Hearing my friend's stories about NY made me feel incredibly happy♪
A friend went to NY.
Hearing about my friend's experiences in NY reminded me of my time in US.
When I was in university, the first place I visited was Oakland, San Francisco, in US.
Someone who tutored me had been on a homestay there. Hearing their stories, I desperately wanted to do a homestay myself. I heard about a agency that facilitated homestays and attended their information session. Then came the task of preparing the funds.
Since I had to cover the costs myself, I saved up money by working as a tutor and doing various other part-time jobs.
One day, I told my parents, "I'm going abroad for a homestay." They responded, "We don't have that kind of money." I said, "I've already saved it." My parents smiled wryly.
They probably thought, "Of course, she's always ahead of the game."
And so, a group of us wanting to do homestays gathered at the airport, hearts pounding as we prepared to depart. My parents dropped me off, and they must have been nervous too.
My younger brother later told me that it was the first time I wasn’t there for dinner, and the meals were very quiet without me. He said, "It was so quiet at dinner without you; no one talked." Hearing that made me feel somewhat happy.
Then, I arrived in San Francisco. The host families came to pick us up, calling out our names one by one, and we got into their cars. We headed to their homes, and though I was continuously nervous, the excitement and joy outweighed it.
The first thing that struck me was the roads:
- They were so wide!!!
- There were many six-lane roads; it was vast and impressive.
- I thought, "There’s a country like this on Earth?"
The host family was a couple, a man and a woman, who were living together but not yet married at that time. They had already bought a house and were living there, which surprised me. It shattered my old Japanese notions.
That's how I felt as below.
- There are many ways to live.
- There are many ways to think.
- It’s okay to live in various ways.
- I realized it’s fine to live the way I want within my own responsibilities.
On the first evening, they had a barbecue in the garden. We had meat and vegetables from the garden, and I discovered roasted marshmallows for the first time. They became soft and gooey, and tasted so good when I ate them! We laughed while eating; it was very enjoyable.
At night, they took a large spoon and scooped ice cream from a big box, putting it into bowls. Then they started pouring chocolate syrup generously on top! "What? Do you really put that much on? Isn’t it too sweet?" "If you don’t want it, it’s okay." "No, I’ll take it!" It was a lot of fun.
This was what I wanted to know. There are various ways of living, different cultures, and different ways of thinking in the world.
Although I could hardly speak English at the time, the host family was very kind to me. They listened to what I was trying to say repeatedly. It must have been tough for them, but they kept listening.
Once, when explaining a meeting place, they carefully drew a map and explained the location to me. They were truly kind people.
I am deeply moved and respectful of the kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity of my host family. I want to talk more with them, learn more, and connect with them more. This has been the driving force behind my motivation to improve my English.
Of course, using English in my field of expertise and wanting to work with it is also a motivation.
But the main reason I love English is that I want to talk more with them, understand what they’re saying, and express myself properly in English.
What I am most grateful for is that, despite my poor English skills during my first homestay, they made an effort to understand me, patiently spending time with me.
I am sincerely thankful for meeting such a warm-hearted, kind host family with a big heart. They are my respected and proud host family.
It has been about 35 years since then, but we still keep in touch.
The host family took me to the University of California, Berkeley, every day and picked me up in the evening. I am deeply grateful to them.
The university was big and wonderful. It was free-spirited. I wanted to study there.
After some time in the workforce, I was stationed in Hong Kong by a Japanese company. At that time, Hong Kong was under British rule, and every day was stimulating.
Later, I passed the USCPA exam in Chicago and obtained my license.
I joined a top 10 American pharmaceutical company as a finance analyst in its Japan branch. Since then, I have worked solely in finance at Japanese listed pharmaceutical companies and European and American companies for nearly 20 years.
During business trips, I visited the headquarters of American pharmaceutical companies and European companies.
The headquarters of an American pharmaceutical company was so large that a bus regularly ran around the campus, taking about 15 minutes to circle it. There was another similar campus with buildings on the other side of the road. Moving around for meetings was challenging, and I was constantly amazed.
Visiting European company headquarters also revealed the unique charm of each country. Everything was well-maintained, the air was fresh, and the atmosphere was free, making me want to work there.
In Australia, I attended a meeting where finance members from around the world gathered, which was a significant experience. Everyone was professional, dignified, confident, and expressed their opinions clearly.
In business, too, with the support of my family and friends, I have had wonderful experiences. Finally, I had become a Finance Director (Accounting Director and Board Member).
However, hearing my friends' stories about New York, what I remembered most was "my precious host family" and the wonderful, cherished memories of "San Francisco and Oakland, California," where they live.
I wanted to write down my thoughts, so I wrote whatever came to mind.
Thank you to my friends for making me feel happy.
Appreciated!!!
I plan to visit those memorable places in near future again and see how I feel when I go there now.
#NewYork #America #SanFrancisco #Oakland #BestHostFamily
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