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I’m Not Your Nephew I came to California to study English twenty years ago. I wanted to experience an American life, but I was not good at speaking English at all; I had to start at Level 2 (second class from the bottom) at the language school. Yet, the Japanese students in my class had similar English abilities to mine, so I felt close to them. In addition, there was a guy who was a good skier and looked like actor Saburo Tokito. He was my “prince,” so I enjoyed attending the school.We customarily exchanged birthday cards among classmates, so I received cards from all my classmates, learning the reality of “Level 2.” The cards chosen by my classmate were hilarious. “Miss You Like Crazy” (I see you in class every day!) “Get Well” (Nothing wrong with me.) “Don’t Worry Be Happy” (I have no problems.) A “Sympathy Card” with a tear drop (Do you want to make me unfortunate?) And from my “prince,” I received a card reading “to my nephew” (am I your nephew?), which wiped away my love of a hundred years. What about me? Well, I didn’t know the purpose of money holder cards and kept sending them on Christmas with long trivial messages, but with no checks. Twenty years have passed since then. I am now married to an American and live in San Diego. Life is a mystery. “Sorry, No Check Today” |