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.

Learning English by Pop Culture: Harry Potter and Dark Horse

1 Harry Potter

I started to read Harry Potter And the Sorcerer's Stone. I felt this book was appropriate for studying English because I knew the story roughly, the level of written English is appropriate, and it is fun. My tutor gave explanations on reading comprehension and taught me useful English expressions so that my understanding became clear.

During the lesson, I read until the middle of Chapter One. Mr. Dursley, Harry's uncle, saw peculiar people who wore cloaks in a town, heard about his nephew Harry, and got upset. I found that the descriptions on each character were detailed and precise: Mr. Dursley showed his short temper and nervousness because he yelled at his coworkers and didn't sleep at night, Mrs. Dursley liked talking about other people's private affairs, hated her sister, and had versatile moods.

I learned the following words and expressions:

(1) they just didn't hold with such nonsense means that they didn't tolerate such foolishness.

(2) crane over garden fence means that stretch your neck and see over garden fence.

(3) beefy means that big and fat. The  synonym is husky.

(4) good-for-nothing means lazy and useless.

(5) gossip away means is talking about other people's private affairs.

(6) peck somebody on the cheek means give a dry, quick kiss on the cheek. Peck means bird's act of moving the beak forward quickly.

(7) chortle means laugh loudly with pleasure. A similar word is giggle, which also means laugh but in a slight and quick manner. The difference between these two laugh is described in the below Youtube video.

(8) jerk his head around means move his head around very suddenly and quickly.

(9) silly stunt means something stupid to get attention.

(10) stop dead means stop suddenly.

(11) thought better of it means reevaluated the situation.

(12) put himself together means compose himself.

(13) turning it all over in his mind means thinking about what happened. 

(14) get mixed up means get involved in.

2 Dark Horse by Katy Perry

I also went over a pop song, Dark Horse by Katy Perry. The word dark horse is sometimes used in horse racing to mean a little-known horse which makes an unexpectedly good showing. But in this song, A Dark Horse is used to mean an intimidating horse. In the song, Katy Perry sends a message that once you're falling in love with her, you cannot get out of it like a drug.

I learned the following words and expressions from this song:

(1) Ya'll means you all. You has two kinds of usage: plural you and singular you. By using ya'll, you can clarify that it means plural you.

(2) Let's rage means party really hard. Rager is an informal word to mean a hard, wild party.

(3) Make me your Aphrodite means that I want you to think of me as Aphrodite. Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty in Greek Mythology.

(4) Boy, you should know what you're falling for means you should be aware of what you are getting into.

(5) "Baby do you dare to do this?" means that "are you brave enough to do this?". Combining with (4), Katy threatens the man that it is dangerous for him to fall in love with her.

(6) A perfect storm means that all bad things happen at the same time. An example sentence is that all of these factors are a perfect storm.

(7) Once you're mine, there's no going back means that once we're together, you cannot undo this.

(8) Mark my words means that take what I'm saying very seriously. This expression is also used to intimidate the man.

(9) This love will make you levitate means that this love will make you rise up magically. Levitate means rise and float in the air by magic.

(10) But down to earth...don't walk away means that come back to reality and don't leave me.

(11) It's in the palm of your hand now baby means that you are it's your responsibility to decide. Synonyms are it's in your hands, it's up to you, the ball is in your court.

(12) It's a yes or no, no maybe means that answer must be either yes or no, and maybe is not permitted.

(13) Karma is a Buddhist word that means good things will come back to you if you do good things.

(14) She eats your heart out like Jeffrey Dahmer means that she hurts you like Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffrey Dahmer is a famous serial killer and known as a cannibal.

(15) Try not to lead her on means that do not pretend that you're interested in her. Lead somebody on means act as if you're interested in somebody.
(16) Shorty's heart is on steroids means her heart is so strong that it controls romantic feeling. Shorty means a woman in a rap song. On steroids means extremely strong.

(17) She's sweet as pie but if you break her heart, she'll turn cold as a freezer means she'll get cruel if you hurt her feelings. This is a detailed explanation of her being Karma.

(18) That fairly tale ending with a knight in shining armor comes from an American fairly tale Sleeping Beauty, in which a Prince kisses and wakes up a beautiful, sleeping Princess.

(20) In a coma means in a state of unconsciousness.

(21) But lil' mama so dope, I messed around and got addictedはmeans that she is cool and I'm addicted to her. This indicates that her love is like a drug.

Learning English and the Local Culture by Learning Pop Culture

I studied English in Japan. Japanese education values reading comprehension and grammar. I think that this is good as it becomes the basis of my English skills, but my weakness is that I do not know much about casual English language. It seems sometimes easier for me to speak academic language than casual language when shopping or chatting with friends. Last week, I started to learn new English words, idioms, and useful expressions with my tutor by listening to pop music, watching popular TV shows, and reading novels. I like pop culture, especially comedies, and believe that understanding the local pop culture is essential to socializing with people here in Boston. I hope this learning method of acquiring casual speech and cultural knowledge at the same time will work fine.

During the first lesson, I listened to several American pop songs, and leaned new words and idioms. We looked over not a bad thing by Justin Timberlake, Shower by Beck G, Rude by MAGIC!, My angel in blue jeans by Train, and so on. Out of those, the following two songs were most rich in new expressions: Classic by MKTO and Halo by Biyoncé.

1 Classic by MKTO

 Classic means admired by many people, and having long-term value. This song expresses a man's feeling that a woman is traditional, stylish, and supreme. There are a number of famous artists' names in the lyric such as Michael Jackson, Prince, and Marilyn Monroe. The song is high tempo, cool, and energetic.

 I learned the following words and useful expressions from this song:

(1) Like a 5th Avenue Diamond means that you are precious and brilliant. 5th Avenue is a wealthy district of New York.

(2) They don't make you like they used to seems to come from the saying "they don't make them like they used to", which means goods in the past were higher-quality and better than current ones. Thus, they don't make you like they used to means that you are high-quality.

(3) You're never going out of style means that you will never be outdated or obsolete.

(4) You're over my head means you are beyond my comprehension. A similar expression is you're out of my league, which means that you rank above me and are in a different class.

(5) I'm out of mind means that I've lost control and become crazy.

(6) One of a kind, living in a world gone plastic means that you are the only authentic girl in a current fake world. Plastic means artificial and fake. There are several examples of expressions using the word plastic: a plastic smile, plastic surgery.

(7) I could walk you down the aisle means that I could marry you. This meaning comes from the custom that when a couple has a wedding, they walk down the aisle to the altar in a church.

(8) It's not a rewind, everything is go throwback means that it is not that we make tapes backwards (actually go back to the past), but people are reversing their thinking to value things of the past. There is an expression used in social media like Twitter, "Throwback Thursday (TBT)", which means that users reflect on their past life every Thursday.

(9) Old school chic means that you are traditional and stylish.

(10) You're class means that you are elegant and poised.

(11) You got me tripping out like the 60's hippies means that you made me high as if I used a drug.

(12) Girl you're timeless means that you are attractive and not become old-fashioned. The antonym is trendy.

 

2 Halo by Beyoncé

 A Halo is a circle of light above the head of a holy person. This song is about the change of a girl's feelings after she met her boyfriend. She once built an emotional wall between her and other people. But when she met her boyfriend, he broke down the wall easily, is always with her, and appears to be a ray of sunlight who saved her from the darkness. She gets deeply absorbed in him and wishes he would never leave her.

 I learned the following words and useful expressions from this song:

(1) Baby they're tumbling down means that they (walls) are falling suddenly to the ground. In other words, it means that she removes her emotional blocks.

(2) And they didn't even put up a fight means that they (fallen walls) didn't even try hard to fight or stand up again.

(3) You know you're my saving grace means that you are the one good thing in my life.

(4) It's written all over your face means that your feelings are obvious from your expression. A similar expression is you wear your heart on your sleeve.

(5) A ray of sun means that a person that makes life brighter or more cheerful.

(6) Think I'm addicted to your light means that it seems that I am dependent on you and cannot live without you.

A Pleasant Social Event of Harvard University Housing

Joint Orientation Hosted by Harvard University Housing

Last night, I went to an event called Cambridge 101 Orientation, which was hosted by Harvard University Housing (HUH). HUH is an organization which offers housing to the graduate students, faculty, and employees. I now live in 5 Cowperthwaite Street, which is part of HUH. It is only a seven-minute walk to HKS, and it was newly built in 2007. This apartments in this building are for a single occupants or couples with at most one child. I have never experienced trouble since I arrived here, because my room has a bathroom and a kitchen, and the apartment has common study rooms, a laundry room, and a training gym. 

Today's event is a joint orientation for people who recently moved to 5 Cowperthwaite and two other neighboring apartment buildings, 10 Akron and Peabody Terrace. Around fifty people attended the event. Four to five HKS students were there. In addition, there were students from the Law School and Graduate School of Education, PHD students, fellows of a research center, and their spouses. For the first hour, coordinators of the event explained safety issues, shopping, and Harvard's institutions such as libraries or gyms. After that, a networking social was held for one hour. Although attending the social was optional, most people attended it.

A Classmate from Argentina

At the social, I was happy to meet an MPA2 classmate from Argentina. He said that he would like to focus his study on economic policy at HKS. Since we shared the same interest in economic policy, we hit it off with each other. He taught me a famous saying, "There are four types of countries: developed, undeveloped, Japan and Argentina." by Simon Kuznets, a Nobel Prize winner in economics in 1971. Kuznets saw Japan and Argentina as exceptions: Japan rapidly grew from a developing country to a developed country after WW2, and Argentina dropped from a developed country to a developing country after the 1930s due to political instability and so on. I got interested in and looked up the Argentine economy. I found that Argentina is an interesting country which has a lot of topics to be talked about. As for its trade policy, Argentina continues to take a protectionist policy. In 2012, Japan, the US, and the EU requested the establishment of a WTO panel to resolve trade issues with Argentina. As for energy issues, Argentina holds the third largest amount of shale gas in the world. Argentina might be a key country to understand Japan's trade policy and energy supply strategy, which I would like to study at a HKS.

In addition to him, I talked with an Australian PHD candidate in physics who can speak Japanese and an Indian cartoonist who will be a research fellow in international affairs. I had a lot of fun talking with them. I think that interacting with students such as these with diverse backgrounds is one of the advantages of studying at Harvard. I would like to purposefully continue to participate in this kind of social event.

Reference

An Article about the Argentine Economy by the Economist (February 2014)

Explanation of the Economic History of Argentina from Wikipedia

Class Selection of HKS

Curriculum of MPA2

As the fall semester approaches, it has been very enjoyable to consider what courses I should take. HKS offers more than three hundred courses annually. Considering that I can take courses in other Harvard graduate schools, as well as cross-register courses in MIT and the Fletcher School of Tufts University, the options seem to be infinite. Since my program (MPA2) has no requisite courses, I can make my own two-year tailored curriculum by myself. This means that if I can make a curriculum wisely, the coming two years will be a supreme learning opportunity. On the other hand, were I to take courses without careful consideration, I would spend my two years totally in vain, with a  finger in every pot but only a shallow knowledge of many subjects.

In one semester, I can take no fewer than three classes and no more than six. MPA2 students usually average four courses per semester, completing a total of sixteen courses in two years. Looking at the syllabi of courses in HKS, I find that all the courses look intellectually stimulating. To be honest, I would like to take as many as five or six courses in a semester. At the same time, I am afraid that I would not  be able to digest any subjects if I take more than four courses in a semester, because this is my first time studying in an American graduate school, and I am not a native speaker of English.

In addition, I have to take into consideration how to balance policy-related courses and soft skills-related courses. The reason why I say this is that I chose to study at HKS because I thought I could take courses of distinguished professors in my fields of interest such as energy policy and economic policy, as well as courses on building soft skills such as leadership, negotiation and general management. I think this is one of the biggest advantages of HKS.

My Reflection on Graduate School Experience in Japan

When I look back on my graduate school days in Japan and consider which courses were impressive and taught me the most, the following three points come to my mind:

1 Having a Group-Work Exercise

Through group-work, I learned how to tackle issues as a  team and how to coordinate among people with different opinions. In addition, I deepened my understanding of subjects by discussing the issue with other group members. Moreover, I developed friendships with other group members and my social life at graduate school was enriched.

2 Having a Presentation

When I took courses which required me to make a presentation, I studied the subject hard and prepared for the presentation earnestly in order not to make a fool of myself in front of everyone. As a result, I remembered much of the content of these courses and learned a lot. Also, listening to presentations from other students allowed me to understand what my colleagues were thinking and to develop friendships.

3 A Small Class Size

In large classes, it was difficult for me to maintain my concentration during the class because I did not have many opportunities to get called on in class. On the other hand, in small classes, I could not help being actively involved and maintaining high concentration. As a result, I learned a lot from those classes. A small class size also enabled me to have close relationships with professors. In small classes, I had many opportunities to talk with professors directly and be given feedback from them.



I would like to choose courses considering the above perspective, and enrich the quality of my two-year study in HKS as much as I can.

A Casual Meeting with My Japanese Fellows of the Kennedy School

Last night, I went to a casual meeting with my Japanese fellows of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). It was held in a Vietnamese restaurant in Harvard Square. This year, the number of new students of the HKS is nine in total. Seven are students of the one-year Mid-Career Master in Public Administration Program (MC-MPA), which is designed for professionals with more than seven years of experience. The other two are students of two-year programs. One is going to the Master in Public Policy Program (MPP) and the other, which is me, is going to the Two-Year Master in Public Administration Program (MPA2). Since the Mid-Career Program started in July earlier than the other programs, mid-career students have already deepened their exchanges with other classmates. Out of two hundred students in the Mid-Career Program, Japanese account for seven. This number is relatively high compared to other countries, higher than China and Korea, which makes Japan one of the biggest groups in the program. On the other hand, MPP, which consists of around 225 people, and MPA2, which consists of around 70 people, only have one Japanese in each program. Therefore, to enhance Japan's presence in each program, we have to act in a proactive manner. HKS is a diverse mixture of students from many countries, so Japan will not be represented if I choose to stay on the sidelines and not contribute my perspective.

Japan Trip During the meeting, we talked about Japan Trip, a weeklong trip to Japan, in which Kennedy School students visit Japan and have meetings with Japanese policymakers, with a view to deepen their understanding of Japan. We do not necessarily plan this trip every year, but we reached an agreement that we would plan the trip this year. Some of the mid-career students have experience planning such a trip at other universities, and other students have an aggressive fundraising strategy. I felt reassured and encouraged by them. I would like to be involved in the planning of Japan Trip, looking for what I could do to contribute to the team.

After talking for three and a half hours we finished the meeting. After that, I and one of the mid-career guys were invited to the home of another mid-career guy. The three of us happen to live in the same apartment, which is operated by Harvard Housing. The two of them have come to Boston with their family. Since I will spend the first of my two years in Boston by myself, I would like to keep in touch with them. We Japanese are not accustomed to life in the US, and I hope we can support each other through both the good times and difficult times ahead. Throughout the gathering, I felt that mid-career people have rich work experiences, are mature spiritually, and can be depended on. I also felt that they put more importance on professional networking with other students, rather than questing for academia, because their program is only one-year. I would like to learn as much as possible from those mid-career students, as well as make an achievement in the academic field, making the most use of my two years at the Harvard Kennedy School.

A Cheerful Gathering with New Japanese Friends

Last night, I had a drink for the first time since I arrived in Boston. I was invited to the home of my Japanese friend who will start studying at the Harvard Business School (HBS) this month. Another guy who also will be a student of HBS joined us, and we had a conversation with each other. Since all of us are the same age, we had an animated conversation with each other. To my surprise, we talked together as long as six hours until well past midnight.

This was the first time I met people from HBS. I will confess that before I met them, I believed a stereotype about students at HBS and expected them to be snobby and arrogant. But my new friends reversed that image. They are gentle, good at talking and listening to what others say. They struck me as down-to-earth and well-balanced men.

One of the advantages of studying at the Kennedy School is that I have a wealth of opportunities to interact with other Japanese peers from professional schools in Harvard such as the Business School, Law School, School of Public Health, as well as MIT and Tufts University.

We share the peer identity that "we are the Japanese who study at Boston around the same time." If we lived in Tokyo, we would not have a chance to meet each other. We are now in Boston, and that makes us feel camaraderie--we are fellows and share the same struggles and similar goals. Living in Boston has brought me closer to other Japanese.

I would like to keep interacting with them actively. I hope we can continue to see each other and grow our friendship as we start our new journey in Boston.

My Determination to Start a New Journey

I am a 29-year-old Japanese man, who will start studying at the Harvard Kennedy School for two years in September 2014. I have a Japanese blog and am used to writing articles in Japanese, but now I am setting out on a journey to write it in English, too.

My personal motivation for writing the blog is that I strongly feel that the Japanese should express their opinions to the world. Expressing ideas in English is especially challenging for the Japanese because English is not their native language, and they are not always good at voicing their views in English. I believe that the Japanese have a lot of knowledge and ideas to share with the world. I would like to be a role model of expressing the ideas in English as well as encourage and challenge other Japanese to do so.

I have three main purposes for this blog:
1 To let readers understand what is taught in the Harvard Kennedy School
2 To share ideas on international, governmental, and economic topics
3 To reflect on what I've learned and thought in everyday life (for myself)

The expected readers are people who are interested in international, governmental and economic issues, studying at the Harvard Kennedy School, learning English as a second language, Japan, life in Boston, and so on.

I would like this blog to be as useful, informative and stimulating as possible for the readers, so I welcome comments and feedback from the readers anytime.