんですけど、今回は一人で行きました！すごく不安でした！ちょっと静かで内気な人ですから、日本語だけで話してることはとても怖いと思いました！間違えることを言いたくないから、よく何もを言いえませんでした。でも、頑張りました！

朝に、化粧して時は、むずかしかったね。とても不安になっていたから、マスカラは目に落ちちゃった! 顔に見てるなら見えないけど、私の視覚はちょっと悪かった。大きい黒い点があった！でも、祭りに行きました。

祭りでたくさん面白いことがありました！ゲームとか、おもちゃとか、いろんなお菓子がありました！最初に食べ物ストールに行きました。たこ焼きを買って、すぐに食べました！とても美味しかったです。そして、神社に入りました。おみくじはまあまあでした。（;___;）多分たくさん間違えることをしちゃったから。それで、お菓子は買いに行きました。テーブルでハローキティのマシュマロパイがありました！サンリオのことが好きなので、三個買いました。ハローキティの形ではないけど美味しかったよ！嬉しかったです。そして、祭りから帰りました。一人で行ったから初めにちょっと不安でしたけど来年も行きたいです！あけましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくお願いします！

By Alexx Thompson

Recently, I’ve attended the J.LIVE event for the second time! J.LIVE is an annual speaking competition for university students studying Japanese. This event is held annually at the GW campus. The competition is comprised of three levels – Level I, II, and III. Three students compete against each other in each tier.

I arrived in time for the second level, and I was really excited to watch the presentations. Since I’d gone the year before, I had a general idea of what to expect when I came, and I was grateful to find the setup was still the same. During the presentations, students usually have a slideshow prepared, and explain their topic all in Japanese. Then afterwards, they open up questions from the audience, and then the judges in Japanese as well.

There was one presentation that caught my eye however. Usually most projects I’ve seen while attending are experiences with Japan, or something relating to a research project. It’s a bit harder for me to grasp the concept of what they’re explaining since I’m usually not familiar with the Japanese terms, but one presentation was different!

A girl named Yiman Wang stepped up, and instantly my mind clicked in recognition as her title popped up, paired with the image of a gacha card from an idol game. Her presentation was called “Virtual Idol, Sena-kun.” I leaned forward in my seat, and watched as she explained that Izumi Sena, a virtual idol from the game Ensemble Stars (Enstars), was her inspiration. She displayed pictures of her making friends and even cosplaying as ways the game has helped her branch out and have fun in life. All because of one virtual idol.

I don’t know much about Enstars, as I don’t play it, but I have friends who like it a lot! I could also understand more of the vocabulary she used, as it’s something I’m very familiar with, as I’ve played idol games similar to it, like Love Live and Idolmaster (both which focus more so on girl idols). It was really nice to hear, and I also found myself agreeing with her presentation points, as in what makes us happy in life. What drives us to be great? Even something like loving a virtual idol can help us all get through the day! I could relate, as I find using fictional characters as encouragement is a great way to push through, and find happiness in the things you do in life!

Recently in my struggles in school, I was losing motivation, didn’t really feel like coming as it stressed me out too much. But I had started reading a new novel and found myself daydreaming scenarios of the characters urging me on, helping me find the strength to keep going when I felt like it wasn’t worth it anymore. I experienced a life-changing turnaround. I frequently showed up to school early and started becoming motivated to finish my assignments despite having none before! I know the idea seems rather silly, to rely on fictional characters for support, but it can help in more ways than you can really imagine.

After the presentations, the rest I could understand the basic idea, but not any specific details. We went to go browse the expo booths, in which there were various Japan related companies and colleges! I even saw Kinokuniya there to sell books and manga! They even had a copy of Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer), which is one of my favorite mangas that recently spiked in popularity, having sales that outsold One Piece which has been the long standing #1 for years! I really wanted to buy a copy, but unfortunately, by the time I’d circled back around, all the copies were gone! さすが鬼滅の刃ですね!

I got to see a lot of familiar faces, and some people had even recognized me from seeing me at various Japan events, which I was quite surprised to know they’d recognized me! At the end of the competition, and all the winners were announced, they introduced the new J.LIVE competition, now open for high school students! I really hope I can participate in it!!

By Alexx Thompson

Outside of our lovely Japanese Plus class, I went on a field trip to New York with my school! I go to an arts training school, Duke Ellington School of the Arts, which prepares us to work as an artist in the professional field, and there are various arts training departments you can audition into. I’m in the Visual Arts major/department, which means I learn a variety of art skills such as painting, sculpture, animation, drawing, and printmaking. Our first trip of the year was to the Frick Collection, as well as the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the MET).

Unfortunately, the moment I arrived in New York I had fallen ill, and could no longer keep up the enthusiasm I’d had prior to boarding. With great reluctance, I had to let my friend join a different group so I could leave the group to go get medication, and thus missed a great deal of the first museum. Luckily I was able to rush through it, although not to the extent I would’ve liked.

Still unwell, I made my way over to the MET, and had lunch, that was ridiculously overpriced, and overwhelmingly bland. However as I was ill, I didn’t really have any care for what kind of food it was. With new energy and my illness finally subsided, I’d returned to my earlier plan. The MET had an Asian art gallery, and I was determined to see the Japanese collection. I was beyond delighted to find a MET guide in Japanese, and used that to guide me. Not only that, I was more than happy that I could actually understand it enough to use it to get there!

Now that I was in the hallway leading to the exhibit, my excitement heightened as I admired modern Japanese pottery on display, noting the beautiful craftsmanship and effort put into it. My mother, who was accompanying me as a chaperone, was perplexed at the sight of one pot, exclaiming that it didn’t look as neat as the others. I thought about this for a moment before remembering the concept of wabi sabi—something I’d learned about in Japanese class—and explained to her that it was likely the artist’s intention for it to be that way. Or rather, nature’s intention if you will.

We finally headed into the exhibit and I was interested in the Chinese and Korean exhibits; however the exhibit for the Korean gallery was small, but still very nice. I also had recently become fascinated with the Chinese exhibits since at the time I’d started to read a fictional history/fantasy Chinese novel, and could now visualize what kinds of things the author drew on to create that novel.

As I exited the Chinese exhibit, I noticed two glass doors and atop them was a title reading: Sackler Wing Gallery! Now where have I heard that name before… None other than the Freer-Sackler Gallery of Asian Art! Thus I knew I’d found the Japanese exhibit and pulled open those doors to reveal a glistening beautiful glass statue of a deer. I gasped in awe and quietly made my way around each art piece, carefully examining each one, as well as the writing on pieces to see what I could decipher.

In many places there were very meticulously put together traditional rooms depicting historical architecture and interior design, or small enclaves displaying cooking pans and pots on tatami mats. My personal favorite however, was a large rock. To be more accurate, a fountain disguised as a large black stone. This is the Water Stone, created by Isamu Noguchi. Upon looking at the stone, I first thought it to only be rather shiny, but then I noticed the faint sound of water and realized that there was in fact, water flowing seamlessly over top the stone! It was very calming, and since the exhibit itself was quite silent, I simply sat there and enjoying sitting by it for a while.

Finally, I left the exhibit after looking around at all the pieces, and wandered around the museum until it was time for us to depart. Please do take time to visit the MET though, if you’re interested in Asian art, as their selection is gorgeous!

By Alexx Thompson

Have you ever been to the Tidal Basin in Washington DC? It’s an amazing place with strong ties to Japan! How, you might ask? Well you’re about to find out!

This time, we all met up at the Freer Sackler Gallery of Asian Art, where we headed in to enjoy their Japan collection. In the collection we all stared in awe at gorgeous paintings and pottery alike, and took in the beauty of it all. After the museum, we left off towards the Tidal Basin.

At first, I thought we were only going to view the cherry blossoms, and the stone pagoda, and the stone lantern, however there was a little bit of a twist. Once we arrived, Sally and Eshita-sensei explained the rules of the game. For the entire time touring the Tidal Basin, we could only speak in Japanese. Soo… NO ENGLISH!!! Everyone instantly became nervous, none of us thought we’d be able to speak for that long. In my case, it was as if all my Japanese had flown right out of my head! A few of us even joked about doing sign language so that we could at least try and pass the challenge.

Then, it started, and we set off. The start was a little shaky but I found myself making good conversation. I joked about eating sakura tree ramen, as someone had asked me what I was eating, as I hadn’t the faintest idea what to even say/talk about! The time flew by honestly, and we were able to convey what we were trying to say, as well as sharing new vocabulary through miming! We arrived at the stone lantern and still, not allowed to speak English, we learned about the history, and snapped a pic with it! Then we kept going on, joking around in Japanese and also playing music for unknown reasons. But the music was all really good! Soon after, we arrived at the stone pagoda, and we learned about the different levels and what element each represented. Having to translate it all into Japanese was cool, as we found we already knew most of the words and their kanji!

By the time we’d circled back around and realized we were back where we started, we couldn’t believe it! It was almost as if it’d only been thirty minutes! We all looked at each other in amazement and were really proud of ourselves! We’d managed to have fluid conversations together for an entire two hours! All in Japanese! It was really encouraging to see how far we’d come and we were all super excited! We can’t wait to do it again!

By Alexx Thompson

This summer I had a blast and worked with our super awesome director Sally Schwartz on a publication entitled Japan in DC. Throughout the summer we met up with people who had strong connections to Japan as well as went to places related to Japan. It was my first ever official job, and was a really helpful work experience. Getting to meet people who are so closely connected to Japan was a great experience, especially since I plan on having a Japan-related career in the future.

The work was pretty similar to our Japanese class, but now I had to interview them. The interviewing was a little nerve wracking at first, especially so since me and Tara were coming up with the questions! I was mainly in charge of photography, so I finally used my photography class knowledge and pulled out my Nikon D40 camera and snapped away! I got to meet people like Robin Berrington, who served as a cultural attache for the US government in Japan, and I even got to visit the Japanese Ambassador’s Residence for a fun summer barbecue!

Throughout my summer I managed to learn how to use the metro, as well as time management, and professionalism. Since all of the writing I did would be going into a book, Sally also helped me on improving my grammar and diction, and as I enjoy writing it was nice to get some critique on how certain images convey things, and also when to insert my own thoughts or hold them back! It was really fun and I’d love to do it again!

The Ambassador of Japan’s summer barbeque

The traditional tea house at the Ambassador’s residence

By Alexx Thompson

Did you know in Japan there are many cultural taboos considered polite in America? Things such as pointing, walking on the wrong side of the road can be considered rude in Japan. One of these things is crossing your legs. Here it’s considered a polite thing to do, especially for those who wear skirts. It saves space, compared to when people sit with their legs slightly spread out, so people can sit in tight spaces. In Japan, crossing one’s legs is seen as disrespectful. It is because when you do this you show the bottom of your feet to guests, and since they have picked up dirt,  you are showing that dirt to your guests. This makes for very bad business relations.

It’s okay to cross your legs in a casual setting, but in business relations it’s seen as too casual and improper. It is preferable to sit in seiza, the traditional Japanese way of sitting where you sit upright and your legs are tucked underneath you. If you are sitting in a chair, then simply keep your legs together, rather than folding one over the other.

If you are ever in relations with Japanese people, always remember to receive and give business cards with both hands, give gifts after travels, and remember not to cross your legs!

By Alexx Thompson

Visiting the NAFSA conference this year really was a very eye-opening experience for me. NAFSA: Association of International Educators is the world’s largest nonprofit association dedicated to international education and exchange. The NAFSA Annual Conference is a unique forum of attendees from many professional and geographic perspectives and backgrounds. It’s a large convention where you can interact with international businesses and colleges as well as gain information about the programs they offer. Five Japanese Plus students were the special guests of the American Association of Teachers of Japanese (AATJ) and NAFSA, along with other high school students from Maryland and Virginia.

When we first arrived at the hotel, on May 30, we were with the other students studying Japanese, and were introduced to the people behind the event. Getting to talk to them, as well as meeting the other students was really helpful for me to learn about what my next steps should be in going forward. Then we were led to the convention hall, where cute sakura trees surrounded the Japanese booths. There were many Japanese universities there and they were all really nice and willing to share their programs with us. Being introduced to more universities was very helpful for me, as I want to go to a Japanese university straight out of high school. I also got a chance to practice my Japanese with the people at each booth and I was really surprised to be able to understand the Japanese they spoke back to me. The only problem was sometimes I stumbled a bit and couldn’t format the sentences right in my head, so I said a few English sentences because I got nervous. Especially since I don’t really know much about college in English, so being able to understand the programs they offered in Japanese was very cool to me.

I also had the amazing opportunity to meet the vice president of Sophia University in Japan, and she was really sweet and wonderful. I really enjoyed talking to her and I’m really interested in applying to Sophia in the future. I want to be a translator as well as a polyglot, and immersion has always been the best tool for me.

Since the conference was an international one, it also brought my attention to studying abroad in other countries. I was really interested in the Korean universities, as I’m currently self-studying Korean, but I didn’t feel confident enough to talk to any of the representatives. I thought it really was amazing how I could go to so many colleges around the world. Not to mention programs I’d only seen online were there as well. I was able to talk with representatives from AFS, as I plan to study abroad in my senior year, and live in Japan for a semester or a year. It was really beneficial and was really cool to be able to see how many options I had. I loved the event and I really hope to go again if I ever have the chance.

By Alexx Thompson

I think throughout the year, I’ve changed a lot. In the beginning, I came in with prior knowledge, and unreasonably expected everyone to be on the same level. Thinking that way skews your judgment and holds you back from being able to actually judge people correctly. I used to be a bit harsher back then, not understanding why some people messed up on certain things, or why they didn’t grasp it as quickly. Then as I spent more and more time working alongside my friends and classmates, I began to really open my eyes.

Not everyone is going to be on the same level as you, whether that be lower or higher.

And that’s a good thing.

You can use these experiences to help yourself grow as well as helping other people grow. It’s easier to empathize with people knowing this. I know in the beginning a lot of things weren’t exactly easy for me, and it only became better with practice. So whenever I offered help I tried to explain it more, and practiced alongside everyone else.

You can’t help someone if you don’t try to put yourself in their shoes. Even if you try, it’ll just be extremely difficult. I was really glad to humble myself and get my mind out of the high pedestal I’d placed myself on. Everything is about practice and what resources are available to you. A fact of life is that everyone isn’t going to have those same resources.

Growing alongside everyone really helped me see that. We’ve all improved and worked our hardest. I’ve seen our classmates work really hard to achieve their goals and I was really inspired. It pushed me to work even harder than before. I really enjoyed playing study games and doing review with everyone. Especially the skits. It was really cool to see how everyone came up with new ideas and really were able to use their Japanese.

It was also fun playing karuta to learn Katakana and Hiragana. It was a nice and fun way to review with everyone, and we always had loads of fun. Once I let down my judgmental barriers about my class, I was able to open up easier and have more fun. Life isn’t black and white or this or that. It’s a fun scale of diverse people, and that’s what our class is. You can’t always like a person 100%, but that doesn’t mean you should automatically dislike them forever for one little thing. Embrace differences and look at yourself first. What can you fix about yourself.

From the bottom of my heart this class will definitely change the way you view the world, and yourself. I’m really honored to be a part of this Globalize DC class, and hope to continue with everyone to learn more!