The Bond Between Teacher and Student

I'm at my desk, slowly sipping from a cup of mildly-bitter green tea, after drinking sake from my samuari sake cup. This cool, slightly damp Monday, I write to you from my room. I hear the sounds of birds sharing the news, passing cars from the main road, and the humming and clanging of machinery that is building AIU's fitness center.

I glance to my shelf and see the gift Sakamoto-sensei gave me last weekend, a palm-sized rabbit made entirely out of Jade. This was a momento from my day of fishing (we caught nothing haha) and relaxing, as well as the evidence of a unique bond being created here. I recall the time at the harbor; it was a fruitless trip as far as the catch was concerned, but I experienced the elements of deep-sea fishing. Casting the weighted fishing line, interpreting the sonar device that measures both the current depth as well as underwater activity, and driving the boat around all filled me with the joy of becoming more than who I was yesterday.

I returned to Sakamoto sensei's home for a home cooked dinner, desert, and authentic Chinese tea ceremony prepared by his wife. We had a pleasant discussion, and Mrs. Sakamoto helped me create my own Kanji name. For each Kanji, I chose the syllabic character that I thought most suited some important elements of my personality at this time.
-"Ku", I chose the Kanji that holds the meaning "carpenter" or "industrious."
-"Ri," meaning "rational" or "science."
-"Su," representing "defend" or "save."

Here's my interpretation of the characters placed next to eachother; Chris (kurisu) is the "rational carpenter who defends." Then you may ask, what does this mean? Defends what? At the moment, I can think of 2 personal examples:
1) By learning about and making video games, I am attempting to defend their existance in the eyes of skeptics who see them merely as "time wasters." I am constructing both rational arguments and playable games to get my points across.
2) My study of martial arts is a process of building a mind-map for self-defense. Through practice and understanding, I am learning skills that may come to be used for protecting either myself or another.

Then, I was TOLD to sit in a full-body massage chair and play Japanese video games! If all of this wasn't enough, I took him up on the offer to borrow some bikes for the semester. Such kindness and generosity, what an awesome pair of Japanese folk! We've already made plans to have a barbeque on July 4th (Independence Day woooo!) and I can't wait!