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This interview was conducted and edited by the students of the course, "Thrilling Experienceof English" Course by PARKWAY sponsored by the International Exchange Squqre in Kure.
d@j is Parkway's new editor and teaching English at the Kure YWCA. He comes from Kansas, U.S.A. with his wife,Julee whom Parkway interviewed in No.82. As he majored in philosophy and art at his university, he lectured on art to us with many slides after this interview
pF Your name sounds German.
`F Actually it is, but it's also a Russian name. Half of my family was from Moscow, where they lived as musicians for the czars for many generations. The other half was from Lithuania near Germany.
pF Is your home state famous for "Wizard of Oz" and tornadoes?
`F Yes. In Europe whenever I say, "I'm from Kansas," everyone asks "How are Dorothy and her dog Toto?" As for tornadoes they come every year in my state. Every house in Kansas has a basement. You can hear the warning siren ten minutes before a tornado comes. As soon as it goes off you get into the basement and hide. When I was a child, I watched a tornado destroy many homes. Because I was in a movie theater without a basement, I was very scared.
pF What was your major in college?
`F I studied two different subjects, philosophy and art. So I use philosophy to create art. After graduation I got a dream job in a very famous art gallery in Washington.
pF Kure City Museum of Art bought the painting by Renoir for 350 million yen. How do you feel about that?
`F I have mixed feelings. People will come to see it and that will make Kure museum a little more famous. If they loan it to other museums in Paris or in Germany, for example, they can borrow other paintings in exchange. I think it's good. However, you could buy maybe thirty very excellent ones for the same price. There are so many living or older artists who are as good as Renoir, in my opinion. It's a question of taste and sense of value.
pF Why did you decide to come to Japan?
`F As I told you, I had my dream job. I was very busy working ten or twelve hours a day often seven days a week. I wouldn't be able to spend time with my wife if I stayed in that job and that I was too young to work too hard. I decided to quit the job and see Southeast Asia. Besides my father likes to travel and often took me around the world. I'm infected with the travel bug. When he taught at some universities in Japan, he didn't take me, because I was in college. I missed that, so I had to see it for myself. Many advised us to teach English in Japan. Before leaving U.S.A., we learned how to teach English to foreign people technically.
pF In Japan usually only wives do the household chores even if the couple both work outside their homes. What do you think about this?
`F Julee and I share equally. I do most of cleaning, she enjoys cooking. It depends. I naturally do a lot of housework. Though nobody likes doing it, it must be done. I respect housewives because it's hard work, not a lot of fun, with much responsibility and they don't get thanks for doing it every day.
pF What's your future plan?
`F It's exciting to teach English here. I also learn about Japan and its people from teaching. My students are fantastic. They are much more interested in the world than Americans are. I'd like to stay here for another eighteen months. After that we'll go back to university in the U.S. I'll study to be an oral surgeon. I hope I'll be able to operate on people's jaws artistically. Don't you think so?