Acronym Overload

Here at IUJ we often speak in a language of acronyms. See that one? IUJ is the International University of Japan. We have acronyms for each school (GSIM, GSIR) and the degree programs: IRP, IPSP, IDP, MA and Ebiz. Each office has an acronym, such as OSS or ACSC. The library is MLIC, the students working there are LSAs, the snack lounge is the CNP and the dorms are SD1, SD2, SD3 and MSA. Our various student government bodies are IRC, IMC and GSO. Also, most classes end up with acronyms, such as IPE or ICD.

This has been a glimpse in to the strange language spoken by the students here in Urasa. Until next time…

Culmination of the Haiti Relief Effort

Small change adds up to a huge difference.  Our Haiti Fundraiser is officially over, the posters and donation boxes have been taken down, and our fundraiser week culminated in a gorgeous snow candle memorial ceremony.  Around 120 people came out to build snow candles, and two newspapers came to cover the event, including the Asahi Shinbun and the Niigata Nippo!  The article in the Niigata Nippo featured a full color photo, and the Asahi Shinbun duplicated their article on the internet edition (sorry, I think it is only available in Japanese)!

My only complaint is that it took so long for me to count all of the change, but it was completely worth it.  The photo to the left is the carnage of coin counting as it took over my desk, and by the time I was finished my fingers absolutely reeked of coins (and actually glittered a little bit from fingering all of the aluminum 1 yen coins).  Our goal had been to raise 100,000 yen (approximately 1000 USD – a bit more than that with the exchange rate these days), and the Grand Total was 101, 784 yen!

IUJ- IUJ Students’ Earthquake Relief for Haiti
GSO- Haiti Fundraiser a Huge Success

I also received a letter from my grandmother, and a card certifying that she had donated to a charity in my honor.  The gift of aiding an organization that is fighting hunger in the poorest of developing countries was so uplifting that it brought me to tears. Thank you, if you’re reading this. You have made me very happy with this thoughtful and sensitive act of generosity.

Lately, I had been a bit concerned that I might have bitten off a lot more than I can chew for this term, but it is times like these that it all gets put into focus and you realize that it is worth it. Every minute of time, every ounce of effort, and every moment of sleep lost adds up to something greater than the sum of these parts.

“Prodigy is, at its essence, adaptability and
persistent, positive obsession. Without persistence,
what remains is an enthusiasm of the moment.
Without adaptability, what remains may be
channeled into destructive fanaticism. Without
positive obsession, there is nothing at all.”

- Lauren Oya Olamina
(from Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler)

Snowed in & unbelievably busy

During the break between sessions in a class of mine earlier this week, we plowed through the only outdoor, uncovered path left on campus, leaving deep footprints in the snow.  Five or six minutes, tops, upon our return the snow had already eradicated all signs of our passing under a fluffy blanketing of fresh snow.  The snow doesn’t come and go, but rather falls endlessly from the sky.  I think eventually all of you will get sick of hearing me say this, but the snow here is amazing. Unfathomable.  If I weren’t here, I think that I wouldn’t believe it.

This term has not given me even a week of relaxation, between the internship hunt, working on my thesis proposal and meeting with IR Council (we divvied up positions today and I snagged an Internal Affairs position).  I was supposed to be having a phone interview tomorrow for an internship with UN OCHA, but they had to postpone due to the Haitian earthquake disaster.  That fact makes me want to work for them even more.

I’ll post more about the job hunt later, but for now I have a quiz to study for and some reading to do.

雨が降っている日が続いてます

I love the way rain transforms a landscape – saturating the colors and throwing a degree of drama in to the view.