Interests and Hobbies

Learning foreign languages has been an enduring passion of mine since my teenage years. I find that language influences to a large extent one’s perceptions of the world. As each language is unique, acquiring a foreign language is therefore equivalent to learning a new way in which to view the world. It is this quality of studying foreign languages that i find endlessly fascinating, and which drives my interest in the subject.

So far, I’ve had the pleasure of studying the following foreign languages: Latin, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Japanese. By far, my most extensive experience has been with Japanese. Studying abroad in Japan has convinced me that there is no better way to learn a foreign language than to spend time in that language’s native country. I would very much welcome the opportunity to learn other foreign languages through international assignments as part of my professional life.

In addition to  to foreign language study, my other passion is martial arts. I’ve studied Shotokan style karate as a member of the International Shotokan Karate Federeation since June 2009. Since then I’ve trained diligently, competed in several regional tournaments, and earned my black belt in May of 2012. The training is demanding, but the sense of discipline, commitment, and confidence I derive makes the hard training more than worthwhile.