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where is your hometown?
May. 16th, 2007 11:04 pmThis is a very popular question here in Japan. It's almost directly taken from the Japanese question, usually referring to where you were born. But recently in discussing this with a friend, I realized that part of my difficulty in answering it comes from the fact that I really don't have the kind of hometown they're looking for. Furosato, the place where I want to go back to, where I feel at home? Nonesuch.
In fact, thinking about it, I realized that the recent nine year period in Boston is actually the longest period in one place in my life. I was born in Los Alamos, but left there before I really remember. A few years here and there, two in Vienna, Austria, then about eight years in Damascus, Maryland when I was in junior high and high school. A couple of years in Colorado, back to Maryland, ramble, ramble, Japan for eight years, three in Tokyo and five in Nishinomiya, then that nine year period in Boston - and now we're back in Japan.
My friend pointed out that even moving to a foreign country really wasn't such a big change for me -- although for many people, leaving the hometown is a big step.
It's interesting. I wonder what it would feel like, but I don't think I'm missing anything by being a rolling stone.
Except that when my Japanese friends ask where my hometown is, I don't know how to answer. Maybe I should divert them into discussing the phrase, "home is where the heart is?"
In fact, thinking about it, I realized that the recent nine year period in Boston is actually the longest period in one place in my life. I was born in Los Alamos, but left there before I really remember. A few years here and there, two in Vienna, Austria, then about eight years in Damascus, Maryland when I was in junior high and high school. A couple of years in Colorado, back to Maryland, ramble, ramble, Japan for eight years, three in Tokyo and five in Nishinomiya, then that nine year period in Boston - and now we're back in Japan.
My friend pointed out that even moving to a foreign country really wasn't such a big change for me -- although for many people, leaving the hometown is a big step.
It's interesting. I wonder what it would feel like, but I don't think I'm missing anything by being a rolling stone.
Except that when my Japanese friends ask where my hometown is, I don't know how to answer. Maybe I should divert them into discussing the phrase, "home is where the heart is?"
