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Japanese roommates: Cultural exchanges and learning that boys aren't for crushing By
Kari Gray Walking on the crackling leaves of the cemetery ground, Mayumi asks me a question. "When you like a boy, you love him?" she says. "No," I say, "love and like are two different feelings and words. If you love a boy it means a very serious thing, but if you just like a boy . . . then you think he's nice or cute and you want to get to know him more." "Oh," Mayumi says, "then I should be careful when speaking of boys with love." "Yes," I reply. "You probably mean you have a crush on someone. That's when you see a boy and you automatically think he is good looking and like him. You can have a crush on a movie star like Brad Pitt or a crush on a boy in class." "I crush the boy?" Mayumi asks. "No, you say that you have a crush on a boy," I reply. "Can you crush on TV, or books, or food?" Mayumi says. "No, just on boys," I answer. Love, boys, and crushes are just among the many lessons in American language Mayumi Nagata learns every day. She is a 21-year-old exchange student from Kyoto, Japan, and my new roommate this year along with Keiko Tosa, 22, who is from Osaka, Japan. Nagata and Tosa came to Utah State University through an exchange program with their Japanese University, Kansai Gaidai in Osaka. According to their university's web site, nearly 1,200 students are sent on an exchange and around 400 students are accepted to Kansai Gaidai as international students. Nagata says it is very popular to go to America for an exchange, because speaking English well helps get a better job.
Rewind I remember the day we met. My '93 Ford Explorer pulled up to Aggie Village, Building 30, home for the coming school year. My mother, my grandfather and I walked up the stairs to apartment C and knock on the door at 10 a.m. No answer. I knocked again. No answer. I knocked one more time. Some feet shuffled on the floor behind the door and the knob slowly turned. Tosa, with her little Japanese face still awakening to the day and pajamas on, peered through a crack in the door. "Hi, I'm your new roommate, Kari," I said. The bewildered face looked at me for a moment, opened the door fully and said, "Oh!" My mother was concerned. "I hope they don't just talk in Japanese all the time and make you feel left out," she said. "No, I think things will be fine, I'm not worried at all," I said, worrying.
Fast Forward It's Oct. 23, and well into the first semester. Nagata, Tosa, and I lie comfortably on the couch and chair watching Charlie's Angels, a new movie at Blockbuster starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Bill Murray. Two American men, Bill Murray and an evil enemy, are about to face off in a battle of manly whit and strength. Suddenly, in sumo wrestling outfits of 400 pounds or so, they come on the screen crashing into each other and fall flat on their butts. Nagata, Tosa and I roar with laughter as the Japanese tradition of sumo wrestling is put in a different perspective. "It's Japanese!" they yell happily. However, Nagata and Tosa have learned that all things American are not always fun and laughter. I remember the attack.
Rewind Sept. 11, 2001, 9:30 a.m. and I'm getting my make-up and hair ready for school. The radio is on and I'm trying to find some good music. All I hear is talking, talking, talking, so I finally give up and listen to the talk, thinking that music will come on soon. There was no music that day. Tosa comes into the room and I tell her something terrible has happened and I need to explain it to her, because we don't have a TV yet. As I explain her eyes grow large. She later said about her feelings that day, "I thought I'd have to go back to Japan. I didn't want to go back." Tosa also said, "My mother worried about me, 'cause she thinks terrorists affect the whole states." Nagata said she no longer has the desire to go visit New York, and she said, "Here, nothing happened, so I dont care ębout terrorists, as long as they not here."
The Present Nagata's favorite show in Japan is Beverly Hills 90210. She says it portrays an "attractive" life in America with teenagers. She said, "I wanted to go there -- where I was watching." But Nagata also said she realized it was only a TV show and didn't expect school in America to reflect Beverly Hills 90210 exactly. Nagata says she has met many friendly people and knows she will become lifelong friends with some. Yet, she also learned that not all American people are as she thought. "I thought all American people were very friendly, but I think now it depends on the person," she said. "I sometimes become uneasy when I talk to someone. I couldn't hear what they said. If they continue speaking to help me understand, it is good, but if people stop talking, it makes me uneasy." Nagata admits. However, Nagata is a social butterfly and never has trouble finding friends or talking, especially to boys. Over Thanksgiving break Nagata drove with a few friends to Las Vegas and then to Las Angeles. "We went to a strip club!" Nagata excitedly says to me when I asked what she had done in Las Vegas. "The girls had very nice bodies and danced very well. It was just fun 'cause the guys liked it and I wanted to experience an American strip club," Nagata said. Nagata said she got back to Logan at 1 a.m. because of the snow. Tosa and Nagata made dinner, chopped vegetables and broth, while talking in Japanese to each other. They laughed uncontrollably and look at me with an explanation coming. "We love America," they say.
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