Mackenzie Thorpe's Visit to Japan

Today, I met artist Mackenzie Thorpe and his son, Owen Thorpe, at Narita Airport.

Actually, I had been feeling unwell for the past two days and was a bit dizzy, so I wore a mask to meet them. I thought wearing a mask might be considered rude to people from overseas, but since I didn't want to pass on a cold if I had one, I decided that even if the effectiveness of the mask was questionable, it was better than nothing, so I kept it on during our meeting.

I carelessly forgot to take a photo, but I was glad to see that both of them looked well.

This meeting is always the most nerve-wracking part for me, but perhaps because I was feeling dizzy, I didn't feel as much pressure as usual.

The reason I get nervous is that I often can't understand Mackenzie's English at first 😅

It takes me three or four days for my ears to get used to it, so I have to stay focused until then, which is tiring.
Also, I'm not good at speaking, so it takes time for me to tune into that as well.

During the hour-and-a-half drive from Narita to the hotel, we had a pleasant conversation about our respective families.

After dropping them off at the hotel, I told them the pickup time for tomorrow and said goodbye.

Tomorrow, there will be a workshop with children at Seisa Academy. I'm looking forward to seeing how it unfolds this year!

I have to set up the Tetsu Ito Japanese Painting Exhibition tonight, so I'll get to sleep quickly and recover!