2008 ALC Session 2 Staff Bios

Hello everyone! Thank you for your interest in our American Language and Culture (ALC) Program. I was an ALC participant myself in 1991 and am excited to be involved again, this time as the Program Director. My participation in ALC not only enabled me to learn about the diverse culture of the United States, but it also broadened my perspective about Asia, including my home country Japan. The program also enabled me to develop life-long lasting friendship. I hope your participation in our program will also give you an opportunity to change the way you view the world and also develop friendship which you can treasure for life.

Outside of work, I am currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Hawaii majoring in Japanese language teaching. In my spare time I like to listen to music, watch movies and travel. The staff and the Fellow Stanford Hosts are planning an exciting summer for you and we are looking forward to seeing you this summer at Stanford!

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Alessandro Gonzalez : Senior Claude Buss Fellow/Senior Stanford Host (alexgonz@stanford.edu)

Hello ALC!!! I'm Alessandro and I am graduating with a master's degree in Electrical Engineering. I really enjoy many of the simple things in life like food, music, and people! I really enjoy videogames but as a graduate student I don't have much time to play. I guess you could consider me a videogame otaku but I don't know too much about anime and manga. As far as school goes, I've worked on some pretty fun projects like making a GPS display, making a short movie in MATLAB, coding an MP3 encoder, and I'm currently building a little car!

I was born in Tampa, Florida but I've lived in Alabama, Nicaragua, and Los Angeles. I really enjoy getting to know the cultures of where I live and I'm trying to learn about the cultures where I'd like to live! I'm really interested in Asian culture and languages and I really enjoy watching asian dramas!!! I'm really, REALLY excited about ALC this summer and I promise that I will do my best to make this the best summer ever!!!

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Amy Dinh : Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host (hoanganh@stanford.edu)

Hello all!  My name is Amy Dinh and I am a rising senior majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in health in developing countries. I am Vietnamese-American, born and raised in Northern California. Conversations with me usually include at least one of the following: something cool about public health, a bad pun, or a reference to The Simpsons. I am a closet science fiction nerd and self-professed fan of children’s fantasy books. In my leisure time, I enjoy hanging out with friends, reading, drawing, social dance, snowboarding, hiking, camping, and just generally being out in nature. I love animals; I have a pet dog named Lili and lots of pet chickens. I collect flowers and stuff with cows on it. At school, I am involved with Stanford Dance Marathon, a 24-hour event that educates people about HIV/AIDS and raises money for a great NGO called Partners in Health. 

In addition to all of that, I love traveling and learning about other cultures and languages; I speak Vietnamese and French, and can’t wait to learning some Japanese and Chinese from you guys. I have not yet been to Taiwan, but I was in Narita two years ago during a brief layover. Since January, I’ve been studying in Paris and Cape Town, but I’m looking forward to coming back home this summer to explore the Bay Area with you. See you soon!!

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Rachel Liaw: Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host

Hi, my name is Rachel Liaw and I am a rising sophomore here at Stanford University. I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, though my family is originally from Taiwan. I enjoy studying foreign languages and foreign cultures, and currently study Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish. I know some (not much) random phrases in Taiwanese and Korean and I hope to study these languages in the future. I not only enjoy foreign languages, but also computer languages as well! Although I am undecided, I will probably major in computer science, linguistics, or both.

I enjoy martial arts and dancing, as well as violin and piano. Crafts are another hobby of mine, and I crochet, fold origami, and make clay models, among others. I also like to watch wuxia dramas and anime, and read books or swim in my spare time. I am very passionate about food, and hope to be a great cook in the near future. Of course, that’s not all there is to know about me, so I can’t wait to get acquainted better with you all, especially so I can learn more about you!

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Hillary Lin : Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host

Hello everyone! My name is Hillary Lin and I am a rising sophomore at Stanford University. I am currently a declared Symbolic Systems major with a concentration in Neuroscience, and I love anything to do with the human mind.

Besides the brain, I'm also interested in many things from music to culture to medicine. My hobbies include playing the violin, reading novels, watching movies, and hanging out with friends (if this may be counted as a hobby). I am part of the Stanford Symphony Orchestra and the Taiwanese Cultural Society on campus. I am also planning on entering medical school after my graduation.

As for my roots - I was born in Taipei, Taiwan and spent my first five years in Chia-Yi, Taiwan. I moved to Stony Brook on Long Island, New York when I was about five and completed all my pre-university schooling there. I absolutely love Taiwan and all the rest of Asia, and I'm looking forward to meeting you all!

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Ryoko Nishijima : Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host (rnishijima@stanford.edu)

Hi all! My name is Ryoko Nishijima, and I am currently a senior double majoring in Anthropology and Film Studies at Stanford. As you can see from my majors, I love people watching and movie watching (let me know if you like movies too, and we’ll have a huge movie-talk session!!). Born and raised in Fukuoka, Japan, I came to the U.S. after graduating high school there. In my freshman year I began studying Mandarin, and through my study I have become obsessed with Jay Chou and Wang Leehom (and other hot Taiwanese pop stars…hehe). This obsession furthered my motivation for learning the language, and I spent the summer and fall of 2006 in Beijing studying Chinese / Chinese culture / traveling around China. During the spring break of 2007 I went to Taiwan for a week, and completely fell in love with the beautiful Formosa.

In my spare times, I enjoy…youtube, facebook, MSN (online 24/7), Mixi, Ptt…leading a very…uh…unhealthy “Otaku” life. Apart from that, I enjoy playing the piano, meeting people from different countries, and filming / editing video – hopefully I can make a memorial video of the program so you guys can remember this event forever. I’m super excited about getting to know all of you this summer!

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Ashley Tanaka : Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host (amtanaka@stanford.edu)

Hi everyone! My name is Ashley Tanaka. I am a rising senior, double-majoring in International Relations and Chinese. My academic studies focus mostly on China, but I love to learn about anything to do with East Asia. I am half Japanese, a quarter Chinese, and a quarter Korean. I grew up only speaking English, and was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.

I can never get enough of traveling, learning about other cultures, meeting new people, trying different foods. While I always enjoy doing new things, some of my favorite pastimes include watching movies and tv (I've recently become an enormous "Prison Break" fan), drawing (I can often be found doodling Japanese anime), reading books and magazines, dancing (hip-hop, ballet, Hawaiian hula dance, traditional Vietnamese dance, or just for fun!), listening to and playing music. I also enjoy cooking and especially baking – I have a serious weakness for any baked good! Have a safe flight over to Stanford, and I look forward to meeting you all in August!

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Michael Wheet: Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host

Hi everyone! My name is Mike Wheet, and I am a member of Stanford's class of 2011. I am very excited to be a Claude Buss fellow this summer, and I'm really looking forward to meeting you all in August. So far, I haven't picked a major, but I've taken a bunch of really interesting classes here at Stanford. I'm really interested in using technology to connect across cultures, so if anyone wants to contact me through email or Facebook before the summer starts, please feel free to do so!

I was born and raised in Washington DC, and I went to an international high school. My parents still live in DC, and so does my younger brother. I also have a dog, named 'Buddy'. Outside of school, I write for newspapers on campus, enjoy outdoor sports like hiking and rock climbing, and love to hang out with my friends and family. Can't wait to meet you all!

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Emily Zhao : Claude Buss Fellow/Stanford Host

Hey everyone! My name is Emily Zhao and I am a rising sophomore here at Stanford. I'm a pre-med and majoring in either Human Biology or Mathematics. I was born in China but immigrated to the United States when I was two. I've been back to China about five times and I am very excited to learn more about other Asian countries. I love to read, run, play piano and guitar, and dance salsa. I am also a big fan of all kinds of music, especially Taiwanese pop stars such as Wang Leehom and Jay Chou.

Performance arts is a big part of my life. Here at Stanford, I am part of Stanford Taiko, a student-run performance art group. This is my first year as a Taiko performer and I find the culture, and the art new and fascinating. I'm interested in learning about different cultures and overcoming language and cultural differences. I have a vast range of interests and am looking forward to meeting all of you. We will have an amazing time together this summer!

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