“New teacher for Portuguese class is Japanese!”

The information spread like lightning. The third year students at the vocational school all poked their heads out of the windows in anticipation.

There I was, walking in front of them—a newbie teacher headed to class 3-A.

The hallway seemed neverending. I was very nervous. My first job at a school, my very first class—looking back, it was such a stressful moment that it almost makes me want to tell myself, “Good job. You did well.”

There have been Nikkei teachers for subjects like math and science, but it was a rare sight for a Nikkei person to be majoring in Portuguese. It was as odd as an ugly duckling performing the ‘Swan Lake’ balet.

My mother always used to say something like “Your face tells the story of your roots,” in Portuguese.

Back in elementary school, I remember my teacher asking me, “What does Laura mean in Japanese?” I didn’t understand what she was asking, so I couldn’t answer her. Since I had a Japanese-looking face, my teacher must have assumed that my name was also Japanese.

Interesting things happened often during my time in prep school and college. Sometimes my essays would be chosen to be reviewed by the teacher in front of the entire class. The teacher would mention how it was well written, or that it was filled with originality. Then, when it was revealed at the end that the essay was written by Laura Hasegawa, my classmates crowded around me in amazement. Some would ask, “How is it that a Japanese could write in Portuguese so effortlessly?”, and I would just smile back. Writing came as natural to me as breathing does. And I was sort of good at it.

Another funny thing is that, even now, people thing that I am an author that writes in Japanese. I have had four publications (2 novels, a short story, and poetry). Aside from that, there have been some articles and essays on the newspaper. Despite that, I’ve still been asked several times—not so much from Brazilians but more so from Nikkei people—that “You write in Japanese, right?”

...Is that a compliment? Or are they implying that there’s no way I’m able to write in Portuguese?

Thankfully, I am now able to proudly proclaim, “Yes, I can also write in Japanese.”

This was not something that I could have done on my own. I was able to come this far with the grace of God and the support of so many people.

To everyone, OBRIGADA!

© 2011 Laura Honda-Hasegawa