My mom's prior student was here with her baby when I got back from work. We were introduced and made some small talk in Japanese. She said it was strange to be speaking in Japanese with me and asked which was easier for me. I said, English (obviously) and my mom told her that I was definitely American.
"And what about you, Sensei? (all her students call her this and it kind of makes me laugh because I'm an American, who, like all of my generation, grew up with The Karate Kid. Wax on, wax off) Are you American or Japanese?"
My mom paused for just a half-second before she answered, "Alien." (it was kind of wordplay in Japanese: America-jin, Nihon-jin, Uchuu-jin). It all makes such sense now! Of course, that makes me half-alien, but I think I might be okay with that. In any case, maybe it's the answer to many of my queries.
No comments:
Post a Comment