NPR’s Studio360 Features Bankruptcy Haiku by Steven Horowitz
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Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. To see more strips as well as original bankruptcy haiku, go to bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
Listen to one of Bankruptcy Bill’s haiku read on the “Haiku-ing It To The Man” feature on NPR’s Studio360. (Starts with about 1:31 left in the feature.)
Here’s the story lead from the Studio360 website:
Haiku-ing It to the Man
A few weeks ago we asked listeners to submit original haiku inspired by the state of the economy. Dozens poured in: our own unscientific proof that the financial crisis is a boon for creativity. Here are some of our favorites. (http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2009/02/13)
NY Times article on Japan Society appointment of Ambassador Sakurai to head post
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The February 6 NY Times article “Japan Society Names a New President” offers some additional perspectives on Japan Society and the challenges that Sakurai-san will face as well as some of the tools and uique perspectives he’ll bring to the job. (See the original JetWit post with Japan Society press release here.)
JetWit BlogBeat: Winter Tomatoes and Blasts from the Past
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JetWit Blog Beat by Crystal Wong (Iwate-ken, 2002-04) is a recurring item featuring posts from the blogs of various JET alumni. Crystal is a former English-language writer for Kyodo News. She now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.
Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) shares her thoughts on making do without quality tomatoes during the winter season (although the jarringly springlike weather this past week would seem to indicate that summer might not be as far off as we think).
James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06), author of The Order of Odd-Fish, shares his charmingly illustrated experience of visiting an old friend while meeting some new fans.
JETAA Southeast (South Carolina Subchapter) Shinnenkai Recap
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Via the JETAA Southeast e-mail newsletter:#
JETAA/SE South Carolina Chapter Shinnenkai Recap
South Carolina Sub-Chapter holds first event
By Daniel Stone
Saturday, January 24th, 2009
Clemson, SC– With several small and informal gatherings with alums meeting separately, JET alums residing in South Carolina finally met everyone under the same roof.
Clemson University’s Roderick International House was the site of this year’s Shinnenkai. Four South Carolina JETs and one Georgia JET were joined by ten other “Friends of JET”. This group ranged from a Japanese expatriate from Kyoto working in Greenville as a sushi chef, a German businessman who works in Greer, a Japanese grad school student from Fukui, a TESOL instructor from Seneca, a Japanese translator working for a textile company in Gaffney, a Personal & Business Coach from Greenville, and several undergraduate Clemson students that were interested in learning more about the JET Program.
“Back in 2007, Lee Ferrell and his wife, Cheryl, met me Greenville. We ate at a Korean restaurant on Woodruff Rd. The meeting was very Read More
The JetWit Business Model?
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“What is the JetWit business model?” some of you may have wondered.
Shoujiki ni itte, JetWit isn’t earning any income as of yet per se at the moment technically speaking (with the exception from a one-time paid ad placed by Interac).
But that doesn’t mean that JetWit doesn’t want to, or can’t, earn any income. The site and community is certainly providing value in various ways, including helping a number of people to find work opportunities. It has access to terrific writing and translating talent. And given that JET alumni chapters are primarily focused on their own regions, JetWit is essentially the only channel for reaching JET alumni (i.e., a targeted audience of educated, Japan-savvy types) all across the U.S. as well as abroad.
With so much going for it, it seems like one would have to be a baka to not have JetWit generating dollars (or yen). Since that’s exactly the case, however, there is some comfort in realizing that much larger entities struggle with the same issue of trying to earn income while giving away something for free. At least according to my brother Greg who has over 10 years of online marketing experience.
In his post on The Digitalists titled Free* (or, how to give away the store without giving away the store), Greg comments on Wired editor Chris Anderson’s new book Free and a possible direction the traditional model of content provider-advertiser-consumer may be shifting.
The short post is well worth a read for everyone trying to figure out how to navigate the shifting business world (which I think includes most recent JET returnees as well as numerous alums).
Yes they did!
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Japanese TV has never been averse to using blackface, so why stop now? Especially when presidential magic is involved.
Job: Membership Manager – Wing Luke Asian Museum (Seattle, WA)
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Via JETAA Pacific Northwest:
Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, WA seeks Membership Manager
The Wing Luke Asian Museum seeks a Membership Manager who will be responsible for creating a vibrant and sustainable membership program encompassing all levels of membership, including major donors, ensuring the financial success and growth of the program over time. Read More
Job: Japanese Teaching Job in Baltimore County (MD)
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Via Marc Hitzig JETAA DC who works for the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C.:
Japanese Teaching Job in Baltimore County
Dear JETAAs & FOJs,
This job announcement just came across my desk. They need a teacher to start in March or April.
Below is a teaching job in Baltimore County, MD. If you are interested please contact
John Neubauer
Educational Specialist
World and Classical Languages Read More
WIT Life #27: Reinventing Valentine’s Day
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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
In the midst of the economic slump and the fact that Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, Japan’s chocolate companies are really stretching the meaning of the holiday. Because it will not be celebrated on a weekday, they will be losing the lucrative income from “Giri Choco” (obligation chocolate) which is customarily given by females to the males in their office. In order to make up for this, several innovations have taken place.
Chocolate companies are anticipating that many families will be spending V- Day together with “sugomori” or nesting, much like was seen over New Years. In preparation for this, new flavors such as strawberry and marshmallow were designed and Read More
Jobs: 3 Japan-related jobs in Houston area
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Three job listings from an Interesse recruiter via the JETAA Texahoma email list:
1. Entry level position with a toy company, but requires business level Japanese. It is for a toy company. Pay is between $30-50K. You would be training in Japan and then working in either the US or Asia. If you are interested, please email me your resume and reference this email and job #37209.
2. I have a 3-4 month contract position near IAH for $10-12/hour. It is entry level. If you are interested in getting your foot in the door in a Japanese company, this might be a good opportunity. Job #37291
3. I have an entry level steel sales position near Memorial Mall. It requires Japanese language skills but that is all. Job #36546. $35-50K Read More
Job: Stanford Program Director – Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)
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Interesting job listing via JETAA NC’s jobs email list:
Stanford Programs is a division of VIA (formerly Volunteers in Asia), an independent, non-profit, educational exchange organization that provides US-Asia public service and educational exchange opportunities. For 45 years, VIA has sent young American volunteers to work within Asian institutions. VIA’s Stanford Programs evolved from VIA’s growing connection with Asian institutions and for over 30 years has served as the mirror image of the volunteer program by providing in-depth, personal, and provocative cross-cultural experiences for Asians.
The Stanford Programs division develops and coordinates short-term, focused, cross-cultural study programs for students of Asia’s top universities. These programs focus on specific themes such as health
care, poverty & homelessness or volunteerism and also expose students to the diversity of the American society. In 2008, over 200 students from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and China participated in five short-term programs. VIA’s summer programs are multi-national while spring programs are currently focused on students from Japan. VIA has offices at Stanford University and in San Francisco and the Stanford Programs
Director will split time between these offices.
Major Responsibilities of the Program Director Read More
The question has been raised by a JET alum translator/interpreter:
“Does anybody have an idea what the going rate for telephone interpretation (E<>J) is?”
Please post any responses in the comment section.
Know a Newsletter Editor: Mark Frey – JETAA Northern California
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Mark Frey (Kumamoto-ken, 2002-06) has served as the Newsletter Editor for JETAA Northern California since 2007. But how did he find himself in this position? And what else do we know about this man who has been entrusted not only with JETAA NC’s news needs but with with responsibility for a small child as well? JETAA Chicago’s Elizabeth Friedman (profiled in the previous edition of Know a Newsletter Editor) decided to get to the bottom of things, and this is what she learned.
Residence: Beautiful Lake Merritt neighborhood of Oakland, California
Job: Marketing Manager, MIG, Inc.
What he does all day at work: Write proposals, dream about Japan
How he found his job: Website for the Society for Marketing Professional Services (professional society for my field of work)
Job he would really like to be doing: Teaching!
First job after JET: Marketing Manager, MIG, Inc.
How he ended up as the Newsletter Editor: Was asked at a weak moment after about the 5th kanpai at a JETAA shinnenkai. Read More
Job: Japanese Business News Translator/Editor – Bloomberg – (NYC)
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Via CareerJet.com. (See CareerJet’s job feeds for Japanese-US jobs and Japanese-NY jobs in sidebar on JetWit):
Japanese Business News Translator/Editor
Bloomberg – New York City, NY
Japanese Business News Translator/EditorJob Requisition Number: 22880United StatesNew York – NY… to join our Japanese language service in New York. Responsibilities include the selection, translation and editing…
www.jobcircle.com – February 10 – Save this job
Pension refund check in yen – Advice?
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The below question was posted to the JETAA DC email list:
I just returned in August of ’08 and filed for a pension refund around October. Today I got a check in the mail from the social insurance department of Japan! Except the check is in yen.
Have other people been confronted with this situation? Is the best course of action to cash the check into dollars and then deposit it? Should I deposit it via my bank and allow them to take out commission and give me a crappy exchange rate? Should I bring it to American Express and get it transferred to traveler’s or cashier’s checks? Any other advice?
What would you do? Please post your comments, suggestions and advice below.
