Konnichiwa minasan (romaji de shitsurei - Nihongo no softo ga nai kara). Let me continue in champon Eigo. Goku saikin mixi ni haitte, nanto bikkuri - I had no idea that there would be a Wes community. I graduated Wesleyan in 1984 (Econ major), which probably makes me one of the more ancient sotsugyosei members here. It's been ages since I've been back to Wes, having missed my chance to go to my 20th reunion for family reasons. But I do get the monthly Wes e-news, so am aware of all the atarashii stuff on campus and in town. During my time at Wes, there weren't many Nihonjin students (I think there were about 4 of us, and one guy was from Gaimusho). I TA'ed an intermediate Nihongo class for Samuel sensei, who retired last year; I was pretty involved with the Asian community on campus (the Freeman Center opened after I graduated). As I was a transfer student, I only had 2 years to get to know the campus, and lived in the flimsy prefab apato in Intown and the much more traditional International House my senior year. Middletown didn't have too much to offer then, certainly not in terms of Asian food (gross Chinese); I remember how exciting it was to go down to visit a highschool classmate at Yale to eat at an osushiya in New Haven. Anyway, that was ages ago. I'm now based in Brussels, Belgium (have been here 18 years). Anyone else in Europe?
ぷぅ−ちさん,
Nice to "meet" you. What took you to Senegal? I haven't stepped foot on the African continent yet, but plan to do so at some point. I guess you got to travel quite a bit while there. And what are you are studying now? After Wes, I ended up getting an MA in kokusai kankei at SAIS (Johns Hopkins U), which is where I met my Belgian husband. Currently, I work in a Belgian financial organisation, so I don't have much contact with the US or Japan.
ぷぅ−ちさん,
Are you enrolled in an MBA program? When I was at SAIS, the joint MA-MBA program was still very new - sono koro wa Penn.-shu no gakko nomi; ima wa NH-shu no gakko to joint program mo okkonatteru mitai. Which one are you at?
Senegal no hanashi - taihendeshitane - gokurosama! - you really had "hands-on" experience, and you did something for our country and for Senegal! In fact, your background would fit in with the typical SAIS-er...(multilingual, experience in a developing country, nadonado).