Third anniversary

What anniversary? Wedding? No. Today, October 3, 2006 is the third anniversary of "my" moving to the U.S!! My hubby came here in July, 2003, three months before I came here.
Before that, I had been to Hawaii, but I had never been to the U.S. mainland. I remember the first English I was told on the mainland (Oh, except for during my flight!) When I transferred at Detroit, I went to a restroom. I wanted to wash my hands, but...a faucet didn't work. Then, a lady who was next to me said, "You must be in a secret tour, hah?" That was FIRST ENGLISH I was told... However, what did it mean? I thought she meant "You must understand the secret of the faucet, right?" But she didn't tell me what was that... Later, when I told the story to my hubby, he said, "She may have thought you were a mistress, and you were traveling with your lover! "A sectet tour" might have meant "having an affair on a tour," yeah! I bet so! " Really? I don't think so... Anyway, it has still been a mystery.

After I arrived at the Indianapolis airport, my hubby was there to welcome me.
When he was picking up my luggage, one American(maybe) lady asked me, "Excuse me, where is the baggage claim office?" Wait a minute! There were a lot of people, lots of CAUCASIANS in the airport. But she asked ME, who was apparently an ASIAN... I don't think I would ask directions from "a foreigner" in Japan! At that time, I realized America had such an ethnic diversity.

Before I moved here, I enjoyed my life in Tokyo VERY MUCH. My life was almost perfect! Besides my loving husband, I loved my job, friends, my apartment... Especially, I loved being in a big city!! When I heard we had to move to a small city in the U.S, actually I was disappointed. I asked my hubby if I could stay in Tokyo longer because I had appointments with my clients, and a speech class to teach. Therefore, I came to the U.S. three months later than my husband. After I came here, I thought I would get homesick for Japan. But, I didn't because I was so busy meeting new people, getting accustomed to driving, and learning new customs, etc... Two weeks after I came here, I started to go to ESOL(English school,) which made me busier. I thought I would never get homesick because I believed just after I moved to a new place was the hardest time.

On the Christmas holidays of that year, we visited Japan. Then..an unexpected thing happened. I recollected everything of Japan, which made me homesick! After I came back here, I realized how different this town was from Tokyo. Fortunately, there were many people who were really kind to me, but there were no (just a few)fancy places, fancy shops like I saw in Tokyo. Especially, the language was different. I love to be active, but if I couldn't communicate enough, I couldn't be active! Everything that I was interested in was related to speaking and communicating. I wanted to be involved in wedding business, but it was required to communicate with. But, I couldn't express even my feeling well! I thought "Oh, I am inferior to a child!" I got seriously (for me) homesick.

However.Basically, I don't like to be a "drama queen." What does such a sentimental feeling bring to me? NOTHING! It is just a waste of time! Life is short, and time flies. Make up for lost time!!! Every person has virtues and vices. Therefore, every city is supposed to have advantages and disadvantages of living there! I found this town is one of the best places to study English, so I tried to concentrate on this.

After that, sometimes I got slightly homesick. Whenever I felt it, I treated homesickness like a common cold. When I was not very energetic, I might have gotten get one. However, if I got rest and took care of myself, it would pass away soon. It's been three years since I came here, and I have found many advantages of living here. Lately, I haven't felt homesick at all. Now, I love the scenery of my town like the photo. Look at those cute squirrels♪

Probably, I will move to different cities again and again with my hubby. However, I don't want to take into account "where I am" first. To me, "what I want to do" is the most important. I just want to keep on focusing my carrer. (It has to be flexible one because of my husband's transfer.) At the same time, I can take advantage of living in that town, and get over the disadvantages.

However.Ifif I had studied English hard when I was a student, it would have been much easier to live in th.. MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME, NOW!!!