Facing Fear

Nori was present on the first day of our class, and by chance I conducted a personal interview with him.  Having met only a few of my classmates prior to the first session, I had no idea that I was interviewing our guest of honor.  He was immediately likable and obviously somewhat nervous about just what he had gotten himself into.  We talked for a good five minutes about his university town, his website, his major, his jobs, and, of course about the fact that Sapporo was even colder than Chicago.   We talked, in short, like two people who were casually meeting for the first time; which is , obviously, exactly what we were.

The fact that the pleasant banality of our first meeting surprised me, I think, deserves some explanation.  Thinking on the matter later, I was surprised not only by how easy he was to talk to, but also by my own surprise.  I don’t know what I had expected, someone larger than life perhaps.  After all, he had been in captivity in Iraq, been subjected to right wing rants in Japan, and was now playing the role of a traveling speaker/activist.  Despite all of this however, he was just a normal person, slightly nervous about the spotlight.

What this experience has taught me, is that people who do amazing things are, in the end, just people.  There is, I believe, not much that can encourage people to stand up for their own believe more than coming to the realization that amazing people are humans, each facing their own fears, yet pushing beyond.

Thanks Nori!