They consult me whenever they have a question about the language or about the mysterious habits of Americans. There's no use in trying to claim that I don't have an American passport, or that I hardly talked to any Americans in all of my teenage years.

Nowadays, I've started to accept my role as American representative. I simply realize that I'm becoming less and less Japanese as the years go by.

There's little I can do about the fact that there aren't a whole lot of Japanese people around me. Perhaps I could make more of an effort to hang out with the large Japanese community in the Boston area, but on a day-to-day level, I'm perfectly happy hanging out with my non-Japanese friends, roommates and lab mates.

That said, I have not accepted my gradual separation from Japan in a completely passive manner. My way of maintaining Japanese culture is through reading and writing.

Writing, of course, is a very good way of improving one's language skills. For the past several years, I've had the opportunity to write Japanese columns several times a month, and if anything, I'm probably getting better at it, since I've been getting professional feedback from editors.

I also try to read some Japanese at least every few days. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't been doing my homework in regard toJapanese economics, politics and other important topics, but I have made quite an effort to stay abreast of sociocultural matters. The simplest way to describe it is to say that I've tried to keep up with "the times."

I don't have a subscription to any of the Japanese newspapers (my roommates and I get the "New York Times," and that's enough news for me for a day), but I do have a subscription to "Shukan Bunshun," which gives me a broad overview of the events of the week. I like the wide range of articles: essays by well-known writers, news articles that aren't afraid to be opinionated, slightly sensational articles about famous athletes and TV stars, comics, food/book/music/TV/movie reviews, and even haiku by readers.

I've been told that I have a look of deep concentration whenever I read this magazine. This is probably because it's such a large source of my information about Japan. I also often read the women's magazine, "Orange Page." I like the articles on cooking, interior decorating and travel, as well as the distinctly homey tone of the readers' comments section.

In order to get a better feel of current Japanese, I also try to read books, and not just magazines. Right now, I'm reading one book by Miri Yu, and another by Fumi Dan and Sawako Agawa. I chose these writers because they are contemporary women. I use these books to help improve my writing skills, so it's important for me to choose models who are somewhat similar to myself.

I have even been learning indepth social and cultural skills through books. I've owned many books on Japanese letter writing and manners for special events a while, but recently, I bought a book on day-to-day considerations, such as how to praise an elder woman's pet dog. I also bought a book on how to improve one's Japanese penmanship.

One could argue that it's pointless to try to learn these things through books and magazines. I would reply that, indeed, it's not ideal. However, out here in the middle of Boston, it is the best I can do. It is better than nothing.

In fact, I learned a lot about the English language and American teenagers while I attended all-Japanese schools in New York by reading books and magazine. I think part of the reason I'm considered the American expert by my lab mates is because I studied the topic so intently when I was younger. I'm trying to do the same now, again, but only in Japanese.

ST

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