ー英会話講師の英語日記ー　札幌英会話スクールSTEP UP（札幌駅、大通駅徒歩５分）

Young and free

2017年9月3日 (日)

So my mother and cousin arrived in Sapporo Wednesday night, and since then I’ve been busy trying to give them the best “Japanese” experience I can. Yesterday, for example, we went to Lake Shikotsu, hiked Mt. Tarumae, went to Marukoma onsen and then had sushi for dinner. They had a blast. My cousin Andrew, who’s 26 years old, has been teaching English in Korea for the past year. Next month he’ll start a new job in Suwon, a city near Seoul. He described to me his experience of getting used to living in a completely foreign culture, and the difficulties intrinsic to such an endeavor. It reminded me of my first year in Japan. I couldn’t speak the language, didn’t understand the cultural nuances that I do now, and felt very ungrounded.

But! I remember feeling very free. I wasn’t beholden to anyone, nobody was relying on me financially…I was young and free. While I’m not terribly old, nor very restricted by my current situation, I don’t have all of the freedom (or youthfulness) that I did 11 years ago. I told Andrew that now is the best time for him to explore. He’s single, has a full-time job (and thus money) and has all of Asia right at his doorstep. The next several years will be very formative for him, and I hope that he takes advantage of his situation to make discoveries about the world and himself.

He’s been very impressed with Japan so far, and I’m sure he’ll come back for a visit. It’s been very easy for both he and my mother to see why I’ve spent so long in this great island nation.