Hashi.org in 2008

Hello!　 안녕하세요! こんにちは！
The world is not the same place that it was 2 years ago when Hashi.org was formed. Tension has increased, economies plummetted, and tolerance is in short supply. We watch with sadness and yet a renewed resolve to do our small part to reach out in the world, and help others to reach out too.
In 2007, we:

• Re-designed our website and added new listings to our database of cultural exchange opportunties
• Gave away scholarships to three talented, ambitious, and wonderful people. 1. A Japanese studying architecture in South Korea, 2. An American professor studying and teaching Japanese, and 3. A Korean singer wanting to tour America

And our plans for 2008:

• Increase our efforts at providing up-to-date diverse listings in out databese of cultural exchange opportunities
• Give away at least 3 scholarships again this year - One each to an American, Japanese, and Korean.
• Start a daily RSS feed to our website with news that's pertinent to Japan, Korea, and America.
• Continued support of the Japan Society of Northern California
• Our Japanese contributor - Atusko Irisa - is still with us and doing a great job of translation, consulting, and research
• Our Korean contributor - Jeanne Jung - has moved on to start a family and we wish her all the best! In the meantime, we are looking for a new Korean contributor to help with translation, consulting, and research

So, thanks for your interest in and support of Hashi.org! Stay tuned and feel free to contribute to our blogs, and send any suggestions/ideas to us. Here's to healing in 2008.

Michael Downey

CEO/Founder - hashi.org