Prof. Leonard Blussé was greeted with a rousing performance by the school’s brass band. After listening to the students’ presentation on Netherlands-Japan relations that they prepared as part of their self-directed studies, he gave a speech entitled “When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” which included an explanation of the history of modern East Asia. Using paintings from the Edo era, he talked about the lives of Dutch merchants who were the only foreigners allowed to trade with Japan and China back then and why it was important for them to behave like the locals.

In the question-and-answer session after the lecture, Prof. Blussé replied in Japanese. When he was asked which language was the hardest to learn, he said “Nothing is

diffcult if learning a language when you are young, but Spanish felt diffcult because I started learning it when I was 65. This is why you should learn languages while you are young. If possible, you should not only study English, but learn a language of a neighboring Asian country and study their customs.” The humorous discussion about his experiences working as a film extra was well received. At the end of the visit, the students presented Prof. Blussé with a bouquet of flowers and a handmade souvenir and said good bye in Dutch. It was a truly lively lecture.