Everything. Language has power. To deny that means you are forgetting what it’s like to be a kid. My parents decided that they wanted my brother and me to have Japanese middle names. The names were meant to maintain some connection with our roots, to serve as a direct link to my Nisei grandmother and my family wrongfully detained in WWII concentration camps. As I grew up it functioned as a tool to empower myself, a simple word I could use to prove my Japanese-ness, despite misleading hair and eyes. After giving my spiel on how my Japanese-American grandmother named me, invariably the next question I get asked is what Mariko means. For the past twenty years, I responded “bouncing balls” which changed to “a bouncing ball” or “ball of energy” to avoid snickering from sexual connotations.
So that’s where this blog’s name comes from. I haven’t quite decided if I am going to go by my English/Spanish first name or Japanese middle name in Japan. My first doesn’t translate poorly and it might be a little easier to explain. On the other hand, I have had plenty of practice over the years detailing my family tree and I might realize some deeper connection with what I hope becomes my second home. (Alternate meanings I have found for Mariko so far include “true reason child” and “circle”, but I’m not sure those make much more sense to me than “bouncing balls”.)
I'll use this blog to share my stories of studying abroad in Japan. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough… On another note, here's a quote that I've been thinking of, and it kinda relates to this post: “Look little you in the eye. Each time you encounter a child.” – Kimya Dawson
5 comments:
Monimica,
I miss you
:(
hi monica :P :P
>:O look how angry this face is!
Monica,
I found your blog through Sophia's. <3 U! I'm excited to read your updates from Japan :)
So you're 1/4th Japanese then? I really had no idea. No offense but you look as white as rice.
Anyhow, I'll be reading your blog here. :) Nice to see the presence of okonomiyaki. Hope you have a chance to practice some good aikido.
heeey monica! this is maskee (masaki, or whatver).
i was wondering why someone had posted a drowing on your fb that said mariko chan (or something like that) but now i see.
i think monica and mariko both match your personality (though i might need to get to know you better before i say such a thing).
anyway, i read your grandma's story. i think she was such a great person to do such activism given the degree of pressure that asian women at that time must have had to go thru. and I can see some hereditary connection living in your body.
u r an energetic person. i wish you best of luck in your future esp. on your activism.
you might already know but this is my favorite activist http://eminism.org/ Emi Koyama. she's also a personal friend of mine. I think her website is worth-reading.
uuh, i always write too much. ill stop here :P
safe trip!!
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