Hey guys, how are you? I’m new here. So new I can’t figure out how to add a picture of myself to my profile, so you’re just going to have to put up with me looking like a grey silhouette for a bit longer. My name is Tom and I’ve recently fallen ill. I’m going to be housebound for several months, so I’ve decided to put my boredom to use and learn something I’ve always thought about taking on, but never had the time or guts to do so.

Japanese has always seemed so incredibly daunting a language, and it is. But, I’m from Canada and I seem to have mastered English and French fairly well, as well as dabbled a bit in Spanish and found myself pretty good at retaining grammatical rules and vocabulary better than many of my friends, so I think I may have a knack for new languages.

Like many of you on here, I’m a big anime nerd and JRPG video games spent about as much time raising me as my parents did. When I think back to lessons and morals I learned while playing Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III (though all of the FFs were amazing) on the SNES, it makes me want to explore the culture, myth and lore that inspired many of these games.

Likewise, I’m in University right now, studying History. I’ve taken quite a shine to Japanese History, and especially the Tokugawa period. I would love to be able to travel to Japan and see some of the artifacts and places involved in the periods I’ve read about.

Due to my illness I won’t be returning to University this year, so expect to see me around here quite a bit. After I complete my degree (Spring 2013), I am seriously considering the JET program as an excellent opportunity to study, work and teach in Japan and really get a first hand look at what has interested me for so long.

Sorry if this was a long read. It was a pleasure introducing myself. If you have any questions, shoot away. I’ll probably be around here for a while!

Take care,

Tom