Back in the U.S.
I cannot believe that there was a war between Japan and the U.S. forty years before I was born. During World War II, there was a war between those two countries. Surprisingly, my mother is Japanese and my father is American. They were born and raised in each of their countries and met in Chicago. Many factors made my parents meet in Chicago. Although I was born and raised in Japan, finally, I am also living in Chicago now. Living in Chicago is amazing for me. Because I can feel my parents’ history and memory. I want to thank my parents because their meeting made me able to experience both cultures deeply.
My mother was an international woman. When my mother was a child, her family often traveled around the world. Although many Japanese enjoy having a trip in foreign countries nowadays, it was rare in old Japan. Thanks to the family world trip, my mother’s personality became outgoing and an adventurous, and it made my mother decide to go to study in the U.S. Even studying abroad was much rarer than traveling at that time. She went to the U.S. by herself and passed an exam to enter an art school in Chicago. She enjoyed her school life so much in Chicago. I heard that she studied hard, worked hard and often went to hangout with her friends. After she finished her undergraduate degree, she entered a graduate program. During those days, she met my father thorough their mutual friends.
At the same time my mother was a graduate student, my father was also living in Chicago. He was attending a law school. Although he was raised in Oklahoma, he was born in Chicago. Moreover, his father and grandfather were born and raised in the city, so Chicago was almost kind of his hometown. He had an interest to come back to the city and get an education there. After spending several years at the school, he met my mother. Fortunately, they got married and found jobs. However, in order to take care of my maternal grandmother, they moved back to Japan. As a result, I was born and raised in Japan.
I've been Chicago a lot when I was a child.
Until I graduated from high school in Japan, the United States was not such a special country for me. This is despite the fact that I have a citizenship and I had belonged to an American school in Oklahoma for a couple of months. To be honest, my special country was always Japan because I spent most of life there and I love Japanese culture. However, when I was a freshman in my university, I had a strong interest in the U.S. Thinking deeply about my future, I found that living a life without my American side would not be good for me. It was as obvious as fast food makes fat Americans. If I continued to live in Japan, I would not be able to get a chance to live and work in the U.S. I thought I should make some changes, and that is why I am in Chicago now.
I am a lucky boy just like Bill Gates’ son. Thanks to my mother and father, I can enjoy both of my countries deeply. For my mother, it must have been especially hard to stay and keep studying in a foreign country. Those efforts made me who I am today. In addition, I have realized that I like US culture including music, food and houses. I also like the country-side of the U.S., which is small and quiet but has a good atmosphere like Oklahoma. In my opinion, living in a country that a person was not raised in will enrich one’s life. I have a chance to live in another, my country, so I decided to move. In the future, I want to live in a big house with a big yard, and drive a long distance on holidays with my future pretty girlfriend just like an American. I wish I could make this delusion reality. In order to do that, I have to study hard at here in Chicago.
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