帰る場所A Place to Return To

... Life in Japan is very different from life in the U.S. Yeah, I know, it's obvious.

日本の生活はアメリカの生活ととても違う。まあ、明らかでしょ。

Admittedly, being out in Japan isn't the only difference. I have to commute to school now, for one thing. At Brandeis, I lived in the dorms, so my "place to return to" was never more than ten minutes away on foot. Now that place is a 45-minute train ride away. I can't just go back home whenever I want. As a result, I don't go home until there's nothing more I want to do in the city.

でも、日本にいるとは一つだけの違いじゃいない。一つは、通学しなければならない。ブランダイスに、寮に住んでいたから、僕の「帰る場所」は歩いて、10分以下かかった。今、その場所は電車で45分ぐらいかかる。いつでも帰ることが出来ません。それから、もう京都でしたいことをした後だけで帰る。

And the word "early" has taken on an entirely different meaning here. During high school, "early" meant being home by around 3. Here... yeah, today I got home at 6:50 in the evening, and tried to apologize for being late. But no, I was slightly early. Dinner isn't on the table until 7ish, normally.

そして、「早い」と言う言葉の意味は違う。高校生の時、「はやい」の意味は3時ごろ帰る。ここで．．．今日は6時50分に帰って、遅く帰ると思った。でも、違った、ちょっと早い。晩ご飯はたいてい7時に食べる。

And speaking of dinner: now that my lifestyle has changed, I've changed too. Back in the U.S., I tended to not eat much at mealtimes, and make up for it with snacks during the afternoon. But it's kind of rude not to finish your meal, and it would be too embarrassing to admit how many foods I've actually eaten before.

晩ご飯って．．．生活が変わるから、僕も変わった。アメリカで、たいてい食べ物を少ない食べた。昼にたくさんクッキーやお菓子を食べた。でも、日本で全部を食べないことはちょっと失礼だし、食べたことがある食べ物を教えてあげることは恥ずかしいよ。

Or to put it differently: when you don't have a choice, you tend to eat rather than not eat. Regardless of what you do or do not like. So even though I've never even seen half of these foods before, much less eaten them, I eat all of the food I'm given.

つまり、仕方がない時、食べるの方がいいと思う。好きな食べ物も、嫌いな食べ物も、多分食べる。だから、そんな食べ物は見たことないさえ、食べたことないけど、僕は全部の食べ物を食べる。

And I've learned a few things in the process. I like cucumber, apparently. I do not particularly like tofu, although I'll eat it. (It's hard to eat with chopsticks, though.) Curry can go either way; my host mom's curry was not all that spicy, and thus eatable, while the curry that I got out in Osaka was too spicy.

そして、新しいことを習う。例えば、キュウリが好きだ。豆腐はあまり好きじゃないけど、食べられる。お箸でちょっと食べにくい。カレーはまあまあ。ホストのお母さんのカレーはあまり辛くないから、食べられる。でも、カレー店で買ったカレーは辛すぎた。

Oh yeah, and those meals at which I'm eating a greater variety of food? I've been eating a lot more food too. If my host parents keep insisting on giving me these gigantic meals, I will be fat by the time I go back to the U.S. I am not kidding.

そして、アメリカの晩ご飯はもっと小さい。ここで、食べ物を多い食べる。こんな大きい晩ご飯を何度も食べれば、アメリカに帰るとき、僕は太ってる。冗談じゃないよ。

My host parents are really interesting people. My host mother is an English teacher, so she can explain things in English if I'm not understanding something. I almost never use English myself, of course... the point of me being here in Japan is for me to learn Japanese, right? But even in Japanese, she's generally very easy to understand. As is typical for Japan, she's the one that knows everyone's plans and keeps everyone organized.

僕のホストの両親はとても面白い人だ。ホストのお母さんは英語の先生だから、分からなければ英語で説明できる。僕はあまり英語を使わない．．．というのは、日本にいる理由は日本語を習うことだからね。でも、日本語を使う時も、お母さんはとても分かりやすいだ。日本的に、お母さんは皆の予定を知っている。

My host father is much harder to understand... he uses the Kansai dialect, which I've only just started to learn. He seems to have a love for cultural kinds of things... if I recall correctly, he has an interest in history. On top of that, I know for a fact that he draws/paints pictures (I've seen them) and can play some musical instruments too (I've heard him play).

ホストのお父さんはちょっと分かりにくい．．．お父さんは関西弁を使う。勉強し始めるから、まだ分からないことが多い。お父さんも日本的なものが好きだ．．．記憶は確かなら、歴史は興味がある。そして、絵を描くことが出来る（見たことがある）、楽器を引くことも出来る（聴いたことがある）。

It's kind of a pity that that's it... no children or younger adults in the household. It would have been nice if there was someone at home that I could talk to anime about... But it's fine. I got a good host family. And you know... everyone has to have a place to return to. I'm glad that the one I've got for my time in Japan is a good one.

これだけだ。子供や若い人はいない。家に、誰ともアニメのことを話せないから、ちょっと残念ね。でも、平気だよ。僕のホストファミリーはいい。まあ、誰でも帰る場所が要るよ。僕のはいいから、よかった。