The subtle complexities and socio-salubrious ramifications of the Mexican kiss would never have occurred to me without the help of 12 Japanese girls who had been sent, some years ago, by their university, to spend a month in Guadalajara practicing their English.
Practicing their English? Well, that clever idea was entirely due to the fertile imagination of my friend Tom Pendergast, director of Language Arts at a Buddhist University in Osaka: “If a Japanese businesswoman visits Mexico, what language is she going to use while she’s there? A month in Guadalajara will require them to communicate in English every day while at the same time they can learn some basic Spanish.”
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