My RT Partner Is Too Cool for Me

I am leading the Science and Ethics round table with Giff, a 23-year old medical student and a humanist. He recently traveled to Taiwan and sent me a few pictures. Among them:


Clearly, I cannot out-COOL him. Equally apparent to me is that I ought to -- nay, must! -- develop my own image-branding strategy. Hmm...

Introducing: Aya Nakanishi!

~About me~
Name: Aya, Papaya, NOT Montana. I think Japadeles should come up with a nickname for me, since that seems to be a special talent they have. :)
Birthday: July 14th, 1987 (Bastille day!)
Blood type: A
Home: Indiana aka corn state
School: UPenn '09, double major in Psychology and Hispanic Studies

I'm a second generation Japanese-American; both of my parents are from Osaka and all my relatives still live there. Every Saturday of my childhood was spent in Japanese school, so thankfully, I can read/write/speak Japanese fluently. I was born and raised in a small town in the great Midwest, where the people are always nicer. :) yay for farmer's markets and running into everyone you know at the supermarket!

Studying abroad in Seville, Spain in Spring '08! Yay for cultural exchange. I'll come back and teach y'all flamenco or something. ha.

@ JASC
Secretary; I mean Head of Verbal Transactions
Publications
Recruitment
MT site
RT: Minority Issues: From Social Discrimination to Social Contribution

Loves:
JASCers
Chocolate (major sweet tooth)
Bakeries
Fresh baked bread
Sticky rice
okay, so food in general
My dog
sleeeeeeep and dreams, yay
Korean dramas
long conversations
crunchy leaves in the fall
warm hats in the winter

Why JASC?
...Why not?

Why wouldn't I want to experience the most intense summer of my life all over again? Why wouldn't I want to see my dear Japadeles again, and meet other amazing people like them? Why not engage in meaningful, eye-opening conversations? Why not challenge yourself? Why not provoke others to do the same? Why give up the chance to have so much fun?

A Very JASCer Thanksgiving (and by 'Very' I Mean 2 Out of 72...)

Forever proving that ECs are capable of hanging out without talking about JASC business (we did watch the 59th video though, which was awesome -- THANKS RYAN!) I spent Thanksgiving this year horrifying Nancy with my family's barbaric treatment of crustaceans. We thought we'd give the turkeys a year off for once, so instead we subjected our delicious lobsters to futile hope of escape across the floor, torment by my cat and various forms of limb separation usually reserved for black-belt martial artists. Nancy also enjoyed (I hope) her first bagel & lox, among her first tastes of NYC, and handing me one of the most tremendous ass-whoopings that the game of Scrabble has ever seen.

So we had 2 JASCers this holiday, and I know we can keep building bigger and bigger gatherings in the future! For all you 59th alums and future 60th JASCers out there reading this, JASC is about a whole lot more than a one-month conference. We just had a mini-reunion in Boston the other week (somebody write about it, please!) and whether planning or just reminiscing, none of us can get JASC out of our heads! I love you guys, and I hope to see you all at the next gathering!



Introducing Joshua Evan Schlachet (Josh, Schlacher, Schlac-Daddy, or what have you)

Occupation & Place of Residence: So, as convinced as you may have been from my profile that I'm an accountant from Afghanistan (the give-away may have been that this is the JAPAN-AMERICA Student Conference), I am, in fact, a student from Jersey, which is probably less cool, but also less likely to land me on a watch-list.

The Facts...
School Info: Cornell University '08, Culinary Institute of America Alum
Major: History & East Asian Studies
Birthday: 6 March 1982 (yes, I'm old...)

JASC Info...
Site: Los Angeles
Roundtable: Communicating Environmental Ethics
Positions: Publicity, Recruitment
59th JASC Roundtable: Pacifism & Belligerence

Favorites...
Movies: Savage Instinct, No Retreat No Surrender, Future War, Tokyo Drift, Quick & The Dead...let's just say all the worst garbage that would make most normal people claw their eyes out
Interests: Japanese history, cooking, writing, traveling
Quotes (should I have just pasted my facebook profile?):
"Going back to when we were children, I think most of us thought that justice came into being automatically, that virtue is its own reward, that good would triumph over evil. But aswe get older, we know this just isn’t true. Individual human beings have to create justice, and this is not easy because the truth often poses a threat to power, and one often has to fight power at great risk to themselves."
--Kevin Costner, JFK

You've already gotten a couple fantastic plugs for JASC from Hidemi and Nancy, so let it suffice to say that JASC is something incredibly special to me, both for the experiences I had and especially for the people I had the pleasure of meeting. These are my lifelong friends, and the intense month we spent together was only the beginning. I can't wait to meet all you soon-to-be 60th JASCers and watch us all make these same unbreakable bonds.

Introducing Hidemi Tanaka~

About me!

Name: Hidemi Tanaka

College: Macalester College '09

Birthday: Aug. 26 1986

Blood Type: AB

Favorites!

Food: White peach, kimchi

Music: 19, Eric Clapton, jazz, blues

Drink: CC Lemon, whole milk

Movie: Old Boy

Book: Catcher in the Rye

About Hidemi in 60th JASC!

Position: Vice Chairperson, Liaison, Webmaster

Site: Missoula, Montana

Roundtable: Corporate Social Responsibility in Development

My father is Japanese and my mother is Korean. I was born in Houston, but lived most of my life in East Asia (Hong Kong, Osaka, Shanghai, Kaohsiung). I'm now a junior at Macalester College. In my free time, I ride my bike, drive my car, shop for clothes, play guitar, sing, sing some more in the shower, and nap!

Why JASC again?

The 59th JASC was just amazing, and honestly, I wanted to experience JASC again. Except this is a chance for me and the fifteen other ECs to make the 60th not just even better than the 59th, but the BEST JASC ever.

What is JASC?

JASC is a month of intense everything. Intense debating, intense walking, intense teamwork, intense leadership, intense professionalism, intense emotions, but most important of all, intense bonding. As Nancypants already mentioned, JASC is all about the people. The people you will meet in this conference will result in long-lasting friendships, and every single delegate you meet will be just as interesting as you are. What you gain from this experience all depends on how much you put into this experience. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, and it is just thrilling to know that another great summer is awaiting. Prospective delegates, you will certainly realize your own hidden potentials and skills, and you will find new opportunities for your future through this social, professional, academic, emotional experience.

Introducing: Nancy Yang

Name: Nancy.

I will also answer to: Thumper, Nancypants

Institutional Affiliation: Harvard, '09
Interest: civil society in East Asia

Always Wanted To Be: Vigilante
Will Probably Be: Lawyer


Round Table:
Ethics: Holding Science Accountable to Humanity
Site: Boston
Other JASC responsibilities: Transportation, Recruitment


Q: Where are you from?
A: Born in China. Grew up in Dallas. Educated in Boston.

Q: What do you enjoy in your free time?
A: NPR, The Economist, Questionable Content, and Chuck Norris Facts. I like sleeping. I take the pursuit of happiness seriously. And I also blog obsessively.

Q: Who is your favorite superhero?
A: I'm torn between Spiderman's nerd cred and Batman's angst. Batman wins because he is the only superhero I know who does not actually have a superpower.

Q: What is JASC?
A: Four weeks spent constantly in the company of other delegates tend to produce strong feelings. We debate together, sleep together, bathe together and, on one sad, unfortunate day, vomit together. It takes a strong, wintry heart to remain indifferent to a fellow delegate after this. This is not to say I fell in love with everyone, but I got to keep the friends that I did (and still do) adore. JASC is all about the people. Come to the conference to meet some amazing fellow students, befriend them, and then spend Thanksgiving with them afterwards.

Q: Why do you introduce yourself in this contrived Q-and-A format?
A: ...

What is this blog?

There is already plenty of communication between JASC and the public in an official capacity. We wanted to get to know everyone that has ever participated or would like to participate in JASC without the clutter of corporate rhetoric.

Here are the premises of this blog:

1. We have personalities.
2. Damn fine personalities.
3. We try to convince you that statements 1) and 2) are true. It shouldn't be too hard. After all, we're just relaying the truth (insert devilishly charming wink).
4. Oh, alright. We also thought it would be interesting to share with you what we're actually doing as AEC.

Here are the intended audience of this blog:

1. Former JASCers, on both sides of the Pacific
2. Future JASC delegates
3. The 60th JEC
4. ISC, Inc.
5. Ourselves
   
6. The public at large

Wouldn't it have been simpler just to write "everyone"?
Perhaps. But the point is that we realize we are part of a much bigger community, and we would like to invite everyone that has ever participated in or supported JASC to share what this community means to them.


Here is what we will try to do in this blog:

1. Introduce ourselves
2. Update the progress of site preparation
3. Share thoughts on our round tables
4. Keep track of each other (because communication is harder than it sounds)
5. Post miscellaneous tidbits on a) Japan and b) everything else

Come back, read, and comment.
Get to know us; we promise it's worth the time.

What is JASC?

Four weeks.
Seven round tables.
Portland (the one on the West Coast)
L.A.
Missoula (bonus points if you can guess which state it's in)
Boston
Thirty-six students from the U.S.
Thirty-six students from Japan.
All organized and led by sixteen students on two continents.


Shake and let settle, and you get the 60th JASC (Japan-American Student Conference)

Because you can get an orthodox description here, we aim to give you one with a little more flair. We are not claiming objectivity here. Remember that we loved our experience at JASC so much that, on one of the last days of the conference, we all volunteered to spend many uncompensated hours in the coming year organizing next year's JASC. So, these are not the words of any bloke off the street, but the fact that there were many of us willing to make this commitment should say something, right?

We answer the question posed in the title in our self-introductions. To see what we say, follow the links:

Aya
Bethany
Hidemi
Josh
Nancy
Sam

Live Action Anime

So, Professor Ian Condry, of MIT, specializes in contemporary Japan in the context of pop culture and globalization. It's very cool -- literally, he's part of the Cool Japan Program, co-sponsored by MIT and Harvard's Reischauer Institute. You can hear him speak next weekend (late notice -- apologies), when MIT's dance theater ensemble will be putting on "Live Action Anime 2007: Madness at Mokuba".

What is "Live Action Anime", you ask. It seems part homage to anime culture and part MIT psychosis. I quote from the event description: "this original theatrical production features giant robots, a Japanese schoolgirl, a lovelorn otaku, a masterless samurai, a gamer woman, evil media magnates, and a vengeful deathgod who all battle for truth, justice, and the anime way." In sum, it's a good show if the theatrical ensemble knows what it's doing and an even better one if it doesn't.

The spectacle runs Thursday through Saturday (Nov. 29 - Dec. 1), at 8:00 pm in MIT's Kresge Theater. Admission is free and open to the public. I am very interested in going. It's an excellent opportunity to scout out Professor Condry and see what MIT's crazed genius offers. Anyone interested (and on the East Coast) is enthusiastically invited; my dorm room misses JASCers and, incidentally, Jessica never reclaimed her sleeping bag.

For more on Professor Condry, click here.
For more on Live Action Anime, click here.

To My Fellow AEC Members:

After our fall meeting in DC, I realized the importance of relating to each other as friends first and fellow AEC members second. So here is a blog -- which we had talked about, though never acted on -- that we can use to share our thoughts (joys, tribulations, all that good stuff). It's a way to present ourselves as individuals instead of the less approachable "AEC" entity. Most important of all, when the next conference ends (which, granted, I cannot imagine), this will become our souvenir of a year well-spent.

I urge you, therefore, to contribute to this blog. If I have to bear the lonely burden of being this blog's sole author, I swear I will hunt each one of you down and wreck terrible vengeance upon you. That said, here's a little memento of this past weekend, when the Boston career forum afforded us an opportunity for a little JASC 59 reunion: