Last week Rachelle and I received an email from an acquaintance that had been sent out to about 50 people that she knew and trusted. This is the email:I am looking for a home stay for a 21-year-old Japanese university student in Toronto this summer. Emiko Kobayashi will come from Tokyo around August until the end of September. She’s a bright, sweet girl who needs to build confidence in speaking English so I’m hoping she can stay with a couple that will provide a bit more interaction than the professor and his wife who have persuaded her to come, or me, since I live alone and don’t have a spare bedroom!\u201d<\/p>\n

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This is my response:<\/p>\n

\u201c What a wonderful and interesting opportunity for a cultural exchange! I think that Rachelle and I would be very keen in such an arrangement, as working at home alone as freelance writer while Rachelle is off at work each day, has left me lonely as I have nothing to keep me company but my masculine energy. \u00a0I sure could use somebody to talk to, and as you know, I really do like to talk! All sorts of talk, in fact, and you should know I would be really happy to engage in role-playing talk if it were to help Emiko with her English!<\/p>\n

Does Emiko like anime and manga? I do.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

And shy is cute. But tell me, does shy also mean submissive? Although I love Japanese culture and the women who populate it, I have to admit that I am not up on a lot of the culture nuances. I think submissive is a good quality, as well as a complete lack of confidence and a slightly frightened deference to age.<\/p>\n

As you know, Rachelle and I have a Miniature Dachshund named Heidi. All the Japanese girls go crazy when they see me walking her on Bloor. They run over in beautiful Asian waves, squealing and bowing and cooing and stroking our dog with their curious fingers, and it\u2019s so beautiful I feel like I\u2019m in a heavenly nest made entirely of Japanese girls! Anyhow, what I mean to say is that I am sure Emiko (can I call her Iko?) would just love her. However, our dog does not obey me at all, nobody does, and it would be really great if Iko was obedient in nature. (Not a condition, just a statement.)<\/p>\n

We have a spare bedroom, but there is no door on it, and you have to pass through that room in order to get to our one washroom. I make several trips to the bathroom each night, but I am quiet and very discreet, so I\u2019m sure that Iko would have no problem with my shadowy, forbidden, paternal presence.<\/p>\n

In shorts (Ha! I meant to write in short!) I think we have a perfect set-up for Iko and would very much look forward to tutoring her over the summer!<\/p>\n

Let us know if this works for you folks!<\/p>\n

Michael Murray<\/p>\n

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