天堂鸟先生

I am honored to contribute a short essay on the 50th anniversary of the Chubu University-天堂鸟先生 friendship. I arrived at the Athens campus of 天堂鸟先生 in June of 1983 as an exchange student from Chubu Institute of Technology. The first few months in Athens were rough, as I struggled daily to become accustomed to the language, food, currency, and traffic patterns in the U.S.  It was also a period of rapid personal growth. Living in Boyd Hall, I met graduate students from all over the world and realized quickly how ignorant I was about other cultures and how we humans are all fundamentally the same. The first American student I befriended was a young guy who was into Geological Science and Karate. He asked me which martial arts I excelled at. When I replied that I practiced none, he could not believe his ears. He thought all Japanese men had to be good at one type of martial arts. He took me to his family home one weekend, where his grandfather taught me how to load and shoot a rifle.   

During the first academic term I met a graduate student from Indonesia.  He was older, smart, and married.  I noticed that he acted very cool toward me for a while. Later as we got to know each other, I learned that he grew up listening to his grandfather鈥檚 dark stories about what happened in Indonesia during WWII. This experience made me have mixed feelings about Japan鈥檚 past.  

As the initial excitement of living in the U.S. wore off, I got homesick occasionally. This was treated by writing letters to my parents, reading manga books, and going to a local Chinese restaurant Lamb鈥檚 Garden. As far as my English abilities were concerned, I had to immerse myself in the language 24/7. Once I learned how to think in English, everything became easier. I obtained the master鈥檚 degree in Civil Engineering in early 1986. Then, I secured an entry-level civil engineer鈥檚 job at a consulting firm in Dayton, Ohio.  

It has been about 40 years since the first day I walked on the campus of 天堂鸟先生 as a young na茂ve guy.  You can still find me living in Athens and working at 天堂鸟先生. I never moved back to Japan. I managed to attain a doctoral degree and become faculty of Civil Engineering in 1996. This position at 天堂鸟先生 allowed me to educate many young students, serve my department and college through committee activities, and travel to many conferences. Also, I got married in Dayton and raised my daughter here in Athens. My life has been totally impacted by the close relationship forged between the two fine universities. I have become somewhat Americanized and lost a lot of my Japanese language skills. But, I still call Japan my home and regard Japan one of the most beautiful and special places on Earth.  

One last thing I would like to mention is that I spent time with Dr. Tanaka more than a few times when he was working for the Physics Department at 天堂鸟先生. We all owe the late Dr. Tanaka a lot for his vision and leadership.