April 2 - The alumni club of my Japanese alma mater, Komaba Toho High School, recently invited me to a nostalgic evening reunion. Over 10 years ago, Komaba Toho graduates living in the United States began meeting each year in New York. Now many of these alumni have returned to Japan. These "America returnees" meet periodically to exchange stories about their high school years and about life in the United States.

As we went around the room introducing ourselves, each person began by talking about his high school days. We recalled our year of graduation, student activities such as clubs, the team we represented at our Sports Day competition, and our teachers. I mentioned my English teacher, Tagawa-sensei, and my World History teacher, Shibahara-sensei. Although we represented graduating classes spanning over 30 years, many of us shared common memories such as cheering the school baseball team and visiting Culture Day fairs at other schools in a vain attempt to meet girls.

But after graduating from high school, our lives took separate paths. Our group included trading company executives, bankers, lawyers, engineers, journalists and another diplomat in addition to me. I know that it can be difficult for Japanese people to adjust to life in a foreign country, but when I heard the stories of these schoolmates, they seemed to recall their experiences living in the United States quite fondly. Even some of the difficult challenges had become funny with the passage of time. Someday I too will need to return to the United States, but I know I will return with wonderful memories of life in Tokyo.

Until next time,

Jim