The Origin of My International Exchange Was That Day in Elementary School

Even now, there is one thing I regret.

Why couldn't I have done more for her back then?

It concerns a foreign girl I met when I was in elementary school.

The origin of my international exchange dates back to my elementary school days.

About 40 years ago.
A foreign girl transferred into my class.

Back then, you didn't see foreigners like you do today, and it wasn't an era where elementary or junior high schools had ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers).

For the elementary school I attended, she was the
first foreign student since its founding.

She was Filipino, and since her mother was a former model, she had features as perfect as a doll's.
She was a girl with a face as well-defined as a doll's.

After arriving in Japan, she studied Japanese at home for about a year before her first day of school.

During the first break after her self-introduction, a crowd immediately formed around her.

Among them, I gathered my courage and spoke to her.

Using the little English I had learned at cram school, I asked,
"When is your birthday?"

She answered me with her birthday in Japanese.

This was
the first conversation I ever had with a foreigner.

She understood Japanese to a certain extent and quickly settled into the class.

We even went on a school trip together, and at first glance, everything seemed fine.

However, in the beginning, there were times when she was confused by the differences in Japanese culture and customs.

For example, she came to school wearing earrings and a necklace.

I heard later that in the Philippines, it is common to have your ears pierced shortly after birth, so for her, it was "normal."

When we reached junior high school, the situation began to change little by little.

We were put in different classes, and
the class content suddenly became much more difficult.

The teacher's explanations also turned into more complex Japanese.

In an era without the internet or electronic dictionaries,
she was studying desperately
while using paper English-Japanese and Japanese dictionaries.

However, she gradually couldn't keep up with the classes,
and she stopped coming to school.

One day, my mother told me something.

"It seems she's going to Canada."

At that moment, I just cried.

"Why?"
"How come?"

I didn't know the reason, I was just lonely.

But, there is something I remembered later.

That she grew up in a wealthy family in the Philippines,
had a maid,
and attended a private international school.

She was good at her studies, and surely she must have had confidence.

From that kind of life, suddenly to Japan.

In a place where the language and culture were different,
the days of attending a public school.

How hard that must have been for her—
now I can imagine it a little.

In the end, she returned to Japan about a year later.

But in reality, it wasn't Canada,
it seems she had returned to the Philippines.

And that blank period of time
had become something very significant for her.

When we were in the same class in the third year of junior high school,
she was like a different person from before.

She had become what is known as a "delinquent,"
and gradually stopped coming to school again.

She wasn't at the graduation ceremony, and
we lost touch completely.

A few years later, I suddenly received a phone call from her.

She told me she hadn't gone on to high school,
and was working in the Kansai region.

Meeting her taught me so many things.

Differences in culture and customs.
Language barriers.
And the harshness of learning in a Japanese school.

The reality that it's not as simple as
"being bilingual makes everything work out."

And there is something I still feel strongly about even now.

"I wasn't able to do anything for her."

If I had studied with her,
or if I had listened to her more.

Perhaps she wouldn't have felt so lonely.

That regret
has become the origin of who I am today.

That is why, now, I

continue to interact with foreigners living in Japan,
and host families.

Doing what I couldn't do back then,
little by little, as I am now.

I hope this provides some hints for others
who are also interested in international exchange.

▶ Related Articles
👉You can have international exchange without going abroad. My story of hosting families about 20 times
👉My story of becoming a foster parent in the Philippines at 18 | The 18-year-old me who wanted to be a Daddy Long Legs

If you'd like, following or liking this would be a great encouragement to me 😊