Today I'm here with Chika.

チカさんと、

Heeyy!

こんにちは！

from Bilingirl.

今回はバイリンガールのチカさんと、

and Melodee

メロディさん、

(Hi!)from Melodee Morita

Melodee Moritaのメロディさんと一緒です。

First of all, would you mind giving a brief introduction about yourself?

まず、簡単に自己紹介してもらっても良いですか？

Ah, sure yeah. My name is Chika.

ええ、私はチカです。

I grew up in the U.S., I was born in Japan

日本生まれですが、

but I moved to the U.S. when I was in first grade.

小1の時からアメリカで育ちました。

Then, I lived there all the way through college,

大学卒業までアメリカで過ごして、

graduated and came to Japan and started working.

そして、日本に戻り、働き始めました。

So, I think in a couple years,

あと数年で、

The amount of years I've been here, versus the states will be about equal.

日本とアメリカで過ごした期間が同じになりますが、

Right now, it's a little bit longer in the States.

今は未だアメリカの方が長いです。

I'm Melodee, I grew up in the States my entire life.

私はメロディです。アメリカで育ちましたが、

My parents are both Japanese though so, at home,

両親は日本人で、

I would try my best to speak in Japanese with my parents.

二人とは頑張って日本語で会話します。

But I do have an older brother,

兄がいて、

and he's very Americanized.

内面はアメリカ人です。

So, you've never lived here?

日本には住んだ事がないのね？

No, I've never lived here, yeah.

無いですね。

I've only visited.

何度か日本に訪ねたことはありますが。

By the way, we just met

ところで、

(yes!) for the first time yesterday,

私達は昨日初めて会って、

I met Rachel once before we had lunch.

レイチェルとは以前ランチしました。

(right) and Jun, who

Junさんとは、

is behind the camera,

カメラを回してるJunさん、

I met for the first time yesterday too.

昨日初めて会いました。

at Youtube Space so,

ユーチューブスペースでね。

we're still trying to get to know each other.

色々聞きあってるところです。

Yeah, right, yeah.

そうですね。

We still don't, and even though

まだね、よくわからないこともあります。

they've already told me a lot of stuff,

色々聞いたのに、

I forget everything so,

私は全部忘れちゃいましたので、

I'm gonna (you asked a lot of questions) ask the same questions

また同じ質問を聞きたいと思います。（たくさん聞いたよね）

We're getting in this video

この動画でね。

You went to school here when you were younger?

日本の学校には…？

Just 'till first grade.

小1まで通って、

Actually, all of first grade and like

あ、厳密には

a month of secondary.

2年生のひと月目まで。

When you were adjusting to

それで、

re-entering Japan,

日本に戻ってきたのは　

I guess that was when you were older?

もう大人になってからですよね。

Yeah. After college so,

ええ、大学卒業後。

my first experience living here was

日本最初の経験は、

entering a Japanese company and working here.

日本企業での就職です。

That must have been so difficult though,

大変そうですね。

I mean like, the environment, the people, the language,

環境とか、人とか、言葉とか、

everything?

いろいろありましたね？

Yeah, um.

そうですね。

It was never a culture shock, 'cause I had

カルチャーショックはなかったけど、

visited Japan and I have relatives here so,

何度か日本に帰ってきたし、親戚も日本にいるから、

there wasn't anything that I

そんなに

was like ''oh my gosh, I can't believe this!'', you know?

「なんなの？信じられない！」みたいな感じはしなかったです。

That this is like this, but

そんな感じだったけれども、

at the same time in a working environment

仕事の環境は、

you know, like the meetings or--

その、会議とかが...

Definitely.

そうですね。

You know, a little bit different,

またちょっと違ってて、

and people communicate differently

コミュニケーション方法も違うから、

so it did take a while to get used to,

慣れるまで時間はかかりました。

but you always have people that support you

でも、支えてくれる人達がいたので、

through the way, so that helped a lot.

とても助かりました。

That's true, I agree about like the whole 'meetings' things

そうですね、会議はよく共感できます。

cause in America people like, you know,

アメリカだと　

they cross their legs, it's kind of like

脚組して、

you know, chilled and laid back but

楽にしてるけど、

I think in Japan, or with Japanese people

日本だと

you have to be really proper.

常にキッチリしてないといけないし、

You have to make sure you're on time, just

時間厳守で、絶対言わない。

always something that you should do but..

時間厳守はどこでも共通だけど、

Just like, everything that you do I just get so

何事をするにも、

much more nervous in Japanese meetings.

日本の会議では緊張します。

And I have to feel like, super prepped

準備も常に完璧にしておかないとって

in order to be you know, presentable

プレッシャーを感じますし、

and be able to put my thoughts out there.

キッチリこなさなければと、

I feel like I have to be a lot more prepared,

キッチリ準備しないと、

and professional and not as laid back

いつも背筋が伸びます。

in Japanese, whenever I do meetings and stuff.

日本の会議でね。

Right.

そうですね。

I think people feel that though, like with Kikokushijo,

帰国子女には甘くなる事もあるけどね。

people who have lived abroad for a long time

海外生活が長くて、

and have come back to Japan,

また日本に戻ってきた人のことですね、

they kind of give you a break,

よくね、

a little bit or they think,

そうされます。

"Oh, she just doesn't know."

「ああ、きっと知らないのね」とか思われたり。

like, "she lived in the States for a really long time",

「アメリカで長い間に住んでたから」とか

So it's okay, so you kind of get a break.

「だから、知らないよね」みたいなこと。

I don't know if that's a good thing because sometimes

でも、それが少し不満なときもあって、

you feel like "No, I know this!"

「いえ、知ってますよ！」みたいな。

Was it ever difficult adjusting to Japan?

色々慣れるまで、大変だったことは？

Because there are a lot of cultural things I don't know about Japan,

文化的や伝統的なもので知らない事が多いし、

just because I was away for so long

海外生活が長いからか、

and just traditions and things,

伝統のことはもともと知らなかったかな。

and even you know, vocabulary.

語彙もね、

Because what we use everyday

日常生活では　

aren't like, complex words.

難しい言葉は使わないから。

Right.

そうですね。

So, I feel like even though I am Japanese, I look Japanese,

日本人ですし、見た目も日本人で、

i'm 100% Japanese, but there's like a chunk of me

100％日本人ですが、

missing, you know the 16 years that I wasn't here so,

16年間海外にいたから、何か足りないように感じます。

I don't think people mind but

周りにしてみればどうってこと無いんだろうけど、

that's kind of an insecurity for me actually. Yeah.

私は少し不安に感じます。

Must be really difficult.

すごく大変そう。

Yeah, I feel like people think I'm dumb

時々、無知だと思われる事もあります。

or I don't know anything sometimes, just because I should know it.

知るべきなこととか。

Like some Joshiki that we never really learned.

常識な事とかもそうで、

like we learn through, I guess textbooks or whatever

本や会話で

and regular conversations but we don't

ある程度は知っていても、

learn like the ''rules'' that Japanese people live by.

本当の意味では分かってないこともあるし。

So, I feel like if you

なんか、

haven't grown up here your entire life,

ずっと住んでいない人は、

those are things that you kind of have to

周りから

learn little by little from the people around you.

少しずつ学んでいくしかないと思います。

Yeah, more than like manners, for me it's just like, traditions.

マナーと、あとは伝統的な事かな。

When I first came back to Japan, i didn't know what Kouyo was.

初めて日本に戻ってきた時、紅葉を知らなくて、

The autumn leaves turning.

葉の色が変わること。

I didn't know what that was, cause we don't really have a word for it.

何を話してるのかなと、向こうには言葉も無いし、

I see, I see.. it's kinda like Fall foliage..?

わかる、わかる。Fall foliageかな？

Yeah, like Fall foliage but when do we ever-

でも誰も使わないよね。

"Let's go look at the Fall foliage".

「Fall foliageを見に行きましょうか？」

No one would say that, right?

言わないよね。

So true..

そうだよね。

Yeah, and you don't talk about that with your family or anything, so

家族ともそんな話をしないし、

I came back here, and that came up and

だから、日本に来てから

I asked my parents, I asked my dad.

父親に聞いたの、

I was like "What's Kouyo?"

「紅葉って何？」

and he was like "you don't know what Kouyo is?!"

「紅葉を知らんのか？？」

And I was like "You never taught me!"

「教えてくれなかったけど？？」

and so things like that, that feel like

こういうこととか、

that should be obvious, in that any Japanese person

そういう日本人には当たり前の常識を

should know, sometimes I don't.

時々知らなくて、

and I mean, I've done a lot of catching up in the last eight years

ここ8年間頑張って勉強したんだけど、

I've been here but still.

ここにも住んでいるんだけど、

(Right) There are these things that come up that I've never heard before.

今でも時々そういう事があります。

And I'm not sure if you've been through this, but

チカさんが同じ経験があるか分からないけど、

I've been through a lot of words that

私は間違って

I kind of remembered differently, because

言葉を覚えた経験があって、

like 'TA.I.I.KU' and 'FU.N.I.KI' and stuff.

例えば「体育」「雰囲気」とか、

I always thought that it was,

ずっと

F[U]U.N.I.KI in a sense. You know, that feeling.

雰囲気は「ふいんき」だと思ってて。

But it's FU.N.[I]I.KI right?

でも、実際は「ふんいき」でしょ？

Hm-hm, the way you say it, yeah!

発音ね。

So when I was typing on the computer,

パソコンで

I was trying to write FU.N.[I]I.KI and I was typing it so many times.

何回タイプしても

The kanji wasn't coming up, I was like ''Why is it not coming up?"

変換できなくて。「何で変換できないの？？」

That's when I finally learned like, 10 years later,

１０年くらい後になって、

I learned that I had knew it wrong the entire time.

ようやく分かったの。

So, there's little things like that.

こんなこととか、

Like TA.I.KU i always thought it was TA.I.KU

体育も「たいく」だと思ってたけど、

but it's TA.[I]I.KU

実際は「たいいく」だし

So those little things that we didn't

こういう些細な事柄を、

properly learn word-for-word from textbooks

学校で丁寧に学ばなかったから

Right, yeah. I had the 'FU.N.I.KI problem' too.

私も「ふんいき」問題がありました。

Yeah, I still say it the way--

今でも間違える。

Yeah, you do say it like FU.N.[I]I.KI right?

つい、「ふいんき」って言っちゃうよね。

Yeah, but it's FU.N.KI (Yeah)

でも実際は「ふんいき」だよね。

Have you had any embarassing experiences coming to Japan?

日本に来て、恥ずかしい経験はありますか？

Where there's like a cultural, I guess like 'Joshiki'

先程の「常識」についてでもいいですが、

that you didn't know about?

知らなかったこととか。

It was pretty recently but I went to a funeral--

最近、葬式に出席したんだけど、

Sorry, it's kind of a dark topic.

ちょっと悲しい話ですみませんが、

But um, yeah, a friend of mine whose grandmother passed away

友人の祖母が亡くなられて、

and I went to the funeral. It was my first Japanese funeral

初めて日本式の葬式に出席したのですが、

and there are things you have to wear, things you have to bring.

服装や持ち物が決まってて、

And I kind of knew some of the things,

ある程度は知っていたけど、

but I wasn't quite sure and

完璧ではなくて

and I should've-- I regretted not researching

だから、

it a little bit beforehand and

もっと準備しておけばと後悔してます。

because that's not a place where you want

だって、そんな場所で

to feel embarrassed right?

恥はかきたくないし、

Maybe like weddings and funerals and events like that.

冠婚葬祭なんかで

But, you have to wear the mofuku, right? The funeral wear.

それで、葬儀には喪服を着るけれど、

And there are rules as to how long the sleeves have to be,

袖丈や膝丈が決まってて、

how long the skirt can be, you can't have your knees showing.

膝は見せてはいけないし。

And the reason why the sleeves have to be long is

袖丈も、

because when you put your hands together

合掌する際に

your sleeves come down a little bit,

袖が下がっても

so your wrists don't show.

肌を見せないためで、

Little things like that. I thought if you just wore

そういう細かい決まりを把握してなくて、

something black that was okay (not showy or anything)

とにかく黒い礼服で行けば良いのかと思っていて。

Yeah, but I got there and nobody told me directly,

会場では誰も直接言わなかったけど、

but I heard a little bit later that--

後で伝え聞いて

It wasn't anything negative but it was just like

やんわりと教えてもらったけど、

''Oh, maybe you should tell your friend for next time

「友達にちょっと教えたほうがいいよ、

that there is, you know..''

ちょっとね...」

''And if she was maybe a little bit younger''.

「また若いからね」

'cause I'm 30 now, I should know those things.

でも、私はもう三十路だし、知っていないと恥ずかしいから

But, I, you know.

でもね、

My parents, yeah, and my parents had never had an opportunity

親からも教える機会もないし、

to tell me because unfortunately I had, you know, it's a good thing but

幸いにも

I had never been to a funeral before so.

今まで葬儀の経験が無かったから。

There's a lot of things that even Japanese people in Japan

日本人でも、知らない人が多い事もあって、

don't know, like for example if it's food

例えば、

like misoshiru (miso soup) is always on the right side

味噌汁は右側、

and rice is on the left, but even people in Japan

ご飯は左側に置く決まりとか、

who grew up in Japan sometimes don't even know.

日本人でも知らない人もいるけれど、

They had no idea and then they post it on Instagram or something

インスタに写真を投稿したら、

and people are like "It's the wrong side!"

間違ってるよって指摘されて。

Oh, I had that happen to me.

私もある。

I blogged, I was like "I made breakfast!"

「朝食作りました！^^」

and they're like ''It's the wrong way..''

「配置が間違ってる…」

Yeah, I had no idea until someone told me.

私も指摘されるまで知らなくて

Yeah, it's those things.

そういう事がありました。

Oh and like, I wrote a blog about my dad.

私も、以前父についてブログを書いた時に

and, you know, the difference between 'dad' and 'father' right?

父（Father）とお父さん（Dad）の違いなんだけど、

When you're talking to your friends you just say ''dad''.

友達と会話してる時はDadって言うじゃない？

So, in my blog I write it like I'm talking to friends.

ブログはフレンドリーな感じだから、

So I wrote ''otousan'' and a few people were like

お父さんって書いたの。

"No, at your age you should really say 'chichioya'

そしたら、君の年齢では父親と書くべきだと指摘されて、

or 'chichi' " but on my blog I was like "Oh you know

でも内容は、

my dad bought me a yukata.''

「お父さんが浴衣を買ってくれました。^^」で、

like ''My father purchased a yukata for me.''

「父が浴衣を購入して下さいました」みたいな感じではなかったから、

Yeah, it's that barrier you know, you don't wanna sound too formal

ブログでは硬い表現は避けるんですが、

and really tight but at the same time, I feel like

なんか、

when Japanese people read it it's like "Oh that's incorrect,

日本人からすると間違っているから指摘されたり、

you should never say it that way.''

そういう言い方は間違ってるとか。

But it's hard because within Japanese people

でも、人によって基準が違うよね

the standards are different too. Some people don't care.

気にしない人も、

Some people don't know. But other people

知らない人も、

are very strict about that, so..

厳しい人もいるから。

I always think like, whenever I'm tweeting I'm like,

ツイッターとかでは

I know on social accounts it's okay to be casual right?

カジュアルな表現を使うけど、

So, 'tabereru' is okay but I also have a feeling that

例えば「食べれる」って書くと、

someone's gonna say something.

誰かに指摘されるんじゃないかって心配になる。

And the thing that sucks about being Kikokushijo,

帰国子女であることで嫌なのは、

is that, when you make a mistake everyone thinks it's because you don't know it.

間違いをした時に、必ず「知らないから」だと思われることです。

Not because you made a mistake.

間違いをしたのじゃなくて、

like, "It's not a typo. She doesn't know".

「ああ、帰国子女だから知らないのね」みたいな。

and sometimes I don't know, but other times I'm like

もちろん知らない時もありますが、

''I know that, it's just a typo!''

知ってる時もあります。

I'm on my phone, I'm tweeting really fast.

急いでツイートしたから誤字しただけよ、みたいな。

So about the miso soup, and all the technical things that people care about,

さっきの味噌汁や、他の細かい作法などの指摘ですが、

It's not because they just want to be strict

他人に厳しいという訳ではなくて、

and, anal, if i can say that word. About it.

私の考えですが、

But it's just, there are reasons for it.

きちんと理由があるからです。