An Affair to Remember

Richard+Wu

The CBS Evening News on March 11， 2011， broadcasted that an earthquake of magnitude 9.0 had hit the northeast area of Honshu， Japan. Prefectures like Sendai， Yamagata， and Fukushima were totally wiped out by a following ferocious tsunami. My first reaction was what happened to Kumiko Kakehashi？ Had she survived this catastrophic apocalypse？

This story began fifty years ago.

If I remember correctly， the time was at about 12 oclock， September 3， 1963， and the place was the chow line at the cafeteria of the University of Texas at El Paso（ UTEP ）. As I scanned the hundreds of boys and girls busily down food， a beautiful face， under a crop of short， black， bowl cut caught my eyes. She was an oriental girl， eating alone. Could she， like me， come from Taiwan， I wondered. When I had my tray of fried chicken and French fries， there was no trace of her.

I overheard that the oriental girl came from Japan. Eventually， we met.

“Ohaiyou gozaimasu （ Good morning ），”was my only knowledge of Japanese.

Her name was Kumiko Kakehashi， a graduate from Sendai Tohoku University， Japan. She had been an English teacher at the Sendai High School and now， a two-year Fulbright Exchange student specializing in ESL（ English as Second Language ） teaching. Kumiko had successfully completed two semesters of class work at the University of Massachusetts， and only an internship was required to obtain her masters degree. When she was informed that at the Lower Valley area of El Paso， 90 percent of K to 12 school studentsfirst language was Spanish， ergo she opted for UTEP for her ESL Intern Training Program.

We were the only two Asian students living in the dormitory. Even so， we saw each other rarely because both of us were very busy. It was my first semester back to school after six years of military service in Taiwan. I struggled with math， English， and financial needs. I took a part time job working for Dr. Smith， doing some clean ups for his research project， two hours every night. I did not get much time to sleep. As for Kumiko， she not only had to take a long bus ride to the school where she was interning， but she had to prepare teaching materials and write reports.

The school cafeteria close on Sunday afternoon， so Kumiko and I had to buy our supper off campus. Since neither of us could afford a car， we usually walked together to a nearby McDonalds. That was the happiest time we spent together.

Kumiko， a Scorpio， was four years my junior and was fairly good looking without make-up. As Japanese， she was tall， five feet four. We talked quite a bit about our background and about our future plans. She remarked that she wished to be a compassionate school teacher， and I said I hoped to have a successful engineering career. She told me all her SEL students were adorable， I told her all my teachers were detestable. Once， while sitting on a stone bench together， she confided that she had not had a boyfriend yet， and I told her that I had not found a girl I wanted to marry.

Even though we tried to circumvent the embarrassing Sino-Japanese historical relationship， we touched that topic nevertheless. I told Kumiko my father was an officer during the Second World War. He killed many Japanese soldiers in the battle. Kumiko hesitated for a while， then， told me that her father was a rifleman of a Japanese infantry company， killed in China. Immediately I expressed regret and apologized. She said it was not Chinas fault.

Kakehashi senior was an honest and innocent farmer， had never ventured far from his native village. He was drafted by the Japanese Army. Kumiko was born 5 months after his death. When she was 7 years old， her mother remarried a very old man， because very few young men were available. Kumikos step father was an invalid because of the war. He was stupid， ignorant， and brutal， constantly beating his wife viciously. Kumikos mother divorced him because that old goat tried to take advantage of Kumiko sexually. Japan was extremely deprived of everything and Kumikos family has nothing to eat except some discarded soybean dregs. She blamed China for their indigence until she came to school in the United States. She learned that it was Japan that should be blamed. Japan started the war， and committed unforgiveable crimes in China and in other Asian countries. It was Japan who should make the apology. Kumiko further told me she respected the Germans. During the war， the Germans slaughtered millions of Jews. When the war ended， the Germans compensated， apologized， and plead forgiveness. Their humility and honesty won applause from all over the world. On the other hand， Japan was still wallowing themselves in denial， not admitting any wrong doing which， as Kumiko said， she personally felt deeply ashamed.

In a fierce battle， a machine gun bullet pierced my fathers chest. He later died of this injury. I hated the Japanese since I was young. Never had anything to do with those despicable people， I refused to buy any Japanese product， even talk to a Japanese， period. Kumikos honesty and frankness not only surprised me， but invoked respect from my heart. If she behaved as other Japanese， we wouldnt have the following story.

One thing worth mentioning was that on everyotherweekend，theForeignStudent Association organized a dancing party at the Student Union. Kumiko and I never missed the party. It was in the1960s， the high point of numerous vocal singers： Elvis Presley was still extremely popular， the Beatles were coming to theUnitesStates，andMotownmusicwas thriving. We both enjoyed American music and rock-n-roll dancing.

StartingearlyinNovember，theNCAA basketballseasonstart.Basketballwasmy favorite sport， and I invited her to the game. Kumiko knew nothing about basketball but she went along with me nevertheless. Through my explanation， she became a basketball fan in no time.

In American colleges， they usually have many student sponsored fun programs. The UTEP EngineeringSchoolhasabeardgrowing contest.All participants signedinat the Engineering Building conference room at ten oclock， the first Monday morning of October， and shaved in front of the judges. Then， at the tenoclock，thefirstMondaymorningof December， the judges determine the winners.

I was naturally full bearded， so Kumiko encouraged me to compete.Her mother mailed a bottle of《大蒜蛇血膏》，a unguent of garlic and snake blood. It was said that the《大蒜蛇血膏》would help a beard to grow fast. The drawback was its smell. It reeked， as its label tells， spoiled garlic and raw snake blood. I applied the《大蒜蛇血膏》on my lower face twice a day， every day.Due to my face stink， all my classmates moved far， far away.

On the day of trial， Kumiko sprayed my beard with glue， and combed it into Emperor Meiji style. I didnt win a prize in the“Longest”category， or in“Thickest”category， or in the“Most Colorful”category. Since I was the only foreign student， the judges endowed me a“Most Effective”prize.

UTEP dormitory was closed for two weeks for the Christmas holidays. We rented two rooms outside the campus. Kumiko and I both came from very conservative societies， so we kept our distance， despite the fact that we were fond of each other， and maintained our relationship as friends， not as lovers. There had been no intimate relations at all.

The winter vacation was happy days for us. I took Kumiko to Ciudad Juarez， Mexico. WevisitedMexicanmuseums， Grandcathedrals， Spanishmissions， and Southwestern Indian adobes. We also bet in small change and won a few pesos at the horseracing， listened to mariachis and tasted the authentic Mexican cuisine of tacos， tamales， enchiladas and drank the strong liquor tequila.

There were many souvenir shops in Juarez. We walked into one， haggled a lot， and finally I bought a pure silver necklace for Kumiko， and she bought me a wallet embossed with an elaborate design.

That afternoon， we went to see a Spanish style bullfight.

The bullfight was a very unfair game. As soon as a young bull entered the ring， three banderilleros—who along with the matadors were collectively known as“bullfighters" ， attacked the bull with lancers and swords until the bull was seriously injured and exhausted， then， there came the matador. He held a small red cape in one hand and a sword in the other.

The matador first dedicated the bull to a young girl in the audience， and then waved his cape to attract the bull in a series of passes， both demonstrating his control over it， and even risking his life by getting especially close to it. There are a number of distinct styles of passes， and at every pass， the audience shrieked“Ole！”frenziedly. Eventually， the pathetic bull was totally spent and stood there unable to move. Then estocada， the act of thrusting the sword， started. Aiming at the spot between the horns， the matador impelled his sharp blade directly into the bulls brain with one stroke， and the bull gave him a malevolent lookandwasdead.Atthistheaudiencejumpedupanddown，screaming hysterically. The whole process filled with ghastly violence and macabre cruelty. When I turned and looked at Kumiko， she had fainted already in my lap.

The Spring Semester started too soon. In short time， Kumiko and I returned to our busy schedule. One thing worth saying was that Dr. Smith increased my working hour and raised my salary. I could afford a used Volkswagon. Thus， I could drive Kumiko to her high school in the morning and pick her up in the afternoon that saved her many hour of bus riding.

As my degree plans dictated， I had to take three units of English. My English was not up to requirements and Kumiko came to help. She explained to me the Canterbury Taleslong couplets， and Shakespeares archaic words. She corrected my grammar mistakes， and edited the paragraph structures of my weekly essays. She even typed them for me.

Typing is not a big deal now-a-days. It was not so fifty years ago. At that time， no Personal Computers， no Zerox machines and printers， typing was a big deal. Mechanicaltypewriterswereclumsyandexpensive，beyondmoststudentsaffordability.The worse part was that you couldnt correct mistakes. Waiting lines on the two dozen or so coin operated typewriters were long. I was all thumbs when it came to typing. Three typo-errors would fail a 500-word essay， and failing three essays would flunk the English class. Without Kumiko， I would have had a very difficult time to pass the class.

“Richard， do you have any traditional Chinese clothes？”Kumiko asked one day.

“Some. Why do you ask？”

“We have an international student fashion show next month.”

“Do I have the honor to be your partner？”

“Its yours.”

“Great！ Ill ask my mother air delivery the accouterment.”I was excited.

That night， I adorned a dark gray long gown， navy jacket， and a silk cape having a reddish glass marble on top. A pair of embroidered brocade slippers served as my shoes. Carrying a pipe with a metal bowl and a long stem made of bamboo I flat-footedly walked down the runway in the front. As for Kumiko， she sported a pink silk kimono with white sakura（cherry flower）bloom down her left sleeve. A simple head band with flowers crowned her black hair. She followed me， taking little steps on her white tabi （ Japanese socks with big toe separated from the rest ） and okobo （ wooden shoes ）.A coquettish and flirty smile behind an open fan helped us win much applause but not a prize. A Sikh couple won the first prize.

Under the Fulbright Scholarship Agreement， a recipient had to go back to his / her native country when the training ends. So when summer vacation came， we decided to do a bit of sightseeing before Kumiko returned to Japan.

There are two natural wonders close to El Paso： the White Sand National Park， and the Carlsbad Caverns.

Pure white gypsum originally located in the Northwest of the continent， migrated to New Mexico through millions of years of wind. 800 square mile and averaged 40 feet thick alabaster sand dunes piled up on a plateau of 4，000 feet in altitude was definitely a wonder of the world.

The other wonder was a twenty something square mile big hole 700 feet deep into the crust of the earth. The Hall of the Giants occupies a space of 3，660 feet long， 573 feet wide and 234 feet high without a single support. With light music and beautiful lighting behind cast rock formation， it was an underground paradise.

Suddenly， all the lights went out， and music stopped. The whole place became pitch dark and dead quiet. This strange state lasted over one minute with no sign of recovery. By that time， everybody felt claustrophobic and scared. In the middle of the panic， a very weak voice came from nowhere told us“This is a test， only a test”. Slowly， the music， and lights came back on.

There were two entrances into the cavern， one was by elevator and the other was by its natural opening. That afternoon when the Sun was setting， Kumiko， I， and a couple of hundred tourists sat on the bleacher right on the caverns natural entry. All of a sudden， millions of bats， large and small， like a huge cargo train loaded full with black coal， rushed out and flew just three or four feet above our heads. The brilliant sky darkened immediately and the noise of their flapping wings sounded like a continuous rolling of a loud thunderclap. It was so scary！ My heart jumped almost out of my mouth. I turned and looked at Kumiko. She fainted again in my lap.

No one could stop the times winged chariot， and the day we dreaded finally came. I took her to the El Paso Municipal Airport. We promised to keep in touch. At sayonara， she kissed me， and cried.