My stay at West Chester University during the summer was extremely comfortable, with good weather and a quiet environment surrounded by greenery. As the enjoyable days were coming to an end, it was time to say goodbye to everyone who had been kind to me. Looking back, I realize that the warm welcome I received was probably due in part to the nature of the place. Later, when I returned to the U.S. by myself, it was obvious that I didn’t receive the same campus-wide welcome.
I was especially grateful to a woman named Gill, who served as a bridge between the Japanese campus and the local university. She had visited Japan several times, and I had spoken with her during those visits, but during this stay, she also worked tirelessly to take care of the Japanese group. She organized movie nights to keep us from getting bored and homesick, led sightseeing tours to NYC and Philadelphia, and hosted various events like watching the 4th of July fireworks. She even personally drove me around the campus and showed me the town of West Chester.
Everything in the U.S. was big: the land, the houses, the food, and the drink sizes, all of which seemed twice as large compared to Japan. While Japan gave a more compact impression, in America, everything felt enormous. But the thing that struck me the most, and stayed with me afterward, was the people's big hearts. Having lived a life where I was far from being accepted, recognized, or treated with kindness, I could only feel gratitude towards people who treated me kindly without expecting much in return.
As the final day approached, I said goodbye to almost everyone I had met and wrote letters of thanks to a few. The thought that I would probably never see these people again left me with a deep sense of loss. When I was feeling down, a girl at the dorm’s reception came over and patted my head. It was a scene straight out of an American drama, and I was grateful to experience it in real life.
On the last day, we all got on the bus to head to the airport, just as we had when we arrived. Gill and a few of the girls from the dorm’s reception came to see us off. All I could say was "Thanks for everything!" but everyone hugged me with tears in their eyes. I noticed that my sister had also come. She handed me a large amount of sushi, saying, "Share this with everyone." I hadn’t seen her much during my stay, except when I borrowed some household items on the first day, so I was surprised when she showed up with enough handmade sushi for almost 30 people, even though I hadn’t told her the departure time.
As the bus departed for the airport, I distributed the sushi to everyone. It disappeared quickly since many people had grown tired of American food, and I barely got to eat any of it. My sister had also included a letter addressed to me, and I was absorbed in reading it. She must have been observing my actions during the stay because the letter said something like, "You did well." We had never been particularly close siblings, so her words deeply resonated with me. I spent the entire bus ride to the airport lost in thought.
To be continued.
eigemann.hateblo.jp