By Kevin Cooney
Perhaps the most
universally hated question on the "Nice to meet you I'm a gaijin FAQ" is the
personal and perennial "Why are you here?"
There
are a variety of reasons why we squirm under the spotlight this throws on our
transient lives. It's a personal matter,
the answer is too complex, or (as our mom suspects) there is no answer. After all, my closest family connection
to a Japan is that I had a Game Boy and my Tsutaya video shop membership may out
last my legal visa status, so there surely must be some greater purpose to my
continued existence here.
We
all have our reasons. Ive had so
many its hard to remember, and all of them sound strangely like alibis rather
than reality.
For
those who came for love of something material, the expat-otaku Akihabara
denizens the admission seems so ignobly narrow. Emigration for fandom, its like becoming an astronaut for
your love of Spock. But I'm sure someone
did.
For
those who followed their sweethearts, or perhaps other organs the answer also
seems sadly insufficient. No one
likes appearing as they have so little say in their life. Like the "They made me come here"
explanation given by those married to their companies. Both types often throw in an obligatory
and vague "But I'm really excited the culture."
Then
there are those indentured servants who make there way here as teachers and
travelers always one step away from being a backpacker. The "I just came here to travel" is
fine, and good for those young travelers but as you renew that third visa the
explanation wears thin. After all,
travelers by definition are on the way somewhere else.
We
all have seemingly flawed reasons to be here. But why do we even have to find any justification for being
here. We are, isn't it enough. Until I moved here I never had to
explain my mere existence so regularly.
The "why are you here gaijin" question often feels like living in your
parents basement, with everyone wondering when you are going to grow up already
and move out to a normal life.
Well
this is my normal life. Never did
I sit on my sofa watching TV, with my Doritos and beer and suffer the angst filled
question... "Why am I here?" The
answer was obvious. Because this is my sofa and I like Doritos and beer. Granted, now I sit on a cushion on the
floor, my Doritos taste of sea-life and the beer is much more expensive but
damn it I am just being here, because this is my cushion. Move along there is nothing to see.
Why
am I here?
Why
am I here?
Well,
I have a visa, therefore I am.
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