A Million Thanks to Rotary here and at home.

I feel like a hillbilly in a five star restaurant. We have been treated to far more courtesies than anyone would have the right to expect. At the Chinese dinner Saturday night, I was seated in a particular spot, obviously by prearrangement with the hotel staff. From the moment I was seated the world revolved around my pleasure. I was served first on each of the 8 courses that were brought into the room. I wish I had the proper manners and level of sophistication to
have been more gracious in this situation.

Sunday evening the Niigata District hosted a welcome party for us. The District Governor and myself were seated in the places of honor and were shown much deference. The meal was served in a dozen courses, and while I have no clue what some of the food was I enjoyed it very much. I discovered I was on the agenda for the evening only a few moments before it was to begin. In fact I was on it twice. Once to give a formal greeting to the Niigata dignitaries that were assembled there, and again to introduce my team. The introductions were a piece of cake, but the more formal speech was a little difficult. I told the group that when I left Osaka, Japan 25 years ago I sang "Itsu Made Mo" to my friends at a farewell party. The song is a goodbye-'til-we-meet-again song. The end of the first verse says "Asu no hi o, yume miite, kibo no michii o", which interprets roughly to: "I see a dream of tomorrow, it will be my path of hope". I choked up (a very unjapanese thing to do) as I explained to the group that today my path is ended and my dream is fulfilled, and expressed my gratitude to be back in Japan. I didn't say half of the things I meant to say though. I should have expressed my gratitude to Tachikawa San and his GSE committee. They have done so much for us we could never repay their kindness.

The team is doing wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better team. They are extremely diligent in trying to speak the language and partake of everything this Group Study Exchange has to offer. None of them is holding back. They eat everything they are served, which can be scary at times. They talk to our hosts, and while the conversations can be hodgepodge dialogues of English and Japanese, they are not letting anything stop them from participating 100 percent in every activity that has been presented to us. I couldn't be prouder of them. The frustrations of the language barrier has not slowed, or depressed them in the slightest.

After the welcome party last night we were again treated to a Karaoke party. Karaoke is something I have never done publicly before, but something I have always wanted to try. It has been a blast. Fortunately karaoke here does not seem to revolve around showing off your talent. It is an opportunity to participate in a party and enjoy one another's company. Normally singing in a public is a very nerve-wracking event for me, so I can't relax and enjoy it, but here it is a very comfortable thing to do. Now, as Claudia says, I only need to expand my repertoire, so they don't feel like they're listening to their great grandfater sing from the dust.

All my love to the Rotary district back home that has helped shaped who I am and give focus to my energy,
Dan Hill