Like many Japan enthusiasts, my journey to understand Japan started with my major exposure to the culture through an assortment of media – My father’s military stories, News, Discovery Channel documentaries, random exchanges between Steve Urkel and his Japanese speaking
Program Spotlight: Japanese Chat Club
Introduction: NABEA’s Japan Chat Club is a community-driven program founded and led by Ashley Hayes and supported by Harvey Beasley; it was created in June of 2021, just 2 years after NABEA’s founding in 2019. As part of NABEA’s mission
Why I Joined NABEA – Brandy Darling
The Black girl that speaks Chinese. That was the way people identified me in my small, predominantly-white college in Connecticut. At first, it really bothered me because what did race have to do with my intellectual ability? Nothing. Little did
Why I Joined NABEA – Payge Jennings
Being Black and studying in Asia never seemed weird to me until other people told me it was. Growing up in Maryland, I had a lot of classmates who were of Asian descent. More specifically, I had a lot of
Why I Joined NABEA – Shahn Savino
I never wanted to learn Mandarin. It was my school’s first year offering the language and I had no interest in it. As a proud Haitian-American, I wanted to learn French. It would help me with Creole and I could