I had been to the United States a couple of times before, so the six lane roads, disciplined traffic, kind and gentle people was not a novelty to me. However, what was new to me was exploring all these nuances of American culture by myself. What I was most thrilled about the most, was exploring the Midwest– a region of America I had only heard good things of, but had never been to before. In fact, this was a major pull that had brought me to the University of Iowa.

My first impression of Iowa City was a small, homely, picture-perfect, artsy town, with a charm of its own. It was love-at-first-sight – I had fallen in love with the place and the people, who were absolutely outgoing, friendly, and liberal. Being assigned the dorm room that I was assigned, was perhaps the best thing that happened to me. My floor-mates are my closest friends, and meeting them just boosted my number of positives encounters at Iowa. Soon I was settled in and could not wait for classes to start. Before I could realize it I was living my dream—studying Journalism and Mass Communication, at one of the dream schools I had applied to!

Iowa City had given me a sense of independence—I learned to be responsible for myself, choose between what is good and what is bad; and most important—I learned to deal with my problems by myself. The absence of someone spoon-feeding me, had taught me to stand on my two feet.

Now when I look back, I think about how so much good happened to me. How and why did everything fall in place so well? How did I end up loving what I do so much? Was it my friends, the university, Iowa City or journalism- my field of study that had managed to charm me? The answer was always in front of me—it is the experience, that is shaped by all these factors, that has given me a chance to live my dream!

In this bi-weekly column, I will be talking about my experiences as an outsider, in Iowa City and the United States. It will include my encounters—both good and bad, with people, culture, traditions and norms, in Iowa City.

The post Putting Iowa in Perspective appeared first on KRUI Radio.

The Japanese film industry is suffering due to the economy and big-budget Hollywood films. However, during the past 70 years, from the end of WWII to the present, Japanese filmmakers have made a lot of magnificent films. In this article, I’m going to recommend some good Japanese films to you.

Godzilla (1954)

Godzilla, probably one of the most famous Japanese monsters ever known to the Western world, first came out of the ocean in the film Godzilla in 1954. In an era without CGI and computer-generated special effects, the 1954’s Godzilla was actually a man wearing the Godzilla costume destroying scaled model buildings.

One thing that you should know while watching this film is that the creation of Godzilla in 1954 is quite different than today’s version. The Godzilla monster was created as a result of America’s nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll in 1954, from the mutation caused by the radiation and fallout created by the test. The Godzilla was created as an anti-nuclear weapon monster to protest the pollution the bombs have caused  on the environment.

Kwaidan (1964)

Kwaidan is probably one of the earliest color horror films that was made in Japan. The film contains four different stories based on Japanese folk tales: The Black Hair, The Woman of the Snow, Hoichi the Earless, and the Tea Cup. Unlike today’s fast-paced Hollywood horror films which feature jump scares and a lot of bloody scenes, Kwaidan may look slowly-paced and kind of boring in the first twenty minutes. But I can assure you that you will find it interesting and scary in the end.

Vengeance is Mine (1979)

https://youtu.be/Kk81j7Sm5IY

This film is about a story of a serial killer Nishiguchi Akira. Instead of the standard “cats and rats game” in most serial killer films, Vengeance is Mine focuses on the serial killer himself. We can see how a Catholic child in southern Japan grew up to become an infamous serial killer.  The film is a classical combination of thrillers and detective stories.

I hope you enjoy these films. If you are looking for more Japanese films, you can look into the following titles: Seven Samurai, Ran, Madadayo, The Crazy Fruit, HANA-BI and Ju-on.

Yihao is also the host of the show at KRUI every Wednesday from 3-4 pm. The show focuses on international students’ issues in Iowa City, as well as introducing different cultures around the world.

The post Global Perspective: The Japanese Films You Should See appeared first on KRUI Radio.