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You were practically just out of art school.// The other stone-cutters/had been working for years.// It must have been hard to fit in.//
　　At first,/the other stone-cutters/treated me with suspicion.// They called me  japonés ,/meaning “Japanese.”//
　　Mornings began with an ordeal.// At 7 a.m.,/all of us stone-cutters/would get together for a drink.// I had to drink to fit in.// But it was not by drinking/that I won their acceptance;/it was by proving myself.// I impressed them with my first sculpture,/a statue of an angel playing a harp.// It was then/they started to call me “Sotoo.”//

Did you experience any misunderstandings/due to cultural differences?//
　　Definitely.// There were misunderstandings/almost every day.// For instance,/when I was working,/the other stone-cutters/would come around to chat.// That got on my nerves,/so I said,/“Let me work!”// That made them talk even more.// In the end,/I got so angry/that I threw my hammer/to make them go away.// After that,/they left me alone.// For my part,/I had no idea/why they kept annoying me.// I should have known/that they were just trying to be friendly.// They wanted me to feel relaxed.//