Shanghai-- Regina Tojo

Have you ever wondered who that recorded voice is on 800 numbers? In the case of the 800 numbers managed by Interactive Technologies, she is Knox. Her name is Regina (Gina) Tojo (class of 1981), and she is currently living and working in Shanghai, China. She lives just a few blocks away from the JinQiao Green Leisure & Sports Center, a place frequently visited by two other Knox alumni, Lynne and David Moo. They have probably even passed each other on the street unaware of their connection.

While we were visiting Gina (a Biology and French double major), the qualities that amazed us the most were her trusting nature, her warm presence, and youthful spirit that led us to forget the age gap between us. After our visit, Dean Bailey showed Sable the Faces picture of Gina from her first-year at Knox. Sable easily recognized her because Gina has barely aged since then. Because of this youthful appearance and spirit, during our time with Gina we kept referencing younger faculty members as well as recent changes to the campus, and were confused when she did not understand what we were referring to.

“I turned 50 years old on December 22^nd, but I still have the inquisitive mind of the Knox student that I was 3 decades ago. Every day, I learn something new, albeit not as quickly or as easily as I did 30 years ago. I am enjoying my adventure in China and am looking forward to my next.”

During Gina’s time at Knox, she was in the Knox Besancon program in France and, after graduating, she ended up staying in France for 8 years. “I had OCD, and I didn’t want to leave France until my French was perfect.” While she was there, she received her master’s degree in Linguistics and taught at the Universite de Nancy for several years. She also had an internship in Madrid, Spain for a summer. By the time she left France, she could speak five languages: English, French, Spanish, Farsi, and Serbo-Croatian.

After her time in France, she returned to her home town of Cincinnati, Ohio. She worked there for 11 years at a private language institute teaching language and culture to corporate employees who were relocating abroad. She was a teacher for 7 years and taught ESL, French, and Spanish. Then she was an administrator for 4 years. After her time there, she moved on to a company called Interactive Technologies where she was the staff linguist. It was there that she became the voice for the English, French, and Spanish options on the 800 numbers for many companies throughout the US, Canada, and Mexico, in accordance with her duties as a script translator.

Gina has been in Shanghai for over 2 years now and originally came as the General Manager of Display Specialties, Inc. (DSI). DSI is the primary supplier of fixtures and merchandising displays to supermarkets in the US and Asia. In May, they merged with a company called Fasteners for Retail (FFr). FFr has the same customer base with a different product line. The new company is called FFr-DSI, and she is their Asia Operations Manager. She manages the Asia HQ in Shanghai, as well as a satellite office in Shenzhen. Her time is China is supposed to be a temporary assignment until the office can function similar to an American work environment without having to rely on her. In order to make this possible, she has imposed rules that are unheard of in America but are necessary to reach this goal.

Gina's advice for anyone who comes to China is to “Keep an open mind and never stop learning. China and its people have so much to offer: history, culture and very warm and welcoming hearts. Be ambassadors for our country and share our culture with the Chinese people as they are very eager to learn from us as well.”

Regina's dog (Kapulina)

Beijing

Among the nearly 3 million cars in Beijing, there is one with a Knox sticker in its window. It is the second Knox sticker to appear on a car window in Beijing (that we know of), and shows just how far the Knox enthusiasm can be seen. The car belongs to Sarah and Chip Chandler (class of 1997). When Abbie and I first saw Chip, he was, of course, sporting a hat with a “K” on it and greeted us as if we were old friends although we had never met in person before. Just being fellow Knox alumni created a bond between us instantaneously. He led us up to his apartment where we had a good-old-fashioned American brunch with his wife Sarah (formerly Weed), and their two sons William (8 months old) and Quinn (3 years old). They also served us tea in Knox mugs.

Sarah (a French and Psychology double major) and Chip Chandler (a history major) contacted us before we even had a chance to contact them. They were excited by the idea of yet another group of Knox people visiting them in Beijing. They played tour guide for the group of Knox professors that came to China last year, which they enjoyed because they like to be among Knox-minded people. Last year they went back to Knox for homecoming, and really felt as though it was a true home-coming. “Knox is wonderful in that you always feel welcome there, even long after you've left it. Even 10 years after graduation, I felt like I'd never left as soon as I got back on campus (a wonderful but also scary feeling!)”, said Sarah in an email to us.

The story of Roger and Ann Taylor has met its rival: the story of Sarah and Chip Chandler. Their story is, as we Knox alumni and students say, “so Knox”. Sarah and Chip met their first week at Knox when her R.A. had a crush on his R.A. and decided to hold a BBQ for both their suites. They dated all through college and even managed to stay together when they both studied abroad. Sarah went on the Besancon program (which was the reason why she chose Knox in the first place), and Chip went to Dakar, Senegal, with Lawrence University (WI). He was one of three Knox students that participated. They spent three months in Dakar and two weeks in Paris. While Chip was in Dakar, he was only able to talk to Sarah once because he didn't have a cell phone and other forms of communication were rather limited. “Back in our day,” they said laughing at themselves for sounding older than they really are, “they were just putting dial-up internet in the rooms.”

Chip is currently working for the American Foreign Service, which has brought him, Sarah, and their family to Rwanda, Sydney, and now Beijing. When we asked how he got interested in the Foreign Service he started another story that is “so Knox”. “Back in our day we didn't have these fancy graduation speakers,” he said with irony, referring to the recent commencement speakers: Obama, Colbert, and Clinton and his former boss, Madeline Albright. Their commencement speakers were Virginia Canil and Eugene Tadie, Knox graduates and United States diplomats. Once Sarah and Chip heard the commencement speech, they became rather interested in the American Foreign Service. After the graduation ceremony, they asked the speakers how to become a part of the Foreign Service, thus leading them to where they are today.

Rwanda (their first destination with the American Foreign Service) had a lot of significance to Chip because of his study abroad experience. “He lived with a host family, got beat up just for being white (rich looking) and in the wrong place at the wrong time, had good times and bad times, so when he wanted to go back to Africa (Rwanda), I was willing to go,” wrote Sarah in an email to us. Chip is the Consul, Second Secretary as well as the Fraud Prevention Manager of the Consular Section. He investigates and prevents visa fraud, dealing with the major issues such as false companies. Although it is actually illegal for Sarah to work in China (since she is the spouse of a US diplomat), she still manages to stay busy editing the weekly Embassy newsletter from home and taking care of their two boys. Being a full-time parent abroad is a very challenging experience that has led them to have a deeper appreciation of immigrant parents in America, especially as they send Quinn to a local Chinese school where no English is written or spoken.

As you can see, the lives of Sarah and Chip Chandler are shining examples of what it means to be a true Knox alum. Their humble abode in Beijing stands as a tribute to Knox, not just because of the Knox memorabilia, but because of the friendly atmosphere and light-hearted conversations that made Abbie and I feel at home. If you don't believe us, stop by their apartment yourselves. According to them, “Any other Knox Alums who are in the neighborhood are welcome to stop by!”