Japanese living as a foreigner
Living in Daegu,Korea is the first time for hiroro and my second time to live abroad.My first time living abroad was when I was 7years old(2ndGrader)when my dad was tranferred to NYC.We moved to a very small surburban town in N.J.called,"Ho-Ho-Kus".The town was so small that it had only 1 school in town from Kindergarden-8thGrade. Basically I grew up in a town where everyone knew everyone else.Ofcourse, we were one of the first Japanese families to live there. Despite some hardships I had to go through because of the language and cultural diffrences, I was able to learn English and made many friends.Until I returned to Japan at age 15(9thGrader), thanks to my family!,I was able to learn and experience many many things.
From my experience living abroad, I have a very strong feelings for being "Japanese".If I was raised in Japan all my life, maybe I wouldn't of felt this way about my nationality. But because of my background, I feel both proud and bad about being "Japanese" without any conciousness.
The other day,I was talking to a Korean friend about finally settling our things in our new house and how it seems like a real start four our days in Korea. My friend replied,"Congratulations!You're now an official civilian diplomat." Once again,it made me realize that I was
"Japanese".
Between Japan and Korea,because of many historical conflicts from the past,has misunderstood each other in many ways. As a "Japanese" living in Korea, sometimes I feel misunderstood.
By making this homepage,I hope to tell how a Japanese living as a forigner feels and thinks as well as introduce some Japanese cultures and etc. little by little. From this,I hope that we can all cross encounter different cultures and exchange our thoughts.
As a Japanese, I have still yet to learn about my country. If there is a good advice or experienced tales,please tell me. I'm willing to learn alot from everyone!
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