The 40th Year in America
In February, 1982, I left my hometown, Yokohama, and finally came to America. I was 21. I say “finally” because I always knew I wanted to come to live in America since the childhood. As there was a big U.S. Army Base in Yokohama, I did meet some “Americans” and had a fair amount of exposure to American culture. In my young and innocent mind, America represented “freedom.” So I was waiting for the right opportunity. It was when I had a surfer boyfriend and he and a bunch of his friends were going to California to surf. Most of them got student visas by enrolling at an adult school in South Bay. From word of mouth through the surfer friends, I learned about a scholarship offered by a local private school in Torrance for English as the Second Language and was accepted; hence was able to get a student visa. That was the beginning.
I’m not going to write the whole history of my life from that point. All I would say today is that I told my mom I was going to stay a minimum of one year and maximum three years. Well, obviously I ended up staying well beyond three years. Although I was mostly an average student while going to schools in Japan, my desire to learn to speak English “like Americans” and assimilate to American life made me study hard and be a good student. I ended up passing the English proficiency exam at my first attempt and got admitted to a local community college, El Camino; and later transferred to UCLA. None of these were planned. I just followed whatever was presented in front of me.
Although I didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life, by the second year living in California I knew I didn’t want to go back to Japan. Life in California indeed represented freedom and possibilities. Sometimes I wish I had a long-term goals as a young student and made some career and/or life plans accordingly, but as it turns out my life has been nothing but a long and meandering path filled with adventures, challenges and surprises. In 1990, I obtained “green card (another long story)” and got naturalized in 2000.
Fast forward to 2021, I just realized last week this was my 40th year of living in America. I have spent two thirds of my life here at this point. I am an American, first generation Japanese American, I should say. When this hit me, I couldn’t help but to reflect on these 40 years of my life in this country. With all the problems and challenges we face as a country, I realize that I take this life for granted way too often. Even though I come from another rich, advanced and democratic country, America has given me so so much both tangible and intangible that I probably couldn’t have had if I went back to Japan. Yes, I created this life myself, but really, it is this great America that took me in and allowed me to explore what’s possible. I don’t want to ever forget to be grateful for the life I get to have. Journey goes on. I remain curious…