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I have a lot of new insights as a result of my visit home, but that's an overwhelming project, so I'm going to start with some of the other things on my mind.
Digging through 5 months worth of mail that had accumulated for me next to my parents' microwave, I discovered two magazines from my University. I love keeping up to date on UW happenings, and as it is I'm still subscribed to the weekly student newsletter, so I read through them.
I learned a few things, such as...
...that kosher restaurants need to not only watch what they sell and how they prepare it, they also have to watch what their employees eat and what gets cooked in the microwave in the store.
...that the University offers a course in monsters from literature that looks at how civilizations through the centuries have defined monsters based on culture. For example, the Greeks valued hospitality so much that one of their greatest monsters was the Cyclops from the Odyssey who ate his guests. It also looks at modern texts and how the line is defined between human and monster based on how the being in question handles social conformity.
...that Rhesus monkeys on very strict calorie diets live longer and delay cancer, brain atrophy, and heart disease. 80% of reduced calorie monkeys were still alive after 20 years and only 50% of monkeys who ate as they pleased were. While it sounds like common sense, the comparison photos of the monkeys' conditions are staggering and I wish I could show them to you.
...that people are learning bad financial responsibility from our bad economy and that the skills may not come back when the economy picks up (bad decisions include paying mortgage payments after its become futile, and ignoring negotiation attempts from their banks to settle debt and instead completely avoiding the bank, thus ultimately screwing themselves over and defaulting completely, ruining their credit, and losing their homes.)
In short, I learned some disappointing things, some exciting things, and some trivially interesting things. Most importantly, however, I was inspired once more. Whenever I get back into UW business, it makes me really excited to go back to school. Graduate school isn't so exhausting and intimidating when I'm motivated by the beauty of academia. I still need to do something great and I still need to gain enough money or fame to afford the 3 scholarship funds I want to start.
Through after thinking about these accomplishments and listening to the stories of my friends who've gone on to graduate school, I'm very sure that not just any institution will do. I'm going to have to go to a place with as much activity as UW but also with as much or more prestige.
Better get started pretty soon on that graduate school search, I guess! Time in Japan goes pretty quickly.
Digging through 5 months worth of mail that had accumulated for me next to my parents' microwave, I discovered two magazines from my University. I love keeping up to date on UW happenings, and as it is I'm still subscribed to the weekly student newsletter, so I read through them.
I learned a few things, such as...
...that kosher restaurants need to not only watch what they sell and how they prepare it, they also have to watch what their employees eat and what gets cooked in the microwave in the store.
...that the University offers a course in monsters from literature that looks at how civilizations through the centuries have defined monsters based on culture. For example, the Greeks valued hospitality so much that one of their greatest monsters was the Cyclops from the Odyssey who ate his guests. It also looks at modern texts and how the line is defined between human and monster based on how the being in question handles social conformity.
...that Rhesus monkeys on very strict calorie diets live longer and delay cancer, brain atrophy, and heart disease. 80% of reduced calorie monkeys were still alive after 20 years and only 50% of monkeys who ate as they pleased were. While it sounds like common sense, the comparison photos of the monkeys' conditions are staggering and I wish I could show them to you.
...that people are learning bad financial responsibility from our bad economy and that the skills may not come back when the economy picks up (bad decisions include paying mortgage payments after its become futile, and ignoring negotiation attempts from their banks to settle debt and instead completely avoiding the bank, thus ultimately screwing themselves over and defaulting completely, ruining their credit, and losing their homes.)
In short, I learned some disappointing things, some exciting things, and some trivially interesting things. Most importantly, however, I was inspired once more. Whenever I get back into UW business, it makes me really excited to go back to school. Graduate school isn't so exhausting and intimidating when I'm motivated by the beauty of academia. I still need to do something great and I still need to gain enough money or fame to afford the 3 scholarship funds I want to start.
Through after thinking about these accomplishments and listening to the stories of my friends who've gone on to graduate school, I'm very sure that not just any institution will do. I'm going to have to go to a place with as much activity as UW but also with as much or more prestige.
Better get started pretty soon on that graduate school search, I guess! Time in Japan goes pretty quickly.
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