striking up a conversation

“Hello. Welcome to Japan. Where are you from?” the old Japanese man asked as he stepped up beside me on the escalator.
“America,” I answered, being caught off-guard and experiencing a slight feeling of deja vu.
“Really? I’ve been to America eleven times. What part of America are you from?” he continued.
“Indiana,” I replied, doubting his knowledge of the interior states.
“Indianapolis? Or maybe Fort Wayne? The whole area used to be farmland, I know.”
I was taken aback by his intimate knowledge of my state.
“Are you here teaching English? There are quite a few teachers here. Let me see, you’re at Nova or ECC?”
I hate being stereotyped as one of those teacher-foreigners, so I bent the truth a little. “I’m a student doing research at Otani University.”
“That is wonderful. I am a professor at Kyoto University. I got my PhD in English at Columbia.”

And with that bit of information, it became clear. I knew I had met this man before, as had many foreigners visiting Kyoto, I’m sure. He is quite a famous professor of the English language who has published books, written articles, and taught at several universities around the world. He particularly loves to stop random foreigners on the street and talk to them in English. The last time I bumped into him, he pulled out a page of the book he was currently working on and asked my opinion on usages of certain expressions in the English language.

We chatted about research while walking; “Research,” he declared adamantly, “can only be called research if it brings to light something new.” He commended my obscure topic and wished me the best of luck in introducing it to the English speaking world; we compared the difficulties of studying old versions of languages; I learned the old manner of writing personal pronouns. We parted ways as I went to enter the train station. He indicated that he would continue on, and with a wave and a friendly “Gambatte” slid back into the crowd.

And so, if you are ever in Kyoto, keep an ear out. A very interesting conversation could begin with the simple greeting, “Hello. Welcome to Japan. Where are you from?”