Hapless Happyou

And so it has come to an end, barring one rather dubious Kanji test that I have to sit through tomorrow and which I am supposedly preparing for tonight. My final presentation was yesterday, and from my expression of stunned relief in this picture it should be obvious that it went well. Or at least acceptably. The two women flanking me are my teachers (on the left, Otachi Sensei - on the right, Mori Sensei). A cheerful pair they are too. Mori Sensei is a seriously committed surfer, and Otachi Sensei a 2nd Dan in Kyudo (the Japanese archery martial art). Between them they could be Legolas.

Anyway, my final presentation (Happyou) went well. I talked about all the most important Australian topics - me, Uluru, the landscape, Aboriginal rights, and sport. For my 'famous Australians' section I chose Ian Thorpe, the Bee Gees, Kathy Freeman, and Edward Florey (I couldn't bear to have Nicole Kidman and I had to have a scientist). Some Japanese people know the movie Saturday Night Fever, so all is not lost on this side of the Pacific. Everyone here knows Ian Thorpe, he is a national hero. After these sections I had to talk about my research, but it was only 3 slides.

Questions (all in Japanese) included "why is the Australian national team always in Green and Yellow" (yes, folks, no-one is fooled into thinking it is Gold); "why didn't you show the Australian flag" (I didn't use the flag in my presentation, and when I described it everyone laughed, but I put up the Aboriginal flag during the two slides on Aboriginal rights - a decision I only made because I didn't want to put up a picture of rural Aboriginal living conditions); "since you are a citizen of three nations, which one is your favourite" (I said 'the world'); "what is your favourite Japanese food" (I said Nattou); and (the doozy) "can you explain the difference between Aussie Rules Football and Football?" Which I answered as best I could with an explanation of the two goals and the concept of the Mark. I didn't mention the bits where people get torn limb from limb and thrown into the crowd, or the excessive amounts of fighting. I thought I'd gone far enough by explaining that Australians prefer violent sports ...

So, now it is official - I can spin bullshit in two languages. I think this must mean the world is my Oyster!