JLPT

We're in the season again, in more ways than one. Some of you who took the JLPT (Japanese Langauge Proficiency Exam) a few months ago are just getting your scores now. Others who have signed up for the JLPT this December are anxiously waiting. It's a new test this year, with an added level. This test is a big deal for many, because it means credentials on your resume (or not). I'd like to know, from those who have taken the "new" tests, what your impressions are.

Graduate Study in East Asia

More and more I'm being asked by current and former students about the feasibility of doing a graduate degree in Japan. When I was a graduate student in the late 80s and early 90s, it was not advisable--U.S. schools didn't want to give foreign institutions' degrees much respect, and I knew that eventually I wanted to do a PhD in the States. But now I think things are much different; Japanese graduate schools are courting foreign applicants, and even offering them fellowships. And, I know of at least a couple people who did a master's in Japan and later got into very reputable PhD programs in the States.

This is all probably for the better--more opportunities, more depth in one's education, etc. But I'm left without having much in the way of "advice" for my students who ask about it. I'd like to know about other experiences--comments, anyone?

Listserv subscriptions

The university recently started closing e-mail accounts of alumni, and as a consequence I've been seeing a number of bounced messages from the EAS listserv. If you used to get listserv messages but now don't, this is probably the problem. If you'd like to be back on the listserv, though, it is easy to do that. Just go to http://listserv.albany.edu:8080/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=eas&A=1 (if that link doesn't work, try http://www.albany.edu/eas/listserv_forum.html) and sign up with whatever e-mail account you're currently using.

New alumni rep in Japan

It took me a while to post this, but better late than never. Patrick Murphy ('09) is our new alumni rep in the Kansai region! His name does not appear on the alumni page of the university yet, but I trust it will be there soon. Patrick's e-mail address is pm654744@albany.edu, for those of you who want to contact him. He is a JET teacher, like so many of you. Many, many thanks to Patrick for stepping up to the plate on this one. There are many of you nearby (Melissa, Ashley, Dan, Tammy, Reggie, etc.), and I encourage you to touch base. The listserv is the most likely place for announcements, but we'll try to cross-list to the blog, too.

So, now that we have a rep in Japan, is there anyone who is interested in being the rep in China or Korea?

Alumni representatives

Having heard recently from a couple students heading to Japan, I got to thinking that we must have a sort of "critical mass" of alumni there. Is anyone interested in volunteering to be a "regional alumni volunteer" either in Kansai or Kanto? Right now we do a lot of networking, but it tends to be through the listserv or even less formally (i.e., I distribute your e-mail addresses with reckless abandon). If we had a regional volunteer then maybe things might be easier. The alumni page of the university says that a regional volunteer does the following:

• Act as a central contact for alumni, parents, prospective students,new graduates, and the UAAA.
• Serve as a university ambassador at events determined by theUniversity (faculty visits, presidential visits).
• Plan the occasional informal event (book readings, viewing parties).
• Assist in determining a location for a University event in their region.
• Distribute promotional emails inviting people to attend upcomingevent in their area.
• Assist alumni relocating to their area.

Lest you think this would end up being an "expat" group, let me remind you that a lot of our alumni are/were international students. This would be a great way to meet the locals, too.

If anyone is interested, check out http://www.albany.edu/alumni/regionalvolunteers.php

And, let me know, too. Just because the Alumni Association gets involved doesn't mean the department would necessarily be copied on any correspondence.

Likewise, if there is anyone in Beijing or Shanghai (the two likely locations) who might want to volunteer that would be great. Given how many UA alumni are in China I'd think this would be easy.

I hope someone chooses to do this--right now there are only two international volunteers, which is pretty sad when you think about it. Come on, let's show them that EAS alumni are a force to be reckoned with (or, at least, a cool bunch of people)!