On Tuesday night I was lucky enough to be able to hang out with an old friend, Amanda, from my days at Ohio State.  She was in Grand Rapids for a conference so we had the chance to catch up over dinner and some Oberons.  Amanda is the wife of a friend who was in my cohort during the linguistics graduate degree program.  We had such a good time remembering funny and key moments from the past, sharing about where everyone is now and wishing we could be back in Columbus with the whole gang.  I also picked her brain about childbirth and raising a baby because Amanda  is one of those rare people who will tell you how it is and won't hold anything back.  Needless to say, I learned a lot!  I appreciate you, Amanda, and I'm so glad that we could meet up!

Last weekend a bunch of us headed to Grand Rapids to watch a Griffins hockey game.  Amazingly, we were able to amass a group of 14 and enjoyed our seats in the rowdy fan area called the "D-zone" which also includes specials such as $2 beers and hotdogs - an additional bonus being that everything is served to you - we didn't even have to leave our seats!

Per usual, Sean and Kragt had something feisty up their sleeves that would draw attention, laughter and odd stares from strangers.  They each decided to shave off half of their beards minutes before the game started.  The action created an odd effect in that most people didn't notice right away, but when they did their expressions were hilarious and prompted questions about the intimacy of their relationship.  To be fair, I ask myself this question all of the time.

Après hockey we walked to Mojo's dueling piano bar and enjoyed drinks, dancing and singing at the bar.  What made this night especially fun was that some of us had gotten hotel rooms right downtown so nobody had to drive home.  I'm looking forward to the next group event but who knows when that might be - Tulip Time? 5/3 Riverbank Run?  I'm not sure but I'm hoping that by that time the other half of my husband's face will either be shaved off or filled in.

After I finished the Fulbright grant, I received a "Toolkit" for how to share my experiences.  Using this set of resources along with the Citizen Diplomacy Challenge, I've been motivated to talk about not only my experiences with Fulbright but also other opportunities for international exchange that the State Department offers.

I contacted the career development offices of the local colleges - Hope College and Calvin College - and arranged to give a 45 minute presentation with 15 minutes for questions.  The colleges advertised the event online, through email and with posters around campus.  Meanwhile, I worked on a PowerPoint and handouts and ended up titling my talk, "Opportunity Knocks...From Abroad: An introduction to fully-funded international experiences and how to pursue them." (See below).

Though I was a bit nervous, I was also very excited and the presentations went great! At Hope College I had about fifteen people including some interested faculty and staff.  At Calvin College, the room filled up so fast that it was standing room only and students were sitting on the floor. I was impressed by the number and the depth of the questions - many of which I didn't know the answer to and had to get back to the students.  But what has been especially cool is following up with students via email afterwards.  I gave out my contact information and have received quite a few longer, more detailed questions in writing which I am happy to answer.  I'm so excited to see where some of these students end up and am happy that I could have had a small part in the process.  Citizen Diplomacy for the win!

My roommate, a PhD in chemical engineering from Barbados

As an alumna of a State Department international exchange program, I was invited to help out with an enrichment seminar for incoming foreign Fulbright fellows from around the world.  When I found out that I was chosen to be one of the volunteers I was ecstatic, not just because of a free trip to Washington D.C. but also because of the chance to see up close how the Institute of International Education works and spend a week with 140 students from 73 different countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Siberia (Russia), Azerbaijan, Ghana and Yemen - so cool!


I was one of six volunteers and we arrived last Tuesday, a day before the seminar, to get set up.  Our hotel was right down town in Metro Center, a mere four blocks from the White House and right in the middle of all the action pertaining to the Cherry Blossom Festival.  The week was jam-packed, intense, fun, stressful, and very social.  I learned a lot about different people and places along with how the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the Institute of International Education (IIE) works.  I also learned that along with being an entirely new world, in order to survive in D.C., one had to be able to keep up with the alphabet soup jargon of omnipresent acronyms - it got a little out of hand.







Some of the highlights:

-A private tour of the Capitol and individual meetings with our state members of congress to talk about maintaining funding for international exchange programs.
-Leading a group of 25 students to dinner at a Thai place in the city on my own.
-Community service on Saturday morning for the Potomac Watershed Cleanup project.
-Site visits to "Green" projects in urban environments such as Community Forklift and and Eco City farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
-Meeting various representatives of the State Department including Assistant Secretary of State Evan Ryan (a woman!) who recently announced the opening of a new branch of ECA to cover study abroad (exciting! hello, dream job).
-D.C. nightlife (so that's what Dupont Circle is).  
-Moderating a group session of 25 students during a mock debate concerning waste management problems in Mexico City.
-Lots of creative, ethnic and fancy food along with the chance to have dinnertime conversation with people from all over the world.



Some of the challenges:

-Cultural and communication differences X 73 countries.
-One of my duties was to call rooms/cell phones of students who did not show up on time.  Yep, I was on the phone A LOT. (This job was a bit ironic seeing as I was the only person out of about 160 who did not have a smart phone which would have made this job a lot easier in many ways one of which being not having to erase messages or call information due to consistent lack of memory).
-Constant small, seemingly meaningless decisions and tasks such as gift placement on table settings, any table setting or centerpiece in general, stuffing folders and making name tags, getting people to sign photo waivers etc.
-Being one of the people to herd participants back into a session after a too short coffee break.  Lots of dirty looks and stink eyes were directed my way.
-Having to get up really early and stay up really late working behind the scenes on details that would never be noticed by participants as everything went smoothly.
-Having to be well-dressed with actual hair done and makeup on.  Being fashion forward is not one of my fortes and I struggled with this one a lot.  Also, no messy buns or pony tails during this week which was rougher than it should have been.

In sum, it was a fun albeit challenging week in which I learned a lot and made a lot of new friends.  Also, Evan Ryan, or anyone from ECA or IIE, I want your job.  That is all.

I spent Easter weekend with one of my closest girl friends and Sean spent his up north on a guys' hiking trip.  Every year, I meet my friend, Erica, in Ann Arbor for a night or two.  Erica is from Ohio and Ann Arbor is equidistant from both of us.  From the beginning we've always chosen the cheapest, skeeziest hotel and stay up late talking and catching up.  The next morning we've traditionally gone to hot yoga which was particularly tough this year and I spent most of the class sitting in the back trying not to pass out and stay mentally tough instead of just walking out.  It was a rough battle.  Hot yoga isn't really my thing while Erica is training to be an instructor.

After sweaty hugs we said goodbye and started driving back to our respective homes.  I lived with Erica while doing AmeriCorps in Philadelphia and she is still doing community development there twelve years later.  When Erica is home for holidays in Ohio we always try to find a chance to meet up and as usual this year was a much-needed time to reflect and reconnect.  I hope that either we can meet up next summer or she can come visit in Japan!

Sean headed up north with friends to spend the weekend hiking, hanging out and watching the Final Four games.  He came back home Sunday morning and spent the rest of the day sleeping, only waking to hydrate and fuel so I can only assume that he had a good time.  Happy Easter everyone!