Sakura: December 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Economics Majors and the Real World

How is it possible to be an Economics Major and not be interested in what's happening in the Euro zone now? I read about it in the newspapers sometimes, but I don't form economic opinions about what I read. I simply read because I don't want to be totally clueless about this big economic problem. I know that the Euro is in trouble and that the effects of the recession are far from being over. But the specifics are not committed to my memory.

I would love to honestly be able to say that I'm more interested in Development Economics than Financial Economics, and that's the reason I lack interest in Europe's issues. But if that were the case, I would be up to date on all the Development issues in the world. I didn't even know that the world population hit the 7billion mark on November 31, 2011 (at least, I think that's the date).

I keep thinking that it's embarrassing to be pursuing higher education in economics without any real interest in what is happening in America or Europe. Generally, I don't engage in economic discussions because I don't feel passionate about the topics or I don't want others to know that I am not as smart in Economics as they are. Is there something wrong with me? I prefer the economics practised by Levitt (in Freakanomics).

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Life in Kobe, Japan.

I haven't been taking many pictures of nature. So, I went on a nature splurge on my campus recently. I go to school on two different campuses almost everyday. One to learn Japanese and one to facilitate my research. All the beautiful pictures in this post were taken at the Rokkodai 1st Campus. That's the campus for Social Sciences (I think) - My campus.

I just love the colourful leaves here :). This picture was taken while I was at the half-way mark on the steps to the campus. The one thing I don't like about this university - it's located on a hill!