Guitar0902

Void Perhaps because of the influence of, Sting's "Englishman in New York" popped into my head, so I decided to try singing it. The wild bird version of the Japanese lyrics I sang is below. This song is also difficult to fit the words to (especially the beginning), making it hard for native speakers to sing.

—————
I take my coffee black, my tea at three
I toast my bread on one side only
You can tell by the way I talk that I'm
An Englishman in New York

When I'm walking down Fifth Avenue
Look, I'm carrying a walking stick
I always carry it when I walk
Because I'm an Englishman in New York

I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York
I'm an alien, I'm a legal alien
I'm an Englishman in New York
—————

Although they are often grouped together as the "West," especially as the "same English-speaking sphere," the UK and the US are completely different.
I had many friends who returned from living abroad, but among them, those who returned from the US and those who returned from the UK (and Europe) had completely different temperaments and cultures.
Come to think of it, the reason I previously thought Garbage was a British band was because of the vocalist Shirley's expressions, appearance, and accent, but when I looked it up later, it turned out Shirley was indeed from Edinburgh (Scotland).

A friend of mine who returned from studying in the UK during high school often said, "I'm a returnee, but I didn't return from the US, and I'm unhappy about being lumped together as a returnee." Since the total number is overwhelmingly large and they stand out, I can understand why the image of returnee = returned from the US exists, but in reality, there are all kinds of people among returnees. There is the influence of the country or region they were in, and there is also the individual's personality from before that. If you try to judge by painting everything with preconceptions without looking closely at the subject itself, you will lose sight of the essence. However, it is also true that there are certain tendencies. It is essential to have knowledge while looking closely at individuals and engaging in dialogue.

In my experience, I think there is a big difference in the expressions one should show to others between those who returned from the US and those who returned from Europe, which also appears in things like ID photos, group photos, or snapshots. In Europe, you don't often see the wide-open, cheerleader-like smiles with the corners of the mouth raised and teeth showing like in the US. They are dignified, but there is a sense of restraint or distance. For example, the woman in the music video for The Script's "For the First Time" has an expression that I find very "typical." Come to think of it, a senior colleague at work once told me, "You look like a Russian doll, I thought you were half-Russian or something." I think that was probably due to my expression as well. I can make a smile but it doesn't become an American-style one.

This Sting song is about a person from the UK living in New York as an alien (in the Japanese context, a foreigner). Even though you are in America, in a different culture, you are yourself, and because of that, you are an alien, but you are still an alien, and it sings about being that way. That way of being is lonely, but in a sense, it is also pride and self-dignity, and it conveys that it is okay to be that way.

Sting himself in the music video (walking with a large, fine umbrella while no one else is) and the British man are also very wonderful, including their fashion and appearance. Come to think of it, I used to like "Ojisan no Kasa" (The Old Man's Umbrella) that was in a textbook or somewhere (that old man, conversely, doesn't open his umbrella). That must be modeled after a British gentleman, surely. The stubborn, endearing, and slightly cute feeling is my weakness.
Also, I drink tea every day instead of coffee. And for the past three years, when I met with my teacher in Kyoto, I often used tea shops. I avoided Miss Lim because it can get crowded, but tourists don't often go to Kyoto to drink tea, and other places had fewer people, and even if they did, the customers who go to specialty tea shops are calm, which lowered the risk.

Perhaps I started missing train travel, so I started playing station departure melodies one after another. Since I quit my job and the den of maskless people is too high-risk, I can't ride trains at all anymore. I can no longer remember which line, which station, or which platform it was. Even though I was a train enthusiast. It's sad.

Also, what was this sound again?

I can't remember. Everything is drifting further away.