More Of Graham's Background Story

For the next two hours the pair pointed out all the so-called advantages I could expect. Both over stating how I would grow culturally. But the top selling point for me was when Mr. Dorsett said that the little incident at the hockey game would disappear. The minute that left his mouth he had me!

I was given a month to settle my affairs, then I would be flown to Japan to a central location before being moved to where I would be an exchange ambassador for Canadian University Sports at whatever university decided to participate in the program.

Thirty-two days later I was in an economy class seat on a Japan Airline 747 for a fifteen hour flight which I spent most of the time with headphones on snoring! I don’t know how many times I got up and went to the bathroom facilities and just happened to spot a cute brunette that I wouldn’t mind flirting with.

Unfortunately when we landed, I thought that I would wait for her to come up beside my seat and offer to help her through customs but when she came up alongside where I was sitting she had a kid in her arms and a guy who looked like he had a piece of spaghetti for arms and legs. Talk about a turn off!

Finally I made my way off the plane, found my bags and got through customs just in time to see my name on a piece of bristolboard. Unfortunately that was when I spotted a redhead walking as if she was looking for someone but the guy holding the card with my name on it came up to me.

In broken English, “Excuse me, Halston-san be you?”

I only took my eyes off the redhead long enough to answer him, “I’m Grant Halston if that’s who you’re looking for!” I looked back to where I last saw the redhead but all I saw was various people racing around like a chicken with its head cut-off. “Shit!” which confused the guy meeting me, so I explained to him what happened.

He attempted to apologize to me, at least that is how I took his phrases to sound. For an English major, I’ve talked to five year olds who had a better grasp on the language than him. Maybe he was destined to go to Quebec where he would fit right in.

As it was he ushered me to a car so small that when I sat in the back seat. No matter which side, my shoulder would block his rearview mirror. Not that that stopped him from pulling out into a steady flow of cars. Maybe that was normal for him but it scared me enough that I had white knuckles as I held my knees.

After thirty minutes we finally pulled up in front of huge wrought iron gates, which he got out and opened before driving me to what I could only assume was the administration building. We got out and entered. going to a room that I could just fit through the door without turning sideways. There I was given a blazer that would fit if I somehow lost about one hundred pounds and was told that while on campus I was expected to wear it. Then I was taken to what they claimed was my dorm room with a dresser, a desk, a particle board wardrobe and something that might have worked as a bed when I was ten!

Don’t get me wrong it was too small to fit my six foot one frame, my legs below my knees hung over the end of the bed. Man, I knew that most Japs were well under the six foot mark, but you would think that they would take into account that some foreigners were taller than that!

Then I was given an interrupter for the next couple of days with instructions to familiarize myself with the campus in between settling in. It was doing just that when I spotted a girl with red hair who couldn’t be from Japan. But by the time I got close enough to get a better look at her, she once again was nowhere to be found!

I never saw her again until the night of the foreign exchange student mixer. I was standing against a wall, scanning over the heads of most of the people there when I spotted the redhead again. She just came into the room wearing the blazer, a white blouse and the blue and red striped tie.

This time I was prevented from getting near her by our host, who chose then to call us all to order and started his welcoming speech!