Saori Tanaka is pictured with her Japanese student’s culture projects. Photo by Aminah Khan.
by John Le, Staff Writer & Aminah Khan, Staff Photographer
Saori Tanaka, Japanese and Spanish teacher, has been living in America since 1993. Tanaka recently traveled to Japan this summer to reminisce the first 20 years of her life there and how it compares to life in America
From her 20 years abroad in her home country, she noticed some major differences between life in Japan and America. One difference she notices is the customer service.
When asked about it, she said, “ They’ll [Japanese workers] do anything and they are super polite. They basically cater to you as opposed to…you know-you go find your thing.”
Tanaka also notes how Japan is more focused towards unity. She said, “ Groupness is more important than individuality.”
When asked about her favorite memories from both countries, she remembers some truly remarkable moments.
During her 20 years of living in Japan, one of Tanaka’s greatest achievements was winning first place in 50 meters breaststroke. She said “I was a swimmer, and I won the race. I was the first place in the city in breaststroke 50 meters; and I was a lifeguard after that, that was really fun.” Tanaka is pictured with her Japanese students’ culture projects.
Once she emigrated to America, she also recalls her favorite memory living in a new country and experience. Tanaka said, “Graduating from American University and Graduate School-those were really huge markings for me because I was doing that as a second language as opposed to my first language.”
Tanaka’s favorite memory from traveling to Japan this summer was shopping. “Anything and everything is bigger over there! Daiso is like ten times bigger,” she said.
Even though Tanaka enjoys spending time with her family and friends in Japan, she is happy to be in America, teaching Japanese and Spanish at Fountain Valley High School.
