Asahi.com has part one of a two part interview with America's Johnny Weir, who was in Japan last weekend for the NHK Trophy (where he finished second). Part two of the interview appears tomorrow.
Here's an excerpt:
Why are you so popular in Japan?
It's not just Japan, but also in Russia, China, Korea. I think it's because I go into every country with an open mind and I don't go in with the attitude that I'm a superior American. I think a lot of people who travel, sportsmen, celebrities, singers and such, they go places believing that they are the best, that they have nothing to learn from other places. I think people can sense that (I'm not like that). Also, I hope I'm a good figure skater and Japanese fans appreciate that.
I've heard that you study Japanese. Is that true?
I've studied it a little, very little. I work every day in Russian with my coach (Galina Zmievskaya) and it becomes really difficult to go through so many languages--I even speak broken English sometimes because we speak so much Russian.
The article mentions some of Weir's more famous comments he's made. It says he seems to have toned that down in recent years. I think he has but I hope he's got some more awesome observations in there for us...so fun!!!