March 2012 Newsletter

In This Edition...

Upcoming Presentation Opportunities

Volunteer of the Month

International Women's Day Celebration
How Cultured Are You? 'Cause We're As Cultured As Yogurt!  
In Other News...

UPCOMING PRESENTATION OPPORTUNITY!

Are you going to be in Madison the week of May 21st-25th? If so, you should consider volunteering at Sun Prairie High School's Culture Week! The whole week is dedicated to intercultural awareness and fun, interactive presentations; you would be an extremely valuable contribution!

Email Kassie at reach@studentlife.wisc.edu for more information!

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH - MARIKO HASEBE

This month we are kicking off a new section in the Reach newsletter! “Volunteer of the Month” will showcase a different International Reacher in each issue to help our volunteers get to know their fellows and hear about some of the cool things people in the Reach community are doing.

This issue is dedicated to Mariko Hasebe. Mariko has been with the Reach program since September 2010. She has participated in a number of Reach events including, but not limited to, presentations to Madison Senior Center folks, attendees of the Student Personnel Association’s annual conference, as well as staff training sessions at Chadbourne Residential College and informational tabling at the International Women’s Day event mentioned later on in this newsletter.

Here’s what Mariko wanted to share about herself:

“I am a 3rd year graduate student in the department of Pharmaceutical Science at school of pharmacy. I’ve been studying stability and stabilization of amorphous drugs based on physical and chemical standpoints. Besides work, I like to exercise. I always attend to “cardio” and “group strength” classes three times a week. Working out is one way to maintain my sanity! I also love to organize a party. I often have a potluck dinner party at my place, and this is a great chance to eat the food all over the world. This is because many of my friends are international students and they always cook and bring food to the party! The last time when I invited people to my place, we had a Karaoke party. It was quite interesting to get to know each country's music because we had people from 9 different countries! I would like to continue exposing myself to new and different cultures in several ways, including Reach program, because it always enriches my life.”

Thank you, Mariko, for your commitment to providing global education and opening intercultural dialogues. The community is immensely grateful for your contribution!

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY CELEBRATION

On March 8th, the world celebrated women! The International Reach program had the opportunity to join in this celebration the following day, Friday, March 9th, when three of our volunteers shared their experiences and knowledge at the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s first annual Women’s Day Celebration. The Reach volunteers joined other community members for a dinner, presentations, and informational tabling all about women in the world. Thanks to the facilitators of this event for their planning efforts and a huge thank you to our volunteers!

HOW CULTURED ARE YOU? ‘CAUSE WE’RE AS CULTURED AS YOGHURT!

Did you know that the thumbs-up gesture has extremely different meanings depending on your location in the world? In the United States, England, China, Egypt, Russia, and a few other countries, the sign means something like “OK, good, perfect, yes.” However, in other countries--Iran, Thailand, and parts of West Africa and South America, for example—the thumbs-up is interpreted as being a crude insult or obscene gesture! Body language can be tricky when traveling; make sure you know what you’re saying.

IN OTHER NEWS...

According to a recent article in The Economist, wage increases in the Chinese manufacturing sector have some American firms grumbling over higher costs. According to the article, manufacturing companies are facing difficulties in retaining labor; in general, cities are attracting fewer people from rural areas and the percentage of migrant workers who return to their industrial jobs after going home for the New Year has been decreasing.

 

In effect, many firms are facing the pressure to either accept higher wages or uproot in order to find cheaper labor. There seems to be major potential for international change depending on the way that Chinese trends pan out. What do you think? Is China on the brink of major innovation or is it headed for a slowing down of coastal production? Depending on your vision of China’s future, what global impacts do you anticipate?

Read the full article in "The Economist" here.