Berkeley Diary
Masaki YAMAOKA
Sep/22/2005 New Semester has
coming
In these two months, I was so busy
that I couldn't write this diary. My family's short visit, a trip to
Mexico and Cuba, and a short homecoming to Japan... I had experienced
plenty of episodes. Especially the spectacles I had seen in Cuba are
unforgettable. I want to share the experience with many friends.
However, I cannot afford to look back at the past, because in the new
semester I will be much busier than last semester.
I would like to share only one episode
from this summer. I left Bay Area for a trip to Mexico and Cuba in late
August. My main purpose was to visit Cuba after 9 years from my last
visit in 1996. From USA, we cannot go to Cuba directly because owing
to an absence of nonstop flights by the confrontation of the two
nations. So to stay at Mexico City for two days, I got off the
airplane at the Mexico City International Airport. When I joined at the
line to the entry immigration, the old gentleman who was standing just
before me in the line looked exactly like someone I knew! But he wore a
baseball cap, so looks casual and informal unusually.
I asked him, saying gexcuse me, are you
Dr. Searle?h
He turned around and was surprised,
saying gOh, nice to see you again here! Where are you going?h I
answered gI am going to Cubah. But before I could ask him why he was
there, his
turn had come. So we couldnft talk any more there.
After I came back to Berkeley, I
visited Dr. Searlefs office to say hello before new semester and to
give him my little souvenir from Cuba. I asked him why was he there
after a week. According to him, his purpose was to attend the
conference on philosophy in Mexico City. Honestly I told him my trip to
Cuba was for a private purpose, and when I started to talk about my
exciting experience in Cuba, he stopped me, saying, gHow is your
research?h
After that we talked about
my research
plan in detail. As the result of this consultation, I have to
write a new
paper in English these two months. Now I am reading, thinking, and
writing in English on a theme in the philosophy of language. I
appreciate his kindness and advise. I felt actually he was a
great scholar indeed, and I felt another
man who I came across in Mexico.
So maybe I
wonft be able to write this diary as often. Even if I have a time, I
would like to write the entire article in English for my exercise.