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MA: What about your impressions about the U.S. in general, about race relations in the U.S. at the time, or just things about U.S. culture that you remember when you first arrived?

NM: I was overwhelmed. I was overwhelmed by spaciousness and, yeah, material wealth. And then also individualism. That was shocking for me. You know, attending a seminary class, I was asked, like other students, "What is your perspective? What do you think about this or that theologians?" And that was not the way I was raised in Japan. Always repeating or summarizing other people's thoughts, that was the way Japanese education goes. But here, the professor always asked us our own thoughts. So that was refreshing, but at the same time, frightening. Because in Japan, that was not allowed, to speak up your own mind. Always obeying the authority, so oh, that was fascinating but frightening. And then another thing I remember is students called their professors by their first name. That was not acceptable in my country. And they were like friends. I just didn't know what to do about it. Yeah, so many, many surprises. And then directness. People speak to each other by, you know, looking at people's eyes. And then so, you know, close to each other when they communicate each other. Those things were just so frightening. And then they hug each other and then so much physical contact. So everything was frightening and shocking and refreshing at the same time.

<End Segment 6> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.