pre-AO

The gang's all here.

Pictures so far:
* cuddling for warmth in the cold (BRING SWEATSHIRTS!)
* me in the oversize baggage chute
* Aya in a luggage cabinet
* Jessa playing on the escalators

Things done without pictures:
* dinner at Biwa, the restaurant of a JASCer from the 55th JASC
* learning how to tie knots creatively

JASC starts tomorrow.
(Eep!)

whoopsie daisy

Apparently the excitement of the final push was too much for me and I forgot to update.

Countdown:
until JASC: 2 days.
until I leave for the train station to head to pre-AO: 20 minutes.

The past year is about to be realized.
Whoah.

This is what my excitement looks like:

What do you eat before JASC?

Tomorrow, the eight American Executive Committee members will meet in Portland.

Tomorrow, there is no schedule yet, I am making it as I type this.

Tomorrow, we're going to figure out how we're going to divide 5 girls and 3 boys into two rooms.

Tomorrow, is the beginning of JASC 60. kind of.

So

Today, I had myself a feast.

Question: What does a vice chairperson eat before a huge conference like JASC???

Answer: 5 bowls of rice, 3/4 pound of sirloin steak, a bowl of salad with sesame dressing, and a bottle of Coronita.



I am now ready for JASC. What are YOU going to eat before JASC???

Today was my last 7am Saturday morning meeting.
I'm so happy.

Just over a week...

...until 18 Amadeles arrive at Reed.

Hidemi and I decided we're very nearly giddy with excitement.

we're getting so close

Before July is over, I will have eaten dinner with the Consulate General from Japan.

Sweet.

Stitch. This isn't meant to be mean...

I have a Stitch piggy bank, a lovely gift from Jenka Eusebio. Jenka was in the same RT, and I was using my money recklessly in Tokyo last year, so she gave me a piggy bank. Ok, she was in my RT, but I wasn't a crazy money spender.

While I was staring at this Stitch... a friend's face just popped up and replaced Stitch's face...



Yes, we have a Stitch look-a-like in JASC 60. And we're going surfing in LA. This is going to be a great photo opportunity :D

He behaves somewhat like Stitch too, well, at least he used to. I've heard he has changed. I don't want to sound mean, but this person is pretty much my favorite JASCer. haha

Let me know when you know who I'm talking about. ;)

Hidemi

The Corporation

Jessa, an AEC member, recommended me to watch The Corporation. She introduced me the video several months ago, but didn't have the time to watch it until recently. I've just finished watching part one.

It is strongly biased against the modern corporation, but at the same time makes you think about this huge unstoppable institution that has such a great impact on our everday lives. I recommend you all to watch it too, especially CSR RT! but it would definitely also relate to other RTs too. Science and Ethics, Law and Society, etc.

Here is a direct link:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=192012118972057552&q=the+corporation&ei=Cl1-SP_xEp32rAKO3c2RBA

10 days of JASC prep

I'm excited for the Big Showdown.

Ambiguous Excitement

I just realized there are only 11 days until college food.

I think I'm excited?

I FOUND THE VIDEO OF HIDEMI'S NEWS REPORT!

Now why this wasn't posted on the Amadele blog I don't know, but you should all go check out http://jasc60.blogspot.com/ (the Japadeles' blog). At the bottom of the page is a video from the Missoula site visit.

Yay, Hidemi!!

12 days till lift-off

I'm so excited to meet my RT members.

Let this be a challenge to all of you:
Memory RT - or more specifically Chii, Emiko, Hannah, Higa, Noe, Rachel, and Yuichi
- is going to be the best RT of this year's JASC.

Consider that the proverbial throwing of the gauntlet.

CSR meeting on MSN

We just had our second CSR RT meeting yesterday on MSN Messenger.

Although I do not know much about CSR, I firmly believe that our RT will be the best RT in JASC 60. My RT partner leader Yukio Iseki believes this too, in fact, more than I do. Our RT members are ambitious, knowledgeable, and curious. Our Japadeles are planning to host a large CSR conference in Japan after JASC. It is difficult for the amedeles to put together something similar in scale in the US, but we are all going to impact our own local communities in our own ways. Edward Phillips will present to a company that is paying for his JASC participation cost, I will be presenting to the Japan America Society of Minnesota's Corporate Roundtable event, and Peter Weldon is looking into the Business Association of Southern California.

we are looking forward to our stay in LA where we will be talking to a lot of businesses!

Will 30+ hours of joint RT sessions be enough?

we'll see soon...

The Countdown Begins

Only 13 days until Amadeles arrive.

I'm really excited to play Woof-Oink-Moo.

I decided that every day leading up to the conference, I'm going to write something that I'm excited about. If there's something you're looking forward to, excited about, nervous about, respond!

Portland

Last week as my final few days of school were winding down, I took a quick trip down to Portland, OR to do site visit before the conference starts. Although I remain firm in my devotion and adoration of Seattle above all other Pacific Northwest cities, I must say, Portland's pretty cool. Here are a few of the things I saw and did:


1) scared myself on Reed's campus

2) impressed Meghan, the Reed contact,
with my unceasing professionalism

3) tested the bathrooms at Reed. They passed.

4) got directions for Portland's public transportation

5) led a 1-person tour through Portland. All there agreed it was an overwhelming success.

6) practiced my street performer skills

7) walked through the city block-sized bookstore

8) only read the first character on the sign and got really excited about a ラーメン (ramen) stand only to find out when I got there that it said "ランチ" (lunch) but by then felt guilty for getting the owner's hopes up about a customer so bought 揚げ出し豆腐 (tofu). It was a tasty letdown, make all the more bittersweet when, looking at the sign again, I saw how clear the ランチ had been. Curse my excitement for the ラーメン.

9) fell in love with an old Italian gentleman and his gelato (pink is strawberry ginger and yellow is egg custard)

10) was given yet another reason to feel blessed I get to live in the PNW.

I'm so excited for the Portland site.

(The umbrella shots reminded me: don't forget to bring an umbrella!)

because I worry Hidemi will be too embarrassed to post this himself

Hidemi Tanaka, EC extraordinaire, had a starring role in Missoula's news program earlier this week. I assume the video will be up once we get it?

Jake Shimabukuro

Last night, I went to a Jake Shimabukuro concert. It was at the Dakota Jazz Club in Downtown Minneapolis. What a phenomenal performer!

For those of you who have not heard his name yet, read carefully! (especially you are a great fan of stringed instruments, jazz, etc.)

Jake Shimabukuro is the world's best ukulele performer. He is a 5th generation Japanese descent Hawaiian and started playing the ukulele since four years old. Now, you may think, "oh, how exciting, he plays some aloha music", but no, he is very experimental! He writes his own songs, and plays covers. Just imagine the ukulele playing classical, flamenco, the beatles, pop, techno, traditional japanese songs, lullabies, etc. He is, after all, known as the Jimi Hendrix of the Ukulele.

I bought two CDs last night, Gently Weeps and My Life, and got both of them signed with Jake's autograph. :) Shook hands with him three times, took a group photo, it was my first time chatting with a real famous musician. Apparently my "eyes were sparkling", according to my friends.

It feels good to watch this Japanese American/Hawaiian. He is just so passionate about what he does. He doesn't love himself, he loves the sound of the Ukelele. It is really quite astonishing with what he does with a four stringed 2-octave guitar.

You should all search for him on youtube. seriously. DO it. now! :D

Here is a group photo we took with Jake. I am on the far left. Jake is behind the girl in the middle (front).

PS and yes, I checked his tour dates to see if he was coming to any of our jasc sites this year, but no. we missed. darn. :( I asked him to come again to Minneapolis.

The 59th Vice Chairpersons

102 more days until the beginning of the 60th JASC! I feel nervous, excited, anxious, optimistic, afraid, and honored all at the same time.

The AEC has been planning for the 60th JASC since end of last August. What a ride it has been! I only know that things will get busier but better as the countdown continues.

Here, I'd like to introduce two very important JASC alumni. Hiroyuki Miyake and Marie Kanke. They are certainly the two greatest friends I love and respect very much.

Hiroyuki, or HIro, was the 59th American Executive Committe vice chairperson, and Marie was the vice chairperson for the Japanese Executive Committee. I'm so blessed that I have the support of these two individuals, or else I wouldn't have come this far as vice chairperson myself. So, Hiro and Marie, thank you very much for all your kind support.

Here's a nice photo of them~. Photo taken in Akita, August 6th, 2007.

after school

I was just informed that I've been hired by a Japanese company.

It's absurdly difficult to teach a class when you have to consciously stop yourself from squeaking every other minute. I think it a testament to my love of teaching that I was able to and that I was as wrapped up in section as I was.

I have an actual 仕事 instead of just many, many バイト. Whoah.
Now I just need to finish grad school...

Jero - African American Enka singer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmeVeQe56U

A new enka singer has debuted just recently. His debut song is Umiyuki or "ocean snow". He is all over the Japanese music scene. His debut song was the 4th most popular song in a recent weekly ranking in Japan. This is the highest ranking an enka song has reached There is something distinct about him. He is an African-American from Pennsylvania. His Japanese grandmother sparked his interest in enka, traditional japanese songs. He has marked a new era for the enka genre. His name is Jero.

A lot of Japanese people are shocked, surprised, excited, and flattered as they watch an African-American sing an enka song in perfect japanese. His music video is highly amusing. Dressed in hip-hop, wearing a new-era cap, dancing to his own enka song, American style graffiti, and more.

What does this pose for the interesting fusion of tradition and modernity? A minority in Japan singing a traditional Japanese style music. Is it problematic? controversial? normal?

JASCers taking over the world!

So I'm studying abroad this semester in Seville, Spain...and what surprised me most was that there are JASCers here. Yes, there was a 58th Japadele studying in Spain as well, and she came down to Seville for a week so we met for a nice long chat. I'm 59th JASCer, so of course we didn't know each other, but it's really amazing how JASCers click so well. It was incredibly interesting to hear her JASC stories, listen to her talk about how my ECs were as delegates themselves, etc. No matter what JASC conference you attend, every delegate shares the unique atmosphere that you can find only through JASC, and I realized just how much I missed that JASC environment. She told me that summer of JASC was her most memorable of her student days, and I have to say I agree.

The next week was Holy Week, and Spain being a Catholic country, we got a week off of school! :) Conveniently, there was talk about a JASC reunion in Europe; of course I had to go...can't resist the pull of JASCers. Ryota, a 59th JEC, is studying in London for the year. He hosted the event, and Hiro (59th AEC), Tomo (58 Japadele) and Sheehan (57&58, AEC Chair) also came. I was amazed at how international JASCers really are...we don't just discuss global issues, but go on into the world to actually live up to it and invest more in international exchange. There are JASC alum in all corners of the world...working in Prague, studying in Korea, volunteering in Africa....even sailing around Asia on a boat! If you look around, it's pretty easy to find another JASCer in your area. So what if you don't actually know them? Any JASCer would be more than happy to meet different generations of the conference.

Three of the four people I met at the reunion were previous ECs, so they were able to give me a lot of advice for the upcoming conference, and it was motivating to be there with them. Look out 60th, it's going to be another great year for JASC!

4 generations of JASC!
Sheehan, Hiro, Ryota, Tomo, Aya

Meet Your 60th JASC AEC: A Slideshow

This can also be found by following the youtube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsygGd8TGJ4

Just a little introduction I made using pictures from the 59th JASC (which took place in Japan-more specifically Tokyo, Akita, Hiroshima, and Kyoto) and the American Executive Committee (AEC) Fall and Spring meetings. Granted, some of the shots are a little silly, but that's what gives it the charm. Got to love spontaneity, a good funny face, and -of course- those unforgettable memories. Being an AEC is hard work, and it's true that there are a lot of bumps on the road to making a conference, but still, it's for the smiles that we're doing this, for inspiration, for the connection...

We guarantee you a wonderful time!

creation of thoughts

What determines attraction? What prompts or incites a connection, a desire, a need for a specific thing? Whether a person, an object, or knowledge of a specific field, my greatest interests all develop organically, without any conscious effort or decision on my part. If asked, I can at most give reasons why others should like it or why it's interesting as a general topic; why I specifically feel drawn to it, however, is much less clear. For example...

Home
I love the West Coast, specifically the Northwest. Conscious reasons for this could be that it's where I grew up and although I would rather eat a pinecone than go snowshoeing, I love looking out my window and seeing the mountains. I like the fact that no one here is held back by rain and that the one time a year it snows everyone becomes a little kid again.

(Of course, not everyone's inner child is an idiot like this weirdo.)

I like the knowledge that if I go to the very western edge of my state, I will be looking out not to more of what I am comfortable in but to the Pacific Ocean, across which lie languages I don't yet know, customs I am as of yet unfamiliar with, and places I have not yet seen.

I love all of this about Washington but none of this explains the fact that when I come back to the West Coast - no matter where on the West Coast - I feel more at home than anywhere else in the country. And yet none of these places carry a real sense of home. Why is that? What is it that turns someplace into one's home instead of just where one lives?

Career
As I sit here, less than three months away from receiving a masters in Japan Studies and faced with the very real possibility of entering a Japanese company in the fall, I find myself thinking more and more about how I got into this field. Whether it is wooing me by flowing naturally or torturing me in its reminders of how far I have yet to go in my study of Japanese, I adore studying Japanese. There are many days when I'm reading articles for class that I actually feel giddy, much like a little girl holding hands with the boy she likes. Despite this heady feeling, however, when asked why I started studying the language, all I am able to answer is なんとなく興味を持つようになった. But merely saying "I somehow and for some unknown reason developed an interest" seems at best insufficient.

Examples exist throughout the major aspects of my life, from the personal to the professional to the intellectual to...and the list goes on. Does not knowing the impetus make the desire or interest less viable? Are consciously created desires more powerful or more lasting than the unconscious ones? How are interests created?

I bring up these questions as an aspect of memory and how memories are created. Our interests, our passions, our thought processes...these all play pivotal roles in the creation of memory and its subsequent manipulations and recreations. I believe that what we choose to remember, whether consciously or not, is decided by the same forces that decide our interests and that the relationship between ones desires and ones memories is one of symbiosis.

For those at all interested in the topic of memory, I recommend the following:
* Feather in the Storm: one woman's recollection of growing up in a family of intellectuals during Mao's Cultural Revolution

* After Life: Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, one of my favorite directors (other works include 幻 [Maboroshi], 誰も知らない [Nobody Knows], and 花よりもなほ [Hana Yori Mo Naho - no English title]), this is one of my favorite movies. Coming from a background as a journalist, Kore-eda devotes the majority of the film to interviews with his characters regarding what memory they would like to take with them into the afterlife.
An interesting note about this movie: while the characters who are featured throughout the movie are professional actors, the majority of the people interviewed in the beginning are just random people.


Responses are welcome.

Spring Meeting

At the end of February, the AECs had their Spring Meeting in the lovely environs of Maine, where we stayed at Bowdoin College- the academic home base of our fearless chairperson, Samantha Scully. It snowed beautifully, calmly, quietly...which absolutely dumbfounded my University of Michigan mind. 

What? Snow without blistering winds? 

An interesting weekend nonetheless, and thoroughly intense. Here are a few snapshots (thanks Bethany) of what happened between -and sometimes during- our bouts of discussion. 

Notice...my unflattering picture, my translucent, diaphanous soul leaving my body and flickering in the darkness... 

Late nights and paperwork can take their toll on even the most energetic of students. It's hard work, but I love it. 

JASC is not boring.

I know what you're thinking: I'm a member of the planning committee. Of course I'm not going to say the conference is boring, particularly not in a pubic space where potential delegates could read it. That is true. To do so would be tantamount to shooting myself in my currently recruiting foot. But this is not what prompts me to say (yet again): JASC is not boring. Nor, moreover, could my life since first attending JASC and even more since joining the AEC even remotely connect itself to such a term. This past weekend was a perfect example...

February 28-March 2, 2008
60th JASC AEC Spring Meeting
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine.

Thursday (thoughts from my journal)

I feel like a country girl gone to the city for the first time, only perhaps in reverse. Never before have I seen ice on the ocean but, looking out my plane window, such is my first view of Maine. Greeting the lobsters and marveling at tire tracks on what seem to be frozen lakes, my mind immediately creates images of sailors with ice-encrusted beards, people bundled to three times their size in fur boots and parkas, and me: a naive West Coaster equipped with only her peacoat and a homemade hat. This is the first time I've ever been nervous to step off a plane. Maine: land of lobsters, baked beans factories, and soon to be a frozen member of the AEC. I'm so excited.

Friday
After a very short night (bringing JASCers together again seems to equal very little sleep. I think we finally went to bed around 3am and woke up around 7:30 or 8) of laughter and shushing ourselves, it's time for a full day of meetings. But first, breakfast...



Stomachs full, we set off for a morning of site and AO rundowns. We like to start easy and build to the hard stuff, or in this case delegate selection. Not having Aya there made the weekend feel incomplete, I think, but Aya seems to have somehow anticipated conflicts that arose and the comments she had sent proved invaluable.

Speaking of conflict, though, I find that, perversely enough, I really enjoy hashing out the business stuff. This team constantly surprises me and while there are plenty of frustrating moments as in any group project, at the end of the day, I'm left with people that will crawl into a fireplace with me,

that will climb on a butt-numbing polar bear,

and steal numerous custards from the cafeteria, all of which may initially seem insignificant but nevertheless remind me of how lucky I am to have this group of people as AEC this year. I feel free to express my opinions knowing that even though there may be rampant objection,

when we leave the table, our relationship is just as strong as it was when we first sat down.

Of course, meetings aren't all pain and suffering. Far from it, actually. Highlights of this weekend include: "I wish they'd leave me alone so I could go back to whacking my monsters,"

"Thumperton" and "Grovestand," The Plague (okay, that wasn't fun, but it was an adventure), the taxi driver who was channeling Jack Black, and finally Portland Airport security holding me from my plane as it took off leading to being driven through Maine by a hippie elderly couple with grandchildren, a bus trip down to Boston

and flying around the country from Boston to Houston and back to Seattle.
I blame the fever for this...
(I really have no excuse, but who can resist
making monkey face after a day of flying?)


So all in all, a typical AEC meeting.

CSR

Oh, what the hell, as long as I am procrastinating:

The Economist ran a special report on corporate social responsibility in its January 17th issue. Articles include:

Do It Right: Corporate responsibility is largely a matter of enlightened self-interest
A Stitch in Time: How companies manage risks to their reputation
How Good Should Your Business Be? Corporate social responsibility has great momentum. All the more reason to be aware of its limits

The Economist is, of course, a very pro-market publication, but the questions it raises are nonetheless relevant for any real (i.e. non-utopian) discussion of CSR. For instance, how does one counter the argument (advocated by Milton Friedman, among others) that the greatest social responsibility of firms is to generate profit? Alternatively, is it responsible for CEOs to use the capital of others -- namely, their stockholders -- to polish up their corporate image? And is it enough for firms to simply approach CSR as a risk-management strategy?

Ponder, ponder.

(By the way, access to the above articles may require subscription to The Economist, but most colleges and universities should have a subscription for their students and faculty. Check your library's e-resources for more information.)

Memory

I ran across this passage while researching for a paper and thought it relevant for Bethany's RT on Memory and Tragedy:

"Also significant to our analysis is that the unconscious of a nation, like that of a person, includes traumas in the past, inflicted either by domestic or by foreign forces. The traumas wait for the opportunity to come alive."

How poetic.

Introducing: Jessa Hutchins

School: Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC
Major: Fashion Merchandising and Textile Development and Marketing
Birthday : September 22
Age: 21
Hometown: Atlanta, Ga
Interests: knitting, textiles, fashion, traveling the world, walking across bridges, JASCers, taking naps, photography, tea and great conversations.

I was born and bred in the south (mostly north Carolina) but have grown very accustomed to city life in the north. Although I do miss southern hospitality and sweet tea ☺ I love studying in the fashion capital of America and living in this always crazy and stressful New York City. I especially enjoy being surrounded by so many different ethnic cultures. I keep my self very busy with multiple jobs and commitments. One includes a small fashion boutique on my school’s campus that I manage; I have become very attached now despite the craziness of it all.

JASC
Round Table: Comparative Law and Society
Site: Portland, Oregon

I am the newest AEC who has been called in as a replacement. So I am super excited to be a part of organizing the 60th JASC and I am ready for another amazing summer with great people

Meanwhile

Our counterparts on the other side of the ocean seem to be hard at work. The JEC (we here in America are the AEC -- three guesses what JEC stands for) held an event publicizing JASC in Kyoto.

Regarding the event, Giff writes: "Kyoto JASC event was successful! Over 30 people came there, though there were just one week for publicity activities. The place was a hall in Kyoto University and we had a lecture focusing on diplomacy between US and Japan presented by a famous professor and Tokki and Mayu [of 59th JASC] gave speeches of the last JASC. The lecture and speeches worked well (but I could not listen because I was out to show people coming late the place)".

Indeed, congratulations to the JEC on a well-attended event. And, as always, pictures:








As a side note: I post photographs on the blog on the assumption that people featured in them do not object to the virtual publication (don't mock -- this site does, in fact, experience fairly good traffic) of their image. If this is not the case, e-mail me and I promise to remove the pictures pronto.

Deadline!

The 60th JASC deadline for US applicants is closing in! Remember, the applications must be postmarked by Feb. 8th, Friday. If you have any questions about the 60th JASC and the application process, please feel free to contact me.

htanaka.jasc60@gmail.com

Hidemi Tanaka
Vice Chairperson
American Executive Committee

Japanese? American?

What does it mean to be Japanese? What does it mean to be American?

The United States of America is multiracial, multiethnic, and multicultural, compose of a white majority, and a number of minority groups. The distinctions are relatively clear here in the US. There are biological, physical, social, cultural, and other distinctions.

Most people believe that Japan is a homogeneous country. Japan is anything but a homogeneous country. Japan's minorities include Ainus, Okinawans/Ryukyuans, Burakumins (outcasts), Zainichi Koreans, Brazilians of Japanese descent, and much more. The Japanese minority issue stems from Japan's national identity.

Despite public discourse and powerful activism, racism in the US is still a major problem. In Japan, minority issues are largely ignored by the society and the state. They are not taught in schools, discrimination is prevalent, and the government enforce policies that make lives difficult for minorities. How serious is the minority issue in Japan? in the US? How important is national identity? nationality? ethnicity?

What defines Japanese? What defines American?

This is just one of the many things we will be talking about this summer at the 60th JASC......

--
This semester I am taking Professor Christopher D. Scott's class titled "Race and Ethnicity in Japan". Professor Scott specializes in Zainichi Koreans (Koreans residing in Japan). He is also very knowledgeable about Japanese history, politics, literature, film, gender issues, and more. I am already looking forward to discussing minority issues in the 60th JASC, and, of course, hearing what the Minority Roundtable will be presenting in the final forum at Boston!

* I don't lead the minority RT, I'm just very interested in the issue! :)

Because it's good to stay informed...

MOFA: Speech by Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs

Arc of Freedom and Prosperity: Japan's Expanding Diplomatic Horizons

Today I am going to be speaking on the topics of "value oriented diplomacy" and the "arc of freedom and prosperity." Both of these are new bases for our foreign policy and new expressions at that, but I very much hope that you remember these two phrases when you leave here today.

The basis of Japan's foreign policy is to strengthen the Japan-US alliance, as well as a strengthening of our relationships with our neighboring countries, such as China, ROK, and Russia. Now, this is, of course, not in need of being repeated here. What I would like to tell you today is that beyond that, we are aiming to add a new pillar upon which our policy will revolve.

First of all there is "value oriented diplomacy," which involves placing emphasis on the "universal values" such as democracy, freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and the market economy as we advance our diplomatic endeavors.

And second, there are the successfully budding democracies that line the outer rim of the Eurasian continent, forming an arc. Here Japan wants to design an "arc of freedom and prosperity". Indeed, I believe that we must create just such an arc...

Rest of speech found here:

http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/fm/aso/speech0611.html

January Doldrums

If this blog appears sparsely populated at the moment, it is only because January is an odd mix of frantic and lethargic for all of us, and neither quite inspires an enthusiasm for blogging. I am in the midst of exams, after which I'm going home to bone up for the LSAT. Aya is adjusting to her life in beautiful Seville. And Josh is undertaking a series of social events, of which I only remember "casino" and "champagne" (I'm reminded of "Bond. James Bond").


This might all translate into exciting blog entries in the future. In the meanwhile, I share with you all a picture from a recent JASC 59 reunion in Tokyo. Let it inspire envy and nostalgia.

In Defense of Texas

I feel that Texas has an undeservedly bad rap. I'm not saying that Texas is a money-bush or something equally awesome. It's just that people think it's really, really awful. To wit: I was at my professor's, feeling full of nerves and trying to impress Her Highness. Her guests ask me where I'm from, and when I reply "Texas", they start laughing! When I failed to join in their laughter ("Yeah, you're right, it IS funny that I'm from the ass-end of America!"), they reluctantly stopped.

I'm very fond of Texas, though. I like the overabundance of Ford F-150s on the road. I like the generous cordiality that is so very much a part of the place. And I like that the "In Texas, we like it BIG" joke refers to everything from steaks to anatomical parts. The list goes on. More specifically, however, the Texas landscape can be breathtaking.

Over winter break, we packed ourselves up into an SUV and went down to Big Bend National Park, perched on Texas' southwestern border with Mexico. And this is what we saw:


I felt oddly inspired. It's difficult to feel unhappy or deeply burdened in a place that exited long before me and will continue to be here, unchanged, long after. Encounters with nature on a grand scale always leave me with a diminished sense of self-importance.


On this glorious camping trip, I also:

1) slept in a tent in below-freezing weather. My god I haven't gone to sleep whimpering and full of tears since I was sixteen, when my life was powered by teenage angst.

2) called 911 because we were followed by an aggressive man, who kept up an utterly unnecessary commentary on his ability to "kick ass" as he tailed us in his truck. A breathtakingly frightful span of time later, we lost him. I was gratified to note that he had a California license plate. Not Texan, then.

3) drove for hours and hours on a road that doesn't end. Kerouac, you crazy drug fiend, I get you.