2020年5月3日日曜日 - 
Ali- What Makes A Home
Some
students may remember me from three years ago, when I moved to Japan for the
second time in 2016. After my first visit to Japan as a university student in
2014, I decided that after graduating I wanted to live here for the rest of my
life. It often surprises people when I tell them I want to move to another
country and live there forever, and I can understand why they feel that way.
It's a very frightening thing to move abroad and be so far away from your
family and friends. Yet, having lived in Japan twice, I can say with confidence
that this place feels like home to me. There is no place I would rather be than
Osaka, Japan.
The
next questions I might be asked are, “Why Japan? Why Osaka? Why do these places
feel like home when you've only lived there for a year and a half overall?”
When I think about what makes a place feel like home, I think about the people
I've met here. I've met many interesting, warm people who have been friendly
and happy to introduce new things to me. These people have been friends with me
through the time I returned to the United States and when I came back welcomed
me with open arms. Spending time with them now, it felt as if I'd never left at
all.
When
I think about what makes a place feel like home, I think about food that I look
forward to eating. In Osaka, I get excited about every meal I'm going to eat,
whether I cook for myself or go out. When I go out into the city, I try to find
new places to try local cooking, whether it's takoyaki or ramen.
When
I think about what makes a place feel like home, I think about the atmosphere.
Osaka is a lively city with a lot of busy places, but when I'm here, I feel
calm. I live near the bay, where I can sometimes go to the park and look out
over the water. It was hard for me to feel that way about any place back in the
United States. There were many places I love in the U.S., however nowhere felt
like home like Japan does for me. When I returned to Osaka last May, as I got
off the airplane at Kansai International Airport, I stood in the terminal and
said “Tadaima.”
I'm
so happy to be back!
frightening：ぎょっとさせる
confidence：自信
overall：全体
with open arms：両手を広げて
atmosphere：雰囲気
bay：湾
nowhere：どこにも～ない