Introduction of a Chilean/Japanese
Hello! Hola! こんにちわ！ My name is Akira Uchimura. My mother is Chilean and my Father Japanese. At home I spoke in japanese with my father, spanish with my mother, and It was not until I entered University that I felt more and more as a As you might know, Nikkeis may look Japanese but are not really Japanese. When I was living in Latin America, I was the "Chino" or "el Japones", This was good in some senses, and bad in others because, being an The bad part is, that there are too many premonisions or stereotypes. When I am in Japan, I defend my fellow Latinos if they get a bad comment The word "Nikkei" is a word that I like because there's no exact I am living in Japan, after finishing my master course After graduating, I worked for almost a year for Peace Boat, an NGO that After 4 trips around the world and thousands of miles in the ocean, I am the project manager for the same scholarship which I had when I My goal and maybe a dream is to make a strong bond with these fellow if that goes well, then I should broaden it to a Youth Nikkei Association for now, we are organizing small cultural exchanges in nikkei schools As for the OBkai, I've created a webpage that can help our students Thank you for reading all the way. Best wishes, Akira Uchimura  hello vkm! Thank you for you comment :) kindergarden - 2nd grade: American School in Bolivia My siblings took almost the same path so this is why we used the three languages. cheers! Akira  Wow! That's quite an incredible educational career. How would you compare your experiences in such diverse types of schools (i.e. geographic, cultural, language, etc)? good morning vkm!(or maybe good evening over there) yes, I must say, it was quite different in the american, latin, and japanese schools. American Schools: In Latin America, many of the American Schools are Christian Schools, Japanese Schools: When I was in second grade, I entered the Kito Nihonjin Gakko (Japanese School in Quito) Latin American University: I must say, here is where I learned the difference between I thought I was a very outgoing when I was in Japan, but when I went to Chile, it didn't Thank you for your question, it helped me remember many things in my life. :) You have very interesting background.... You lived in so many countries, no more than 4 years each. Amazing!! Where do you feel your "home" and why? I'm just curious. hi yn! A lot of people ask me this question and my answer is, home is where my family is. I feel that I'm at "home" if I'm chatting with my parents or with my brother Hi Akirau! Both of my parents are Japanese but I've always lived overseas and spent the majority of my life in Australia. Currently, I'm working on my thesis about "Japanese immigrants in Chile" for my masters at Universidad de Chile. I've been here for almost four years, YES! - It was a total culture shock when I first got to Santiago from Australia. Of course, at first everything was difficult but now I'm used to the latin lifestyle in "la selva chilena" and my spanish has improved. (although, my japanese is rusty....) Regards to your latest comment about identifying where "home" is, I agree with you - I think it's where your parents/siblings are. However, in my case, my parents are in Canada and unfortuantely I haven't had the opportunity to live there to call it "home". So, I believe that "home" is where you've spent the most of your life and obviously, love most of the things in that place you call "home"; culture, tradition, language, people etc. Muchas suerte y que estes bien! Hola Masaki! Muchas gracias por tu comentario po. jejeje I guess you got a little of the "surviving in the chilean jungle" hehehe I agree with you, that where you spend the most time, or a place where you love is home. Hey, I'm going to Chile the first week of february so it would be nice if I can meet you over there. bes regards, Hi Akira! Thank you for the reply. Speaking of "Chilenismos", I'm getting the hang of it now... I'm not sure if you've heard of a book called "How to survive in the chilean jungle" for foreigners to understand the definitions and use of these chilean slang, but unfortunately there's too many to remember! Australia is a beautiful country, I miss it very much and sometimes I do wonder why I left Adelaide but I really wanted to travel and furthermore, to appreciate the "comfortable lifestyle" in developed countries, if you get what I mean. Wow! So, you're travelling to Chile for a visit? or work purpose? Where do your parents live? - in Santiago? That'll be great if we could meet up when you get to Chile. I'll be sticking around here since I need to work on my thesis during the summer break. Do you have an email address to keep in contact? Saludos Gracias Masaki por tu mensaje! Sorry, I forgot to include my e-mail here. Yes, I know that book! have you read version 1 and 2? I will be in Santiago for 3 days and then 2 in Vina del Mar, where my family is. nos vemos! Akira |
You've led such an interesting life! Such an incredibly rich background. Thanks for sharing your story (although it makes me want to learn more about each part!). I only wish that I could read Japanese so that I could check out the site links that you shared.
By the way...you mentioned that with your brothers, you spoke a language mix of English, Spanish, and Japanese. I see where the Spanish and Japanese fit in, but is it common for the English to be included? Was it something that you learned in school and incorporated into your everyday use?