Ms. Chie Helinski shares that on Thursday, December 12th, the AP Japanese, Japanese 1, and Japanese 3 classes welcomed special guest speakers. Richard Mei (Stuy '77) a foreign service officer that has worked in many countries, including Japan, where he lived for 16 years. He will be the Consul General of Osaka next summer and will oversee all US-Japan relations in the entire western part of Honshu. Alex Kent was his interpreter.
Both attended Stuyvesant before Japanese was offered. They studied Japanese in college respectively and taught English to students in Japan. They said by living in Japan and having the total immersion experiences made huge impacts on their lives. They emphasized the importance of "dislocation." When you live abroad, our normal may not be norm to the people who live there. They said everyone becomes an ambassador and cautioned to be mindful of arrogance. They also stressed the importance of making mistakes. Alex said that the Stuy kids get in by not making mistakes but, in real life, we have to make mistakes all over the place to learn and grow. He urged the students to do away with fear and embrace new experiences. Richard told the students to look for similarities rather than differences to overcome various issues.
One popular question the students asked was how long it took them to learn Japanese. Richard said each person is different. Alex said it was very hard for him to learn it. They both agreed that there is no end to learning it. They are fluent. But they said they were still learning it every day.
They concluded the presentation saying that they hoped our students will let their passion unfold their lives. Passion will take us to where we are meant to be. The presentation was wonderful and left us with so much to ponder on. (photos courtesy of Ms. Helinski)
