A band of junior high-school students showed up at my door the other morning. "Can we interview you?" they asked.

Their teacher, who had previously been lurking in the background, came forward and explained that her students had never talked to a foreigner before. While they set up their video camera in my house, the teacher said, "Of course, they've seen foreigners walking on the street before, but this is the first time they've ever actually talked to one, so they are very nervous."

She handed me a list of questions the students would ask me.