Opinion Adapting to my new home By Caroline Pover	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
自分の故郷についてよく知ること 5月に外国からの長期滞在客を数人迎え、英国人の筆者は、新しい故郷である日本について 自分がどのくらい知っているのか、 またはどのくらい知らないのかを実感した。 自分の国についてよく知ること - - それは国際人にとっては大切なことなのだ。

This May was a crazy month for me!

There were so many things I had to juggle: a new apartment, a short visit from my boyfriend's mother, a three-week visit from my mother, several new staff hired, four speeches outside of Tokyo, my "Being A Broad" book going into its third edition, a few important new projects started, and the month ended with a 10-day trip to the U.K., during which my boyfriend asked me to marry him! A whirlwind month, indeed!

But probably the most difficult thing to balance was my mum's visit.

I have never had people visit for longer than a weekend so it was quite a challenge. Because I am self-employed it was difficult to take time off. I had so many interesting things planned to do with my mum, and at the last minute, my workload became so heavy I couldn't spend as much time with her as I would have liked!

But it was thanks to the warmth, kindness and generosity of many of the foreign and Japanese people here that my mother had a great time visiting Tokyo.

As I was too busy with work to entertain guests during the week, I used the Edo Goodwill Guides - they are a group of Japanese women who volunteer to take foreigners sightseeing around Tokyo because they see it as a great opportunity to use their English skills. They were amazing! They took my mum to the kimono section in a department store and asked the staff to dress her up, which really made her holiday!

While my mum was here, I realised both how much I know about my new home, and at the same time how little I know!

I realised how much I know about Japan because I was suddenly responsible for people who are as helpless in communicating as I was when I first came (I couldn't speak Japanese then). While I usually feel that my Japanese is terrible, I realise now that it isn't quite as bad as I thought because I could communicate on behalf of my mum (I got her a mobile phone and every day I managed to talk with random taxi drivers to make sure that my mum eventually managed to get to her destination). Having my mum here gave me a good chance to realise just how well I have adjusted to such a completely different culture as well as language.

I'ｖe realised how little I know about Japan because I cannot answer specific questions about traditional Japanese culture, or about Japanese history, and I feel that I should be able to respond to such questions about the country I now call "home." My mother had read lots of books about Japan before coming here. She was well-prepared, and I think she knew more about Japanese history and traditional culture than I did!

I felt a bit bad about my lack of knowledge about Japan, but then I wondered how many Japanese people actually know a lot about the history of Japan. I must admit that I have met many Americans who know more about British history than I do!

Ultimately, though, I like to think of it being a sign of becoming a "global" person - I can blend into this culture without needing to understand everything about it!

Shukan ST: July 2, 2004

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