While in Kansai, Jillian made sure to pick up one treat or another for her friends back at Miyazaki. Usually this was some kind of famous sweet in the area. (like Yatsuhachi, these little triangular things that I unfortunately don't have a picture of from Kyoto) A few days before my flight left for Japan, Jillian reminded me that I should really bring some gifts characteristic of the Northwest for the people I was going to meet. Pike Place Market in Seattle seemed like a good place to go, so I picked up some trinkets there as well as at the Mariner's Team Store, and also bought some Starbucks Liqueur for Hirase-Sensei, the international exchange professor.
For no really good reason, here's a picture of Jillian and a Miyazaki Pineapple. Aren't they cute and tiny?My first experience with impromptu gifting was when Jillian, Charlie and I visited Moritani-Sensei at Kobe University. (That's not actually what it's called, but it's got some long Engineering name that I can't remember) Moritani-Sensei visited Evergreen last year and sat in on some of our language classes. In retrospect, I really should've given Moritani-Sensei some kind of omiyage, but I didn't know I was going to be seeing him at the time! Moritani-Sensei kindly treated us to lunch, and then took us to meet Nishide-Sensei, a self-proclaimed おかしい (okashii - strange) teacher from Osaka who is planning to visit Evergreen next year. Nishide-Sensei is really excited about going to Evergreen, because he thinks that since Evergreen is well known for being so laid-back, that it'll be a kind of vacation for him. He was really excited to meet some new Evergreen students, and said things like, "Please, I'm a very easy man, so speak to me however you like" implying that we didn't need to use such formal speech as we usually did and "I'm so glad to meet such funky guys!" referring to our pose in the picture below.
Charlie, Jillian and I in Nishide-Sensei's Office
As プレセント、(PuReSenTo - presents) he gave us that thing I'm wearing on my head, a battery-powered race car, a key chain of an anime character that's over forty-years old that none of us recognized, and some sweets. He then said, "I know that you might not want these, so please pass them on to someone else if that is the case." Feeling like I should offer something, too, I dug around in my bag but could only find a slightly squished Nature Valley snack bar. He laughed and said that it was alright, and insisted that we all hang out when he comes to Evergreen.
The next time I was confronted with wanting to give gifts, I was actually prepared. When Jillian and I first got on the bus to catch the ferry from Osaka to Miyazaki, a nice lady helped us out with the paperwork and finding our way there. When we left the ferry the next day, she showed us to the bus stop, and waited with us for a while. When her husband arrived to pick her up, she offered to take us to the train station, so that we could take the train to the college instead of having to take a bus, and then a train. Surprised that we'd lucked out again, (People have been so nice to us while we're here!) we gratefully accepted her offer, and loaded our luggage and selves into the back seat of her husband's car. Jillian made small talk when questioned by the couple, explaining that she was studying とり (tori - birds) at Miyazaki, and that she is an exchange student is going to be here for a year. I embarrassedly explained that my Japanese is not as good as Jillian's, and that was I just here to visit. When we told them that we're from the area near Seattle, they excitedly asked us about Ichiro and the Mariners, and gave us some みっかん、 (mikkan - small mandarin oranges) to snack on. They praised Jillian's speaking skills, but Jillian of course responded humbly, telling them that she still had a long way to go. The couple told us that taking us all the way to the college really wasn't that far out of the way, so they took us all the way to the dorm. (How sweet of them!!)
This time, I was ready though! I totally busted out some Ichiro and Johjima key chains and American sweets to give them as we unloaded. We thanked them heartily, and they tried to protest and decline my gifts and first, but eventually accepted them graciously. I was really happy when the husband got excited to see what I'd given them, which I'd only bought extras of by chance!
During my time here, I've filled up the extra suitcase that originally contained Christmas gifts for Jillian with Christmas gifts for both of our families. Poor Charlie is actually in custody of said suitcase now, since we left it with him thinking we'd be back to pick it up shortly, but that was before we knew that my stay was going to be quadrupled in length. As for Hirase-Sensei's liqueur, I found out too late that he actually doesn't drink, but he said that his wife would surely enjoy it. Now I know that Hirase-Sensei actually really likes calendars from different countries and Batdorf and Bronson Coffee (from Olympia.) Next time I return, I won't disappoint!
The next time I was confronted with wanting to give gifts, I was actually prepared. When Jillian and I first got on the bus to catch the ferry from Osaka to Miyazaki, a nice lady helped us out with the paperwork and finding our way there. When we left the ferry the next day, she showed us to the bus stop, and waited with us for a while. When her husband arrived to pick her up, she offered to take us to the train station, so that we could take the train to the college instead of having to take a bus, and then a train. Surprised that we'd lucked out again, (People have been so nice to us while we're here!) we gratefully accepted her offer, and loaded our luggage and selves into the back seat of her husband's car. Jillian made small talk when questioned by the couple, explaining that she was studying とり (tori - birds) at Miyazaki, and that she is an exchange student is going to be here for a year. I embarrassedly explained that my Japanese is not as good as Jillian's, and that was I just here to visit. When we told them that we're from the area near Seattle, they excitedly asked us about Ichiro and the Mariners, and gave us some みっかん、 (mikkan - small mandarin oranges) to snack on. They praised Jillian's speaking skills, but Jillian of course responded humbly, telling them that she still had a long way to go. The couple told us that taking us all the way to the college really wasn't that far out of the way, so they took us all the way to the dorm. (How sweet of them!!)
This time, I was ready though! I totally busted out some Ichiro and Johjima key chains and American sweets to give them as we unloaded. We thanked them heartily, and they tried to protest and decline my gifts and first, but eventually accepted them graciously. I was really happy when the husband got excited to see what I'd given them, which I'd only bought extras of by chance!
During my time here, I've filled up the extra suitcase that originally contained Christmas gifts for Jillian with Christmas gifts for both of our families. Poor Charlie is actually in custody of said suitcase now, since we left it with him thinking we'd be back to pick it up shortly, but that was before we knew that my stay was going to be quadrupled in length. As for Hirase-Sensei's liqueur, I found out too late that he actually doesn't drink, but he said that his wife would surely enjoy it. Now I know that Hirase-Sensei actually really likes calendars from different countries and Batdorf and Bronson Coffee (from Olympia.) Next time I return, I won't disappoint!
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