Hashi.org in 2011

Hello, and a Happy New Year, friends!

Most of you know about the non-profit organization I started back in 2006 – hashi.org – which is a California Non-Profit organization dedicated to promoting cultural exchange opportunities between East Asia and America. “Hashi” means “bridge” in Japanese. This year, in particular, has been an inspiring yet tragic time, with the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March, and the sudden changes brought about in North Korea by the death of Kim Jong Il.

And as you know, we’ve been having a tough time right here in America. At times, it seems all we can do to take care of ourselves and our families in this down economy.  And with so much unrest and division in the world right now, it’s hard to know how to help. I consider the $1000 scholarships that hashi.org gives out each year to be a small way of helping to ease that unrest and division, and instead,  building  a bridge by investing in the education, travel, and experience of those most worthy scholarship applicants. Here’s a sample of recent recipients.

	Trevor is our American winner this year, and is majoring in advertising with a minor in Japanese and Business, who is now studying at Toyo University through the ISEP exchange. He is a musician as well, and writes his own music and is deeply interested in Japanese music, and looks forward to sharing and performing while in Japan. And while there, he'll be joining up with a group to help with the tsunami and earthquake relief effort in the Sendai region.
	Our Japanese winner has come to research as a Fellow at the NASA Ames Research Center in California. Although he is a PhD student of Yokohama National University in Japan, his study is a joint research project between NASA and Japan.  He's volunteering a few times a week to teach Japanese. That Volunteer Club is working with people from many countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, India, USA, and Israel. He’s teaching about Japanese culture and customs in addition to language studies.
	Our recent Korean scholarship winner, Kim Eun Young, is in her senior year at University majoring in political science and diplomacy. She has taught children, participated in cultural exchange programs between Korea, China, and Russia, and wants to intern in America and write her thesis on applying ‘American Federal Government’ to international politics.

As we ease into the New Year, if you feel  drawn to help with our efforts, your donation would be so appreciated! Because I volunteer my time and office, we have almost no overhead, and your donation will go directly to help fund these scholarships.  And as a 501c3 non-profit organization, it will be fully tax-deductible, too!   http://www.hashi.org/donation.html

Thank you for taking the time to learn about hashi.org!

Here’s to a peaceful and prosperous new year in 2012,

Michael

http://www.hashi.org

2009 hashi.org American Scholarships are HERE

hashi.org 2009 Scholarships are here! Each year, hashi.org awards three $1000 scholarships - one to a Japanese, one to a Korean, and one to an American. The application period for Americans starts today - 07/01/09! The schedule is as follows:July 1st - August 15th - Application period for American scholarship.

September 1st - American scholarship winner announced.

Travel scholarships are offered on a competitive basis. They are awarded on the basis of need and overall intent for usage as expressed in the application essay. The scholarships could be used for a variety of overseas programs, including but not limited to: home stays, student exchange, volunteering, work, etc.

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

Be 16 years of age or older.

Be interested in participating in the type of international programs that hashi.org promotes between South Korea, Japan, and America.

Be able to cope with the challenges of adjusting to different cultures.

Be able to fund the remainder of travel costs not covered by thescholarship.

Complete the application form.

Be able to use the scholarship within one year of receiving it.

Agree to allow hashi.org to use your photograph and selected portions of your bio to encourage others to participate in our scholarship program.

For information and application: http://www.hashi.org/scholarshiphp.html

hashi.orgの旅行奨学金実施のお知らせ

Hashi.orgは、毎年、日本、韓国、アメリカ国籍の方各1名を対象に、旅行奨学金（各1000ドル）を実施しています。日本国籍を所有する方で、韓国またはアメリカ合衆国との文化交流に興味を持つ方が対象です。今年度の後ほどには、韓国国籍とアメリカ国籍の方を対象とした奨学金が発表される予定です。 奨学金受給者は選考によって決められます。奨学金の必要性と使用目的が考慮に入れられます。奨学金は、ホームステイや留学、ボランティアなどの様々な目的に支給されます。 http://www.hashi.org/scholarshipjp.html
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支給対象者は以下の条件を満たしていなければなりません。 日本国籍を所有。 16歳以上。未成年の方は保護者の了解を得てください。 Hashi.orgが推奨する韓国またはアメリカ合衆国の国際プログラムに参加する意思のあること。 異文化に対応、調和するチャレンジ精神があり、またその能力があること。 費用が奨学金支給額を超えた場合、自身でその超えた分の費用を負担すること。 募集用紙の必要事項を全て記入すること。 募集期間：2009年5月１日から2009年６月15日まで。 支給対象者は2009年7月１日に発表。 HP:http://www.hashi.org/indexjp.html

Hashi.org Announces American Scholarship Winner!

09/01/08 - Hashi.org is proud to announce the winner of the 2nd annual Travel Scholarship to an American! The number of applications received far exceeded previous application periods, and we received many, fine applications, with essays describing a variety of backgrounds – International Studies, Translation, Music, etc. – and cultural exchange interests – Student exchange, Language studies, Grad studies and research, Volunteer work, etc. But our winner is an American Anthropology Grad Student who once taught English in Japan through the JET program, and now has a Master’s degree in Korean Studies and a Bachelor’s degree in East Asian Languages and Cultures (with a focus on Modern Chinese literature).

Our judges of the applications found this scholarship decision the hardest one yet. With so many worthy applicants, with admirable accomplishments and aspirations, it was extremely difficult to choose just one. But the winner’s application proved to be the finest example of the ideals and goals of hashi.org. While there were many worthy submissions, Hashi.org is proud to award a $1,000 travel scholarship to Bonnie Tilland !

Congratulations!We notified Ms. Tilland earlier this week, and were gratified by her response, part of which follows:

As I wrote when I first inquired about the scholarship, I am actually in Korea now. I was participating in a cultural program near Seoul from late July-mid August, and the costs of the program were covered by the program's institution. However, I am now in Jeonju, Korea doing pilot research for my dissertation and will be here a little over two more weeks (returning to the U.S. on Sept. 15th). I signed up on Homestay Korea, a link I found on your website, and the homestay is going great! I paid about $650 to the family for the month (includes most meals), and then also need to cover other living expenses and expenses associated with fieldwork (mostly transportation costs). So the $1000 will go a long way in helping with my project!

And of her research plans:

This summer I have spent two months in Korea to begin preliminary research that will lay the groundwork for my PhD dissertation research, which is scheduled to begin in late 2009. In July and August I am participating in a cultural program in a Seoul suburb at the Academy of Korean Studies, which has given me the chance to learn more about Korean traditional arts and also to refresh my spoken Korean. In August and September I will travel to Jeonju, a smaller city in Korea's southwest with a long Confucian history and a reputation for both strong educational facilities and film culture (because of an annual international film festival). During my research this summer I will be conducting interviews with Jeonju residents, observing local television and film fan clubs, and making contacts with local faculty and members of the Jeonju International Film Festival commission.

I am currently working on my Anthropology M.A. thesis on Korean television dramas that combine themes of workplace, family and relationships, and am analyzing conversations on online TV drama fan site message boards. I am interested both in the conversations happening among Koreans about the representations of family, work and love on television, and in conversations between fans around Asia who are hooked on the "Korean Wave" (Hanryu) of cultural products such as film, television and music. In particular, I am exploring connections between discussions of "family values" (as portrayed in television media) and national and regional identity. I first became interested in my research topic through friendships with Japanese classmates in my intensive Korean language program at Sogang University in Seoul in the summers of 2005 and 2007. I found that the themes and images in Korean TV dramas opened up discussions about cultural exchange and pan-Asian values between people from countries with complicated historical tensions.

Once again, congratulations Bonnie Tilland! And our heartfelt thanks and best wishes to all of the applicants for their good work and high aspirations to reach out to other cultures, and be part of this “bridge building” in our world today.

"BRIDGE" Video at Hollywood Film Festival

It’s good to be back in the neighborhood again

The "Bridge of No Return" video was chosen as an Official Selection at its 4th film festival, and last night it screened at the 2008 International DV Film Festival in Hollywood. What a great opportunity to see some of the cast, crew, and friends of the "Bridge" video, and to tell the story to a big audience.

Since these days it’s cheaper to fly from SF to LA given the price of gas, I got in to Burbank mid-afternoon and checked into my usual hotel in Universal City. The recording studio where we recorded America and Bridge is just about 1/4 mile away from here. Took a cab into Hollywood and hooked up with friends at a restaurant just a block away from the film festival. Chao Krung

was the perfect meeting spot on Fairfax, and the food was awesome.

After dinner, we made it over to the Fairfax Theater, where the festival was happening: They show films in 2-3 hour "blocks," and then have a Q& A with the filmmakers. This evening started out with a feature-length, post-apolcalyptic, sci-fi film called "Like Moles, Like Rats." This was so good, I wouldn’t be surpised if it’s picked up and gets a distribution deal. After that, a brilliant and fun spoof on the crime-fighting genre called "Asian Task Force" (ATF). Then one more short, and finally our "Bridge" video.

Before going up for the Q&A session, I was thinking how many Asian people there were in the crowd, and how much more they knew about Korean history than I did, but my fears were unfounded, and the Q&A session was by far the best one I’ve done. The promoter was totally enthusiastic and pro-active, and the questions were really good, and gave the other filmmakers and I a great opportunity to talk about our films. I got to tell the story of Panmunjeom, where, at the end of the Korean war, officials gave people a few days to make the decision to stay on the side they were, or cross this bridge to the other side, but if they did, they could never return. And someone asked about the song itself, and I shared about the difficulty of writing Korean lyrics for part of the song (there was a Korean Dry Cleaners across the street where I lived, and would write a line, and run across the street and ask my friend there about it, and she’d say like "uuuh, we don’t really say it like that. It would be better to say it like this..." But I’m thinking "...that doesn’t rhyme!") It was an honor to have been chosen to be in this festival, and an honor to share the stage with these talented filmmakers.

It’s a balmy day in LA, and I’ll soon head out to go exploring my old stomping grounds, then meeting a friend for lunch. And I’m thinking how fortunate I’ve been to have met the right people at the right time to make something like this happen. Life is like that, one step this way or that way, and it would come out different. But as it is, I couldn’t be happier...