Having studied the Japanese language for nearly 3 years formally and 1 year on my own, I have to say I am knee deep into it. I have over 2,000 japanese songs (Jpop, Jrock, Visul K, J-jazz, J-rap, etc.) on my Ipod, Have a ton of purchased anime, and have enjoyed many hours of J-dorama. Currently watching “Beach Boys” which is alot of fun. I love a good sappy “dorama”.　わたしはどらまがすきですね！

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area and close to one of the largest of three Nihon Machi’s (Japantown. There are three in the entire USA and all in California. SF, San Jose and Los Angeles.) has allowed me to dive deep into Japanese culture without stepping on a plane to Tokyo, although I suspect that will come one of these days hopefully soon.

I have even started learning how to roll my own sushi rolls and have made Onigri a few times. Of course, I don’t limit myself to just Japanese culture, since the area I live in, also harbors probably the largest Asian population in the entire USA. There are many Chinese, Thai, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Taiwanese and many other Asian immigrants here, and so all of their culture, has so deeply enriched Northern California. San Francisco also has the largest Chinatown in the USA and the first Vietnamese community in “Little Saigon” within the heart of the city. If one drives south to Los Angeles there is a large area called “Korean town” as well. Oh, and incase you were wondering, there are great places to eat here as well!!