In a couple of weeks, it was clearly apparent that whether we liked it or not, my brother and I will be on a plane to Osaka, and leave everything behind, at least till all the Japanese women would start using my father's employer’s lipstick every moment of their waking life.  In fact, as I boarded the crowded plane in Paris, I was the only non-Japanese woman on the plane.  I was already hearing the language that I did not understand and it seemed that this was not an Air France plane in Paris but some domestic flight in Japan.  I tried to calm myself and buried myself in my book. When I woke up, I was in Japan.  Mother had already fixed herself and she looked so excited even though I was still feeling sleepy, depressed, and uncomfortable. 

I tried to smile as I looked outside the taxi window.  While I was shocked to see rather plain, or even ugly looking houses, narrow streets, and buildings almost everywhere, I realized that within hours, my life had been transformed and I was going to be here for a while, whether I liked it or not.  I have felt like that in the past while watching movies when I almost felt I was a character in the movies.  But this was real.  I was breathing Japanese air already.  I did not know what to expect once we arrived at our new 'home'.  All I knew was that we would be living outside of Osaka – actually on the outskirts, closer to the historic city of Kyoto.

~ 

We met almost every expatriate in the area within two weeks of our arrival and very soon I was learning little tricks about living in Japan from those who had been there for varied lengths of time.  What surprised me was that I was the only one with a cynical attitude.  Even people my age were going gaga over everything Japan.  Almost all of them were taking Japanese language lessons and talked about how cool it was to eat ramen and make a slurping noise, or to play baseball with Japanese players without understanding what they were saying. 

Being 20 is so hard!  While I was no longer a teen, I wasn't really an adult either since I had led a rather protected life.  Being the only daughter of rich (and conservative) parents, I had very little freedom.  While in Paris, I would have simply found an excuse to move to a dormitory, it seemed that I was now stuck with my parents for a while.  Other expatriates had told them that Japan was an absolutely safe country and it was perfectly fine for anyone to be out late at night.  So I had to stay with my parents but I could still party late. 

~  

Continued on next page:  Making friends