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. That it's a personal matter, the question is too complex, or (as our mom suspects) that there is no answer. After all, my closest family connection to Japan is a game boy and my Tsutaya video shop membership. Possibly my legal visa status is something, so there surely must be some greater purpose to my continued existence here. Or why am I here?
We all have our reasons. I've had so many it's hard to remember, and all of them sound strangely like alibis. Why does the question make us offer excuses for just being.
For those who came for love of something material, the expat Otaku Akihabara denizens, the admission that you moved here for a cartoon seems so ignobly narrow. Emigration for fandom, is like living in Sweden because you like Abba.
For those who followed their sweethearts (or perhaps other organs) the answer also seems sadly insufficient. No one likes appearing as if they have so little say about their life. It's 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 about the culture."
Then there are those indentured servants who make their way here as teachers and travelers, always one step away from being homeless, or to put it more nicely "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 their way somewhere else.
"I want to experience new cultures..." sounds like you're running from something.
"I want to explore new worlds..." sounds deviant.
"I want to grow as a person..." sounds like you were a failure back home.
No reason for being here ever sounds right. So, why do we even offer any justification? We are here, isn't that 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. This is my piece of floor. Move along, there is nothing to see.
Why am I here?
Why am I here?
Well, I have a visa, therefore I am.
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. That it's a personal matter, the question is too complex, or (as our mom suspects) that there is no answer. After all, my closest family connection to Japan is a game boy and my Tsutaya video shop membership. Possibly my legal visa status is something, so there surely must be some greater purpose to my continued existence here. Or why am I here?
We all have our reasons. I've had so many it's hard to remember, and all of them sound strangely like alibis. Why does the question make us offer excuses for just being.
For those who came for love of something material, the expat Otaku Akihabara denizens, the admission that you moved here for a cartoon seems so ignobly narrow. Emigration for fandom, is like living in Sweden because you like Abba.
For those who followed their sweethearts (or perhaps other organs) the answer also seems sadly insufficient. No one likes appearing as if they have so little say about their life. It's 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 about the culture."
Then there are those indentured servants who make their way here as teachers and travelers, always one step away from being homeless, or to put it more nicely "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 their way somewhere else.
"I want to experience new cultures..." sounds like you're running from something.
"I want to explore new worlds..." sounds deviant.
"I want to grow as a person..." sounds like you were a failure back home.
No reason for being here ever sounds right. So, why do we even offer any justification? We are here, isn't that 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. This is my piece of floor. Move along, there is nothing to see.
Why am I here?
Why am I here?
Well, I have a visa, therefore I am.
Cogito meets Kevin Cooney. Spectacular.