Blog 4: Gift of People
Blog 4:
I am feeling rushed today, now that I notice that we only have three more weeks, two more weekends together. A few of us will be traveling out of the state for conferences, so there will be even less time together. I feel that my body and minds are not catching up with the time that is passing by unexpectedly fast.
This past week was eventful. It felt so refreshing and comforting to spend more time with my EYA friends after work this week because we normally stay home after work and end up not seeing all of us. Taking an hour to find the scooters for all of us taught us the sense of patience and helping each other. Scootering around the center of D.C. made me feel like conquering this precious time of summer 2019 in this place. Being a front scooterer and looking back to see my friends scootering neatly in line was precious and made me chuckle. The humid yet nice breeze touching my face and blowing my hair, the silent glow of fireflies rising from the ground, the bright gray city sky even at night, going on the routes which soon have become a familiar neighborhood to me; everything is a new experience, yet weirdly, I felt a sense of nostalgia.
It was also my first time celebrating the Fourth of July in the U.S. The city this past week was vibrant with many more people than usual. I wanted to do as much as I could on this day, so I decided to go and watch the parade on the Constitutional Ave, the Capitol Concert and also stopped by the Native Americam Museum again on this day to commemorate the history of this nation. No matter where we all came from or belong to, it was a day that I felt being part of the community, family and the surroundings which embody me. I felt the sacrifice of people in the past who made it possible for us to live on their future. At the concert, right in front of the capitol with thousands of people, we all shared the unconditional happiness to be in the moment together. I was free from any restrictions or boundaries for a moment. I undoubtedly enjoyed dancing to the familiar traditional American music, which I grew up listening to even in Japan. This day made me appreciative of American citizens I have met so far who have welcomed me like a family.
Strangely in this past month in D.C., I have been continuously meeting people who have connections to Japan. It started from when Kelly introduced me to the Japanese-American organized picnic event, and at the church we visited, the pastors there told me that they have lived in Japan and them telling me about their stories in Japan made me happy.
This past week was eventful. It felt so refreshing and comforting to spend more time with my EYA friends after work this week because we normally stay home after work and end up not seeing all of us. Taking an hour to find the scooters for all of us taught us the sense of patience and helping each other. Scootering around the center of D.C. made me feel like conquering this precious time of summer 2019 in this place. Being a front scooterer and looking back to see my friends scootering neatly in line was precious and made me chuckle. The humid yet nice breeze touching my face and blowing my hair, the silent glow of fireflies rising from the ground, the bright gray city sky even at night, going on the routes which soon have become a familiar neighborhood to me; everything is a new experience, yet weirdly, I felt a sense of nostalgia.
It was also my first time celebrating the Fourth of July in the U.S. The city this past week was vibrant with many more people than usual. I wanted to do as much as I could on this day, so I decided to go and watch the parade on the Constitutional Ave, the Capitol Concert and also stopped by the Native Americam Museum again on this day to commemorate the history of this nation. No matter where we all came from or belong to, it was a day that I felt being part of the community, family and the surroundings which embody me. I felt the sacrifice of people in the past who made it possible for us to live on their future. At the concert, right in front of the capitol with thousands of people, we all shared the unconditional happiness to be in the moment together. I was free from any restrictions or boundaries for a moment. I undoubtedly enjoyed dancing to the familiar traditional American music, which I grew up listening to even in Japan. This day made me appreciative of American citizens I have met so far who have welcomed me like a family.
Strangely in this past month in D.C., I have been continuously meeting people who have connections to Japan. It started from when Kelly introduced me to the Japanese-American organized picnic event, and at the church we visited, the pastors there told me that they have lived in Japan and them telling me about their stories in Japan made me happy.
At the Union Market the past week, I was getting in line to the ice cream store. I saw an old man who seemed struggling chasing the two little children - they are maybe around 4-5 year old and they looked like an older girl and a younger boy siblings. After finally having the two children close to him, he settled behind us in line. I offered him to go before us and then he started conversations with me and asked me where I was from. He was surprised as soon as I said I was from Japan, and told me the mother of the children, his grandchildren, is Japanese. He also told me that the children were deaf and so as their parents - both his son and the Japanese mother - who are professors at the deaf university. He also told me that the children learned sign language in both English and Japanese. Strangely as it is, we just went to a deaf church the week before, and I practiced my newly learned "nice to meet you" sign language to the grandfather. We enjoyed finding out our commonality and it was absolutely heartwarming to see the two little children trying very hard to tell their grandfather what ice cream they wanted using the sign language. The younger boy was even patting my arm to tell me which ice creamed he wanted. Sadly, the only thing I could do was to make an "okay" sign with my fingers but he made me chuckle. The grandfather carried up the children so they could see the showcase and point the ice cream they wanted. He and I thought the older girl wanted the chocolate mint so that is what he ordered. But she actually wanted the cookies and cream. I suggested the grandfather to ask the server to replace with what the girl initially wanted but then he said, "oh, it's fine :)" and paid for an extra ice cream. Maybe he was being mindful for others that were in line. They finally got the ice cream and the grandfather kindly told me how nice it was meeting me. The children waved at me and went on to find the seats, which could be another mission for them. When I was paying for my ice cream, I saw the little backpack the grandfather was carrying. He must have been too busy and completely forgot about the backpack. I delivered the backpack to him because he wasn't too far away yet thankfully, then I said the final goodbye to them.
I am thankful for this God's gift of people who have connections to my roots, and are reminding me of the roots I carry with me wherever I go. Thank you to a lot of walking and scootering in the city for reminding me of the nostalgic memories through its scenery and landscapes. Grateful for the connections that have confirmed stronger that everything happens for a reason, and everything , everyone in this world is connected.
I am thankful for this God's gift of people who have connections to my roots, and are reminding me of the roots I carry with me wherever I go. Thank you to a lot of walking and scootering in the city for reminding me of the nostalgic memories through its scenery and landscapes. Grateful for the connections that have confirmed stronger that everything happens for a reason, and everything , everyone in this world is connected.
- Tomomi
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