The Light and Shadow of Living in America. What Comes to Mind is Vice President Harris's Speech

Eight years have passed since I started living in America.

Even though I came to America of my own volition, changing the country you live in as an adult is, well, quite a challenge.

Just changing your primary language is a significant shift. It is not the same as an English conversation school. After all, you are building relationships and putting down roots here to live your life.

But that is not all. The culture changes. What you previously took for granted is no longer a given.

In other words, you become a beginner in society. I had spent 20 years in Japan becoming an adult and a full-fledged member of society, but the moment I moved to America, I reverted to being a child again. Things that are obvious to everyone around me are things I cannot do naturally.

Not long after moving to the U.S., my English skills were, naturally, lower than they are now. To be honest, I thought I was a bit better than that. English was my favorite subject in school, and I had consistently continued learning foreign languages even after becoming a working adult. I even did online English lessons in between work.

But when I first came to America, I really struggled with both listening and speaking.

What was especially difficult was the medical field. When my child got sick, I had to take them to the hospital and explain the symptoms. I had to listen to the doctor's diagnosis, ask questions about things I didn't understand, and resolve my doubts. It was a parade of technical terms I had never encountered in my previous years of English study—disease names, names of viruses and bacteria, and names of medications.

I managed with routine checkups, but when I had to have an illness looked at, I would study in advance. I would ask the doctor to write down any technical terms I didn't understand, so I always kept paper and a pen hidden in my bag. When I was really in a bind, I even had my husband join us over the phone to listen together.

When my child was a baby, I lacked not only English proficiency but also experience as a parent, so I was constantly worried that something terrible might happen if I missed or misunderstood something important.

In America, when you visit a pediatric clinic, you can choose your primary doctor from among the several doctors affiliated with the practice. It is normal to decide based on the doctor's background and reputation, but my criteria at the time was, 'someone who will listen to my English patiently and without making a face.'

However, even if you can choose your doctor, you cannot choose the receptionist. The woman at the clinic's front desk at the time always looked busy and always seemed irritated. If I couldn't catch what she said the first time, she would openly sigh. Seriously? This person is so unpleasant.

I thought about changing clinics, but since the doctor was a good person, I didn't want to leave. I didn't always get that same person every time—sometimes it was someone else—so I just sort of let it be.

One time, my husband came to the clinic with me. I was stunned. It was that unpleasant woman. When checking in at the front desk, and when saying goodbye after the appointment, she was smiling and pleasant to my husband, like a completely different person.

Seriously? This person is too two-faced.

Things like this happen quite often when you live in America. Treating my husband, a white man, politely, while treating me, an Asian woman, roughly. You could call it racism or sexism.

But in reality, this happens in every society. Being tough on those who seem weak. It is the exposure of raw human nature. Or perhaps they have never been in the opposite position and cannot understand how others feel.

I am not trying to lament how I was treated back then, nor am I trying to analyze or criticize the woman's psychology.

When I remembered this, a phrase came to my mind. It was from Vice President Harris's speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago the other day. In one part of her speech, she said this:

This is a remark Vice President Harris made about the lessons she received from her mother. The "She" in the text refers to Vice President Harris's mother. She immigrated to America from India and spent half her life in the United States. I imagine that back then, she must have faced unfair treatment that I cannot even compare to my own experiences.

This was one answer she arrived at through her life experiences.

Don't complain, take action.

It's electrifying. It truly is. As someone living in the present as an immigrant, these words resonate powerfully in my heart.

Thank you for reading.

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