”What exactly are you?"

Part of my studying process has been to go over my essays from last semester. Today, I remembered that I said that I would translate my oral speech that I presented to my class and my club last winter. So, I will do that now. The following is the translation of my speech (so it may sound a bit strange). It was really well received, so I'm pretty proud of it even though it's pretty simply written. It was originally organized to be presented to my class--all foreign exchange students--so whenever I say "you", I'm addressing them.
Reading this essay, gave me a kind of fresh view on my situation now. This is what I was thinking at the beginning of my time here, this is what I came here for. That's right...I almost forgot.


"Where are you from?" "What country did you come from?" I'm sure that everyone here has been asked this question several times since you came to Japan. However, were you able to answer this question right away? For me, it is a bit complicated, because I have two native countries. Today, I wish to speak about how important these two native countries' cultures are to me.

According to the passport I hold now, I am American. I have lived in the United States for 19 years, so of course I can speak English fluently. My family lives near the capital of the United States, Washington D.C. Whenever Japanese people ask me, "Where are you from?" I always reply, "Washington D.C." This is true. However, I cannot say that I am 100% American. The United States is a multiethnic, multiracial country. Several different people from several different countries live there, while freely maintaining their own customs and languages. When you ride the metro, it is natural to hear a variety of different languages, such as Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, and German. Even when I am in the United States, I am often asked "Where are you from?" However, in that situation, I reply that I'm from Spain.

I hold one other passport. According to that passport, I am Spanish. I was born in Santiago de Compostela, a town famous for its cathedral. My father is Spanish, and I can also speak Spanish. I moved to the United States when I was only 2 years old, but to me, Spain's culture and customs are still very important, and I still consider them a part of myself.

In other words, I have two nationalities. I am both American and Spanish. Both English and Spanish are my native tongue. Since I was a child, I would naturally mix Spanish and English, choosing whichever word was easiest to say. For example, for me, it was "ball" rather than "pelota", "agua" rather than "water". Even now, I usually speak English with my mother who was raised in the United States and Spanish with my Spanish father.

I was raised with the influence of the cultures of both of my countries. In my house, we eat both steak and paella. We eat turkey during the Thanksgiving holiday, and we receive gifts in our shoes during Three Kings Day.

Recently, a Japanese girl commented, "Since you've spoken two languages and received influence from two cultures since you were a kid, the world must look different to you." After a bit of thought, I realized that she was probably right. It is fun to speak a variety of different languages and it makes jokes even more interesting. When you can speak more than one language, you have the ability to describe the world in a much more vivid way. I believe that I am able study foreign languages and live in foreign countries fairly naturally, because I was raised with two countries since childhood.

This is my first time coming to Japan. For seven years, I studying Japanese language and culture on my own, so it is truly like a dream to finally be given the opportunity to come here. To me, Japan's language and culture has become a part of myself.  

Now then, everyone of you must be thinking, "So, what exactly are you?", right? Are you American? Spanish? Don't tell me you're Japanese?? In the end, all I can say is this: Like everyone here, I am just human. Thank you.