ASIJ '93 Alumni Newsletter 2007

Dear ASIJ Class of 1993,

Welcome to another year in the life of Class of '93! If our alumni news grapevine was a little on the quiet side this year, we more than made up in quality what we missed in quantity, with a veritable smorgasbord of weddings, childbirths, travels, graduations, moves, and other exciting news to which we will get promptly after delivering the following

Important Announcement: Next year heralds the arrival of our much-vaunted fifteenth high school reunion! That's right, folks, just when you thought you were finally getting over your hangover from our awesome tenth reunion in New York City, your tireless reunion planning committee, staffed by Cathy Cruz-George, Mayumi Nakayama, and Shandy Ota, has already begun planning the festivities for '08 -- but they need YOUR INPUT! Please take one minute to fill out this 15th Reunion Survey so the reunion committee can custom-tailor the party for maximal participation and enjoyment by all.

And with that out of the way, it's on to the newsletter...

We begin this year with the joyous clanging of wedding bells. Allison Babb, who was with our class from 1985 to 1989, worked at Goldman Sachs in New York after college, then did an MBA at Cornell, then returned to New York to work at Morgan Stanley and later Bernstein Research, and finally moved to Boston in January of this year and married Michael Christopher in June. Allison writes, We had an amazing wedding in the Hudson Valley of New York with ASIJer Kenny Deane in attendance. (Kenny was actually a key player in introducing Mike and I!) We then went on a 3 week honeymoon to Hawaii and are now back to the "real world" of work, but still managing to have a lot of fun exploring our new hometown! If anyone is ever in the Boston area for work ~ please drop me a line! Drop that line to Allison.

Wedding bells haven't only been ringing in Boston. Over in Hawaii, and after a whirlwind three-month engagement, Cathy S. Cruz-George got married last summer to Justin George, who manages PGA and LPGA golf tournaments in the Hawaiian islands. Meanwhile, Cathy herself is back at Hawaii Business magazine as the senior editor. Last October, Cathy and Justin visited Tokyo and seven other Japanese cities as part of a goodwill tour for the Hawaii Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce. Write to Cathy.

Back in Boston we find Haruna Tada, who wed her fiance Yusuke on July 7th. "We didn't have a 'real' wedding," Haruna reports, just a bbq party with local friends -- so unfortunately there wasn't any asij representation there, but we're hoping to do some sort of a party the next time we make it back to Tokyo. Other than that, not much has changed since last year. Write to Haruna.

We find several more of our classmates in the soon-to-be-married category. Mari Nagasue got engaged on May 20th and writes,

My fiance's name is Dae Jin Youn, he is a descendant of the Korean Royal family, and we will be having our wedding in Oct this year in Seoul. But in the meantime, since he is going back to grad school for an MBA, we will be settling in Hawaii from this fall. Since Hawaii is only 6-7 hours away from both of our homes in Japan and Korea, we will be going back and forth often, so I hope you can visit us in either place when you have a chance.

Also planning a destination wedding is Jill Fink, who writes,

I can't remember the last we did this - I guess a year ago? [Editor's note: pretty much.] So, since last September, Dan and I have adopted a puppy (Josie), gotten engaged, and moved to a new house. We're getting married in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico on November 10th. We've done a lot of wedding related travel this year, including a trip to Sonoma, CA to attend the wedding of Jane Kim ('94).

Tom Bunten, who was with our class for fifth through eighth grades, will be getting married in November, with Bill Endo scheduled to be in the wedding, and is "excited to be kicking off the next chapter of my life." After college, Tom moved back to Huntington Beach, ended up in a sales job, and really enjoyed the work, to the extent that Eight years later, I am still in HB, still selling (though we now call it consulting) and having the time of my life. My main focus is reducing the carbon footprint of a company through technology. Tom sent in some photos of his summer vacation in Europe -- here are the soon-to-be-newlyweds in Berlin. Write to Tom.

Brian and Shawn still live in Hillsboro, Oregon, outside of Portland. Brian continues to work for Intel on collaborations between design and manufacturing for processors coming in 2008, but in the meantime has also started a sport photography business on the side, which, Brian notes,

is as much fun as doing the events, with less damage on the knees.

Those of our classmates who didn't get married or have kids in 2007 were busy traveling. This past April, Crystal English took a six-month break from her job as a Senior Art Director at Venables, Bell & Partners, a San Francisco advertising agency, to travel in Central and South America. "The goal," Crystal writes, "has been to learn Spanish and basically adventure through a part of the world I had never explored." Before embarking on her travels, Crystal stayed with Christine Lee in San Francisco; later, in Peru, Crystal met up with up Cara Naylor, who was posted in Cusco for a few months on assignment for her job at Backroads, a travel company based in Berkeley, CA. Write to Crystal.

Also recently in South America was Katie Sakuma, who reports,

I am still living in San Francisco and loving every moment I am actually in town. Life on the road never seems to slow down as a consultant. Luckily, I have been staffed on projects in the Pacific Northwest which make for easy commutes. Again, the frequent flyer miles are a great perk. I just used a ton to fly me and a friend first class to Belize for a week's vacation. Not too shabby! I also recently visited Missy Brinkmann in Colorado and spent a fun weekend white water rafting, rock climbing, and just catching up. I have also seen Julie McCord a few times this year both in DC as well as in SF. I am really looking forward to our reunion next year, especially if it is as fun as our 10-year! :)

The 2007 installment of David Rothwell's annual motorcycle pilgrimage was a cross-country trip from Tennessee to San Francisco to see the UC vs. Tenn football game. "Even though we (Tennessee) lost," David notes, "it was a good trip." David works at Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tennessee, where, he reports, "Life is good, living on the lake and not having to do much traveling. Our little girl is two years old." Write to David.

Also living on a lake in the Southeast US is Matt Brearton, who is in Hartwell, GA. Matt has been married for 6 years to his wife Lisa, and has a four year old son, Eli, and a one year old daughter, Lila. Matt enjoys living on Lake Hartwell and wants to extend his hospitality to any classmates who may find themselves in Georgia. Take Matt up on his offer.

Grant Smith spent the summer on a two-month road trip around the U.S. and Canada visiting all thirty Major League Baseball parks -- a death-defying feat duly catalogued on Grant's travellog website. Grant's wife Emily joined up for the last leg of the tour in San Francisco, which thus made it only the latest in an extensive series of journeys the two have taken recently, including a three-week trek through India last December, a week in Southern France in April, and two weeks in Tuscany in June. The ballpark tour was Grant's way of celebrating the completion of his MBA at London Business School and of recharging his batteries before starting work at McKinsey in London. In the meantime, during their years in the U.K., Grant and Emily have learned that everyone passes through London eventually, so drop them a line the next time you're in town.

Speaking of travellog websites, Mike Riedy, as promised in his alumni news submission last year, compiled some thorough online documentation of the multi-month RV trek he recently took with his girlfriend Jenn and their dog Harry. Check it out! Then write to Mike.

The breakneck pace of Jen Woodard's travels defies all attempts at paraphrasing; we quote directly and in full from Jen's own account: All is well with me. Still on the move. Since leaving Santa Cruz in October of last year I headed over to Costa Rica with a Realtor friend ...we had big FUN~bliss for a few weeks. While there I landed a gig with Villa Sol Resort just outside of Coco Beach with paid housing for 6 months pending work visa details. This was an insane opportunity and I was delirious about it. But on the return trip to U.S. soil I was met by my now partner, John, who had flown out from TN to surprise me. And stop me from moving out of the country. Dang it! :) Two weeks later we headed to the south east United States (Costa just has to wait! I'm in LOVE). Chattanooga, TN would end up being my temp home for 10 months. I traveled to and through Kentucky, N Carolina, and much of TN. The music nightlife in Nashville is a brilliant adventure for most anyone who appreciates authentic delicious music, the musician and the giant creative energies of such concentration of talents. That being said, I'm certain I experienced more culture shock being in the southeast U.S. than when first in Japan! I am now living back in Santa Cruz (phew!) and attending 5 Branches Institute studying Asian Bodywork including much focus in Qi Gong energy work. I am sporadically playing ball. I ride my cruiser instead of a car...much exercise and fun is being had. The weather is always epic. Shandy Ota and I ran into each other in Monterey, California! He was partly in costume, participating in what looked like a burningman-ish event for hotel industry folks. Weird. Maybe he can explain more. Shandy looks great, still has his brilliant smile and positive energy. My parents are still having fun hanging with Scott and Beth Hudkins who have two daughters that we went to ASIJ with...Jill and Carrie are doing great things in Northern Cali..I hope to see them soon~we've all been through so many new adventures since the last time we were all together. I fly back and forth to Tn so that John and I can be together as much as possible. The south has cooled down FINALLY and it's actually weather I can enjoy plus the fall is coming and the colors will be dramatically changing. We'll be in the Carolinas for a wedding in October. I'll be able to see more of the season then. Phew, indeed! Write to Jen.

Some of our classmates' travels this year took them to new homes! Karen Hale moved to Austin last September, and reports that her new environs have been great so far. My husband got a great job that he has been enjoying, and my company graciously agreed to let me keep my job and work from home. For a while, at least. Our one-year-old daughter doesn't really care where she is, but she's been happy too. With the arrival of our daughter, Jenna, in April 2006, we've had to cut back on the traveling but have kept busy with home improvement projects to our new house. We'll be celebrating our 10th anniversary later this year in Hawaii though, so can't complain! Write to Karen.

Kristian Ferguson might be moving to Austin as well -- or to Orlando -- depending on what happens to the satellite office in Chevy Chase, MD, at which he is currently stationed in his job at R. W. Beck, Inc. Either way, moving is fine by Kris:

Living in Northern Virginia is starting to get on my nerves anyways - too crowded and too expensive.

Richard Bull moved from Miami to LA last year and reports that he is

loving it here. Working hard, doing well, and having fun. Look me up if you are in town...

Also on the move has been Nicolas Lam, who moved with his wife and daughter from Minnesota to New York City to pursue an MBA at Columbia. "We're adjusting to NY," Nicolas writes. "It's hard to believe how time flies." Write to Nicolas.

Ryan Burgess is back in the States after an extended stay in Japan:

After 5 years in Fukuoka I finally had my fill of sushi and am back in the homeland, recently Mastered and living precariously down the street from Georgie Bush in the heart of our nation's capital. I continue to brave the front lines as a teacher, this year at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, VA where I have probably too much fun torturing my credulous 9th grade English classes and realize more and more every day that I owe Mr. Olstad a great debt for being the only teacher that ever turned me on to literature and writing. I also teach Latin and Japanese from time to time but feel my skills naturally disintegrating though neglect. Now that I'm settled in DC I'd like to reconnect with the ASIJers in my area; I owe Julie McCord an email and a drink and know that there must be plenty of other classmates skulking about.

Finally, I, Tom Reid, having spent the past three years reading enviously of all of your graduations, weddings, childbirths, travels, and moves, decided this year at long last to graduate, get married, have kids, travel around the world, and move to a new city myself, and it was without doubt the best dream I have ever had! Do not write to me lest you wake me from my delusional reverie.

And that's a spin 'round the world of the Great ASIJ Class of '93! Thanks to all who wrote in -- and thanks in advance to all who will write in next year! Send news and address updates anytime directly to me, or post them on our class website at http://www11.brinkster.com/asij1993/Update.asp, and in the meantime keep in touch with your classmates through our online class directory.