anime: because reality is overrated

Just when I was at a loss for blog posting ideas, I was approached by a group of students yesterday who were looking for a teacher to sponsor an Anime Club at school. My limited exposure to Japanese culture made me a great candidate though this is one aspect of Japanese culture that I didn't have a chance to discover. Honestly, I really didn't find it interesting enough to spend time in Japan researching it. I guess you could say I'm a fan of Japan...not an expert by any means. However, this group is very excited about the Club, so I will take this as a learning opportunity for myself. To put it simply, anime is Japanese cartoons or "animated artwork." But these are not your typical Saturday morning Smurf cartoons. The Japanese Anime Club of Hardin County High School is intended to provide interested students an opportunity to share their love of Japanese animation and to learn about various facets of anime and Japanese culture. Students will have the opportunity to learn new animation techniques and share original artwork and writing. In addition, students will learn about Japanese culture and customs, and spoken Japanese words and phrases. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what I'm getting myself into, but I can't wait to see what the students will teach me!