C. Smith TP #1

I arrived at the site of the tea party ahead of time, so I had some time to kill before the time came for me to meet Kei. The place was crowded, so I went off with Kei to a less crowded room so that he'd feel more comfortable.

This was our first time speaking together, and he was a little guarded when we spoke. People from Japanese culture tend to be even more reserved and proper than the British, so that is to be expected. I learned that his father was an international currency trader, and that Kei had a lot of respect for his father's command of English. Kei told me he wanted to learn English in order to improve his chances of finding work after college. I also learned of his interest in soccer and baseball.

We ended up discussing Japanese history for a short while. Kei was surprised to find that I liked Miyamoto Musashi, claiming that Musashi was a tricky sort who overcame opponents through a combination of guile and skill. Kei was also a big fan of the Warring States period of Japanese history and elaborated on other heroes of the time.

He's a little homesick, so we ended up discussing how much we both miss Japanese food. Our interests/tastes don't always overlap, so that'll give us more to discuss later on.

Kei has studied grammar passively in school for a long time but now is tasked with bringing that training into active use. His vocabulary is acceptable but he needs to be taught more idioms and expressions, and he needs to have more speaking time in general. I will attempt to talk to him about things he is interested in in order to help him have more chances to speak.