Hello! My name is Anna and I am the head honcho here at Gaiwa. I'm a 24 year old hapa (which is Hawaiian slang for a person who has mixed racial heritage; ordinarily half Asian and half Caucasian). I was born in Washington state, but I spent most my childhood on the islands of Guam and Oahu, Hawaii. I currently work as an advisor for Japanese college students, freelance artist, and as a full-time staff member here on Gaiwa! I lived in Japan from August 2014 until February 2016, and attended school at Temple University in Tokyo! Though I had problems with the school, I was very fortunate to live in Tokyo.
I started learning Japanese in early 2006; after my parents encouraged me to take Japanese classes in middle school (due to my sudden interest in watching anime). After moving away from Hawaii, I returned to my hometown in Washington and made the decision to discontinue my Japanese studies at the start of highschool. This was largely due to several bad experiences with Japanese classmates back in Hawaii. However, during my Junior year of highschool (2010) I decided to relearn Japanese and I haven't stopped since!
My highschool was well known for conducting trips to foreign countries each year during the summertime, so when it was announced that one of the trips in 2011 would be Japan, I jumped at the opportunity and signed up along with 15 of my classmates. This trip would have been my graduation present from my friends and family, however, that was until the Earthquake and Tsunami happened on March 3rd. Having been a part of the school's Diversity Club at the time, I organized and lead a Relief Charity which was able to raise roughly around $1000 dollars which was then donated to the Red Cross Society in Japan. Part of the Relief Charity involved me standing on a stage and speaking to a large group of students, educating them on the current condition of the regions in Japan which were hit the hardest. It was up on that stage that I realized that I wanted to become a teacher.
After the Relief Charity had ended, I discovered that 14 of the 16 participants of my summer Japan trip had unanimously decided to change the location of the trip in fear of the Fukushima radiation crisis. The group decided to go to China instead, so I asked for a refund and went to Japan alone in August 2011. I spent two weeks in Japan and was able to visit Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nishinomiya, and Kobe.
Early 2013, I got the opportunity to move into a house and teach English at a Japanese university's abroad campus in my hometown. The campus was established in order to provide a safe environment for Japanese English majors to come to America, and experience complete cultural and language immersion for half a year at a time. I lived and worked at this university as a Resident Assistant for five months, but ultimately made the decision to not return for the second session of 2013. Although I no longer work for the school, I am still very much involved in it!
