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日本への帰国
雨の中、成田空港に到着した武藤さん。
10ヵ月ぶりの日本なのに、心に穴があいたような気持ちです。
日本語を話すのにも妙な違和感がつきまといます。
ようやく帰国の実感がこみあげてきたのは、バス停で一人ぼうっとリムジンを待っているときでした。
「ここはもうシドニーじゃない。とうとう帰ってきたんだ!」。
家族や先生、友達やガールフレンドの顔が浮かんできました。
一刻も早くみんなに会いたい!
Welcome back
The day I arrived in Japan, it was raining. As I disembarked from the plane, shuffling after the other passengers, all I could feel was a great emptiness inside me.
I wasn't sure why. After all, Japan is my homeland, and I should have been glad to have been back here, surrounded by familiar Japanese things. "At last ...," I murmured to myself but the words weren't filled with joy.
I went to get a bus ticket for Takasaki, which is where I live. I approached the ticket counter and spoke to the woman in Japanese. Obviously she spoke Japanese fluently because she is Japanese, and I spoke Japanese fluently because I'm Japanese, but I still felt there was something odd about the conversation. It was as though to speak like that in Japanese was somehow artificial.
The woman handed me the ticket. I looked at it. It was all in Japanese. Again I found this slightly strange. I plopped myself down on a bench to wait for the bus. I watched the people passing by without really seeing them.
I know this is going to sound silly, but it was only after a while, sitting there in a daze on that bench, that it dawned on me that I was back in Japan and that I was no longer in Sydney. At that thought, my mind was suddenly filled with the faces of my parents, my teachers, my friends, my girlfriend. Suddenly, I wanted to see them as soon as possible.
The bus soon came. I got on. I quickly fell asleep, only to wake with a jolt two hours later. I looked out the window. The bus was traveling through some very familiar scenery. I was close to Takasaki Station.
At last the bus arrived at the station, and my mind wandered back to the day, all those many months ago, when I'd left Japan to go to Australia. But my mind snapped back into the present when I saw a silver car parked nearby. It was my parents' car.
I was the last person off the bus. As I stepped onto the pavement, I heard the sound of familiar voices, "Welcome back, Kazuya." I was so relieved to see my parents, though I noticed my father looked thinner.
The atmosphere between us was a little strained at first. No one quite knew what to say. My parents just kept repeating, "We're just so glad you came back safely," over and over again.
We got home. My dog came running out with a great smile on its face (well, I thought it looked like a smile). Then I went inside. I could smell the familiar smell of the house. I went upstairs. My room was as messy as before. Nothing had changed. I relaxed.
At that moment, I got a text message from one of my teachers. It said, "Look up at the sky. There's a rainbow. Welcome back!" I went to the window and looked out. Sure enough, there it was: a beautiful rainbow in the northern sky.
"At last ...," I murmured and this time the words were filled with joy.
- Welcome back
- お帰りなさい
- disembarked from 〜
- 〜から降りた
- shuffling
- 足をひきずって
- passengers
- 乗客
- emptiness
- 虚脱感
- wasn't sure why
- なぜか分からなかった
- After all
- 何しろ
- homeland
- 母国
- should have been glad to 〜
- 〜してうれしいはずだ
- surrounded by 〜
- 〜に囲まれて
- familiar
- なじみのある
- At last
- とうとう
- murmured to myself
- つぶやいた
- weren't filled with 〜
- 〜にあふれていなかった
- joy
- 喜び
- approached 〜
- 〜に近づいた
- Obviously
- 当然
- fluently
- 流ちょうに
- there was something odd
- 何か変なところがある
- conversation
- 会話
- as though 〜
- 〜のように
- somehow
- どういうわけか
- artificial
- わざとらしい
- handed me 〜
- 私に〜を渡した
- found 〜 slightly strange
- 〜が少し変な気がした
- plopped myself down on 〜
- 〜にドスンと座った
- passing by
- 通り過ぎるのを
- sound silly
- ばかばかしく聞こえる
- it was only after a while (that 〜)
- 〜したのは少ししてからだった
- in a daze
- ぼうっとして
- it dawned on me 〜
- 〜を悟った
- was no longer in 〜
- もう〜にはいない
- At that thought
- そう思ったとき
- suddenly
- 急に
- parents
- 両親
- as soon as possible
- できる限りすぐ
- got on
- 乗った
- fell asleep
- 眠りに落ちた
- only to 〜
- 結局〜することになって
- wake with a jolt
- びくっとして目覚める
- scenery
- 景色
- At last
- やっと
- wandered back to 〜
- 〜に戻っていた
- snapped back into 〜
- いきなり〜に戻ってきた
- silver
- 銀色の
- parked nearby
- 近くに止まっていた
- off 〜
- 〜から降りた
- pavement
- 舗道
- was so relieved to 〜
- 〜してとてもほっとした
- noticed 〜
- 〜に気付いた
- looked thinner
- やせて見えた
- atmosphere
- 雰囲気
- strained
- 張りつめた
- just kept repeating 〜 over and over again
- 〜と何度も繰り返し言うだけだった
- safely
- 無事に
- came running out
- 走り寄ってきた
- with a great smile on its face
- 大きな笑みを浮かべて
- smell 〜
- 〜のにおいがする
- upstairs
- 2階に
- was as messy as before
- 前と同じく散らかっていた
- Nothing had changed
- 何も変わっていなかった
- text message
- 携帯のメール
- rainbow
- 虹
- Sure enough
- 確かに
- northern
- 北の