Worldwide Homeroom Teacher

This article is also from my Toastmasters' speech! I made it in April. I have been working on the Toastmasters' basic manual. In this time, my assignment was "Your body speaks." Thereofore, I used lots of gestures!! Then, I got my...maybe, fourth time?? "the Best Speaker Award"!!!!


If you are asked, “Who is the most unforgettable and admirable person you’ve ever met？Or someone like a mentor?” whom do you think about? I will definitely answer, “Norisawa!” Norisawa was my homeroom teacher in high school. Norisawa is his nickname. His real name is Noriyuki Sawa, but after he became FAMOUS WORLDWIDE in a specific field, people started to call him “Norisawa.” Why did a high school teacher in a small city in Japan become famous worldwide? I will tell you later, but at first, let’s go back to my high school days.

In Japan, homeroom teachers are very important for students. They are not only teachers, but also like mentors and counselors. I clearly remember the day when I met Norisawa the first time. He was a young, handsome, and passionate teacher. He looked so excited about welcoming us because it was the first time for him to be a homeroom teacher. The amazing thing was he had already recognized everybody’s name and face in a class.
"Hello Keiko Ohashi! How are you Cathy Campbell? Nice to see you Angela Valadez!"
He had memorized our names perfectly even though we met the first time.

Later, he told us his secret. Everyday, he had spread out students’ application forms with photos in his room. He let his wife read our names, and tried to pick up a photo of the name, like a card game. “Keiko Ohashi!” “There she is!” like that.

In front of the amazed students and parents, he did another surprising thing.
He showed us a puppet and said, “I am an art teacher, but privately, I am a puppet master.” In his honor, his puppet was not like stuffed dolls in the picture...
You can see his handmade puppets if you visit his Web-site;
http://www.puppet-house.co.jp/nori/sawa.htm
Many of his puppets are Shakespearean characters. Yes, he was a puppet artist for adults!!
At that time, we knew he might be “somebody.” He was a very unique homeroom teacher!!!

I was a lazy, inactive schoolgirl. I often visited his office, and said, “Mr. Norisawa, I don’t like studying, I don’t like school, I don’t have a dream, I have nothing! Nothing to do!” He always laughed and encouraged me,
“ Com’on, Keiko! You can do anything! You have much more possibilities than me! Let’s start to enjoy your daily life!”

One day, we tried to decide what our class would do at a school festival. We were thinking about opening a food shop. I spontaneously said, “How about a revolving sushi bar?(回転寿司)” Do you know what is a revolving sushi bar?
In this bar, the upper table is revolving slowly like a conveyor belt, so you can select and pick your favorite dish and eat at the lower table.
…Now you know, I was just kidding. It seemed impossible for high school students to do!
But, Norisawa didn’t laugh. He seemed to be thinking for a second, and said,” We can do it.”
“What!? I was just kidding!” I was surprised, but he was serious.
“Keiko, you can be a leader of a project team for making a revolving table.”
“What…!?” It was too late…

The preparation started the next day. Norisawa, some of my friends, and I visited a construction company and asked what we could do. They suggested making small revolving tables for 4-5 people. We bought cheap lumber, monitors, and made revolving tables!!
I, a fifteen-year-old, small girl at that time, used a big saw and a hammer to make revolving tables! I regretted having entered a girls’ school…I couldn’t say,
“ Oh, I am a weak girl, so I can’t do that!” to boys.
But actually, I didn’t hate it. While I was cutting lumber, I remembered what Norisawa always said, “If you can’t find what you want to do, start to enjoy your daily life!” I didn’t love the “carpenter thing,” so it didn’t become my dream...
But it was quite fun! Finally we made several tables. Our revolving sushi bar got really popular at the school festival. Maybe it was the first time when I felt “Wow! I made it!”

A half year later, Norisawa did another surprising thing. He quit the school. He got a governmental scholarship and went to France to study at a puppet university. Before he left our school, he said to us.
“I am 29 years old. If I am over 30, I may not go to France. People’s possibilities never become zero, but the older you get, the less your possibilities become. That’s why I am always saying, “You have many more possibilities than me.” That’s why I decided to chase my dream right now.”
When I was 15 years old, his words were not so realistic. But lately, I am often reminded of his words.

After Norisawa went to France, he was recommended to go to the Czech Republic where puppetry art was the most active in the world. His monologues of Shakespearean plays got really famous there, and he made an international theatrical company. He became a professor of the Academy of Performing Art which is famous for having the highest quality puppet education.
He started an annual world tour!!
I have just read an article of a Japanese newspaper when he performed in front of the English Prime Minister(at that time,) Tonny Blair.
Surprisingly, our Japanese local Norisawa became worldwide Norisawa!

Now, let’s go back to the very first question. “Who is the most unforgettable and admirable person you’ve ever met?” If you think for awhile, I bet you will remember a few names. You have met many people and some of them have influenced you very very much. You do not need to recall them everyday, but think about them sometimes. Try to make contact with them if you can. I am sure they, like Norisawa, can always give you power to follow your dream.


Believe it or not... I went to the Czech Republic to meet Norisawa 8 years ago!
This summer, I may be able to meet Norisawa again in Paris! I am really excited!!
I will visit Paris, London, and Brussels from July 10th to 19 th with my hubby.
I will tell you what happens and show you Europe's pictures!!
See you later, and have a nice summer!!

The Road to the Longest Life Expectancy

This is the script of my third presentation at the Toastmasters. My project theme was "How to say it."

I wanted to explain what makes Japanese have the longest life expectancy. I brought some Japanese food, and explain them serving some Japanese characteristic snacks. I gave this presentation in March.

Here is a quiz for you!

Which food (snack) is more popular among the Toastmasters' members? Most of them are Americans.

1. Smoked squid(するめいか)

2. Roasted seaweed sheet(味付けのり)

Have you guessed? Before I gave you the answer...let's listen to my presentation!

Fellow toastmasters and guests, now, it’s…7:00 o’clock. Aren’t you hungry? Would you like to have some snacks? I can serve you! This is smoked squid, from my country. Japanese people are health-conscious. Even when we eat snacks, we try to eat nutritious ones.

Actually, Japan has the world’s longest life expectancy. That is 82 years old. Just for the record, the U.S. is 77 years. It is said we live long because of our food. To tell you the truth, my mother is one who helps to keep our long life expectancy. She was a nutritionist. She has been making everything from scratch. Not only dishes, but also snacks, sweets, sauce, and salad dressing. After she got married, she made this chart with members of the Japanese National Women’s Friendship Group. Today, I will share my mom’s secrets of how to have healthy food. I know eating customs are different from the U.S. and Japan. But let’s find out what kinds of foods people eat with the longest life expectancy.

My mother’s main policies are two. One is to eat 30 different kinds of foods in a day. The other is that 30 kinds of foods have to be divided into eleven groups: the Grain Group, Meat and Fish, Dairy Product, Egg, Vegetable, Fruit, Potato, Beans, Seaweed, Sugar, and Fat Group. Fat means butter or oil. We have enough sugar and fat even though we don’t notice them. So, I will explain the other 9 groups. How much you are supposed to eat is depending on your sex and age.

First, the Grain Group indicates mostly white rice (our staple food is rice,) bread, and pasta. If you skip eating grain, your total energy from food is not enough. To be energetic, you should eat a grain at every meal. You need 7.4 ounces(210g) of grain per day if you are a girl in your thirties.

The second group is the Meat and Fish Group. However, you should be careful to take fish and meat in almost the same amount. Not much more meat. Ground meat and bacon have much fat, so you should not take them too much. Japanese often eat fish instead of meat. We love sushi, and, we have different kinds of fish snacks as I served you. They have good calcium.

Third, the Dairy Product Group. The younger you are the more you need them. But remember, you should make variations to have 30 different kinds of foods. If you need to have 10.5 ounces(300g) of dairy products, just drinking up the same amount of milk is not enough. I recommend you drink 7.5 ounces(200g) of milk. To take another 3 ounces(100g), get cheese or yogurt, whichever you want. So you can have different nutrition.

Fourth, the Egg Group means to have 1 egg per day unless you have high cholesterol readings. Egg has almost every nutrient expect for Vitamin C.

Fifth is the Vegetable Group. All of us have to eat 14 ounces of them daily. But, 14 ounce! If you take 14 ounces(400g) of veggies from salad, it seems too large quantity. Therefore, you should cook them in many ways like boiling, simmering, or adding salt to pickle.

Sixth, the Fruit Group. It is the best way to take 3.5 ounces(100g) of fruit in the morning to use up these calories of sugar. Fruit has too much sugar to eat it at night. You can take enough Vitamin C from potatoes. This is the seventh group. Vitamin C in fruit goes out in our urine. However, Vitamin C of potatoes is not vulnerable. It can be stored inside our bodies.

The eighth and ninth groups are Japanese characteristic food groups.　One is the beans group, another is the seaweed group. Japanese food has many variations of bean foods; tofu, nattou(fermented soybeans), aburaage(deep-fried tofu), yuba(a sheet of soy bean boiled milk), and so on. (Look at the photo!) They have much good protein and calcium. But of course you can have your favorite beans! Seaweed has much calcium, iron, and fiber, and is also good for healthy hair. This is called Nori, which is a roasted seaweed sheet. We often eat this. Please try the taste.

Now, my mother is 68 years old, and my father is 74. Whenever they go to hospitals to be checked, doctors are surprised because their bodies have nothing wrong. They are very healthy because of keeping this chart. I have been trying to follow my mother’s way. However, my husband’s most favorite food is this one. Instant curry which is a Japanese-style fast food with a lot of fat! Usually I take much time to cook from scratch, but when I use this, he always says, “Wow! You have become good at cooking!”

Well, thank you for your kind attention! Oh, the answer of the quiz! It is...

No.1, smoked squid!! I thought they preferred seaweed because generally, American people didn't like chewy food like squid. But they said the taste of roasted seaweed was very unfamiliar & weird for them. However, they liked the chewy squid!!

If you want to get your audience to be VERY attentive, serve some food!!

Interview Principles and Practices

The reason why I couldn't republish this blog during May is ( I am always making this kind of excuse,,.) I took a summer class at Purdue.
As you know, most American college students study hard. Some of them take double major, and a minor. For exmaple, one of my friends majors are management and finance, and his minor is Chinese. Therefore, most American universities ( I suppose) have classes during summer seasons!! Because of student's convenience( I suppose,) some classes have various schedules.

I took "Interview Principles and Practices" class as an auditor. This is one of the communication major classes. I took this class from the middle of May to the middle of June because I will go to Europe in July!! This class is a regular class, so usually, it meets twice a week.
However, in summer , because of the compressed schedule... we had the class every morning!!
It was hard to read the THICK textbook & do the workbook everyday! Look at the picture to see these textbooks I used!!

I was a wedding emcee, so I often did casual interviews with guests. Also, I enjoy watching some interview TV shows. I always wonder how I can be a successful interviewer, so I was interested in this class. But in this class, the teacher didn't teach about such casual interviews!!
It made sense, this is a university class!! She taught everything about "job interviews."

The professor was Mrs.Pamela. She has many experiences as a teacher, an interviewer, and interviewee.
What I was interested in most was using legal quetions. Being different in the U.S, some common questions in Japan are apparently illegal. First, applicants "shouldn't" attach their photos on their regimes. Second, recruiters shouldn't ask about the applicant's age, nationality, marriage status, religion, political preference, hadicaps, etc, etc..because interviewees are protected by private laws ( many laws) which prohibit discrimination against age, sex, nationality, religion, etc, etc!!
Some "unlawful" questions are very vague.

For eamples,
1. Where were you born? →　could be nationality discrimination!!
2. How often do you drink alcoholic beverages? → could be discrimination against alcoholic!!
3. When do you plan to retire? → could be age disctimination!!
4. Do you live in China Town? → could be nationality discrimination, again!!
5. Is that an engagement ring? → could be marriage status discrimination!!
6. What organizations are you active in? → could be political preference or religious discrimination!!

Wow!! If I were an interviewer here, I should be really careful... What if I were an interviewee, and asked such an unlawful question?
What if I were single, and asked " Do you have a boyfriend?" Should I say, "Oh, that's an illegal question!! I will sue you!!"??
Mrs. Pamela said it would not be wise because I wanted to enter the company!!
She said, "You should try to figure out what the interviewer really wants to know. In that case, the interviewer may want to know if you can transfer to another branch or not, or you can get into the job or not. You might say, " I am ready to do this job. I have been working hard to be qualified for this job. If I have to transfer to another city, I think I will understand." Then, you don't have to answer whether you REALLY have a boyfriend or not."
OK! Probably I will not be asked a "boyfriend" question because apparently I am married...but, this solution is helpful to me!!

By the way, a summer course is really hard to finish!! In this class,students have four writing assignments, four interview roleplay assignments, and two tests. I was an auditor, so I just listened to every class & every student's roleplay. But what if I had to pass this class?
I think the students studied really hard!!
A summer course is hard for not only students, but also instructors.
Mrs Pamela is a working mother who has two children. She said, just after this class finished, she would fly to Washington D.C to accompany her high school student daughter who would perform there as a chorus singer of a scholl activity.
I said, " If I can help you, please let me know!" to her. Then? Actually, she asked me A LOT!!
Whenever we did interview assignments, we divided into two rooms because we had many students. She introduced me" My PERSONAL SPECIAL assistant, Keiko!" to the students, and asked me to supervise one room when they did roleplay assighments, record every interview, time those, give them back their final exams, collect their survey numbers, etc etc...
I knew nothing about her job, so I just did what I was told... but some students thought I was a REAL assistant, so asked me some difficult questions like, "How does she evaluate our assignments?" " How do we count this evaluation?" etc, etc...
I couldn't answer them, but they still wondered about me, "She may be a NOBODY, but could be a SOMEBODY who was asked to do a special evaluation from Mrs. Pamela??" If they had asked me, I would have said," Oh, I am just an auditor!!" But nobody asked me, so I just kept my secret.

Anyway, taking a summer course was a wonderful experience for me! The most impressive thing was ....You Tube!
You Tube is a visual Web-site that you can find any videos on even TV shows you watched yesterday!!
Maybe almost all American students know this site, but I didn't know it!! Mrs. Pamela used this site a lot to show us good interview examples.
Since then, I have enjoyed many MUSIC CLIPS at You Tube!! What? What did I do in this class?? Fogive me, early morning class(It was from 8:30 am) is so hard for me, so I was often daydreaming during the class!!
Thank God I was an auditor...