Better Late than Never!

こんいちは！

So I entered Japanese class a week late, but I have wanted to study Japanese as long as I can remember. I'm half-Japanese, and my mom's family is very involved in the culture through Judo. All three of my mother's sisters have their own Judo Club; in fact, my uncle has earned a silver medal in the Olympics and trains judo athletes with Olympics dreams. They often get to travel internationally, specifically to Japan.

My uncle is in the top row on the far left, and my aunt is in the center of the third row holding twins. They are posing with some of the members of their dojo.

This is my cousin, Cammi, attempting sode.

My grandpa is third from the right, and my uncle is standing on the far right.

Clearly, I am constantly teased by fascinating Japanese culture but cannot speak a single word. As an electrical engineer, the only free space for random electives that I have is due to high school AP credit. In addition, underclassmen engineers are required to take lots of prerequisites. Thus, although Notre Dame offers us the opportunity to take Japanese, I haven't been able to enroll in the class until now! During the semester, I hope my reading, writing, and conversational skills significantly improve. I know a language comes with time and practice, but I would love if I could understand (even a little!) my relatives when they speak Japanese.

:)
Sara