His Excellency

Above: The Ambassador standing next to Yukio Hatoyama, the Prime Minister of Japan

Above: American and Japanese flags side by side in the background as Obama speaks in Tokyo

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It was 10am on Friday morning, October 30th, 2009. Rebecca and I stood outside of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo wearing matching Beleza long sleeve jerseys. We had an appointment with the Ambassador. Security was tight, but nothing gets you past the gates faster than name dropping John Roos (he’s the Ambassador). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We walk through the metal detectors and were met by Mike Quinlan, John's right hand man. We were in. We were not your typical visitor. In his third month on the job, the Ambassador’s days were filled with formal meetings with Japanese officials, including the Prime Minister, and even the Emperor. So, when two young, American women with athletic builds, bright smiles, and soccer attire come strolling in, you do get some intriguing looks. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why did the Ambassador, who has a celebrity status packed schedule, agree to meet with us and why do we want to meet with him? What do we do? What team did we come with? Who is funding our experience? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All of these questions and more would be covered over the next hour as we sat on the Ambassador's couch conversing, laughing, and building a relationship that proved to be valuable and rewarding in the weeks to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So,why in the world was John taking time out of his day to meet with us? Well, it started with an email, one that I sent him out of encouragement from my partner in my commercial real estate business, Tenant Consulting. Craig Lussi, the brains and inspiration behind Tenant Consulting in Washington, DC, gave me strict instructions, "Get a meeting with the Ambassador or visit the Embassy every day until you do." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It was a mighty task but one I was not intimidated by. Spending 3 years under Craig's tutorial you start to believe you can accomplish anything. After doing ground breaking and world record deals for multiple Embassies in Washington, DC, we had plenty of reason to think we have something to offer. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And so I did, after building a resume that included a full season of professional soccer with the Washington Freedom in the WPS, 2 months of off-season training with an all Japanese team in an all Japanese league, a friendship with the "Mia Hamm" of Japan, Homare Sawa, an extremely successful blog that was also being translated into Japanese, and a strong presence in the business world back home, I had the perfect email composed for the Ambassador. I attached an article that was written about me on the cover of the Sports section of the Washington Post, I attached the link to our blog, I gave the good news that I would become the GM of the Washington Freedom W-League team, and most importantly, I spoke highly of the cross culture experience that Rebecca and I had been enjoying for the past two months. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am not exactly sure what part of the email sparked the Ambassador's interest, but I do know there was something about it he couldn't resist. Maybe it was my tenacity in wanting to meet him, the enthusiasm i­­­n which I spoke, or maybe, just maybe, it was the intrigue of meeting the two young women that came to Japan with little expectation and had their world turned around. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why do we want to meet with John? It was simple really. We wanted an opportunity to meet the man that had the tall task of connecting two countries with the strongest economies. We wanted to pick his brain. We wanted to learn. We wanted an inside look at the everyday duties of an Obama appointee. We wanted to share our story. We wanted to share our story on a grander scale. We wanted John and his colleagues to learn about our unique and rewarding experience in Japan. In essence, we wanted, on a much smaller scale, to be Ambassador's ourselves. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ We learned how John became Ambassador. We learned how he was a personal nominee of Obama, a dear friend, who thought John would be great for the position, although he possessed no prior diplomatic experience. We learned how the celebrity treatment as U.S. Ambassador is an amusing and refreshing change. We learned how his daughter, Lauren, has aspirations to become a nurse in Los Angeles. We learned how his son, David, has several college prospects (one of which is Duke so Rebecca was a valuable source of information). We learned how his wife, Susie, is able to work remotely from Tokyo for her law firm back in California. We learned how John has a strong allegiance to Stanford and how this has enabled him to immediately bond with Yukio Hatoyama, the Prime Minister of Japan, who is also a Stanford grad. We learned how he lives immediately next to the Embassy in a private residence that General MacArthur once resided. We learned how Obama had plans to soon visit as he kicked off his Asian tour. As you can see, we learned a great deal, but above all else, we came to appreciate John for his comforting sense of humor and openness. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The learning, however, was not just on our part. John learned how our soccer careers started, where they have taken us, and how we ended up in Japan. He learned how the American and Japanese Women’s Professional Soccer league’s (WPS and the L-League) run. He learned more on Tenant Consulting. He learned how both Rebecca and I have California Berkeley family ties. He learned of our Japanese teammates. Her learned how our adventure has and will take us all over Tokyo and Japan. Most importantly, he learned how our passion for the sport inspires me and Rebecca to travel all over the world. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ John liked our story. He offered to help us in whatever way we could. It was the perfect segway for us to ask the question, could Rebecca and I write an article on the Embassy website about our experience? (A great suggestion by my brother, Peter, who is in the Foreign Service.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ask and you shall receive........Our wish was granted and soon Rebecca and I will put together a piece that will detail our experience and all that Japan has taught us. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We were thrilled at all the opportunities presented during the meeting with the Ambassador. We left with the invitation of attending Obama's speech the following week and watching the Cal Berkley/Stanford football game with a star studded guest list that included the Prime Minister himself at the Ambassador's private residence. We left feeling on top of the world. As we left, we smiled ear to ear, we laughed, we joked, and we even proceeded to walk in circles attempting to find our train home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I guess train stations are hard to find when you are on cloud nine=)