Editor's Column
Overcoming Adversity
by Kit Brown-Hoekstra
Elizabeth Hardwick once said, "Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid."
I'm still figuring out what the lesson has been from this summer of adversity--what with breaking my right elbow in June and coming home from the IPCC conference to a flooded basement, amongst other things, culminating in the lateness of this issue and the delays with moving to the new format.
The upside to all of this is that I've been repeatedly reminded of how lucky I am to have family, friends, and colleagues who are unfailingly kind and helpful, even when I've been at the end of my rope.
And now for something completely different...
It is appropos that this issue, which coincides with the conference, is about internationalization and globalization. In Hawaii, we were privileged to see many esteemed colleagues from Japan, the Netherlands, and other parts of the world.
Seven sessions dealt with various aspects of intercultural communication, particularly how to incorporate it into teaching. Several professors from Japan talked about their experiences teaching English to Japanese students and professionals.
I found Dr. Yoshimasa Ono's talk particularly interesting and relevant to the workshops I teach on writing for international audiences. Dr. Ono described how he taught Japanese professionals how to write technical papers in English.
Dr. Atsuko Yamazaki and I had several interesting conversations during the social hours about intercultural awareness and where is the line between being culturally sensitive/aware and overdoing it (which then tends to backfire). The book I reviewed this month also discusses this issue in the context of Asian names.
Of course, the social networking opportunities at the conference are almost more important than the technical sessions. The conversations and ideas flowed freely with the mai tais and daiquiris. The PCS Facebook page displays our photos (you have to have a Facebook account to see them). Join us there!
If you have questions or comments, please contact me at .