My Plan for December and January

1 My Plan in December

After finishing my final report and exam on December 12th, I have been enjoying a relaxing life, meeting many people and reflecting on my days in the fall semester, without feeling the pressure of due dates. There have been many events, including a year-end party of the Japanese Harvard Association and a networking dinner between the Tufts Fletcher School Japan Club and the Kennedy School Japan Caucus. My co-worker from Japan, who is now studying at Cornell Business School, visited me, and we went to eat ramen at Yume wo Katare, a famous Japanese ramen shop in Porter Square. I also held a sushi party in my apartment, inviting friends living nearby, with the cooperation of a Japanese friend from HKS. Today, I will go to a year-end party at the Vogel School, a place where Japanese students and researchers often gather and discuss various issues in Japan. I feel that these networking opportunities I help broaden my perspective by talking with people from different fields, such as business, medicine, and education.

This weekend and the beginning of the next week, I plan to go to New York for the first time in my life. It’s only four to five hours from Boston to New York. During the semester, I often wanted to go to New York, but I didn't have a chance to go there because I was busy with classes and extra-curricular activities. In New York, I will meet a friend from my college basketball club, a coworker from my previous workplace, and other senior co-workers from my current company. I also want to look around major sightseeing places such as Times Square and Ground Zero, as well as watch a musical.

2 My Plan in January

From the 5th-16^th of January, I will take a class for January Term at the Kennedy School. Students don't necessarily have to take January Term courses. Some students will go to warm places such as Florida and California, and some international students will go back to their home countries. I will take a course called "Arts of Communication". The lecturer is Holly Weeks, who is a specialist in communication skills and has taught various communication seminars at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Business School. This course will train students to be effective communicators, especially focusing on presentations and speechmaking. Each student has to give three presentations during the course. Students will give feedback on each other's presentations as well as reviewing their own presentation videos. For this class, students earn 0.5 credits. In Japan, I didn’t have this kind of intensive presentation and speech training seminar. I decided to take this course because the intensive practice of speaking English in front of audiences will give me great confidence over the next 1.5 years at HKS.

From the 17th-25^th of January, I will go to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a research program at the Kennedy School called The Emirates Leadership Initiative Program.On the trip, students will visit the World Future Energy Summit, Masdar City,  the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, and the Dubai Expo 2020 Sustainability Team. The UAE is a significant country for Japan's energy security because the UAE is the second largest exporter of oil to Japan and the eighth largest exporter of LNG to Japan. During the trip, I would like to keep in mind an important question: How can Japan and the UAE cooperate in the energy field in the coming years?

Admission to this program was competitive: 27 students were selected out of over 100 applicants. I and a  mid-career student from China are the only Asian students. This year, there are 11 Japanese students at HKS, a small number compared to past years. I am well aware that I benefit from this small number of Japanese students because I can be accepted for this kind of program more easily than if I were here in previous years. At the same time,  it is my belief that these small numbers are a problem: Asian students are underrepresented in the Kennedy School. Discussions tend to be led by Western students. It’s my goal to increase the presence of Asian students in the Kennedy School, and find a way to make our voices heard.

Reflection on My First Semester in the U.S.

Last Friday, I submitted the last take-home exam on trade policy classes, and my first semester in the U.S. finished. I would like to write down several thoughts after finishing the fall semester.

1 Intensive Reading and Writing
Since I graduated from Japanese graduate school, I can compare graduate school education in Japan and that in the U.S. I feel that U.S. graduate school is an institution which provides intensive training of reading and writing a massive amount of English. As for reading, I had to read 30-50 pages of reading per class. Since there are two classes per week for one course, and I took four courses, I had to do reading which amounted to 240-400 pages every week. This number will increase more than double if I take more high-burden courses. In Japan, there were fewer reading assignments, and students did not have to read all of them. By contrast, in the U.S., all classes are conducted on the premise that every student has read the reading assignments. In addition, students cannot neglect the reading because active class participation is reflected on the students' grade.

There were a lot of writing assignments, too. For example, I wrote 4,000 words in the final report of energy policy classes and wrote 1,500 words within 24 hours in the take-home exam of trade policy classes. In negotiation classes, I had to submit a prep sheet and a debriefing sheet when I did weekly negotiation exercises. In energy policy classes, I had to write approximately 2,000 words of a policy memo and three problem sets. In the beginning of the semester, I had a psychological resistance against writing this amount of English. But now I feel less resistance against writing English and have confidence that I can write as much as 1,000 words in one day. Through the U.S. graduate education, I feel that I am receiving intensive training in reading and writing a large amount of English.

2 The Importance of Professors
When I select courses in the beginning of a semester, I tend to put importance on the name of subjects, but I now feel that focusing attention on professors is the most important thing. In particular, it is important to look at not only the professors' reputations and influence in the area, but also how much eagerness to teach the professors have. For example, Professor Robert Lawrence, who taught me trade policy, was an economic adviser to President Clinton and has a strong voice in international trade fields. In addition, he was very supportive to students' learning and conducted classes with a strong zeal to teach the value of free trade to students from all over the world. Professor Barbara Kellerman, who taught me leadership, was not only recognized as a top scholar in the leadership area, but also had strong convictions and conducted classes with a strong eagerness to teach the concepts of leadership and followership. Now, as I am thinking about what courses I will take in the next semester, I would like to pay more attention to who teaches the class than the name of the subject.

3 Courses Which Give Me a New Way of Thinking
Reflecting on my course selection this semester, I regret that I selected classes from the narrow perspective of how much directly useful knowledge for my career I can learn through the course. For example, I selected energy policy classes just because I will be engaged in formulating energy policy in the near future. The classes were useful because I could learn the overview of oil and natural gas markets as well as other energy such as renewable energy. But, to be honest, I am not sure that the knowledge I learned in the classes will be as useful as it seems. There will be a possibility that new innovation will take place, and most of the knowledge in class might be seen out-dated in future. On the other hand, some classes taught me a new way of looking at things and a new framework for thinking. For example, in negotiation classes, Professor Julia Minson taught me the new perspective that "Everything is negotiable", which totally changed my mindset. In the leadership classes, Professor Barbara Kellerman provided me the new perspective that it is difficult for leaders to lead organizations using power and authority as they did in the past. Instead, leaders should pay attention to followers, who have increasing influence. Looking back at my graduate school days in Japan, I see that I have forgotten much of the technical knowledge I learned in classes, including finance and intellectual properties. Similarly, I will probably forget the technical knowledge I learn in the Kennedy School in several years. By contrast, for many years to come, I will definitely remember new ways of looking at the world and new frameworks for thinking which I learn in class.

Thus, I would like to take courses that will give me a new framework of thinking and change my fundamental way of looking at the world. So far, I plan to take a highly regarded leadership course, a course about democracy which I think is the basis of U.S. people's philosophy, and a course taught by Lawrence Summers, who served as an economic adviser to President Obama.

Last Class in the Fall Semester

This week, I finished all classes in the fall semester. All that is left is to write a final report and take a final examination. The last class of each course was really meaningful because professors told us aspiration and messages they wanted to convey from the bottom of the heart. It was difficult to notice during the semester, but I feel that every professor in the Kennedy School teach because they have messages they are eager to convey to students. Here, I would like to introduce Professor Julia Minson's message to students in her last negotiation class, which is the most memorable.

"Everything is negotiable. Even if you don't feel it is necessary to negotiate, both sides can gain positive results through negotiation. Similarly, just asking often gets you a long way. Some of you might feel that initiating negotiation or asking somebody is not comfortable. But try to get out of your comfort zone and think about why you feel uncomfortable."

In class, through the negotiation exercises, I learned a lot of things, including negotiation techniques such as being conscious about your and the opponent's Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA). I also learned the principles of  influencing people such as reciprocity and consistency, and psychological knowledge such as how biased people's perceptions are. But the most impressive thing for me is not this knowledge, but rather the mindset of "Everything is negotiable". This phrase means that instead of thinking that initiating negotiation is a waste of time, you should begin by talking with the opponent, and learning the opponent's interests which may be hidden in his/her position or words. You can then work to find the solution which lets both sides maximize their benefits. When I negotiate with people, I always find it difficult to know the opponent's true interests, especially when the opponent gets emotional, or is subjected to stress from a time limit. From this course, I learned that the most important ways to know the opponent's interests and priorities are (1) to manage emotions and talk calmly, (2) to ask various questions to the opponent, and (3) to throw every item on the table and discuss a package deal.

Reflecting on my life, I have often made a judgment that it is no use to negotiate because there will be a high possibility to fail, and initiating negotiation itself might make a bad impression on the opponent. In particular, Japanese society puts much importance on harmony and conformity. Japanese people tend to think that negotiation has a bad connotation that only the person who initiates negotiation will gain a profit. But through this course, I have experienced many successful negotiations through which both the opponent and I became happier than before without making a bad impression on each other. In addition, as a by-product, I have gained confidence that I can manage to negotiate one-on-one with native English speakers although I think I am far from perfect. As I continue my career, I would like to live a life actively with the mindset that "Everything is negotiable".

Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving day. It is my first time in more than 20 years to experience Thanksgiving day in the United States. In the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), this Thursday and Friday are days off, and there are no classes. Even on Wednesday, many of the classes were canceled because it was a pre-Thanksgiving day. Many of my American friends in HKS are going to their hometowns. Many of the international students who live with their family are traveling to some places such as New York.

Last Sunday, I went to a party named Friendsgiving, which was a gathering with my MPA2 classmates. More than 40 people came to the event. MPA2 program doesn't have any requisite classes, so unless taking the same class, we don't meet with each other very often. In this party, I talked with many of those classmates who I don't usually meet in everyday class, and it was a lot of fun. Everyone was asked to bring his or her own dishes of origin. I made the most use of the fact of being only Japanese in the class and brought nigiri and makimono which I bought in Sakanaya, a excellent fish market in Allston. Those nigiri and makimono were one of the most favorites in this day's dishes.

On Wednesday, I went to Japanese-style hot tubs named East Heaven with my Japanese friends in HKS. It was located 100 miles west from Cambridge. Although it was snowing and very cold, I soaked in the outside Japanese-style bathtub and relieved my fatigue of studying hard every day

Until Sunday, we have a break. But I can't just sit around and do nothing because soon after the break finishes, I have to do a final group paper in the Negotiation class, a final exam of the Energy Policy class, a final take-home report of the U.S. Business-Government Relationship class, and a group paper and a final exam of the Trade Policy class. Thus, I will spend my time until Sunday to prepare for these assignments of each class step by step so as not to panic right before the deadline, while relaxing at my home.

Difficulties of Group Work

Reflecting on my days in Japan, I was not necessarily good at taking a leadership role and facilitating discussions in group work. In college studying urban engineering, and as a graduate school student studying technology management, I encountered many students who wanted to take a leadership role and lead discussions. When I found people who wanted to run the show, I always stepped back and took the role of stating supplementary opinions or taking notes of the discussions. I did not dare push people out of taking a leadership role. The most uncomfortable group work I experienced was the group work which was assigned as one of the evaluation processes in job hunting. I didn't like those group works because every student strove to lead the discussions unnaturally in order to pass the selection under the scrutiny of graders.

In group work in the Kennedy School, I have a tough time contributing to discussions due to my inclination to stepp back and also my English barriers. In Japan, I could contribute to the group discussions by actively taking the role of taking notes. However, in the U.S.,  due to my deficiency in English skills, I often hesitate even to take the role of taking notes. Although I feel my English is getting better, I sometimes still do not understand the group members' English, especially that of Indian classmates. If I gain more confidence in my English listening skills, I feel I will be able to better contribute to group projects in the Kennedy School. 

In addition, students in the Kennedy School are highly confident and assertive. I feel that they tend not to change their opinions easily because they are proud to be Harvard students and seem to think that they are excellent. In particular, I feel that mid-career students, who have at least seven years of work experience and whose average ages are in the late 30s, are especially self-assertive. They are already politicians, military men, or entrepreneurs in their own countries. They have had a lot of successful experiences and are highly confident. I feel that this presence of mid-career students is the distinguishing characteristic of the Kennedy School compared to other professional schools. My classmate, who is a dual-degree student at Wharton Business School at Pennsylvania University, also agrees that self-assertive mid-career students contribute to the aggressive classroom style of the Kennedy School, where every student strongly asserts his/her personal opinion. In Japan, students receive education passively. Sometimes the popcorn nature of the classrooms, where everyone wants to share his or her opinion, can seem self-indulgent. Sometimes, I just want to hear the professor’s perspective and research. Unlike in Japan where I could manage to deal with tasks without difficulties, I sometimes feel frustrated in the U.S. because I have a lot of things I can't do easily here in  the U.S. However, I also feel that I am developing myself day by day, imagining for myself a future where I actively lead groups in which many diverse, self-assertive students share opinions and collaborate.

The Recent Events and Thoughts

I would like to write down several thoughts as follows.

1 Insurance System in Japan and the U.S.
Today, I learned about the U.S. health insurance system in the U.S. Business-Government Relationship class. In the U.S., 15% of the population is still not covered by any health insurance. The reform of the insurance system has been one of the biggest issues in presidential elections, from Clinton and Bush to Obama. In class, I learned that Clinton tried to make every company provide health insurance to its employees, that Bush tried to add prescription drug coverage to the Medicare program, and that Obama is trying to provide insurance to the remaining 15% of the U.S. population. These reform attempts have not been implemented successfully due to strong opposition from various stakeholders. Stakeholders of the insurance system consist of a wide variety of institutions and people, namely big businesses, small businesses, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, doctors, nurses, and labor unions. Japan has a universal health care system, which I have always take it for granted Thus, it is difficult for me to participate in discussions of U.S. health care reform because the underlying assumptions are totally different between the U.S. and Japan. I felt that I had to study more in order to understand and discuss the issue from the general public's point of view.

2 Connecting the Dots
While studying at the Kennedy School, there are many moments where I feel many things I learn in each class and seminar connect with each other. I feel these moments are very exciting. For example, after I learned about whether or not it is rational for governments to implement industry policies in the U.S. Business-Government Relationship class, I examined a case study on how the U.S. subsidy program on solar power generation had failed in the Energy Policy class. After I learned about how the power of governments has been weakened and decentralized while businesses and NGOs have begun to have more influence in the Leadership System class, I learned that businesses, such as Pfizer and IBM, and NGOs like Oxfam have been exercising influence on the WTO negotiation process in the Trade class. In addition, I am applying various concepts such as Best Alternative to Negotiated Agreement (BATNA), which I learned in the Negotiation class, to the WTO negotiation simulation in the Trade class.

Looking back on my own experiences, I have studied various topics. I studied urban engineering as an undergraduate, and learned urban policy and architectural design. I majored in technology management, which is called the MBA for scientists, and learned the basics of management and innovation. I also learned economics by myself. Now, I am studying government policies from the macro viewpoint and soft skills like negotiation and leadership. Next semester and thereafter, I plan to learn about new areas of policy, such as democracy, international relations, and geopolitics. I may only have shallow knowledge on broad subjects, but I think this is ultimately a positive thing. Even though it might be difficult to become a specialist in some specific area, my knowledge is valuable because I can appropriately and flexibly utilize this knowledge. Making public policy requires comprehensive understanding of many areas, including economics, politics, international relations, management, psychology, and so on. I would like to cultivate the power of connection and integration of knowledge at the Kennedy School.

3 How to Treat Other Members in a Team
Since I started at the Kennedy School, there have been many opportunities to work in a group in classes or in extracurricular activities. There have been several opportunities where I play a role of a leader, but there are many more opportunities to play a role of a follower because many students at the Kennedy School want to take the lead in a group. I sometimes question the behavior of a leader when I play a role of a follower. Recently, I felt that a leader lacked sensitivity or thoughtfulness when dealing with other group members. For example, when I obeyed the instruction of the leader, completed the work, and reported the result, there was no appreciation for that work from the leader. If he had just said "thank you", he might have made a totally different impression. In addition, in email communication where misunderstandings often happen, some leaders come off as surly and rude just because his/her instructions are too rough. Learning from these experiences, I would like to keep in mind how to treat other members thoughtfully when I have to play a leader role.

Mid-Term Feedback on Negotiation Class

Last week, students gave a mid-term feedback for the Negotiations Classes. This Monday, the contents of the feedback were introduced anonymously. That feedback was interesting.

1 The Professor should manage class discussions more, including managing students who discuss unrelated topics or who digress..

2 I’d like to listen to the Professor’s explanations, not the statements of students.

3 I am always irritated by students who come to class late. I always give these people a cold stare, but they don't seem to notice that at all. Being late for class should be reflected in the class grade.

This feedback made me think about many things. The first thing I considered was the feedback systems of U.S. graduate schools. In the Kennedy School, students give feedback to professors at the end of the semester. It is a five stage assessment, and students evaluate professors’ total performance, including whether they manage class discussions well, whether they respect students’ opinions, whether they are accessible or not, and so on. Last week’s mid-term feedback in negotiations class was voluntarily done by the professor. I think this mid-term feedback is good because it is a sign of the professor's willingness to improve classes. The feedback system in U.S. graduate schools enables universities to remove low-quality professors or lecturers. Japanese universities, at least the university which I graduated from, do not have this kind of system. I think the feedback system is important in maintaining quality of classes because it puts pressure on professors to improve teaching.

The second thing I considered was the students’ views on class participation. I was surprised to learn that other students also thought that particular people were talking too much in class. In many of the classes at the Kennedy School, 20%-40% of the grade is decided by class participation. That is why some students seem to talk in a class; they want just to distinguish themselves and ensure their class participation grade. I am always bored by these statements. But when I started to heed other students’ statements carefully, I noticed that some students made good comments which were enlightening, and helped develop class discussions. In my opinion, it is difficult to have an effective class discussion which involves every student if professors are inexperienced or if the number of students in a class is over 60. I hear that the number of students in the average Harvard Business School (HBS) class is 90, so I am curious about how the professors at HBS manage class discussion.

When I go back to Japan and start to attend international conferences, there will be people who make statements just to distinguish themselves. So I think the class discussions at the Kennedy School are close to the typical business environment. I would like to regard class discussions at the Kennedy School as good training opportunities to make meaningful statements at appropriate times and to make contributions in unfavorable environments.

Campus Visit from Japan

The past two weeks, Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) held an open house for potential applicants. There were several Japanese people who visited the campus, of whom I met four. I was often asked about advantages of HKS compared to other schools. I only spent one month here, but I would like to write down what I think are the characteristics of HKS. While there are many things I enjoy about the school, there are also ways in which it has not met my expectations.

1 Much Value on Social Activities
I feel that HKS students put much emphasis on social interactions between themselves, professors, and other professionals. There are not many students here who study desperately and strive to get good grades at any cost, or who wish to go into academia. In my program, the MPA2, half of the eighty students are pursuing joint MPA/MBA degrees. They seem to focus much of their energy on social activities rather than academic work because these activities directly affect their career development. In order to get good jobs at companies and international organizations, unofficial processes seem to exist. Thus, networking is important.

You can gain opportunities to work with professors if you are proactive. I know a graduate of HKS who did research with a professor in macroeconomics, eventually publishing a research paper during his stay. While this sort of research is possible here, it is difficult to pursue because it is not the norm. If you want to focus solely on academic work, it would be good to consider other graduate schools such as Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University or Goldman School at UC Berkeley.

But you can learn many things from these social networking activities. I am trying to attend as many social events as possible, though my main focus is academic work. I feel that I need to be a more extroverted person than I was in Japan in order to utilize the opportunities and maximize learning at HKS.

2 Courses
One of the advantages of HKS is that it has a wide range of courses, from practical one to philosophical and ideological ones. For example, HKS has a course named Politics and Ethics of the Use of Force, which examines in what cases nations should intervene militarily. HKS also has a course named Economic Justice, which examines what kind of economic policies are regarded as fair and equal. These courses might not be used immediately in your work, but through them you can develop important philosophical thinking.

On the other hand, a class called the Business- Government Relationship in the United States, which I am taking now, is taught by Roger Poter, who served as an economic adviser to President Reagan. From this course, I can learn practical things such as what I should know when I give advice to the President as an economic adviser, and how to manage the relationships between business, labor, and lobbyists. Similarly, in a negotiation course, I can learn practical negotiation techniques and know-how by dealing with real-world cases and doing one-on-one exercises every week. I feel that this wide variety of courses, from practical to philosophical, is an asset of HKS.

Office Hours for the First Time in My Life

Universities in the United States have a system called "office hours." This is the system where students go to meet professors in arranged time slots to talk one-on-one. Last week, I went to office hours for the first time in my life because Japanese universities don't have this kind of system.

The first professor I went to talk to was Professor Barbara Kellerman. I visited her because I had been stuck on the short paper which she had assigned. She was warm and interested in my new life in Boston and Harvard Kennedy School. At the same time, she pointed out the lack of my logic and evidence in my draft report. Thanks to her advice, I could figure out where I needed to further focus in my writing. It was only 15 minutes, but it was a highly concentrated, meaningful time.

After that, I also made use of office hours with Professors Henry Lee and Robert Lawrence. With Professor Lee, I talked about Japan's LNG (Liquefied natural gas) strategy and nuclear power policy. With Professor Lawrence, I talked about Japan's recent trade deficit, the influence and opportunity of China's rise for the Japanese economy, and the way to increase competitiveness of manufacturing industries in Japan. I also sought advice from both of them regarding what courses I should take at HKS in order to pursue my interests. Both of them were empathetic and gave me useful advice. These office hours were really meaningful opportunities for me. At the same time, I felt that I needed to prepare and study the subjects more beforehand in order to have deeper discussions with those professors. Next time, I want to prepare more before going to talk with them.

Since we have to talk with professors one-on-one, and it is easy to disclose our lack of knowledge during office hours, we tend to hesitate to go. But I think the advantages I can gain by using office hours are greater than the disadvantages, because I can talk with professors directly about my own interesting matters. I'd like to continue to make the most of this valuable opportunity.

Extra-Curricular Activities at HKS

One of the advantages of studying at HKS is that there is a great number of opportunities for extra-curricular activities. I made up my mind to make use of these opportunities: I will be the Chair of Japan Caucus at HKS and a member of the head committee of Vogel Study Group.

First, I was elected as the Chair of Japan Caucus at HKS. I went up for the position because I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to exercise leadership. In addition, I thought it would be an opportunity to mingle with diverse people because I would be a contact person for other caucuses or HKS administrative staff. Most of all, I had a strong sense of crisis regarding the decline of Japanese presence in HKS due to decreasing numbers of Japanese enrollment. Through activities this year, I would like to plan events on the Japanese culture and study sessions on Japanese economy and politics. I also want to plan a collaborative event with other caucuses in HKS.

Second, I will be a member of the head committee of Harvard Vogel Study Group. Vogel Study Group is a study group where a wide range of students and researchers gather under Ezra Vogel, a professor emeritus at Harvard and a specialist in Japan. This study group will focus on the Japanese economy, diplomacy, and internal affairs. This year, we will hold four subcommittees: international politics, international economy, international competitiveness, and internal affairs.

Since I arrived in Boston, I have been always asked by my classmates about Japanese politics and economy as a liaison to the country. But I sometimes could not answer the questions, especially questions about politics, because I haven't studied the subject until now. Thus, I made up mind to take the opportunity to attend the international politics subcommittee to study politics. I also became a member of the head committee where I work as a coordinator because I thought this would be a good opportunity to deepen the relationships with students and researchers from other Harvard schools, MIT, and Tufts Fletcher School.

I would like to study hard at HKS, which is my main job, as well as commit to extra-curricular activities like the Japan Caucus and Vogel Study Group.

An Enjoyable Interaction with Japanese Fellows at Harvard

Today, I went to a Harvard Japanese Association social event. It was held in the park near Fresh Pond, and was a barbecue. Many families with little children also attended the event.

Many Japanese studying at Harvard Business School, Kennedy School, Law School, School of Public Health, Design School, Medical School, Dental School, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, College (Undergrad), and the Fellow Program such as the US-Japan Program, gathered at once. There were over 100 people. Due to time constraints, I could only talk with some of the participants, but I'd like to keep participating this kind of event and build constructive relationships with other students outside the Kennedy School.

Dinner with a Great Japanese Politician

Today, I had dinner with a Japanese politician and Japanese colleagues who study in the Boston area. This politician used to work at my company and was also a graduate of Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Today's dinner was organized because he happened to drop by Boston. He was energetic, knowledgeable, and engaging. He talked extensively about his own experiences; here, I outline what I learned from him.

1 What We Should Bear in Mind While Studying Abroad
(1) Strengthen English Capabilities
While studying at HKS, you should strengthen your English capabilities as much as possible. This politician improved his English capabilities by talking with his American English teacher every week. He made his teacher ask questions, and improved his English skills by answering those questions repeatedly. He also attended parties and brown-bag seminars even though he didn't understand the conversations. By doing that, many people remembered his face and he learned English little by little.

(2) Make Friends
You should make friends and build relationships with all kinds of students from all over the world. You will have a chance to work with them. Sometimes, friends at HKS will become President or Minister in their countries. In addition, Japanese friends you meet at Boston might become business partners in the future.

(3) Learn the American Way of Thinking
Harvard is one of the best places in the world to learn about how American people think of international relations and politics. You should take many courses at HKS related to these topics.

2 How to Grow Personally
This politician used to be in charge of personnel transfer at my company, and from that experience, he learned to think about how people grow personally. As a result, he found that a person who can reflect on himself or herself and have a wide variety of experiences, will grow personally. In particular, it is important to seek out opportunities proactively to have a wide range of experiences. For example, when you are asked by your employer about where you want to transfer in the future, you can seek valuable experiences by telling him that you want to go to a tough division. By working in an unexpected division and looking at a new world, you can learn how to deal with various situations in your life.

Fall Semester Courses

Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) classes started last week. I finally decided my fall semester courses. My selection criteria for courses are that they (1) can only be taken at HKS, and (2) will broaden my perspective and knowledge. As for (1), I thought that microeconomics or statistics could be learned through web-based courses such as MIT Courseware, or could be studied independently. As for (2), I thought I needed to build my knowledge on American history, economics, and philosophy in order to actively be engaged in social activities in the U.S. Taking these criteria into account, here is my final selection of courses:

1 MLD224: A Behavioral Science of Negotiations
Professor Julia Minson once taught negotiations at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and has a reputation as a good teacher. There are several other courses on negotiations at HKS, such as a course by Professor Brian Mandel. Her approach, however, is unique: Professor Minson has a background in social psychology, so her classes put emphasis on emotional and psychological aspects of negotiations. Every week, I will do negotiation exercises with my partner, and we will review the strategy and results in the subsequent classes. One of my objectives in studying at HKS is to train my negotiation skills, so I would like to prepare well and learn as much as possible from this course.

2 ITF110: The Political Economy of Trade
Professor Robert Lawrence served as an economic adviser to President Bill Clinton. In the course, I will study the theoretical background of international trade, the structure of the WTO, and regional integration. There will also be WTO simulation exercises, which simulate trade negotiations with groups. Each group, made up of four students, will represent a different country in these trade negotiations.

3 IGA410: Energy Policy: Technologies, Systems, and Markets
Professor Henry Lee has a wealth of experience in teaching energy courses at Harvard. I will study oil and natural gas markets, nuclear power, renewable energy, and electricity markets. In the latter half of the course, we will do a case discussion on Japan's energy policy after the Fukushima nuclear accident. I don't have any experiences in studying energy issues in a structured manner, so I want to take this opportunity to study hard.

4 BGP100: The Business-Government Relationship in the United States
Professor Roger Porter served as executive secretary of the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs in the Reagan administration. This course examines US business-government relationships and industry and trade policies, compared to those of other countries, including the EU, Japan, and China. This course will help me deepen my understanding of how political decision-making in the United States works.

5 MLD-352M: The Leadership System - Leaders, Followers, Context
HKS has more than 20 courses on leadership, but out of them, Professor Barbara Kellerman's approach to learning about leadership is most unique. She clearly says that the objective of this course is not to learn how to be leaders, but to examine followers who lack power, authority, or influence. She also prefers examining the context of leadership and followership we are in. We will look over several Western and Eastern philosophers, such as Confucius, Machiavelli, Locke, Mill, and so on. I am interested in how leadership and followership changed after the Fukushima calamity in Japan, and I will write a paper about that.

Amazing Orientation Week

After finishing intensive, amazing orientation week, I went kayaking on the Charles River with my MPA2 friends! The weather was nice, and the view of Cambridge from the river was beautiful. It was a lot of fun. Next week, classes at HKS will start. I'd like to study hard, which is my primary business, as well as deepen the bond with with my excellent classmates.

My HKS Journey Has Started

My Harvard Kennedy School journey has started! I was excited to meet all the talented, experienced students from all around the world. I am the only Japanese in my MPA2 class, so I'd like to give my own perspective to the class. We had "15 Seconds of Fame", that was a 15 second creative introduction and a rite of passage for incoming HKS students. Some students danced, read poems, and sang a tango. It was a wonderful day. I'd like to talk and build friendships with as many students as possible during the orientation week.

Love Runs Out, Roller Coaster and Harry Potter

In the tutoring session on Tuesday, I continued to learn English from American pop songs and from Harry Potter. I looked over two songs: Love Runs Out by Onerepublic and Roller Coaster by Luke Bryan. After looking over several songs in the previous lessons, I found that singers of American love songs used various metaphors to express their feelings. One thing I was surprised by was that they often use a drug metaphor to express that they are addicted to their lovers. It is interesting because in Japan, we rarely use drug metaphors. I think in Japan, we don't have much compassion to people using drugs. Three months ago, a famous Japanese singer was arrested because police detected that he had a long history of drug use. Some magazines looked back over some of his old lyrics and found out that there were several expressions implying his use of drugs. People, especially female fans, were really shocked at this finding because they did not expect that lyrics implied drug use and listened to music with innocent thought. This case shows that people in Japan are not used to lyrics implying the use of drugs. 
Here is my study memo of the last lesson.

1 Love Runs Out by Onerepublic

This song is about a man's determined feeling toward his lover.
(1) I'll be doin' this, if you had a doubt means I'll follow through in case you're doubting me.
(2) I'll be your fifty-thousand clapping like one means I'll be your whole crowd of people. In other words, it means I'll support and cheer for you.
(3) I got my mind made up, man, I can't let go means I am dedicated to following through and even if I want to stop, I can't.
(4) I'm killing every second means I'm taking every second.
(5) And we'll start a fire, and we'll shut it down means we'll start something revolutionary and we'll stop other things.
(6) A maniac means a crazy person, who sometimes believes things that are not true. Mania means a high energy level and impulse for something.
(7) Mestopheles is a name of a devil. Thus, got an angel on my shoulder, and Mestopheles implies that there's an angel on one of his shoulders and it whispers that you should do something good, and there's a devil on the other shoulder and it whispers to you that you should follow animalistic impulses.
(8) But mama raised me good, mama raised me right means I was taught to do the right things and I had a morally good upbringing.
(9) Devout means dedicated to following through with religious believe.
(10) Oh, we all run for something means we are all motivated by something to follow through. Combined with the phrase I'll be running 'til the love runs out, it indicates that I am motivated by love.

2 Roller Coaster by Luke Bryan

This song is about a man's regretful and sentimental feelings about his summer memories with his girlfriend.
(1) She had a cross around her neck implies that she has a religious background.
(2) With Bacardi on her lips implies that she drank rum. Bacardi is a kind of rum.
(3) And I was done means I developed feeling for her.
(4) And we spent that week wide open means we were open and honest with each other that week.
(5) Upside down beside the ocean means hanging out on the beach.
(6) Just tryin' to keep my heart on the tracks mean I was trying to keep my feelings in control.
(7) I should've known that kind of feelin' would last longer than that week did indicates that at first I thought this feeling was just a short-term feeling but actually it lasted longer than I thought and I became more serious.
(8) Blown away and barely breathin' means I was overwhelmed and didn't know how to react.
(9) Now she's got me twisted like an old beach roller coaster indicates that she got me turned around and my feelings were under her control.
(10) What I just can't get past is the way we let it end means I can't overcome the way we finished our relationship.
(11) She's like a song plyain' over and over means I can't stop thinking about her.

3 Harry Potter

(1) Piers and Dudley could only gibber indicates that they were so emotionally overwhelmed and confused that they talked nonsense words and freaked out.
(2) Strain his memory means to try hard to remember.
(3) They seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look means they disappeared very quickly.
(4) Every single day is used to emphasize every day (never miss a day).
(5) Harry didn't trust himself to speak means Harry kept his mouth shut.
(6) His heart twanging like a giant elastic band implies that he felt an intense emotional feeling.
(7) Pacing up and down means walking back and forth repeatedly, implying he was nervous.
(8) Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen means Harry walked sadly into the kitchen.

Learning English(John Legend and Harry Potter)

All of me by John Legend

In the tutoring session last week, I looked over a famous American pop song, All of me by John Legend, and the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

John Legend is a famous singer in America. This song is about a man's contradictory feeling about a woman. He says that even though she is capricious and not perfect, but he loves all of her, including rough and soft parts. He feels like he is always winning just because he is with her.

I learned a lot of words and phrases from this song:

(1) Your smart mouth is used to mean you are outspoken in a sarcastic way. 

(2) Drawing me in and you kicking me out indicates that she is capricious.

(3) You've got my head spinning means that you made me confused and I am overwhelmed.

(4) I can't pin you down means that I can't really make sense of you. Pin something down means to comprehend something exactly.

(5) I'm on your magical mystery ride, And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me means that he is entranced by her although she doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve. 

(6) My head's under water, but I'm breathing fine implies that he is just really overwhelmed but he is OK.

(7) I'm out of my mind means that I'm crazy. Thus, "You're crazy and I'm out of my mind" means both you and I are crazy.

(8) Love your curves and all your edges means that I love all of your rough parts and soft parts, including how you look. Curve is used to mean the physical soft lines of women. Edge means a sharp part. There is an expression, rough around the edges, which means not very polite or polished. 

(9) All your perfect imperfections means your flaws make you perfect to me. This kind of phrase is called an oxymoron, which combines two concepts that seem to be the opposite of each other.

(10) You're my end and my beginning means you're everything to me.

(11) Even when I lose I'm winning 'cause I give you all of me and you give me all of you means I'm winning because we are together.

(12) Even when you're crying you're beautiful too means even if you're imperfect, you're perfect.

(13) The world is beating you down, I'm around through every mood means that the world is not good to you and makes you tired, and I see how your mood changes.

(14) You're my downfall, you're my muse means that you're my weakness and you're my artistic inspiration. Muse is one of the nine goddesses who represented art or science in ancient Greek stories.

(15) My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues means that you distract me, but you help me create music.

(16) Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts means both you and I are showing everything we have, which makes us vulnerable.

Harry Potter

I read through the first Chapter of Harry Potter. I learned several new words and phrases:

(1) Rummage means to search for something by moving things around in a hurried way. There is an expression, a rummage sale, which is a sale of cheap used goods.

(2) Ruffled means agitated or flustered. It is also used to mean disheveled, and not really put together. The example expression is ruffling its feather.

(3) Flinch means to move your body away from someone.

(4) The owls are nothing next to the rumors means the owls are no big deal compared to the rumors. In other words, it means the owls are nothing compared to the rumors.

(5) You couldn't find two people who are less like us means they are least like us (=most different from us).

(6) Turn any boy's head means to totally overwhelm any boy.

(7) If the motorcycle was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it means that the man was even more huge than the motorcycle.

(8) Swarming around means gathering and moving around.

(9) A tuft of hair means a small portion of hair.

(10) Professor McGonagall blinked furiously means she almost burst into tears.

A Free Cafe, Ramen, and 3-on-3

A Free Cafe

Last weekend, I went to the Cambridge Public Library. The building is well-designed and modern. Anyone who lives in Cambridge can get a library card once you show your ID such as a passport and verification of your address. The number of books is much less than libraries in Harvard, but you can read new books, academic books, newspapers such as the New York Times and the Financial Times, magazines such as the Economist and Foreign Policy. Since there are a lot of chairs and desks, you can pick up the books which interest you, sit down at a desk, and read them. In addition, bringing food is possible, and many people read books while eating, which surprised me a lot because in Japan most libraries don't allow visitors to eat food or drink. 

I like Cambridge Public Library, because it is like a free cafe with a wealth of intellectual materials. Since I have not been given a Harvard student ID, I can't use libraries in Harvard yet. Thus, I will go to Cambridge Public Library and enjoy reading a lot of kinds of resources until then.

3-on-3

On Saturday evening, I went to a nearby basketball court inside an apartment complex called Peabody Terrace, which is only a three-minute walk from my apartment, and played basketball with a fellow Japanese classmate at HKS. I was happy to find several outside basketball courts around Harvard because in Japan we don't have many places outside to play basketball. At the courts, not many people were playing, but several guys gathered eventually and we had the numbers to get a three on three game going. Our side was an middle-aged American guy, my Japanese fellow, and I. The other side consisted of three high school students. The atmosphere was appropriately loose and appropriately serious, and I had a lot of fun. I have been playing basketball for sixteen years since I was a junior high school student. Until recently, I was not sure if I could play well in the U.S because Americans were tall, strong, and highly skilled. But I found I could play well and gained confidence. I would like to continue playing basketball here in the U.S., hopefully with my HKS classmates, and build ties with them.

H Mart

There is a convenience store called CVS right in front of the Harvard Square Station and I can buy almost everything I need to for a daily life, which is good, but the only shortcoming is I can't buy fresh food such as vegetable and fruits.On Sunday, I was happy to find H Mart, which is near the Central Square Station, only one station from the Harvard Square Station, and sells Asian food. I found that without using the subway, I can go to H Mart within ten minutes from my apartment by bicycle. On the other hand, H Mart mainly targets Korean, Japanese, and American who are interested in Asian food, and I can buy everything I need to cook Japanese food, such as fruits, vegetable, kimchi, canned fish, soup, instant ramen, and so on.

Ramen

There are several restaurants inside H Mart, and you can eat Japanese ramen there. I have been cooking by myself since I arrived in Boston, but eating Japanese food outside of my house was a great relief. It was a comfort food. I ate yasai ramen (yasai means vegetable in Japanese). It had the orthodox soy sauce taste,which Japanese likes, and I found it delicious.

Learning English in Boston Life

The orientation week of HKS will start on August 25th, and after that I will probably be busy. Before the program starts, I made up my mind to study English hard and prepare for the rigorous academic environment in HKS. Since I arrived in Boston at the beginning of August, I have been studying English at a tutoring English school called Boston Life. The owner of the school is Japanese, and there are a lot of Japanese students, as well as Korean, Chinese, Indian and students from other countries. I am studying English four hours per day on weekdays with two teachers, both of which have great knowledge about English and current topics. Since it is a flexible one-on-one lesson, I can consult with my teacher and customize the content of the lessons to be whatever I want. From the experience, I strongly feel that the more I prepare for and actively get involved in class, the more I learn from the tutoring. On the other hand, if my preparation is not enough and I become passive in a class, I learn less. This sometimes happens when my heart isn't in it and I am not self-motivated. 

I believe that the key to effective learning is to motivate myself, to be proactive, and prepare well. I would like to apply this principle to HKS's academic life in order to maximize my learning curve.

Here is my study memo about newly learned words and expressions in last week's lessons:

<General words and expressions>

Stay on the sidelines means not to be engaged in something and just look at it from outside, as opposed to participating in it.

It was a pressure cooker means that I felt strong pressure in a severe environment.

He averages two homeruns in a week means that he usually hits homeruns two times a week. Average can be used as a verb.

Thrust means to stick out. An example sentence is that I thrusted my arms into the train.

A is no less ～ than B means that A and B are equally ～. An example sentence is that she is no less beautiful than her sister(=she and her sister are equally beautiful).

Fudge means to change important figures to deceive people. An example expression is fudge the data, fudge one's age.

In concert with means together with. An example sentence is that Britain has to pursue policies in concert with other EU members.

Simply put is an useful expression when you summarize the said arguments.

Focal point means the center of interest or activity.

Overshadow means to make others less important. An example sentence is American public mind is often overshadowed by short-term diplomacy.

<Words and expressions related to politics>

Stack the cards [deck] means arrange the cards in a dishonest way in order to achieve the result you want.

Wait for the dust to settle [let the dust settle] means wait for a situation to become clear or certain.

Vote with one's wallet means vote for someone that you think will help you have the most money

Not the sharpest tool in the shed[box] means not very intelligent or not able to learn things quickly.

On again, off again means happening or existing at some times and not at other times. Example sentences are the President's on again, off again attitude towards the issue. They have an on-again, off-again relationship.