Lunch with Care for Tokushima

 I was able to meet a portion of the Care for Tokushima group.  The group is a mix of Japanese people and immigrants who meet every so often to talk about life.  They also have an attitude of protecting and nurturing the aspects that make Tokushima unique.  Because of covid-19 they have not met for over a year.  As Brooke is leaving for Australia soon and as I am here, they held a joint farewell/welcome lunch.

It was very nice to sit back and listen to the many conversations, hearing them slide back and forth between English and Japanese.  As I understand things, this would have been the core group to participate in the International Understanding for Citizens seminar that was cancelled.  It's unfortunate the class did not run because Tami told me many good things about everyone.

I also learned the answer to a mystery that has been in the back of my mind since early this month.  I was watching television one day and the news showed a story about a large black bird that was captured somewhere.  It was clear from the filming and how people were talking during the interviews it was a big deal.  One of the CFT gentlemen is a bird watcher.  So, I took a chance and asked him about it.  He knew exactly what I was talking about right away.

A Southern Ground Hornbill (native to Africa) had been loose for over a year after escaping from a pet shop.  It was captured in Chiba Prefecture, just outside Tokyo.  Here is an English language article about it from Asahi Shimbun.  It was fortuitous that I learned this.  I guess it pays to ask questions

After lunch, Susan took me to Tokushima Station so I would know where the meeting place I missed on Sunday is.  Just in case I need to know it again.  I let her know on our walk from the parking spot to the station that last night Yuko saw the flier describing the excursion.  She pointed out the flier says to meet by the turnstiles.  I asked where it says that, and she said "Right here in the circled part."  Every other person on the trip could read that and know what it meant.

I do not blame anyone for the oversight.  The lesson I have learned here is I tend to forget my students have different skills than I do.  What seems like an obvious, straightforward direction, problem, or situation may be incredibly confusing to them.  If I ask another expert in the field, they may have the same "blind spots" that I have.  It's very easy to look at something familiar and say to myself "That makes sense.  How could anyone mess this up?"  If the person does not have the foundational skills needed to interpret the most basic and obvious parts, they will make a mistake.

My two lessons for the day are (1) listen when people tell you their interests because they are sharing knowledge and (2) I need to question my assumptions about what others know and understand as I try to communicate.