2006 November 15 Wednesday.
I had no classes until 16:00 today, so I had plenty of time to sit down and read the Hokkaido Newspaper for the first time, in a long time. Maybe I spend too much time on the internet, both reading content, and producing my own content for the web. Then again, their is so much more that I can do with this website now and into the future, that I really need to spend more time working on it. Anyway, time is all I have so, making to most of it, in whatever way, is my first priority. Again today, as with every week on Wednesday at 19:00, I had a class with the two ladies who speak English very well, and the nice gentleman who just started taking lessons here at my classroom only about 3 weeks ago. I have an interesting story to tell you about this nice gentleman. About 4 or 5 weeks ago, he called my classroom and asked to come over for a free trial lesson. When he came to my classroom for the first time, he walked in the door and said; "Norman, do you remember me?" I looked at him for a few seconds, but I couldn't figure out where we had meet before, so I said; "Were you in my English class at Asahikawa University some years ago?" He said; "No, I used to work at 常口アトム, the apartment finding company, and you and your wife did the paperwork with me, when you rented your previous apartment near 新橋." Finally, everything fell into place. But that meeting was more than 14 years ago. Why did he remember me? He said that he remembered me because of my unusual name chop はんこ which reads 北男 a direct translation of my first name, Norman which really means NORTH MAN. I have to admit that my name chop is very different from any other, and may be the only one of its kind in Japan. This name chop itself also has a very interesting history. It was given to me as a gift, by a young Japanese girl who stayed at my home in Seattle, during a 2 month home stay program in about 1986 or 1987. I had sent her a letter written in Japanese and I wrote my name as 北男 at the end of the letter. She saw this unusual name and went to a name chop maker, and had a special name chop made just for me using the same kanji. I was very surprised and happy to receive this gift, and little did I know at that time, but I would be using it in Japan, in just a few short years. I even went to the Asahikawa City Hall and had my name chop registered. Nowadays, I have a different official name chop that I use for important documents, but I still use my old 北男 name chop for my teacher's work attendance sheets when I teach a class at the university or the nursing schools. Everything starts with an idea.
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