A Year in Japan

Have you read Half the Sky yet? Even if the answer is no, how do you feel about skipping the next meal you were planning on eating out and donating that $10 to make a difference? My friend Lauren, from high school, wrote a book and is donating 100% of all profits to International Medical Corps. Help her sell the last 20 books! Check out her fb page or email her at ayearinjapan2005@gmail.com for more info.


Here is a letter from Lauren:

Dear Friends, Family, Fellow Readers, Writers, and Japanophiles,

As many of you may know, I spent a year after college teaching English in Japan. It was, in short, a life-changing experience - I learned so much during my time in Fuji City, and I left Japan feeling truly fortunate to have experienced life in a foreign country as a JET participant. So when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March of 2011, I was deeply saddened, and I wanted to help.

In Japan, I maintained a blog about my daily life and my own perceptions of Japanese culture. In an effort to preserve and pass on what I learned, I decided to form my blog into a book. I started what would later become many, many hours of editing and composing my "book" in secret. Unfortunately, I was distracted when Hurricane Irene caused major flooding in my home town of Cranford, NJ. I lived elsewhere for a couple weeks, waiting for the flood waters to subside and for electricity to be restored to my apartment building. For the most part, life carried on as usual while I stayed in another town -- but the most devastating part of the flood came afterwards, when everyone piled the destroyed contents of their homes into the streets. The soaking wet guts of people's lives looked and smelled horrible, covering sidewalks and making it nearly impossible to walk. Every day I drove home feeling like I was in another world. It was both depressing and frightening to see how quickly and unexpectedly people's homes can be destroyed. (I live on the 2nd floor of a condo building, so while I was seeing all this go on around me, my home was actually--and thankfully--spared!!).

But, even for those who lost their homes, it could have been so much worse. The scene in Cranford gave me a tiny glimpse of what it might have felt like to have been in Japan, affected by the tsunami...or to currently be anyone, anywhere in the world, affected by a similar disaster. In the end, I was totally fine - my health and home were okay. So I really needed to
do something.

After several more months of editing in my spare time and searching for a printer to turn my blog into a book, I have finally completed my project. I organized the most relevant blog entries by theme, divided them into chapters, and titled it A Year in Japan. Now, I'm emailing you to ask for your support. I am selling copies of my book for $10 each ($10 for the electronic PDF version; $10 + shipping if you would like an actual book mailed to you). 100% of the profits will be donated to the nonprofit organization International Medical Corps. Even better, when I mail the IMC a check, my employer will provide an equal company match, doubling our donation to international relief efforts. I have printed 50 copies of the book, so my goal is to donate $500...which would be a total of $1,000 after an employer match. If there is a demand for more than 50 books, then I will have more printed.

When I submit the final donation, I will email everyone a photo of the check that I will then send to the IMC. Please see their website for more details and the link to their BBB accreditation.