For those of you who don't know I got a new job this summer with the Natural History Association (and I absolutely love it, better pay and talking to people about the area = win.)
I have met a lot of really cool people, but I don't know if anything will be able to top what happened to me this week. A guy came in wanting a book on water politics in the desert, I noticed he was wearing a U of A shirt and asked if he went to school there. He naturally asked if I did, then asked my major - and it was the same thing he went to school for! He gave me a lot of encouragement and talked about living in Japan for about 3 years and absolutely loving it. He was a Euro news broadcaster / translator, and recommended places for me to go. We went on to talk for about 20 mins, and he was astounded that a small town girl in Page was speaking Japanese, while I was amazed I had found an older successful person with my degree. He told me not to give up, even though people often times view foreign language majors as not totally grounded - all in all a very cool chat.
There are a lot of people that have questioned my degree just based on the events there this past year. With all the conspiracy theories floating around and criticisms of the Japanese government, I think sometimes people lose sight of the biggest importance of the issue. PEOPLE. There are thousands of people out there without family, homes, jobs, or even their own villages. During a Japanese speech contest down in Tucson there was a guest speaker who had actually flown into Japan the day of the tsunami (she was Japanese American) and had watched in horror as the waves rolled into the countryside. She spent 2 days at the airport they landed in just helping translate for foreigners and get them sent on their way safely. There are good people out there helping all the time, that we never hear about on the news.
I am not trying to undermine the seriousness of the nuclear issue, but I do believe it is wrong to criticize something our own country did not even go through - how would the US have responded? More efficiently or more poorly? Thousands of people were killed and entire villages wiped out, it is a lot to be hit with at once. I think you have to go on believing things will get better, all of Japan is not doomed due to this fallout, although part of country may be uninhabitable for a long time. If you believe in all this negativity and all these huge theories that is what your life will be full of. Fear and negativity. I believe in living for the positive - and I will go to Japan to live out my dream - regardless of criticism. As long as people are alive criticism will exist - so who cares?
I am honestly happy with life, my job, and absolutely love my major. No complaints here. =)
"Love the life you live. Live the life you love." - Bob Marley
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Look, I'm stalking you! lol. Well written. I did/do get a lot of flack as well at times for my major too(International Cultural Studies, emphasis in Communications), but I knew it was the right thing for me to learn, and I did learn SO much from it! I may not ever get paid a billion dollars, but I at least can say that I got a valuable education that has opened my mind and heart to other people. I think you learning Japanese is awesome! My one wish in life is that I was better at foreign languages.
ReplyDeleteHaha- awesome. I will make sure to stalk you as well. That's way cool - sounds like a fun major. And hey it's never too late to learn another language =)
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