The girl in the photo above hugging Nelson is one of the nicest people you could ever meet. And I am lucky enough to call her one of my best friends! I met Tiffani at Fielding when the HR Department assigned me to be her buddy on the day she started to work there in Admissions. We hit it off right away and became friends almost immediately. When a position opened up in my department a few years later I did everything possible to get her to work with our events team, one of the best decisions our supervisor ever made with the help of yours truly and one other coworker/friend of mine. Tiffani moved up to the Third Floor (the location of our department which was also how it was known on campus) and the party began! Although she was assigned to support a different school we worked closely together for three years. Every day we worked hard, but every day we also tried to have as much fun as possible and working just a few feet apart from each other made the work environment just this much more enjoyable. We shared good times and not quite so good times (although the good times outweighed the quite ones by far) as our friendship grew stronger. Tiffani is not only a sweet human being that would do anything for a friend, she is also extremely smart and one of the hardest, most dedicated workers I know. When I left Fielding in 2008 Tiffani was finishing up her Master’s Degree and looking to a future beyond Fielding and Santa Barbara.
That future started today, when at 11am PST she boarded a plane that is taking her to Japan as I am writing this. Japan! The Land of the Rising Sun! A country rich in history and tradition, not to mention incredible food (amongst other things we both LOVE Japanese cuisine, and although I am very happy for her, I cannot help but feel the tiniest bit of jealousy that she will get to enjoy real Japanese food every single day now!). For as long as I can remember Tiffani had always dreamed about exploring the world and experiencing foreign countries, much of which had to do with her upbringing in Hongkong and her high school years which he spent in a British boarding school. In early 2008 she traveled to India for a month and lived integrated in Indian households as a cultural exchange project through the Rotary Club. An experience that led her to pursue the possibility of working abroad, teaching English as a Second Language in a foreign country. That country turned out to be Japan and her future will begin the moment the plane carrying her lands in Fukuoka City, her home for the next twelve months (and maybe beyond).
Personally I fully supported her in this endeavor and although I am very sad she now lives so very far away I could not be happier for her and this great opportunity. There is no doubt that her life will change dramatically from here on out, as it always does when you leave your familiar circumstances and thrust yourself into a new culture. There will be things she will miss about America, especially at first but I am sure that over time possibilities will open up that she had not even dreamed about, opportunities will present themselves that are beyond anything she imagined.
I hope she will be able to spread her wings and find friendship, happiness and love wherever she goes. I will miss her like crazy but hopefully get to visit her in her new home next year where we will do some serious damage in sushi bars and fresh markets!
Farewell, my friend! Santa Barbara will never be the same without you!!! But watch out Japan!!!
Today’s Running Tip: Explore a foreign city!
Running is one of the best ways to explore a new city. Just be sure to stake out your route before taking off on your excursion and carry a map with you. You can always ask the concierge for a good running route and have him or her mark it on your map. Also carry some ID, the hotel address and phone number, and some change with you just in case you get lost.
