Me, Myself, and I

Greetings. My name is Michelle Haney Brown. I have been a perpetual student of Japan for over 25 years.

In 1982, I was an AFS exchange student to Japan for one year, during which time I lived with a Japanese family, who I am still close to to this day, and attended a public high school. My experiences during that year and my perpetual study of its culture, people, and customs has changed my life and my view of the world and how we people on earth interact with one another.

My passion is to spread cross-cultural understanding between the peoples of the U.S.A. and Japan. I now believe that my calling lies not only in the intercultural understanding between citizens of Japan and the U.S. but also -- to push this one step further and broaden the perspective-- to spread understanding between people who are different from one another and to become not just more tolerant but more joyous in accepting the differences that make us all unique.

I am making an impact on the world by touching the lives of young people in my community and will begin teaching in the fall. Heretofore, I have worked with students in various capacities, substituting, teaching Japanese language and culture at a Montessori school, tutoring bilingual students for TAKS testing, which is done by the state of Texas, and volunteering within the local school district and within the city of Austin.

At Johnson Space Center, for several years, I have taught a two-day course called Japanese Cross-cultural Training that I designed for the employees and contractors who work with the Japanese people involved in the space program. I also do cross-cultural consulting and training for businesses who do or want to do business in Japan. I used to sell AT&T international long distance services to a variety of international business customers, many of whom were from other countries. In Houston, I have many customers who were from Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries and, in Los Angeles, I worked with many Japanese customers. Before doing this, I handled the Japanese customers for a company called Granada Corporation that sold, processed, and exported beef to Japan, imported shrimp from Panama, and did much research, siring, cloning, etc. in the cattle industry in conjunction with Texas A&M University. In addition to these corporate jobs, I have done relocation training for Japanese people relocating to the U.S.; tutored in Japanese, English, Spanish; and taught life and cultural skills.

My educational background is that I have a Master's in Japanese Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and a Bachelor's in Asian Studies with a Minor in Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin. I graduated Summa Cum Laude and am a member of Phi Beta Kappa. I have recently passed the Texas state tests to teach a variety of subjects and grades and am currently finishing the requirments for my teaching certification and am looking forward to teaching soon. I speak English, Spanish, and Japanese and love to travel.

I love to learn and love to share my international experiences in Japan and other countries with others and hope that you find my blog entries enjoyable, enlightening, and helpful.

I am not a teacher, but an awakener. -- Robert Frost