4 Fun Facts about NYC Single Mom
1. Where were you born? Tokyo, Japan
2. You’re kidding. How is that? Well, I am an Air Force brat.
3. What is your ethnic background? My father was African-American and my mother was Japanese (specifically from Okinawa, a small island south of Japan.) Short history lesson: Okinawa is an important part of WWII history in that the US and allies invaded the island so as to be strategically closer to the island of Japan. Over a 25% of the island’s inhabitants were killed during the battles that occurred.
Now it is the home to tens of thousands of U.S military for better or worse depending on who you ask. Of course, if the US military wasn’t positioned on Okinawa, my parents would not have met so for me better.
And yes, I still have relatives living near Naha, the capital and yes, there are okay after the earthquake.
4. Do you speak Japanese? Sadly not anymore except for a few phrases. When we moved to the States, my parents made the decision to make my sister and I speak English. You see, my sister and I actually spoke English with a Japanese accent and my parents did not want us to get teased at school. I know it’s sad but back in the day, speaking another language was not hip it was different. Unlike romance languages, Japanese is not an easy language to learn as an adult, I have tried but it hasn’t really stuck.
Just to show how difficult language it is. After my mother died, my sister and I went to work in Okinawa as English teachers were fortunately assigned to towns, near my mother’s family. I’ll always remember that it literally took an entire day to learn one word “ikimasho” which means let’s go.
Needless to say by the end of the day, my mother’s family was sick of me practicing the word and told me to stop.
If there are any questions you would like to ask New York City Single Mom, just ask away. I will be collecting questions for a future “NYC Single Mom Q&A” post.
Category: Single Mom Daily Life
Hi, I'm living in Australia and mummy to a nearly 5 year old daughter. I visit my home country of England pretty much each year but this year decided I wanted to finally fulfill my dream of visiting NYC! I booked and organised a trip with my daughter and my partner… who now I am no longer with. I now have the dilemma of continuing with my trip (next month) and the considerable cost, or cancel and lose the airfare for myself and my daughter. I just don't know if I can keep doing stuff on my own even though my daughter is a lovely travel companion.
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I think of the Karate Kid when I read Okinawa
What an interesting history you have dear! I love that you talk about it here. Funny how people deal with assimilation. I have heard many stories of people losing their native language because they wanted to blend in better. Now it’s fashionable to speak many languages, although super important to speak English well. Thanks for sharing!
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