Happy Moments

As a lovely gratitude journal I recently received in the mail from my grandmother reminds me, we always need to take time to appreciate the good things in our lives. To this end, I’m going to highlight a few recent happy moments.

• Last term I donated my copy of the Lonely Planet World Food guide, Japan to our university library. A week or so ago I was working at the circulation counter when a student returned the very same book. It felt wonderful to know that it wasn’t merely collecting dust on the shelf.
• A dear friend shared this charming, well crafted video with me: ANIMAL BEATBOX
  
• Global Concerns Forum partnered with the IUJ Music Club and GFO to throw a highly successful charity concert to benefit Room to Read. The proceeds for ticket sales amounted to more than 45,000 yen (more than 500 USD)! The band was great, and we had drinks, kebabs and some 25 awesome raffle prizes. We will be holding one more event towards the beginning of next term for the same charity, and plan to hand over our donations in one lump sum.
• After a long period of cloudy, snowy, overcast days, the first week of February brought the sun back in to our lives. Here is a set of snapshots I took with a friend, as we walked about the campus in jubilation and replenished our Vitamin D levels.

Here’s hoping there are many more happy moments in the near future.

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)

Haiti Relief, Sweet Tea & Homesickness

I figure that at this point I can safely leave snow out of the titles – it kind of goes without saying by now, don’t you think?

Last week I joined a student organization called Global Concerns Forum to work on a campus-wide fundraiser to benefit the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti.  We’re currently raising money on campus, as well as planning a snow candle ceremony to wrap things up at the end of the week. More here and here.

(I’ve also assembled a few videos of heartbreaking footage for the sake of our fundraiser, so if you don’t know how badly Haitians need help, have a look – warning, graphic content)

Like some friends have said, it would be better if we would help our fellow man whenever we are able (John Wesley said it best).  But then if we at least help when the need is great, it is certainly better than never helping at all. I sincerely hope that everyone will provide whatever assistance they can. If you want to do your part and you are in need of some inspiration, take a look at google’s Haiti Crisis Response page.

Lately we’ve had some really gorgeous blue skies, and when coupled with the deep snow and the beautiful mountains I feel compelled to get outside. Sometimes when we take walks we use the snow to store our snacks or drinks in for a moment.

This weekend I managed to recycle a huge bag full of cans that I’ve collected over the past three or four months (keeping in character, some were rescued from trash bins). I’m also reusing some glass jars to store grains and dried beans in, as well as incense. And speaking of grains, I finally managed to try out the buckwheat and quinoa recipe that Donna gave me, in my rice cooker. It turned out wonderfully!! I also added a tiny bit of soy sauce and some chopped green onion. This may become my favorite breakfast.

School is going very well, although I’m busy. I am the closest to homesick that I think I’ve ever been in my life. I miss my family, and my cat. I really want one weekend to spend with my mom, drive to the store in my car, eat at a mexican restaraunt, and then watch some nice shows on demand together with Virgil curled up nearby. The closest thing I have found is eating my only box of macaroni and cheese and watching tv on my computer. Poor comparison, but hopefully I will get my fix in this department over the summer.

And, because it just would be the same on my blog this winter, here are some pictures of the lovely snow that is the IUJ student’s daily backdrop.

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.