Corona was said to be approaching, spreading across the borders, officially reported in Italy and Algeria. The weather this winter has been all but wintery. It was said that the virus doesn't survive in the heat, that's why spring rushed in and February has been warm enough for the bees to hatch. I found it uplifting to see a premature hatching of the bees! It was said that the virus's fatality was overrated. They reported statistics in the radio this morning about it and the Taxi driver said it was America. Why wasn't it spread in Denmark, why wasn't it in I don't know where in Europe? How come China's economy was getting too strong? he said; they built a frigging hospital in 10 days! One expects anything in politics, indeed; not everyone, however is endowed with such level of political analysis. My friend Sarah, fond of documentaries, said that the Chinese ate everything that moved: bugs, bats, turtles, maggots… you name it! From another perspective, the virus was associated with God's revenge, which accounted for divine justice. But I doubt this theory is still valid now that precautions are recommended from our own ministry of health. A doctor in the radio said that they had almost found a medicine, one that was, not newly created, but an old one that when tried out on patients, they sort of breathed better… On the other hand, it was a virus, my father said, and viruses don't have a treatment. It was exactly like a flu only a bit stronger (he knows about the stats) and it was common for the flu to kill tons of people every year. It was just that the Chinese are too many. That's why it appeared like an epidemy. Temperature has started to drop down. Well, gladly! It hasn't rained for too long and it was said that we might instead die of hunger if the rainless heat persisted. Even after the official declaration of the first Tunisian case (Taxi man said it was probably a hundred cases already but they wouldn't say), one would still scroll among all kinds of jokes in the social media. I even saw the virus itself having a fb account and commenting that it had never been so humiliated, so disgracefully slandered! Mom hears the radio, and all they talk about is prevention methods. She said it was a ball of crap. The garlic price went from 8 to 30 dinars! A mere exploitation. People have no mercy toward each other and expect God to have mercy! She told my brother to wash his hands frequently, but he didn't really believe in soap. “They found no medicine that would kill it, and you think soap will?” I'm actually seeing a professionally illustrated poster by Tunisian Red Crescent saying literally “Don't kiss me, don't hug me. A smile to my face makes me happy!” Dad, with an almost gay detachment insisted it might only be serious to people who were vulnerable: The old, the sick, the frail… otherwise it's just a flu. The mail man at work whose heart's been operated more than once said “So what? Let it drop down a little” (referring to the population), “some filtering would be good”. I think he's the only one who heartily acknowledges the virus's right as a lifeless organism to coexist. Does this thing only affect humans? I wonder, because I care to see more bee swarms coming along in the spring; I might even catch some and populate a hive or two.

The last week of May and the entire month of June was a very dark period for me. As I was working from home and trying to keep safe in these precarious times, social media had become my go-to for some relief (as well as the consumption of news as I see fit for my mental health). However, when I opened my Twitter app on this fateful day in May, I realised that I could no longer find succour on social media. A young woman had been raped and murdered. Again. As someone who is extremely invested in the protection and progress of the girl child, this news shattered me for weeks. I couldn't go on social media for fear of what I would see and the pain and tiredness I could feel from the tweets and posts from other women. Another thing that made me lose all interest in social media at this point was the "hot take" dropped by men about the heinous act of rape and how women somehow contribute to it. Being someone that already volunteers as a content creator to one of the most responsive rape centres in the country - Mirabel Centre - I quickly got to work expressing my frustrations the only way I new how, by writing. Below is what I had to say; On Saturday, May 30th 2020, the Mirabel Centre's Twitter account was tagged on a tweet about finding justice for a young lady named Uwa, who had been viciously raped and physically assaulted in a church in Benin. We immediately reached out to this young man via his DM on Twitter and provided contact details of lawyers and NGOs in Edo state that could help. Unfortunately, barely 3 hours after the conversation, the poster informed us that Uwa had passed and requested that we do all we could to get justice for her. With heavy hearts and a black cloud over our heads, we got to work and quickly put out a tweet announcing the tragic event and calling for justice from all and sundry. As the news spread to demand #JusticeforUwa, voices began to rise and statements were made to express that #WeAreTired. However, there were people (read men) who thought that a fight against the injustices that women constantly face somehow meant that men's rights were being neglected. Here is the thing; we all know “men also get raped”. Another thing we know is that no one makes jokes about these stories when they are shared more than men themselves. Infact, saying that the rights of men are not fought for is a big slap in the face of the many women who have been at the forefront of fighting battles that directly impact men's lives. We've called out police brutality, the offences of SARS, we've stood with men who were at one time or the other sexually assaulted and are now ready (and brave enough) to share their stories. The Mirabel Centre recently published a post about male-on-male abuse and we have also been known to take on cases of sexual assault against boys and men. So the issue here is that you're not really concerned about the support men supposedly do not receive when they share their stories. The real issue is that you are trying to derail the conversation currently being had and we will not stand for that. And to those of you who ask inane questions in order to shame and discredit victims, we can categorically tell you - drawing on the number of cases we have dealt with at the Mirabel Centre since existence - that it really doesn't matter where she was, what she was wearing, why she was there, what she said, what she did, how she walked/eat/slept/breathed, who she is, whether she fought or not, screamed or otherwise, MEN RAPE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO. In a bid to help, we also see people talking about self-defense and how it can help women avoid getting raped. This is shortsighted because it exposes the underbelly of the issue, which is that our society sees the crime of rape as something the woman should take responsibility for. This goes to prove just how deeply rape is ingrained in our society that it is subtly permissible to an extent - that being as long as the larger society does not raise awareness against it. So, we'll leave you with this - rather than teach girls how not to get raped, teach your boys that they have absolutely NO right to a woman's body! IT'S ABOUT TIME OUR SOCIETY STOPS FAILING THE GIRL-CHILD.

My name, Haruko, means “spring child” in a direct translation. It is not an unusual name though girl names with -ko at the end are becoming less and less popular in Japan these days. I have always liked my name. Spring is the time of the year everything comes alive: plants, animals, people. The world suddenly becomes more vivid in color and the warmth in the air makes you smile. Well, at least it makes me smile. I was born in May, so naturally, I love spring. Yet, there is another meaning in my name. Most Japanese kids get Chinese characters for their names. The sound of the name, as well as the Chinese characters for it, gives the extra meaning to your name. Almost all people think of my name as 春子 when they hear my name. 春 simply means spring. Yet, my parents decided not to use this character but used 東 instead. 東 means east. It also means orient. It is pretty rare to use this character and read as Haru, so most of the time I meet Japanese people who have only saw my name in Chinese characters, they read it wrong. I once asked my mother why she had named me with this character. I think she was at the terrace, putting up the fresh laundry. Simply out of curiosity, I turned to her and asked. She said, "because when the first wind blows from the east, it means the spring is near." Then she smiled. I am not sure how long ago it was, how old I was, or which season it was. But in my memory, it was always spring, with soft sunlight bouncing on my mother's face and the towel she was putting up. I just loved how she said it. Whenever someone asks why I have an unusual character for my name, I proudly tell this story. With a smile. After I moved to the U.S., the first reaction I got whenever I told my name to people has always been “huh?” Many people misheard my name as Erika. I cannot tell you how many times I've told my name at Starbucks and got my drink in a cup named Erika. Nowadays I just tell my name as Erika at Starbucks. Maybe I should just pick a random name, such as Elizabeth or Beyoncé. Still, when I write down my name, especially in Japanese, I feel a little sense of pride. I remember the thought my parents put into naming my name. I remember my mother's smile. I remember the slight feel of triumph when non-Japanese people remembered my name perfectly. As I write this in freezing winter, I long for spring. I long for my season. I would love to see the soft sunlight bouncing on the fresh towel at the terrace. I long to feel the warm east wind on my face and to know the spring is near.

Have you ever tried to imagine being someone else? Two summers ago, when I was 11 years old, I auditioned for a role in Yellow Fever, the Musical. I was absolutely thrilled to be cast as a Korean mother of two who survived the Korean War and lived through hunger and poverty. This was the first time I was part of the main cast and played such an important role. I was anxious but ready to fully commit and put in the maximum amount of effort to perform well in the musical. During that four week period in the Summer of 2016, I learned about the reality of the world around me, realized the importance of teamwork, and discovered the connection between the story and my heritage. This entire experience encouraged me to grow and has changed the way I view the world. The knowledge I gained during the musical program gave me a deeper insight into what it must have been like to live in a war-torn society, struggling with poverty and hunger. To understand my character, I did a lot of research on the history of the Korean War and Korean culture. I read the script over again and again, not just to memorize my lines but to understand the story I was going to tell. I got to visualize myself in her world, and fully immerse myself in the story. Over time, I became more familiar with the complexity of the role as I gained an understanding of the reasons that led to the many ideals and expectations she created for her children. One winter night my character was trembling in the cold weather and her stomach was growling. When she saw bread coming fresh out of the oven, she couldn't help but grab a piece and run. She had no other choice but to steal a small piece of warm bread in order to survive. This made me realize how I was so ignorant of the struggles around the world. The more I learned the more empathetic I became towards my character. In addition to the hardships of war, my character still nurtured hopes for a brighter future. Therefore, she came to America to provide better opportunities for her children despite the struggles to fit in a foreign culture. Along my journey of understanding the story as well as self-discovery, my ambitious cast pushed me even further. My peers, who had been in this program much longer than me, were all very supportive and allowed me to flourish in the new environment. Even though there were some long days, I had so much fun with my cast while we worked towards a common goal. Since that was my first year there, their will motivated me to become the best of myself. I connected with many teachers and directors, consulting them on how to become a better performer and how to better act out my role. Their advice had brought me a long way and in the limited amounts of time I was there, I was able to deeply bond with many people. There was this one time during our lunch break that our entire cast sat around the table and discussed what we wanted the audience to get from the show. We shared our ideas and laid out a plan. We even stayed connected after camp hours just to map out the play and rehearse lines. During that time, I really saw how far our teamwork had brought us. Without everyone's cooperation, the show would not have been as successful or as memorable as it is now. The entire experience inspired me to give my all into the things I am passionate about and to never lose that light of hope even in difficult situations. As I dug deeper into the story, I realized how close it all hit home and the connection between the musical production and my own heritage. Before rehearsing for this musical, I had never truly appreciated the struggles my own family had to face. My grandmother also lived through a similar situation. She grew up in the time of the Cultural Revolution in China and many opportunities were taken from her. When I was seven years old, my grandmother told me a story about her life as a teenager. She had to work in order to help feed herself and her family, working at the train station, selling cargo labels. She told me how hard it was working twelve and more hours each day, running from dawn to night trying to get customers to buy her labels. She also had to outrace other hungry children which made the job even more exhausting. This story is very inspiring and motivational for me and after I was able to better understand it, I gained a deeper admiration for my grandmother and realized how fortunate I am today. My grandmother's experience enabled me to feel the determination to survive. I was able to apply those emotions to my character, which ultimately improved my performance. Before the four week musical program, I would have never discovered so much about the reality of the world, the power of teamwork, nor the truth about my own heritage. I know the skills that I developed during this period will continue to serve me well. This experience has helped me to build values that I will cherish for the rest of my life and it has become an essential part of who I am becoming.

For a long time, I've considered eschewing attending a university in my country in favor of studying aboard because I believe pursuing education overseas is a life-changing opportunity that brings students beneficial experiences to widen their horizon and experience a brand-new country with new lifestyle, culture, language and nature. Therefore, I always ask myself: ‘What country is suitable for me to study aboard?' After thinking twice about it, from my heart, I know Japan is the most appropriate country for me to get higher education because of these things: First of all, international students in Japan have chances to receive the benefits of some of the highest educational standards in the world with over 700 universities and many of them are ranked in the top of Asia, even the world such as: The University of Tokyo, Kyoto, Keio, and Nagoya. These universities are some of the best places for me to study, enlarge knowledge and develop my skills, which is the prologue for getting a good job in the future. Furthermore, a wide range of scholarships are available to international students. As far as I'm concerned, all the Japanese government, universities, public and private organizations provide students with a plenty of generous scholarships. Not only is the life quality of students in Japan very good, but tuition fees are also comparatively cheap. Compared to other popular destinations like the USA, Australia, or the UK, Japan is the cheapest place to study abroad. Interestingly, there are a huge number of meaningful outdoor activities at Japanese universities, which lets students be exposed to foreign cultures and gives them chances to release stress after hard lessons. Besides, international students are allowed to work part-time in order to make extra income, which is very suitable for my living conditions due to the fact that I can help my parents reduce the money used for my study in the future. What a wonderful thing! Secondly, in the future, I want to enroll in the faculty of Informatics at a famous university because I've dreamed of being a successful software developer for years. I believe that my dream will come true after I finish my Informatics degree at a Japanese university. It can't be denied that Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world and Informatics degrees in Japanese universities are very helpful, informative, valuable and always up-to-date. Students are taught to write code, programs, build and design software effectively and professionally, provided with a huge source of information about computer and many opportunities to put the knowledge gained into practice. After graduation, with those experiences, I'll be able to get a good job in my country, Vietnam. I hope my future software can make a significant contribution to the development of education and society in Vietnam and narrow the gap between my country and the world. Next, I've fallen in love with Japanese culture since I was quite small. People around the world have a deep respect for Japanese because of their politeness, honesty, punctuality, kindness, intelligence, diligence, and patience. When studying in Japan, I'll have chances to learn these great qualities and experience a both well-preserved and modern culture. I'm also extremely impressed by peaceful shrines, torii gates and wonderful colorful traditional ceremonies such as Judo, Karate, Kado, and Chado. Additionally, Japan is the land of amazing anime feature films and television animations. There are lots of films that have been an essential part of my childhood and my daily life such as ‘My neighbor Totoro', ‘Your name', 'One Piece' and ‘Doraemon'. Japanese literature also is very special: often dark but emotional and full of humor. This is the reason why a lot of people enjoying literature have a mysterious love for Japanese novels. So do I. I'm deeply interested in reading wonderful novels of Murakami Haruki and Higashino Keigo such as ‘Norwegian Wood', ‘Naoko' and ‘1Q84'. Through them, I can imagine the life of Japanese – a subtle and enthusiastic life. Finally, I'm looking forward to trying Japanese foods and enjoying Japanese nature. The foods are so unique, refresh, and delicious that a big amount of people are attracted. People having ever tasted Ramen, Sushi, Tempura, Sake, or other Japanese foods never forget the favor of these. Japan's nature is full of incredible beauty and fantastic wonders beyond the imagination. The sense is very lively, exciting picturesque and magnificent. I've a wish to see velvety cherry blossom, lovely snow monkeys and famous fascinating huge volcanoes for myself. How amazing they are! People usually say and write about 'American dream'. But in my heart, besides 'American dream', 'Japanese dream' hold a special place. I've to say: Japan is such a great, wonderful and astounding country that I'll do my best to win a scholarship to study there and enjoy the miraculous things of it.

We, human beings, tend to build intimate and emotional connections towards various things we encounter and places we visit. If our relationships with these things or places come to an end; we may well mourn their absence or go through an experience of remembrance. This emotional and existential remembrance could include our past experiences, actions, places we have been to and people we met. This is what we could define as Nostalgia; the emotional yearning for the past, for places and things that we sentimentally associate with. We could find ourselves often trapped in the past, be it pleasant or unpleasant. In such a situation, our remembrance and nostalgic feelings could be evoked by different external stimuli. Even the slightest stimulation can incite nostalgia. In this sense; a scent, a scene, a person, a voice, an action or a place have the ability to stimulate a tape of similar experiences inside our heads. As an international student abroad, I would argue that people would vouch that it is quite natural to be nostalgic, experience homesickness and potential loneliness. A foreign country, a foreign culture and a foreign language, it is indeed obvious that I'm highly likely to miss home. However, the feelings of nostalgia could be relatively different from person to person. In my case, I do not miss the physical place or people per si as much as I miss my past experiences with them. As a Muslim female student, I would say my presence is constantly received as an accumulation of ideas held and interpreted differently by different people. Yet, my true self is always concealed and never received. In my culture, that is highly conservative and sometimes unfortunately sexist, I'm required to live according to the norms of the society, fulfill certain rules allocated to me as a female and prohibited from certain activities that are the monopoly of men. According to their beliefs, I'm not required to have a strong and independent opinion because, by and large, I'm expected to be a ladylike, decent wife and mother regardless of my values, and thoughts. Living under this canopy of rules always tortured me and silenced my entity in fear of being rejected by the society. On the other side of the fence, the situation is not significantly different as a veiled Muslim student abroad. Namely, a lot of people do receive me as a representation of a barbaric, oppressing culture and a terrorist religion. I, frequently, see frightened and hate looks on the faces of people. I try to fit in but the cultural barriers are always a major hurdle. I'm, thus, never received based on who I am or on my thoughts, but rather on my appearance and gender. All these unfortunate experiences made me constantly pressured and nostalgic to the past, to my childhood and teenage years, where I used to be independent, dreamy, strong-willed. I never imagined that my life would take this critical turn and become caged in the so-called world of stereotypes held by others. An influential experience which incited a sudden nostalgia took place in my first Yoga experience. When I arrived at the location, I immediately got a soothing homey feeling due to the warmth of the room and the gentle waft of the incense. We sat down around a beautifully-lit candle in the middle, held each other's hands and listened to a soothing meditation music. I and the instructor held hands, At that particular moment, I had strange feelings of warmth and compassion. Feelings I only used to know when I was younger; when I used to come back from school or sports training, play with my cat, watch my favourite animation on tv, swim in my imagination to be like one of the imaginary animated heroes in the show, and wait for my mother to come back from work to tell her about my day, adventures, my dreams and how I look forward to making them true. I had a sudden flashback; a recreation of the past in front of my eyes, my tears uncontrollably fell down afterward. As soon as the session finished, I realized that it was time to get back to the real world; the world where I'm no longer that strong dreamy child. The instructor looked me in the eyes and said “you will be alright”, I felt she was looking at my heart and that she sensed my sentiments and the overflow of emotions through my skin. I still experience the after effects of my first yoga session because it was utterly nostalgic and a sudden reminiscence of the past. It was like a psychedelic experience of feelings and memories. It is, indeed, enchanting how a single experience stimulated countless feelings and memories through a vivid flashback. All in all, it is terrible that people in both cultures treat me as an embodiment of social and cultural representation instead of a person with an independent entity. Nevertheless, one thing I learned from this existential experience is that we should effortlessly fight for who we are, our dreams and voices.

Social Media is arguably the internet's most fascinating breakthrough of the 21st century. I am no expert, but as someone who grew up in an era of early cellular phones, I have lived to witness how communication in humanity progressed. I remember as a child, before internet was a ‘thing,' and when international calls were expensive, I used to write handwritten letters and greeting cards. I would send them through the post office to relatives living abroad. All depending on its destination, it would typically arrive in 14 days, at times longer. We have come a long way. Today, communication has become a lot faster, easier and in most cases, cost-free. First, there was the 'email'. And then there was 'text'. And now with social media, you can have a peek of someone's daily life thru a series of posts, pictures and videos. You can communicate without having to say a word; you just hit the button and it tells the other person whether you 'like' or 'dislike' what they've shared. You can express your emotion through a bunch of emojis. You can take photos, enhance them before they're out for public view. And if the public embrace what you put out there, potentially, you could become an overnight sensation and rake in millions into your bank account. The frequent use of social media among celebrities and world leaders alike has catapulted itself into becoming more than just a phenomenon; it has become an influential institution. And its creators? They have become mega-billionaires and powerful individuals themselves. But, I take into consideration the yin-yang philosophy amid triumph this new medium has brought the world into. In every milestone of human advancement lurk its advantage and its downside, all in one small package. Communication may seem a lot easier - and so as spreading hatred. It provides your daily dose of news updates, but it can also mislead you into deception. It has created virtual communities. You can make thousands of online friends or gain millions of followers from around the world by sharing with the public the life you make them to believe. But, it has also desensitized the unsupervised youth. It has become a haven for bullies. And because of its nature where anyone can choose anonymity, they believe they can get a way with their actions. Worse, they think such actions are okay. Some put on a character; an alter ego packaged a certain way to entice the public into liking them. And once they reach the attention and popularity they have been carving out for some time, what some fail to realize, is that they are also losing a sense of authenticity. They have become their alter ego's own slaves. It is like a drug that makes you feel superior on one hand, but it alienates you from reality until you find yourself lost and having a difficulty finding your way back. In the celebrity culture-dominated society, kids of today look up to the brightest 'star' there is. They try to replicate the kind of lifestyle their adored celebrities have, or the life those people imply of having through social media. You put on some diamonds on them, or dress them up in a nice Valentino suit, or perhaps a Tom Ford and you will have a hard time telling the difference. Inside the pretty dress could be a demon disguised in a Prada and a pair of Manolo's. It goes to say, that everything that glitters isn't always real, sometimes it's just the surface. Sadly, social media has made young people to believe otherwise. Gone are the days when almost exclusively, only the real talents make the cut. Today, anyone can be famous, if not in mainstream media, in social media. And the perks that come with it can be so rewarding to the fame-thirsty generation. But it has also proven to be so effective in brainwashing the public. Social media has been tied to the alleged hacking into the US 2016 election. If it were true, once again, we have let social media betray us, this time might just be the biggest one by far. As humans increasingly become more intellectually evolved, so as the way we do and take on things. And if we choose to rebel on the ever-changing way of life, we will be left far off behind; time waits for no one. But if we embrace change, choose to smarten up, enough to know when to draw the line, I think we will be just fine. We can move through time with ease and optimism that something good is going to come out of it. That is, if we use the privilege that we have now to do greatness into the world that gets passed down to generations.