Tuesday dawned rainy and cold, I had meetings scheduled all day. The first was with Mr. Jimmy Suzuki, an Assc. Prof here at HUTE. He is a legendary figure back at Eau Claire as he studied English as a Second Language (ESL) there some years ago. He is now a teacher training of English teachers at HUTE. He was a very nice man and we hit it off immediately, speaking of mutual friends. We discussed the possibility of exchanging teachers between schools.
Next, Professors Imai and Suzuki escorted me to the Treasury to pick up my stipend, which was very nice. This consisted of several signatures and many bows, and was done in a blink.
From there, Professor Imai returned to his large office for me to relax until the next meeting and so he could work. At 11:30am he took me to the Ostrich restaurant, so called for it's neon ostrich sign out front. I don't know the real name of it. We were joined for lunch by other English teaching faculty: Professors Yoshida, Nakata and one other. We discussed the possibility of an exchange program between schools, among other topics. We dined in a little tatami-matted room with a low table and pillows. I just love that environment, all curled up on the floor in stocking feet and business suits. It just makes it so much more comfortable. We had green tea, of course, and a large pre-ordered meal of miso soup, sashimi, tempura vegetables, rice, pineapple. For dessert, they had coffee and I had a hot black tea. The meal was quickly over, but it was longer than we anticipated, probably due to the great conversation.
Due to the bit longer lunch, we raced quickly back to meet the HUTE President and Executive Director. I was welcomed into a large room with two desks against the far windows, and 8 comfortable, brown leather armchairs facing each other. I was motioned to sit down near the head of the table on the right hand of the University President. I was a bit self conscious in my thrift-shop suit jacket, but I kept telling myself, no one would ever know! ;-) They were most gracious to me, giving me a handsome pen, stationary with gorgeously-printed, famous woodcuts, a bottle of saki, and a lovely report from their visit to Eau Claire. I felt meager with my humble gift of a framed picture of scenes from Eau Claire and a calendar. Man, the University needs to have better gifts! Anyway, the President discussed with me his sincere wish to have more UWEC students visit HUTE. Professor Imai and I shared with him our plan, which he approved of. He asked me about the political situation in Wisconsin, and I gave him my frank opinion. He told us to keep fighting the good fight! I was appreciative that he knew what was happening there and that he supported us.
Professor Imai took me back to my apartment, where I worked for a bit on my email back home, cyber protesting, and this blog. I needed a bit of down time what with all the intense meetings. Professor Imai told me I did very well.
That evening for dinner, we went to a grilled meat place and met with the Executive Director, Mr. Shinya, Mr. Fujita, Mr. Nagai, and another gentleman who did not speak once during the whole meal. What a fun time I had that evening! I felt like the bell of the ball. We discussed many topics from music, bands, university student exchange, food preferences, and drank two bottles of saki! Mr. Shinya and I laughed and laughed. Mr. Fujita and Mr. Nagai did a lot of the grilling of the meat at the table. The meat, mushrooms and other vegetables were brought to the table where they were grilled over little inset grills. The men cooked, I ate, drank and did social chitchat. It was so much fun! I really felt special being surrounded by so many kind, welcoming people and really connecting with them.
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