Dinner and Conversation

I have talked about my Interpretation professor in the past, I believe. His name is Tatsuya Komatsu, and he is an incredibly amazing teacher. He opens each class with a short anecdote, usually something somewhat related to interpretation but really just any short happening he's experienced lately that he feels is worth sharing with us. Most of the class itself is made up of interpretation practice using his tapes, with occasional breaks for reports on the textbook. He gives the air of being steadfastly mellow but always alert, and it transfers to the atmosphere of the classroom. Pleasant, but attentive. And I learn so much in his class.

Today, at 18:20, I departed with 3 other students from my class (thereby composing about half of it's population- it is a VERY small class) for a nearby hotel, about 10 or so minutes away by foot. There we met the rest of our class and our teacher, and sat down in the hotel's restaurant. Sensei ordered us edamame as a starter, and a round of beer for the table (which was refilled when we ran out). Then he told us to choose our meals. I got udon, although apparently at this restaurant the udon comes with tempura, so I got that as well. It was quite good. 

During the meal, everyone talked and joked and got to know one another better. There were only 8 of us there, including Sensei. I did not participate in the conversation itself very much, as it was conducted entirely in Japanese, but I tried my best to understand what was being said. Sometimes I would ask one of my fellow students to clarify a word or phrase for me that I'd managed to catch out of the stream. Everyone in that class has a very good handle on English so it is easy to communicate with them if I need to.

There was a lot I did not understand, but on several occasions I managed to grasp the essence of it. At one point, as we were discussing exchange students, Sensei mentioned the fact that he was never able to be one, and only went abroad once it was for a job. It is apparently a life-long regret of his, he's mentioned it before in class. This time the student on his left turned to him and told him, "you can still do it, from now on! Become an exchange student!" Everyone at the table laughed. My professor is 79. He would probably be the oldest exchange student on record.

Several times during the meal Sensei directed questions to me, mostly things regarding my exchange or American culture. At one point he asked me if I'd experienced any culture shock, and I was rather at loss to answer. Have I? I'm not sure. I think the biggest difference I've noticed is the food, and that's negligible because I cook for myself. Perhaps I will experience it more later on.

The dinner and conversation came to an end at around the two hour mark, and we all got up to leave. At the enterance to the hotel we bowed and thanked Sensei for the meal, and then everyone walked home together. I split off when we reached Komachi and headed inside, belly full of food and head full of new words and phrases I'd learned in the last day. 

I am so happy I made the decision to join this class in April. This was a very unique experience, and not one I think I could have had anywhere else. From what I know of Japanese culture (which is albeit somewhat suspect knowledge, but its what I'm working with so we'll go with it), this sort of thing is not overly uncommon, but I would imagine tends to happen mostly with smaller classes of upper graduate students. Which, to be fair, is almost what this class is- they may still be undergrads but everyone else in my class is several years older than me, and nearly done with their degrees. All but two of them have already studied abroad, and the other two will do so this year. Its a rather impressive collection of people to be around two days a week. 

I hope I can keep in touch with this professor once this quarter ends. I want to hang on to this connection, his quiet determination, his vast knowledge base of anything and everything related to languages. He is a truly amazing man, and I hope to one day gain the ability to talk to him fluently in his native tongue.