Variety

Once again, I'm struck by being in an incredibly international group. I just started Japanese class here in Kanazawa again, and even though the group is very small this time (11 students), it's incredibly diverse. We have three Swiss (Eurocentres is headquartered in Switzerland); two Germans; a Brazilian; an Italian; a Dutch woman; an English woman; and three Americans. For two people, both of their parents are Japanese; one of them already speaks good Japanese, the other does not; for one more person, one of their parents is Japanese. We have at least one person who loves Manga and Anime (that was also true when I came in May), and two doctors. We have two University students and several retirees. I go through the list because I'm continually amazed at the complexity of the world whereby all of us come and find common interest in learning Japanese in this particular school, in this particular town, in this particular month.