Page 34 - Demo SS Fall 2016

Our International staff
Like to
GARDEN and make things grow?
Renfrew Institute’s 4-Square Garden can use your helping hands!
Garden volunteers keep our historic garden maintained throughout the year:
• Transplanting
• Weeding
• Watering
• Harvesting Produce
Volunteer Benefits:
• Learn about the historic Pennsylvania German 4-square garden
• Sharpen skills
• Pick produce for personal use
• Help maintain the garden
used for teaching area school children about history
and gardening
• Harvest Dinner
• Field Trips
• Fun Gatherings
The garden is located in Renfrew Park
1010 E. Main Street, Waynesboro, Pa.
For more information, call
717-642-8802
Yes, Renfrew Institute has branched out—to Japan! Our public relations director, Andrea (Andi) Struble is living in Tokyo, where her husband, Roy, is teaching middle school math at Nishimachi International School.
When Andi broke the news to us that they would be leaving for Tokyo, we all agreed that RI’s public rela- tions work would have to go with
herP. ress releases, posters and flyers, the publication you are now reading and all else “graphic design” are done electronically these days. Andi already worked mostly from home, so it seemed entirely possible to do that from afar.
Roy and Andi Struble in front of Nezu Shrine in Tokyo. One of Tokyo’s oldest shrines, Nezu dates from the mid-17th century. The Tokyo Sky Tree can be seen in the background. At 2,080 feet high, it is the tallest structure in Japan, and the second-tallest in the world.
Well, it has been a year now
and it is working beautifully! The only adjustment has been that those of us state-side have to remember that Andi is sleeping while we’re in the middle of the work day, and vice-versa. There are short windows in the early morning and late evening when we can email back and forth at the same time.
Andi has found learning the Japanese language difficult, but she loves the culture there. She had traveled to Japan before, in 1987.
With Tokyo 13 hours ahead of U.S. east coast time, Andi is often in the next day on these exchanges, so we talk of “your tomorrow” or “our tomorrow” when determining deadlines. Still, it is truly amazing that our exchanges feel like they are traveling across town rather than across the planet!
“After visiting Japan as a tourist all those years ago, I certainly never dreamed of living here,” she said. “But I love it. Tokyo is a beautiful, safe city with a million things going on all the time. Living without a car is great—we are walking more than ever before, between taking our dog (Tibetan Spaniel, Kera) out several times a day and exploring the city whenever we can.
Avid travelers, Andi and Roy had long dreamed of living abroad at some point. After Roy retired in 2015 from Washington County Public Schools, where he taught math at Boonsboro Middle School, he accepted the position in Tokyo.
“I am so grateful that the institute allowed me to continue working from Japan—it feels like I have the best of both worlds!”
It has been a very successful move. “I wasn’t ready to stop teach- ing yet, and my new school here in Tokyo has been amazing,” Roy said. “My students come from several different countries around the world, although about half of them are Japanese. I am learning as much from all of them as they are learning from me. I love it.”
The world seems smaller today. We are thankful for the advanced technology that allows Andi to work and communicate with us, keeping the institute’s publications and promotional materials rolling... even from the other side of the globe.
Melodie Anderson-Smith
こんにちは東京から
Kon'nichiwa Tōkyō kara “Hello from Tokyo”
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