Hello hypfatima* -san and Kiko -san,
(Gomen, Nihongo no softo nainode Champon-Eigo ni kirikaerimasu). I recently joined mixi and found the SAIS commuity, but I see that it's fallen out of use for some time. I'm SAIS Bologna '86 and DC '87 (my God, it's exactly 20 years since I got my MA). At that time, me and another Nihonjin pal were one of the first of our nationality to attend BC (actually, the first was a woman in BC '85). I live in Belgium, but, thanks to e-mail, I organized my BC class' 20th reunion last year in Bologna - great town, great food, great people, as always, but BC itself has changed - it's sad when you don't recognize people there anymore. Shoganai - 20-nen mo tateba atarimaino koto. In fact, my Belgian husband was my BC-DC classmate (I guess classmate "kekkon" is pretty common in all SAIS classes), so we are both Bologna fans and love to go to the city of the Red, Fat and Academics on our own.
Anyway, are there other SAIS BC/DC alumni out there? It would be cool to revive the SAIS community.
Konnichiwa Kiko-san,
Nice to hear from you. I guess the Bolognese at SAIS-DC formed a more cohesive group because, at BC, there were no part-time students (the only jobs that students could do were in the BC library), so there was more time to get to know each other, and such friendships continued in DC. As for my year in Bologna, I didn't travel as much as some of my classmates (some people went away nearly every weekend), but I did get to know the city quite well. I also chose to live with a Bolognese woman my age rather than with other classmates, so my Italian improved a lot. I still consider it my third language after Nihongo and Eigo. Anyway, it's true that BC alumni enjoy returning to Bologna - a mix of nostalgia and magic? You should visit Bologna some time, too.