Tokyo Alumni Podcast Nickolas Harris

In episode 83 of the Tokyo Alumni Podcast, I had the pleasure of welcoming Joshua Thomson, a model, actor, and content creator who has hundreds of thousands of followers across various social media platforms. Joshua's videos, which have garnered tens of millions of views, resonate deeply with culturally and linguistically diverse individuals, especially those with international schooling backgrounds.

Joshua has a unique educational journey, having started in a Japanese elementary public school, transitioning to the Christian Academy Japan (CAJ) during his middle school years, and then returning to the Japanese public school system for high school. Although Joshua isn't an international school graduate, his unique experiences make him an integral part of the international school community.

Welcome to Episode 82 of the Tokyo Alumni Podcast.

Today, I'm excited to have Justin Novak join me. A standout alumnus from the ASIJ Class of 2014, Justin has made significant strides in the world of professional baseball. He's currently the bullpen catcher for the Seattle Mariners, a role that keeps him with the team for all 162 regular-season games, plus playoffs. Despite his demanding schedule, Justin took the time to join me for the 82nd episode.

During his time at ASIJ, Justin was nothing short of a baseball legend, leading his team to two Far East titles and an undefeated season of 27 wins to 0 losses during his senior year.
He also excelled in college, helping his Division I team (University of Virginia) clinch a national championship in his freshman year. A

s a fellow baseball enthusiast, I was truly inspired by Justin’s positive energy and deep insights into the sport. In today's episode, we delve into his journey through international school and college baseball, and discuss how one can seek out a career in the MLB.

There is no way Steve Harris could have predicted he would spend 43 years in Japan.  
Born in San Francisco, California, on Halloween in 1958, his family would soon cross the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County, where they settled in the city of San Rafael. His first encounter with foreign language learning consisted of two terrible years of middle school German, a language he chose because his mother’s side of the family immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area after fleeing Nazi Germany.   

His talent for foreign languages would emerge during his years of study of Spanish at San Rafael High School, where at the age of 16 he would also meet his future wife, a Japanese girl from Tokyo who happened to be studying there for one year. The relationship prompted him to begin studying Japanese upon entering the University of California at Berkeley in 1976.   

He enjoyed his Japanese studies so much that he declared Japanese as his major and took advantage of Berkeley’ study-abroad program to spend a year at ICU in Tokyo during his junior year. Though he spent his last year back at Berkeley, the appeal of Tokyo was so strong for him that he decided to try to find work there right after graduation in the summer of 1980.   This led to a 17-year stint as a freelance translator and interpreter and then a 17-year stint as a Japanese language teacher at The American School in Japan.   

He left ASIJ in June of 2014 and has since been freelancing from his home, which is walking distance from the ASIJ campus.  

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - 2:18 - Introduction
3:47 - 4:33 - "17 years"  
4:34 - 7:38 - Being an ASIJ parent vs ASIJ faculty / why ASIJ?
7:39 - 13:22 - Is sending a child to an international school worth the cost?  
13:23 - 17:00 - Working at ASIJ from 1997-2014 / Leaving ASIJ
17:01 - 22:09 - Living in Japan for 40+ years - moving to Japan in the 1970s
22:09 - 22:36 - How to become bilingual  
22:36 - 27:34 - Memories of ASIJ
27:35 - 36:49 - Soccer - ASIJ Soccer & working as a Japan Futsal Director
36:50 - 39:53 - Creating the ASIJ "Tama Cup"  
39:54 - 44:12 - ASIJ Squad of 23 players (mid-2000s-mid-2010s team) 44:13 -46:47 - What is coming up next

Taeuk Kang (KISJ 2022)

Stanford University student

Taeuk Kang was born in Gyeongnam but moved to Jeju, where he attended Korea International School, Jeju Campus for 11 years. He plans to spend the next four years at Stanford University, CA studying Computer Science. He was awarded the Talent Award of Korea in 2020 among 100 Korean citizens for their exemplary talents.

His early interest in computers led him to software development. Since then, he has developed multiple projects and apps for both open source and businesses. One of his most recent projects is the LiveCorona Map, an open source COVID visualization tool and information source. As one of the project leads, he automated the statistic collections and created a public pharmacy mask map. The project had been adopted by the Jeju government as the COVID status website early on during the pandemic. He also enjoys creating hobby projects such as a multi-source language dictionary and a failed cloud hosting reseller startup.

Now, Taeuk is preparing to study Computer Science at Stanford University, specializing in the Artificial Intelligence area. He wishes to pursue a professional career in a related field.

TIMESTAMP

1:35 - Introduction

3:18 - Why choose Stanford University over Harvard University?

7:45 - How to get into Stanford, Harvard and Columbia University? Are hagwons and consultants worth it?

9:40 - What gave you an edge over other applicants? Are sports and extracurriculars needed to get into a prestigious University?

17:04 - How do you find something you are genuinely passionate in?

25:50 - Attending Korea International School Jeju / life in the GEC

34:10 - The advantage of attending international school over public school

36:55 - What do you envision doing ten years from now (2032)

Amelia Juhl (Seisen 1998)
Design Research Director   

Amelia is a Design Research Director at IDEO Tokyo. She brings more than 20 years of experience leading creative projects of all sizes. At IDEO, she has worked on projects such as redesigning medical products for the elderly, new beauty experiences for millennials, and systemic redesigns for agriculture. Previously, she worked as a Strategic Planner at a marketing agency, working on CRM or campaigns for global companies such as Nissan, Microsoft and P&G.   Her current passion is in adding life-centered principles to her human-centered approach. She is excited to lend her expertise in innovation to help businesses be more regenerative by design for the next decade.  

TIMESTAMP
1:18 - Introduction
3:30 - How to become a Design Researcher
7:35 - How experiences at Seisen helped Amelia with group work
11:05 - Cross-cultural fluency at IDEO & Bilingual education
19:57 - Why should parents send their children to Seisen / International schools?
22:30 - Identity for international school ”インター” kids
26:40 - Working as a woman in Japan
33:23 - Most memorable teacher at Seisen
37:58 - What is to come

Alexander Minami Redhead
St. Mary's International School (2003)  

Today our guest is a Portfolio Manager at Montrachet Capital. Today our guest attended St. Mary's International School for 13 years (Class of 2003), he later went to study at Tufts University where he earned a dual degree in Mathematics and Psychology. Prior to his current role, he worked at several investment banks in Tokyo and New York including Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, and Nomura Securities.   

In 2019, he joined Montrachet Capital, a multi-family office in Singapore, and runs the portfolio management group, helping wealthy individuals invest for the future. During his time in Singapore, he became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner, interviewed and translated several books in Japanese for the legendary investor Jim Rogers, and helped numerous clients immigrate from Japan.   

He is currently active within the St. Mary's Alumni Association (SMAA), heading the Finance Group as well as the Singapore chapter, and enjoys sharing his no bullsh*t opinion to those seeking career advice. He looks forward to resuming 11-aside football when COVID measures are eased, but enjoys Crossfit and Tennis in the meantime.   

TIMESTAMP
1:30-2:40 - Introduction
3:13-4:50 Intro from Alex
5:05-12:44 - The International School "bubble"  and being bi-cultural
12:45-17:26 - Joining the industry of "Finance" / SMAA and internships
17:27-22:57 - What kept Alex in finance/in what ways can high school students equip themselves to work in the industry of finance?
22:58-25:35 - Moving from investment banking to portfolio management  
25:36-35:06 - Is popular cultures illustration of WallStreet bankers accurate?/working hours in finance
36:07-41:05 - Jim Rogers
41:06-46:35 - St. Marys shout outs
46:36-49:35 - The importance of HS athletics at international schools
49:36-52:40 - What is to come