Four years ago, I stayed at my friend's house in the United
States for a month. Sometimes I see some pictures of those
enjoyable days and remember a lot of things that I experienced.
But at the same time, I often think about the fear of living in
America that we do not feel in Japan.
I stayed at Aki's house, in Anaheim, California. Aki is a
Japanese girl, but she moved to America soon after she was
born, so now she is an American in both her looks and mind. It
was the first time that I went shopping with my friends since I
had arrived there. Aki's mother drove Aki and me to a big
shopping mall. At the mall, Ann, Mary and Takae were waiting for
us. Ann and Mary are twins, and they look alike, so I could not
tell them apart. Takae was a girl, and she came from Osaka to
stay at her uncle's house for a month.
The shopping mall was really large. I was very surprised. The
mall was a two-story building. We could see the beautiful blue
sky and feel the sunshine of California through the wide glass of
the ceiling. I was excited about everything. Though I could not
decide what to buy, I was very happy because I felt that I was
really stay in America, and I could relax for the first time
since I had arrived. In fact, I was filled with so much tension
because it was the first time I traveled by myself in another
country.
When we walked around, Mary suddenly gazed at Takae, and Ann
and Mary started to say something. Takae and I felt anxious--what
were they talking about? Then, Mary lowered her voice to whisper
to Takae, "Takae, you should put away your handkerchief. It's
very dangerous. "Takae had a blue handkerchief in her pocket, but
Takae and I could not understand why Mary would say such a
thing.
"Why?" Takae asked with a frightened look.
Mary said slowly with a somber look, "Well, there are many
student-gangs, and they have their own territories. And the gangs
are divided by the color of their handkerchiefs. Especially, they
use red, yellow and blue. And, if they find someone who has a
different color of handkerchief, they will fight; they will
exchange shots."
Takae put her handkerchief in her bag. Then, Ann said, "One of
our friends was shot and killed. She only had a red handkerchief
around her neck."
We started walking around in the mail again, but I was ill at
ease. I thought "I am walking around where I may get
shot." I could not enjoy shopping like before. I had known
that America is more dangerous than Japan before I stayed there.
I longed for living in America more than feeling fear, and in
fact, I enjoyed everyday. However, I could really understand the
real fear of America. Many people lose their life by guns, though
they are still children. It may be a nice way of self
defense that we can get a gun, but on the other hand, the number
of crimes increase. A gun brings both safety and danger, so I
think it is needless.
In ordinary life, Japanese people take it for granted that we
live in peace. So, Ann's telling me this was very shocking for
me. But I think it was the best experience for me during the
stay. I could notice that America is not only an open and
enjoyable country. I felt Japan is better than America in some
points for the first time. This is a very important new view for
me.
by Ewa Watanabe
