Cross-cultural communication （10）　

17）Do you know Liverpool?
　 Susan and Pat were a pair of British women in their late 20s from Liverpool. They were childhood friends, interested in Japan, and had come to Japan to study (or rather, to play) for a year, having spent all their savings to do so.

Whenever they came to the clinic, they always came together. One of them would catch a cold or have diarrhea, and they would come to the clinic several times for minor health problems. As we chatted about things other than their medical conditions when they came to the clinic, we became quite close. When they had been in Japan for about six months, Pat's father was going to come to Japan. He was planning to stay for a few weeks on a sightseeing trip. He had a chronic condition of hypertension and angina pectoris, so Pat asked me to take care of him in case anything happened. Pat told her father, “There is a reliable doctor in Osaka who speaks English well, so you can come on a trip without worry.”

The father came to Japan as planned and was able to enjoy his trip without any problems. Once, when they ran out of their prescription medicine, they came to Kido Clinic with Pat and Susan. He was a kind-looking man, and he greeted them politely, just like any fathers in Japan, saying that his daughter was in good hands.?

The year of their stay in Japan was coming to an end. They visited Kido Clinic together to say their final goodbyes. They gave me a gift as a token of their gratitude for the kindness I had shown them over the past year. It was a set of six pencils. I was impressed by the good taste of their gift. On the pencils were the words “The Beatles Story Albert Dock, Liverpool, England”.?

Our generation was at the height of the Beatles' popularity in high school, and there are many fans. I am one of them. When she told me that they were from Liverpool, the first thing that came to mind was the Beatles. It seems that my heart was read by them.

However, more than half of our generation around the world are Beatles fans, so this pencil should be well received in most parts of the world. The Beatles, who are still contributing to Liverpool and even the UK, were worthy of receiving an award from the Queen.

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