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Archive for the 'About Todd' Category

Aug 25 2008

Japan Francisco

Alright loyal readers, I have some big news for you. Your boy Todd is taking a trip to America’s next best thing to the land of the rising sun, San Francisco. I’m taking a much needed break from freelance writing and reporting and I’m going to actually have some real summer.

You know, tossing a frisbee on the beach, catching some waves, and of course, seeing all the best Japanese stuff the Golden Gate city has to offer. Now I’m not stupid, I know the influence in San Francisco is predominately Chinese and Seattle is a much better place to visit for Japanese culture, but San Fran just has to be better than Chicago, and I aim to prove it.

You should all feel proud of yourselves. I’m taking a vacation, but I’m taking you with me. And there will be pictures.

But.

I need your help. The last time I was in San Francisco I was 7 years old, and I barely remember it. Does anyone know any cool Japan-related stuff I should check out there? I’d love to do a field report.

Let me know.

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Jul 24 2008

About Todd

Published by toddwins under About Todd Edit This

So, I’ve realized that I’ve never really put up anything about myself. I know you’re all just here for the knowledge infusion, but that’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow. It’s time for a proper introduction.

The thing that made me think about this was that I was linked by Tom @ Hello Mother, Hello Father with this thing called Meme which is essentially a blog post that gets passed around the internet to help build traffic for related sites. I mean, it seems kind of like a chain letter, but who am I to complain about free traffic. The way I see it, this is a harmless way to have readers find more sites they might be interested in, and have them learn something about the bloggers they read from in the process. Anyways, here are the rules:

1. List the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Well first of all, this is me:

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1. My name is Todd.
2. This summer, I’m working at a Chicago-area newspaper doing reporting, writing, and copy-editing.
3. I’m a college student majoring in English and Japanese.
4. At school, I work subtitling documentaries. My most recent one is about resident Koreans living in Japan, it’s called “Zainichi.”
5. I’ve spent months living in Japan, mostly in Nagano, but I’ve had extensive stays in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nagoya as well.
6. Outside of Japanese, my main interests are writing and Ultimate Frisbee.
7. My secret talents include swing dancing and playing the sousaphone.

Alright, there’s the facts. Now, I just want to make this abundantly clear to everyone, I’m not a Japanese expert, teacher, or linguist. I’m a student, just like you, and I struggle, just like you. The reviews and articles are written from a student, well experienced student, viewpoint, which I feel is something that education, specifically language education, has lost sight of. What matter most is not how people teach, but how people learn. And that’s what this is all about. LJT is all about sharing my experiences with you as a student, so you can know what’s helpful and what’s a waste of time. That’s where the best education happens. Students talking to each other. To quote Pink Floyd, “Hey, Teacher, leave them kids alone.”

And now for the links:

Sanjo-chan @ cen.taku.me
Kirin @ JCDRKawaii
McAlpine @ The Soul of Japan
Jamaipanese @ Jamaipanese.com
Khatzumoto @ All Japanese All the Time
Saleem @ 100 Japanese Things
Alex @ Victory Manual

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