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Letter from Boston
Surprise Visitor
By MASAKO
YAMADA
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不意の訪問者
読者からたくさんの電子メールを受け取る雅子さん。ある日、メールをチェックしていると、読者の女性から「明日ボストンに行きます!」というメッセージが入っているのに気づきました。ところが雅子さんは試験の真っ最中。うまく時間がとれるか心配でしたが、思い切って"不意の訪問者"に会う約束をしました。
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One busy day, as I was checking my e-mail, I noticed that there was an e-mail message with
the title "I'm going to Boston tomorrow!" It was from one of the readers, Yuri Nagao,
with whom I've exchanged e-mail a couple of times before. She had decided to visit Boston
for a week during her spring break on the spur of the moment and she wanted to know whether
I could meet her in town.
As I wrote last week, I was
in the midst of my mid-term period, and I honestly didn't know whether I could find
the time to see her. I had just stayed in New York for one day, and the long trip (five
hours each way) had taken enough of a toll. However,
I knew there was no way I could study
round-the-clock, and I wanted to meet her before she left Boston. Since I like to have a good excuse to have study breaks, anyway, I said
yes.
Since I couldn't spend much time in travel, we agreed to meet at the BU Bookstore right after my Chinese class. I didn't know
what Yuri looked like, but she knew what I looked like: as soon as I walked into the
store, she came walking toward me. Our mail exchange had been in English, and I didn't
know how old she was, so I was a little worried about the language and tone I should use to talk with her. I think she was
worried, too, since her first words to me were in English. We quickly settled into the "informal Japanese" mode, though, and
things were fine after that.
Yuri is a graduate
student who is studying "affirmative action
policy," so she's obviously interested in
studying in the States. Before I met her, I mistook
her for another reader ― one
who is a medical student ― but
I quickly realized the mistake and after that, I answered her questions about the college application process as well as I could. Frankly speaking, I don't know much about the subject, either, since the colleges are reluctant to disclose how, exactly, they select the students that they accept. In Japan, students who apply on the basis
of "non-traditional" skills know that they are
part of a separate group of applicants. Such is not
the case for private colleges in the States. The standards for admission are not as clear-cut, and, in many cases, I think they are subject to the moods, trends and "flavors"
of the school.
All of this serious talk was
conducted at a nearby cafe. Pretty soon, however,
our conversation veered off into the personal realm,
and Yuri asked me whether I felt the urge to get
married. I suppose that for female graduate students that issue always lurks
somewhere behind the books. As I've written quite recently, it's even popped up in
my dreams. Since we were only chit-chatting, I
somewhat jokingly answered, "Well, I'm only 22. Besides, there are no candidates!!" She replied, "Oh, I'm 26. I suppose it's
different for you, but at this age, the people around you start talking."
The funny
thing about e-mail is that unless you know the other person's age, you have to make a guess solely
based on the content of the writing. I had
guessed that she was about my age, but I was a little
off. If I were in Japan, I suppose it would be unthinkable for me to talk in the informal to an elder whom I've just met
― but it seemed very natural to me.
I had to leave after 90 minutes,
but as our time was ending, Yuri searched around her
bag and asked me if we could take a picture together. I was glad that she asked, since
I'd wanted to take a picture, too. We promised to continue exchanging e-mail
― this time, in Japanese ― and then she gave me some
hina-matsuri sweets. After we walked back to my
science building, Yuri told me that she wanted to check
out some more spots in Boston, but before she
walked on, she said, "I'm really glad I met you. You never know what'll happen so I guess
it's always worth trying." I was flattered to hear
her say this and I was truly glad that I took the time to meet her.
Shukan ST: March 21, 1997
(C) All rights reserved
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