Anime.

I remember I was 14 when I watched a Japanese animation which captured the richness of
Japanese culture. Over time I have noticed the similarities and meanings of every detail such as the
ninja moves Amaterasu, translated the ‘Sun Goddess’. Because of this puzzle name I wanted to
understand the language and the meaning behind it. What I find particularly interesting is how one
stroke of a line combined with another forms a letter, that later forms a word and due to this
simplicity, I find it fascinating how simple strokes can create a way of communication. During all my
school years, I have studied English, then French, Latin and during high school I have started to learn
German. Throughout these years, I have developed my self-studying skills and trained my brain in
how to tackle a new language. Consequently, as my high school curricula did not offer Japanese, I
began on learning it on my own. This was the first language that had an entirely new alphabet but
with the help of a course and student book called ‘Simple and efficient Japanese’ by Neculai Amalinei
and Ana-Maria Fujii, I have succeeded in creating a starting point for the alphabet Hiragana. I
continued by reading ‘The Story of a Nation’ by Edwin O. Reischauer, an excellent work that explains
in detail what happened to Japan since the traditional period and helped me understand more about
the influence that migration had on Japanese culture. Furthermore, I began to follow online courses
such as: Japanese subcultures or Shintoism and Buddhism. Also, ‘Sino-Japanese Interaction Through
Rare Books’ has given me an insight into the Japanese literature and the influence of Chinese culture.
Additionally, I began learning the fundamentals of Korean and Dutch through online classes. These
lessons made me realize the diversity of accents and dialects and with that in mind, I followed
‘Miracles of Human Language: An Introduction to Linguistics’, a course that enhanced my awareness
of how rich and various languages are. Self-studying increased my perception of understanding a
language and made me realize the importance of time invested in analyzing and interpreting every
detail. Looking to enhance my practical skills, I was a translator for a group of 35 dancers from
Greece participating in the 4th edition of ‘International Folklore Festival’. I translated from Romanian
into English and vice-versa for 5 days. This experience changed my outlook on future career paths as
I learned that interpreting is more than just excellent communication skills, it is about understanding
a community which comes in hand with using problem-solving skills and flexibility. Similarly, I went
to a Japanese Summer School where all my bits of knowledge about Japanese were finally given more
coherence and profoundness. Our teacher Chinatsu Kawamoto taught us about different methods of
understanding Japanese and worked on developing our confidence and leadership skills. I have also
attended courses of Ikebana that gave me an insight into the thoroughness and mentality of Japanese
people. At the same time, I have learned about the ‘Japanese business environment’ and how to
proceed when doing business with Japanese companies. It enhanced my vocabulary, writing skills
and raised my cultural sensitivity. Applying what I had learned in those five days I could help my
father close a deal with a Japanese company and was lucky enough to attend one of the meetings and
to observe their working style. It was my first significant accomplishment that included all my
insights into Japan, making me proud of myself.As someone who wants to study languages I find it
vital to be surrounded by people with various cultural backgrounds, hence my decision of studying
abroad. I am also excited about the opportunity of studying one year in Japan. In the future, I plan on
travelling the world and build a company that specializes in personalized translation while creating a
bridge between people whose only barrier is language.