Metro

Hope Visible

U-M student returns early from winter semester in Japan.

Michelle Resnick

Special to the Jewish News

0

n March 11, at 14:46 Japan
Standard Time, I was in Kyoto
chatting online with my sister.
I had absolutely no idea that 363 miles
away, an earthquake and tsunami were
hammering Sendai and the rest of the
Tohoku and east Kanto regions.
I was spending the winter semester
with the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese
Studies (KCJS), a group of 14 universities
headed by Columbia University and affil-
iated with Doshisha University in Kyoto
City. I am majoring in creative writing
and Japanese studies at the University of
Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Kyoto, southwest of Tokyo, was almost
completely unaffected by what had hap-
pened in the northeast of Japan. The one
exception was an aftershock above 6.0
magnitude that hit Shizuoka, a city south
of Tokyo, and traveled to Kyoto. I wasn't
affected by this aftershock, and those
who felt it were only shaken up because
it was probably only a 3.0 magnitude or
less by then.
My teachers never led any of us to
panic or feel that we were in much dan-
ger. Of course, they couldn't promise
us complete safety, but they were quick
to reassure us that Kyoto had never in
recorded history been hit by a direct
earthquake, only tremors from further
off. We were optimistic at that time.
One of my fellow students nominated
himself to direct KCJS efforts for fund-

American students in Japan for the winter semester: Shawn Richardson, Michelle
Resnick, Justine Sjoholm and Lisa Waldon

raising to help northeastern Japan, and
those of us who met with him came up
with two or three ideas we felt we could
focus on, rather than spreading ourselves
thin with five or more different projects.
It was about the same time when news
of the damaged reactor was released. It
was one more disaster on top of the pre-
vious two. And this is the reason our pro-
gram was suspended. The consortium of
universities Stateside were worried about
radiation and the U.S. State Department's
warning, and cancelled our program —
most of the universities forced us home

with threats of no credit if we didn't
comply.
I don't know how everyone else felt,
and I won't speak for anyone but myself
from this point forwards, but I was
devastated. I felt completely safe, and I
wanted to stay, finish up my semester
and help raise money for the Tohoku
area, maybe even go there and help clear
debris. I wasn't given a choice, as my uni-
versity was one of the ones forcing peo-
ple home, and they were very insistent on
getting my plans for travel home.
I can understand it from their point of

view, of course, but when I was there, it
was hard to see anything besides the end
of my program.
During the last few days I was in Japan,
I watched as people of all ages stood on
street corners and collected money to
send to Tohoku. I watched a news show
on TV focus on a group of volunteers
who had just returned from running a
soup kitchen of sorts in Tohoku. I saw
hope. They're rebuilding in the less-
affected areas. They're attempting to con-
tain the radiation. They're still searching
for the people who remain missing, even
though they're likely to only find bodies,
if that, at this point.
I found it inspirational, the way every-
one over there is responding.
I have friends in Tokyo, where there
were food shortages. They say the food
shortages aren't everywhere, thankfully.
There's been no looting. The only fires
are those caused by broken gas lines.
Scholars say the Japanese are resilient,
loyal and dedicated. I'd like to think that's
true of more than just one people, but
those are the qualities I saw in the two
weeks following this triple disaster. The
feeling in Kyoto was positive: There is
hope; we can rebuild. If they feel that way
about these disasters, it makes me won-
der: What can't a group of people with
those qualities recover from? I I
See related story on page 39.

Michelle Resnick of Farmington Hills is a junior

at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Kurtzer To Address Mideast Changes

A

mbassador Daniel C. Kurtzer,
former U.S. ambassador to
Israel and Egypt, will speak
on the "The Changing Face of the
Middle East: Implications for the U.S.
and Israel" at 7 p.m. Thursday, April
14, at Congregation Shaarey Zedek,
Southfield.
The program is open to donors of
$18 or more to the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit's 2011 Annual
Campaign.
Kurtzer is the S. Daniel Abraham
Professor of Middle East Policy Studies
at Princeton University. Before joining

14 April 7 2011

Princeton in 2006,
Kurtzer served as
United States ambas-
sador to Israel and as
United States ambas-
sador to Egypt. He
retired from the U.S.
Foreign Service in
Daniel Kurtzer
2005. Throughout his
career, Kurtzer was
intimately involved in Middle East
peace negotiations and the formulation
of U.S. policy in the Middle East.
The April 14 community event also
will highlight the impact of Federation's

missions program and people-to-
people exchanges. Doron Herman, an
alumnus of Federation's Israeli Camper
Program and Teen Mission, and current
Israel Channel 10 police and crimi-
nal affairs correspondent, will share
personal remarks about his ongoing
relationship with the Detroit Jewish
community.
Herman grew up in Nazareth Illit,
which is part of Michigan's Partnership
2000 region in the Central Galilee.
In 2002, he was selected to attend
Tamarack Camp as part of Federation's
first Israeli Camper Program. In 2004,

Herman was selected to return as teen
staff (Habonim/TSS) to Tamarack Camp.
He continued his relationship with
Detroit as a counselor on Federation's
2008 Teen Mission to Israel.
In 2006, Herman was stationed in
Southern Lebanon and covered the
Second Lebanon War for Channel 10.
In addition, he covered the "Cast Lead"
operation in Gaza and the Gilad Shalit
kidnapping in 2008.
To respond to the April 14 event
or for more information, go to www.
jewishdetroit.org/kurtzer or call (248)
642-4260. Li

