I gazed at my alarm clock and it once again read 4:15 a.m. The warblers outside my window along with the cicadas were having their morning meetings making sure I was awake. But it is only 4:15 a.m. and I am wide awake as light begins to filter through the cracks of my drapes declaring [...]
Continue reading about Early Sunlight – Waking With The Birds
Joanna Klass, recent UW-Madison graduate with a degree in zoology and biological aspects of conservation, had a fascinating experience abroad. With assistance from the School for Field Studies (SFS), Joanna was given the opportunity to go abroad for the first time and conduct biological research in the rainforests of Australia. Since returning, she has been [...]
Continue reading about Joanna Klass: A Badger in the Rainforest
“Good morning, everyone!” I said with a smile. Today was Monday, May 9, and my first English Conversation class of the new semester. My students greeted me with a resounding, “Good morning!” It is official - the new semester has begun. I teach at a private university in Tokyo and classes normally begin the first week [...]
It is a beautiful, warm day in Yokohama and I greet you all! As I sit here gazing out my window looking at the setting sun reflecting off of the buildings near my home, my mind wanders to March 11, the day that life changed for so many in Japan. It has been more than [...]
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 Summary of Events In Japan March 28 / 10:00 p.m. The weather was beautiful in my area today and I felt great during my afternoon walk. While listening to FEN radio that originates from Yokota AFB in Tokyo, I heard a radio report that air quality was excellent. This [...]
Continue reading about John Wells Writes Daily Updates From Japan: March 28-April 1
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 Summary Of Events In Japan March 23 / 22:30 p.m. Here is my first summary of today’s events in Japan. I hope to continue this as less and less is being heard about what is happening here. We are still not out of the dark, but creeping slowly toward [...]
Continue reading about John Wells Writes Daily Updates From Japan: March 23-March 27
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 It was an eerie feeling to walk through the arrival level of Narita Airport last Friday, March 18. Maybe it was the early afternoon arrival, but there was no one around and it was far too easy to go through immigration. I was happy to hear my wife and [...]
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 Hello everyone, I am very happy to report that my family is fine after the devastating earthquake in Japan. I am presently in Huangzhou, China on another short trip away from Japan. It took me a long time to contact my son and my wife to find out if [...]
Continue reading about An Update From John Wells: Alumni Correspondent from Japan
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 Ni Hou! 你好! ‘Tis the season to travel as college students, and those looking for a cheaper ticket out of Japan, telephone agents seeking their reward for a ticket ‘somewhere’ … I did and ended up in Hong Kong and China! I arrived just before midnight in Hong Kong [...]
By Alumni Correspondent, John Wells, ’73 Ah, the joy of high school life does come to an end! For Japanese high school seniors wanting to go on to college it simply means an intense period of study time. It is certainly not an easy process to become a university student here, but once exams are [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 Shinnen Omedeto Gozaimasu 新年おめでとうございます！ Happy New Year 2011, the year of the Rabbit. I send my heartfelt greetings to you all from my home in Yokohama. It was a chilly January 1, but I sauntered over to a local shrine to pray for good health and happiness to start [...]
Continue reading about Wells: New Years Greetings From Japan
Badgers who wrote for the Badgers Abroad Blog (BAB) this past semester, share their abroad experiences. John Wells John Wells graduated from UW-Madison in December of 1973. He had studied East Asian studies and taken five semesters of Japanese before deciding to start a new life in Japan. He has lived in Japan ever since, [...]
Continue reading about Read a Few of Our Fall Semester Favorites from the Badgers Abroad Blog!
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 First and foremost, a big CONGRATULATIONS (Omedeto Gozaimasu) to the University of Wisconsin football team for being invited to play in the Rose Bowl game on Jan. 1. I had the opportunity to get a ticket for the 1994 Rose Bowl and will always remember the exciting time I [...]
Continue reading about Wells: Rose Bowl Bound Badgers — My Happy Students
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 I wish I could write and tell you about the traditional turkey dinner with lots of dressing I will be having or friends over to watch a pro football game on Thanksgiving Day, but Thanksgiving is different here in Japan. In fact, it is a lot different! Japan’s Thanksgiving [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 Recently Tokyo has once again been given the dubious distinction of being named the MOST expensive city in the world. With the continuing rise in the yen, it appears that Tokyo will stay number one for a while. The yen today is near 80 yen to a dollar (320 [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 As I headed down E. Washington Street heading to the capitol, memories of my student days flashed through my mind. 37 years had passed since I graduated and today I was going to finally revisit the Univ. of Wisconsin campus – the campus and area that I was so [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 The rainy season in Japan is not my favorite season. As I headed home on a very crowded train after teaching Japanese businessmen, I could only think about my early morning baseball game the next day. I certainly hoped to do well and wanted to get home to get [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 Japan’s population is around 127 million people and ranks 10th in the world. With that thought in mind, can you imagine how hectic it might be when people working in the larger cities decide to go back home to be with their families not once a year, but twice? [...]
By Alumni Correspondent John Wells, ’73 A Home Away From Home Konnichi wa! Hello from Yokohama, Japan! My name is John and after graduating from UW-Madison in Dec.1973, I decided to get a fresh start and begin a new and exciting life in Japan. After studying East Asian studies and, with five semesters of Japanese [...]
Continue reading about Greetings from Japan: Introducing John Wells ’73
By Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 I am standing in a throng of nearly 9000 naked men, and I am about to die. Arms extended over my head, I try pushing out with my elbows to free my chest and ribs from the crushing weight of the 300-pound Japanese man sandwiched against me. I attempt [...]
Continue reading about Oloizia: Great Festivals of Japan – The Naked Man Festival
By: Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 Hisashiburi is Japanese for “long time no see,” and I think it’s an appropriate way to begin my return to blogging after a long winter’s nap. Where have I been, you ask? (or, perhaps someone asks…somewhere) I’ll show you. I’ve been under here: This is a kotatsu. Merriam-Webster’s online [...]
[This article first appeared in the European Studies Alliance Newsletter spring/summer 2009 newsletter.] By Mike Osberg, UW-Madison Alumnus (A.B. 2009, International Studies and Economics; Certificate: European Studies) Studying abroad in Brussels, Belgium was one of the most influential and enjoyable experiences during my time in college. Learning to live in another country presented me with [...]
Continue reading about Moving On…With a European Studies Certificate
[This article first appeared in the European Studies Alliance Newsletter spring/summer 2009 newsletter.] By Lorie Grushka, UW-Madison Alumna (A.B. 2009, Political Science, International Studies, French; Certificates: European Studies, Global Cultures) Throughout my four years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I have had the opportunity to take a diverse assortment of classes, ranging from “French Literature [...]
Continue reading about Europe and the US – a Certificate Student’s View
[This article first appeared in the spring 2009 issue the Campus Connections newsletter.] By Kerry G. Hill Adam Kelley learned about culturally relevant teaching in his field experiences at Lincoln and Midvale, two of the elementary schools that participate in the Madison Professional Development Schools (PDS) Partnership. Kelley (B.S. ’07 in elementary education and African [...]
Continue reading about Alum in Peace Corps Takes Teaching Skills to Uganda
By: Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 I am sitting in the staff room at school and stewing in self-loathe. I have the done the unforgivable. I am disgusting. It is approximately 8:30 in the morning, and the new social studies teacher with the bad toupee has come sidling over to my desk. By his manner [...]
By: Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 This is the first in which I hope to be a series of entries detailing some of the best festivals that Japan has to offer. Step outside the glass doors of Tokushima Station on any day of the year, and you may not be overwhelmed by what you see. [...]
Continue reading about Oloizia: Great Festivals of Japan – Awa Odori
By: Alumni Correspondent Neal Vermillion, ’99 One day in 2004, a group of us from the American Embassy in Bulgaria were enjoying a U.S. federal holiday by bowling and then going out for lunch. Leaving the Sofia bowling ally (yes, I was inordinately pleased to see lanes for a classic Wisconsin sport in the basement [...]
Continue reading about Vermillion: Bulgaria, A Land of Contrasts
By: Alumni Correspondent Neal Vermillion, ’99 A lot of people ask me questions about my chosen career path such as “How did you become a diplomat?” or even “Why did you become a diplomat?” The “why” question is sometimes asked with a sense of puzzlement or even shock as in “why on earth would you leave [...]
Continue reading about Vermillion: "How did you become a diplomat?"
By: Alumni Correspondent Neal Vermillion, ’99 Greetings from Perth, Australia where I serve as United States Consul. Born and raised in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, I am a proud Badger by blood (my mother having received a Master’s degree from UW-Madison in the early 1960s.). Madison will always be “home” to me as my wife and I [...]
Continue reading about Greetings from Perth, Australia: Introducing Neal Vermillion, '99
By: Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 Hello again! Last time out I told you about my history with Madison, and now hopefully I can dig a little bit more into my life in Japan and just how I ended up here. In the spring of ’05 as a junior at UW, I had the opportunity [...]
By: Alumni Correspondent Jeff Oloizia, ’07 Greetings fellow Badgers! My name is Jeff Oloizia, I’m a ’07 UW grad, and I live in Japan. Pleasure to meet you. I’m writing here on the Badgers Abroad Blog because…well, because they’re letting me I suppose. And hopefully, because I feel I have something unique to say about [...]
Continue reading about Greetings from Japan!: Introducing Jeff Oloizia, '07
In April 2009, recent UW graduates Marissa Lee Mommaerts and Farha Fatima Tahir had breakfast with Jean Wilkowski. Wilkowski, who was in town to receive the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award, later spoke with UW students about her experiences. Wilkowski graduated with a masters degree in journalism in 1944. By Marissa Lee Mommaerts and [...]
Continue reading about Ahead of Her Time: Ambassador Jean Wilkowski, MA '44
Brett Bruen graduated from UW–Madison in 2002 with a double major in political science and international relations (now international studies). Presently, he serves as a Public Diplomacy Officer on the Salah ad Din Provincial Reconstruction Team in Iraq. He recently helped to broker an historic partnership between UW–Madison and Tikrit University. This interview was conducted [...]
Matt Landis received a Global Health Certificate while earning is Master of Population Health at UW-Madison. He spent five weeks in Uganda working with the AIDS Support Organization as part of his education. After earning his degree in 2005, Matt worked for two years as a population health fellow in the Wisconsin Department of Health [...]
By Masarah Van Eyck, Division of International Studies Trucks, cabs, and horse-drawn carts compete for space with pedestrians and even goats below the skyscrapers of downtown Dakar, Senegal. But passing through the iron gates into the Pasteur Institute’s garden courtyard, one is greeted by a bust of Louis Pasteur himself and the air settles into [...]
Matt Landis noticed the dust right away. As soon as he got off the airplane in Uganda, he was confronted with a gritty, rust-colored film that covered everything, from the thatch roofs of the houses to the gravel paths that constitute 80 percent of the public roads. For Landis, a UW-Madison graduate student, who spent [...]
Continue reading about Population Health Graduate Applies Lessons Learned Abroad to Local Population
Nick Holt graduated from UW-Madison in 2002 with a BA in International Relations [now International Studies]. He studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt. After graduation he worked for international relief organizations in the West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon. He graduated with an MPA from Princeton University in 2006, and joined the U.S. State Department [...]
Continue reading about UW Alum Serves at U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
“I don’t feel I’ve ever had a career,” says Constance Konold without apology as she sips Earl Grey tea in a fashionable café on Paris’ Left Bank where the maitre d’ knows her by name. No, she explains, hers has been more of a non-career just doing what she wanted to in life, a life [...]
As a young man, George McReddie didn’t plan to travel or have a career in international finance. He had no idea he would become Senior Managing Director at Bear, Stearns & Co., a leading global investment banking, securities trading, and brokerage firm based in New York. Back in the 1960s, he was just your average [...]
The little, picture postcard Swiss village of Nyon has a big reputation. Founded over two thousand years ago by Julius Caesar, it can lay claim to Roman ruins, a 16th century castle, and beautiful views of Lake Geneva. It can also boast it’s the home to Novartis Consumer Health, a division of the international health [...]
Spider-Man he’s not but scientist Paul Brey does share a few characteristics with the Marvel Comics superhero. Years ago, like Spider-Man, Brey was “bitten” by an insect and, as a result, became motivated to work for the benefit of humanity. The story goes something like this. As a quiet and unassuming youngster growing up in [...]
James Friedlander dances to the beat of a different drummer. Or put another way, since Robert Frost is one of his favorite poets, Friedlander prefers to take the road not taken. And it has made all the difference. It brought him to UW-Madison for his undergraduate education and determined his eventual career path. Friedlander, founder [...]
The little, picture postcard Swiss village of Nyon has a big reputation. Founded over two thousand years ago by Julius Caesar, it can lay claim to Roman ruins, a 16th century castle, and beautiful views of Lake Geneva. It can also boast it’s the home to Novartis Consumer Health, a division of the international health [...]
