Hi everyone!

My name is Beth Gawne, and I’m excited to write for the PAIA Insider this year! I wanted to give a little information about who I am so hopefully you can have an idea of where I’m coming from when I write my blog entries. I’m sure you’ve noticed my awesome cohorts doing the same, so this shouldn’t surprise you too much.

I chose the title of this post because, although I’m from the United States (raised in Alabama!), I just came back from Teaching English in Japan for 3 years. As a result, adjusting not only to school but also back to the US culture has been a roller coaster ride, and will probably continue to be so. I lived in a tiny village in Miyazaki Prefecture–aka really far away from Tokyo– where the closest city was an hour drive away. I also learned Japanese, but that’s not really hard to do when the closest native English speaker is also an hour drive away.

(Me and students at a festival near my village)

A little more about me: currently I’m a dual MAIR-MPA student hoping to get a Certificate of Advanced Studies in conflict resolution. My undergrad was at the University of Washington, where I studied anthropology, with minors in education and diversity. Hobbies of mine include photography, singing in choir, traveling, trying new foods, and writing. I’m a proud NRHH alumni member, and if that means something to you, then we will be fast friends 🙂

I hope you enjoy going on this journey with me as I start to unravel seeing US culture from a new lens, as well as navigate the excitement of life at Maxwell!