Interview with Ryo Nishikubo I met Ryo when he was working for the Middlebury Schools Abroad in Japan. He traveled with us from Narita Airport in Tokyo to Soni Village in Nara Prefecture for our program orientation before transitioning to a new job. Ryo is a recent graduate of Middlebury College and I wanted to […]
Japan
Natalie Osako: Meeting with Hope Anderson (’81)
At the Wellesley Tokyo Club event, I had the chance to hear from alums from the class of ‘81. Hope Anderson was one of these alums, but I did not have a chance to speak with her at the event. While she is currently based in Los Angeles, she spent a large part of her […]
Natalie Osako: Meeting with Sonja McNeir (’07)
In April, I had the opportunity to attend a Tokyo Wellesley Club gathering. The meeting was intended to welcome admitted students and to bring together Tokyo-based Wellesley alums. While there, I met Sonja McNeir (‘07). Sonja did the JET program for several years, which was what prompted me to ask her for an interview. Sonja […]
Natalie Osako: Introduction
Hello! My name is Natalie Osako and I am a junior majoring in American Studies (Asian American Studies Concentration) and minoring in Japanese Language and Culture. This semester, I am studying abroad at the International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo, Japan through the Middlebury Schools Abroad program. I arrived in Japan on March 21, right […]
AFL – Office Talks #3
Professor Slater is an Anthropology Professor at Sophia University in the Faculty of Liberal Arts. The first week of orientation he introduced us to the many wonderful things that accompany taking courses at a new university halfway across the world from wherever we call home. He also keyed us into his own research, and I […]
AFL – Learning Everywhere #2
Even outside of the classroom, I seem to continually find myself surrounded by people who place learning above other aspects of their lives. A few weeks ago I was introduced to a mutual friend, and despite the very light context of our shared meal, our conversation repeatedly drifted toward shared ideals in the realm of […]
AFL – Park Ramblings
Purely to feed my own interests, one of the courses I am taking this semester is an introductory class to Japanese literature. This course has the largest amount of students enrolled among my classes, the professor has absolutely no reservations about cold-calling students, and it is my only Sophia class to have a teaching assistant. […]
AFL – Introduction
はじめまして! (It’s nice to meet you!) My name is Alexa Fronczek-Lewis and I’m a junior Anthropology major with an EALC/Japanese minor. I am studying abroad at Sophia University, and the semester is already well underway. Although this introductory posting is a bit late, I felt that it was much needed as my interviews might come […]
LL – 1,000 flowers open
Sister Kathleen volunteers once a week in the Children’s Ward at the Tokyo Cancer Hospital. When she started, decades ago now, she was made to sign an agreement that she would not proselytize to her patients on their sick beds. As a medical professional, her job is to speak to children and families about their […]
LL – Peace, water, and the state
On Wednesday evening, 06/14, Sophia University held a symposium entitled “How can Japan, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the United Nations work together to advance their support for Afghanistan?” Featured were representatives of each of these organizations, two of whom had been flown out from Jena, Saudi Arabia for […]