Until We Meet Again

New Mexico!
Originally uploaded by Tokyorosa

One last photo of Katsu and Naomi (here, in Carlsbad Caverns). They're safely home now and it's back to work for Katsu and back to ESL school for Naomi. (She is taking five hours of classes per day, five days a week and says that her favorite part is grammar--which she knows better than most American students since the Japanese school system focuses on grammar as the main part of their English program--and her least favorite part is writing compositions.)

I think they're a pretty amazing couple of people. Naomi was always one of my favorite students at The Kaisha because she understands that only a small fraction of communication is dependent on language, so we've always been able to communicate with one another, even when her English vocabulary was miniscule and she spoke English mainly using Japanese grammar. Even then, she was able to express her natural sense of humor and insight.

Katsu was always a bit of a mystery to me. Of course he studied English in high school and college, but like many people he forgot much of it after a few years. It was only the opportunity to work in the US that prompted him to sign up with The Kaisha, where a wonderful colleague of mine (a Japanese woman who had lived and studied in England and who is now in the US studying secondary language aquisition) became his teacher. He was devoted to her until she moved back to England to continue her studies. After that, he popped up very occassionally in my classes, or in Ben's, or in any class that had the time or space for him. He was a very hesitant speaker for a long time, and Naomi sometimes teases him because his beginning level text leaned heavily on the "Point at the picture of the _______" (car, book, pencil). "Now repeat!" (Car. Book. Pencil.) She started out a bit higher--but only a bit.

They're looking at this time in the US as an adventure, I think, and have consequently seen more of the US than I have. They've visited cities in Arizona, Nevada, California, New York, Massachusets, Virginia, Maryland, Kansas, and now New Mexico. Next week, they'll head to Florida. I mean, that's some serious travel.

Happy Trails, Naomi and Katsu!