Today was the second and last day of the seminar in Kobe. I was again responsible for moderating two morning workshops, and I spent that time with my Japanese English teacher directing the participants to organize skits and perform them. I did my best and we were able to finish up 15 minutes early, so everyone from my group had a little longer lunch.
Before the break we had to choose our favorite group to perform in front of the whole conference later in the afternoon. Everyone did their worst, hoping to avoid being in the spotlight. Essentially we voted for the people that did the worst poor job that they could. There’s a lot at work here besides stage fright. The Japanese members of the groups didn’t want to have to go up and speak English in front of all their peers for fear of making a fundamental mistake – it seems that it’s much safer to keep quiet than to try and fail. This, I feel, is one of the big reasons that Japanese people in general have a hard time with English.
As we were leaving one of the Japanese teachers pulled me aside and said that I had done a great job. It was a nice compliment because it was so unexpected. I noticed that people in the workshop would see me later and give me a bigger smile and treat me with a little more respect.
In the afternoon the best skits were performed onstage, and then all the helpers took the stage for a quick thank you. Finally, we wrapped things up with a meeting with Hasegawa sensei, the big boss. A special surprise, though, when the even bigger boss, who wore no name tag and was therefore unnamed came in and said thanks to all of us. The way the other Japanese teachers reacted, you could tell he was a big wig. I think he even had a security guy with him. He ominously said that next year we may very well get another phone call to help out.
Nel, Antoine, and I detached ourselves from the area and made tracks to Kobe Harborland. I didn’t have my camera, but Antoine did, and he’ll send me pictures later. The area was all decorated for Christmas, and things were just beautiful. We reached the waterfront and took some pictures of the Kobe skyline – very dramatic in the darkening partly cloudy weather.
Below us a party boat was loading up several hundred schoolgirls for some kind of school excursion or dinner. It was quite a sight to see all these girls in sailor uniforms getting on a boat and sailing off.
We snacked on some food at a cafe, and then went over to the amusement park area and rode of the mini-coaster – a $4 ride that was actually pretty good. I barely fit in the car – this thing was tiny.
We ended up at a really classy bar, the only patrons for the evening. This place was top-notch, and when I ordered an Irish cofee they brewed the coffee right in front of you, directly into your glass. I recommended a White Russian for Antoine, and soon Nel was ordering one too. The drinks were beautiful – the ice cubes were block sized and custom made for the size of the glass. When they put a large spoonful of cream on top of their iced drinks – it was froze up into an alcoholic ice cream drink.
We split up from there, with Antoine going to Sannomiya to meet up with Miwako, and Nel and I heading to our homes. It was a busy couple of days, but now I’m looking forward to a relaxing weekend with Kuniko. We’ll meet up in Osaka tomorrow and I will be looking for some big foot shoes.
