お父さん。 My Dad

東京に来るといつもお父さんのところに泊まる。アメリカから帰国してからお父さんはずっと東京暮らし。かれこれもう10年以上単身赴任してるかな。海外に住んでる時から父はいつも忙しくて帰りが遅かったため、あまり一緒に過ごした記憶がないかなぁ。たまに週末一緒に過ごしたり、ごはん食べたりするくらいで。
I always stay at my dad's place when I come to Tokyo. Since we came back from the U.S., he's been living in Tokyo. It's been more than 10 years that we've been living separately. (my parents are not divorsed, btw. he comes back to Kobe every 2 weeks) That's quite common in Japan, that their dad lives in a different place because of their job. Even when we lived together (mostly overseas), he came home late all the time so I really don't have a memory that we spent time together. Maybe few times a week over dinner or sometimes on weekends.

それが、私が就職活動で東京にくるようになってから父と過ごす時間が多くなった。就活が終わってからもよく東京に遊びにくるけど、その度に父のところに泊まる。そして2日に1度の割合で一緒にご飯食べたり飲みにいったりする。いつものパターンは、私はもうごはん食べたのに、夜11頃お父さんから電話がかかってきて、「お父さんごはんまだ食べてないから一緒に付き合って～。1人で食べるんさみしい」とか、週末だったらお互い別々にごはん食べて帰ってきてから「一杯飲みに行こうか？」と誘ってくる。近所によく行くバーがあって、夜12時過ぎてたら必ずそこ。マスターはわがままな父のリクエストに合わせて料理してくれたり、話相手になってくれる。これが男前な若いマスターなのだ。もうあと何件かよく行くレストランがあって、どこも父がお世話になってるみたい。私の父はいろいろうるさいから迷惑してるんだろうなぁ・・・。
But because I was doing job hunting last year, I came to Tokyo often. Even after I got my job, I came to Tokyo often just to visit. I always stay at my dad's and we go and have dinner or drinking a lot. Maybe every other day. Usually he calls me around 11 pm saying "I haven't had dinner yet so will you come with me? I don't wanna eat alone. It's too lonely." Or if it's on the weekend and we both came home after having dinner separately, he'll say "let's go and have a drink." There's this one bar very close to our house and if it's past 12 am, we always go there. The bartender kindly makes my dad's food as he requested and listen to his story. He's handsome and young guy.

お酒を飲むようになって圧倒的にお父さんとの会話が多くなった。父の仕事の話や世の中の話、これから社会人になる上でどうしたらいいかなどいろんなアドバイスをしてくれる。父というより、尊敬するビジネスマンという感じ。前は「仕事ばっかりして」って思ってたけど、この父のおかげで今の私があり、留学やその他のやりたいことを全て実現させてもらっているのだ。世の中には留学したくても出来ない人、必要最低限の生活が出来ない人が山ほどいるのであり、私は本当に幸せだと思う。しかも父は自分の仕事に誇りを持っており、好きみたい。これを聞いてすごくうれしかった。嫌いなのにそんなに遅くまで毎日働いてたら人生何が楽しいんだろうと思うけど、好きなことをしてお金を稼いでたらしんどくてもそれを上回るものがあるだろうから。
Since I started to drink alchohol, the conversation between me and my dad increased. About my dad's work, business, what's happening in the world, what should I do before start working etc. He's more like my repectful business person rather than my dad. When I was young, I used to think "oh, work again..." but now I appreciate him for working hard. Thanks to my dad, I was able to study abroad and do what I want. There are many people who can't go abroad even though they want to or can't have the standard of living. I am healthy and happy now. Plus, my dad said he enjoys his job. I was very happy to hear that. Why would you work so hard till late at night everday the job you hate? Even though it's hard work, if you love your job then I'm sure there's more you can gain from it.

そして今日も父と飲みにいった。私は昼間の買い物で疲れて、家出だらだらしてたら10時ごろ電話がかかてきて「ごはんつきあって～」と。頭が痛くてしんどかったけど、仕方なく「いいよ～すぐ行くわ。」といって近くの料理屋へ出て行った。父と飲むときはいつも梅酒。お父さんは一杯目はビールでその次は日本酒かウィスキー。食べてる時に「今日めっちゃ頭が痛いの。マッサージしたいわ」ってふと言ったら「おっ、じゃあマッサージいこうか？お父さんもしたいわ。近くにあるよ。」その時夜12時前。「えっ、今から！？」
And we went for a drink again today. I was so tired from shopping in Shibuya and Shinjyuku (too many people, soooo crowded. this made me a headache...) so was chilling at home. Then my dad called me around 10 pm saying "let's go dinner. please be my company." I was tired but I said "okay, i'll go a.s.a.p." and went to the resturant. I always have plum alchohol (Japanese liquer) on the rock and my dad, beer for the first drink and after that either sake or whiskey. While having dinner I said "I have a terrible headache. I need a massage..." then my dad goes "oh, then you wanna go massaging? There's one near here. I wanna have massage too." "what!? from now?" At that time, it was almost midnight.

夜中でも開いてるらしく、食べ終わった後マッサージに寄ってみたら本当に開いてた。父と二人でマッサージ。不思議な感じがした。でもふと幸せな感じがした。二人で出かけてるとよく「親子でいいですねぇ～」と言われる。父は「そんなことないよ～」と言うものの、すごくうれしそう。今まであまり一緒にいなかった分、東京にいるときはなるべく父と過ごせる時間は一緒にいようと思う。それがせめてもの私からの感謝の気持ち。私の周りには留学経験者が多いのだが、みんな同じ気持ちなんじゃないかな？離れて初めて家族の大切さ、有難さが分かるよね。働きだすともっと家族との時間が少なくなるだろうから、家族、もっと大切にしよう。
After dinner, we really went to the massage store and yes, it was open. That's Tokyo. Everything's open anytime. Father and his daughter having massage together. I felt a little happy for this moment. When we go out together, people often say to my dad "oh, how nice to go out with your daughter. You must be happy:)" Even though he says "oh, it's nothing" he looks quite happy. Not many girls go out with their dad in Japan. So now, I try to spend time with my dad as much as I can because we couldn't when I was little. and also that's at least I can do to show my appreciation. I have many friends who have experienced studying abroad and I'm sure they feel the same way. People realize the importance of their family after separating from them. I'll probably have less and less time that I can spend with my family from now on so I'll try to be with them as much as I can and will appreciate them a lot.

Have a great life.