With Spring, Comes New Beginnings

Last weekend, I went to see the Cherry Blossoms of Washington, DC. If you are not familiar with this festival, here's a brief history:

The National Cherry Blossom Festival annually commemorates the 1912 gift to the city of Washington of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to enhance the growing friendship between the United States and Japan and celebrate the continued close relationship between our two peoples.
In a simple ceremony on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of these trees on the north bank of the Tidal Basin in West Potomac Park. By 1915, the United States government had responded with a gift of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. In 1927, a group of American school children reenacted the initial planting; the first festival was held in 1935, sponsored by civic groups in the nation's capital. Visit http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/ for more info.

In other news, I've started my job as a consultant with my first client, America Abroad Media (http://www.americaabroadmedia.org/) . I'm working as the Online Coordinator and I'm responsible for helping to complete the overhaul of their new site. Hopefully the new site will be debuted before my contract is up. I'm really excited! The organization does radio programming for NPR (and other broadcast media) as well as some television work. They're having a Town Hall on American Foreign Policy at AU this Monday, April 7th. The hosts are WAMU's Kojo Nandi and famed journalist, Martin Kalb. The guests will be representatives from the McCain, Clinton and Obama campaigns. VERY cool stuff.

Also, it's official, I'm going to Australia with the International Scholar Laureate program as a Communications and Journalism Faculty Advisor. I'll be gone for 11 days in May. I really don't know what to expect right now, but i'm really excited! This will be my first time to the continent. I met and made friends with quite a few Aussies during my time on the JET program, but unfortunately I won't have enough time to visit them. I'm interested to see what the media is like there and I am excited that we'll get to meet with the media from various ethnics groups and the Aboriginal community. This will be a trip to remember and I HOPE that I can get a new camera so that I can show you all this amazing place!

So, this is the beginning of my freelance lifestyle. I'm giving myself until the summer to at least see if I can survive. Luckily, since starting the freelance lifestyle, it leaves my schedule open for opportunities like Australia. After this trip though, I'm curious to see what kind of next gig I'll get.... Shameless advertising moment coming...

Check out my Web site, also named Cultural Connections, and pass the word on that I'm looking for writing and consulting gigs: http://www.intlculturalconnections.com/ .

Cultural Connections is Official!

Call me incorporated! ... well, soon I will officially own my SELF. You can find my Web site at http://www.intlculturalconnections.com/ . I am moving into the realm of freelance consulting. I'm going to build up my writing/pr/marketing/web skills. I already retained my first client, a small media organization in Washington, DC for a 3-month contract. I'm really excited and I know that this will give me the opportunity to grow and branch out into new areas. None of this would've happened if I hadn't thought of converting a full-time job opportunity into a consulting gig. The problem with "gigs" is that it is long-term and this means that I'll have to continuously put myself out there. In any case, I'll soon be incorporated and be able to deduct my losses and try my best to create a livelihood in this crazy, mad world.

Shameless sell point: If you know anyone that is looking for a writer or Web site consultant, please let me know!