英会話に関する情報を提供しています。

留学前に撮った父親とのツーショット。
成田空港で号泣した父親だが、
16歳の一人娘を留学させるには相当の覚悟があったと、後になって明かした。

Whenever I tell people that I went to the States all alone when I was only 16, they sympathize with my parents and say it must have been hard for them, not me the person who was going away.

Indeed, there was a small incident, which in our family is called "Dad's Flood of Tears.'' On the day I was leaving, my parents and other relatives came to Narita to see me off, and when we were having lunch together, my dad, Ken-chan, suddenly broke down and wept.

★16歳の娘を留学にやる親の心境

初渡米した時のパスポート
学生ビザのスタンプが押されている。

　 Later, when I was passing through the departure gate, I heard from behind me: "Kana-chan, Kana-chan!'' My family was calling me. I hadn't cried at all before that, but all of a sudden, tears fell from my eyes. I did not look back because I didn't want my family to see that I was crying too.

★アメリカに慣れるためにスーザン宅滞在

　 I decided to go abroad when I was 15. I ended up leaving Narita two months after turning 16.　I'd spent only two months in a Japanese high school, I hadn't studied very hard in junior high, and my English wasn't especially good. I was unprepared, both language-wise and psychologically.

　 I had a private tutor, an American woman named Susan, to help me prepare for my departure, and it was a great relief when Susan kindly offered me the chance to visit her home in North Carolina, instead of going straight to high school in Pennsylvania. It meant I didn't have to jump right into life alone in a foreign country. Susan's mother is Japanese and Susan said she would help me get used to the basic American lifestyle.

★国際線と国内線が別の建物だなんて…

　 I didn't have a direct flight to North Carolina. My first stop in the U.S. was O'Hare Airport in Chicago, which was unlucky. The airport itself is as big as a city, and I didn't know that the international terminal was in a separate building to the domestic terminal. I was completely lost!

　 "Is this OK? Am I in the right place?'' I asked, showing my ticket to the airport attendants.

　 "Sure,'' they replied, but I still had no idea where to catch my next flight.

　 It occurred to me that I should call Susan's mother. She could give me advice. So I found a public telephone, put in a quarter, rang the number, and waited a few seconds, thinking: "Boy, I am so prepared!''

　 But all I heard was a strange English message. I couldn't get through to Susan's mom at all. You might be thinking: "Kana, you didn't know that you have to dial 1 first, if you're calling from a different state, did you?'' Of course I did ... or at least I would have if somebody had told me.

　 The awkward incidents did not end there. The plane I was supposed to take for my second transfer was as small as a helicopter.

　 "Excuse me,'' I asked an attendant. "Is this my plane?'' My mind was screaming, "No way! It can't be.''

　 But it was my plane, and Miss Kana got on it and made it to Wilmington, North Carolina. She hadn't the faintest idea that her stay, which had started so unfortunately, would last for seven whole years!