Today, in attendance in my class about the two Koreas, two remarkable men were in attendance. The first is my professor, possibly the world's foremost authority on Korea (both North and South), he is at least the most famous in Japan. The second is his guest speaker, Han Seung Soo, former president of the UN, South Korean Statesmen, and currently an authority on policy-making to help alleiviate the problems associated with the global warming issue. He spoke to us today about Al Gore winning the Nobel Prize and the effect this will hopefully have on people recognizing global warming as a very real issue. He also spoke to us about what the UN plans are for adopting new policies because the Kyoto policies only last in effect until 2012 (or 2009?), taking approximately 2 years for ratification which must be factored into the schedule as well.
He did not come just to talk to our class though. He was being awarded for a book he wrote, and giving a speech on the current state of some Asian countries (or so I think, I didn't have enough time to stay and watch the event until he came on because I had class the period afterward).
I did manage to see a few authorities on AESEAN come and speak about various issues, among them Professor Ezra F. Vogel of Harvard University and Professor Andrew Macintyre of Australia. For the duration of the speeches there were interpreters speaking, you could listen via a headset you plugged into your arm-rest. Some people spoke in only Japanese, some only in English, you could listen to the normal speeches with better sound-quality via the headset, or switch to a channel where you heard the interpreter's voice.
Waseda is quite an impressive place.
After class I met up with a few people and we went to the Waseda Cafe, which is having a Halloween Party on the 31st. The cafe is really small, I don't know how everyone will fit inside (if that is the plan). They are limiting their invitations to only students from other countries (ie foreigners) but that is still about 1000 people at Waseda. Halloween, Japanese-style. This is something I am looking forward to.
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