海外在住！翻訳者からの手紙～San Diego!～

みなさん、こんにちは！ワールドサポートNです。

もうすぐクリスマス♪ということで、ブログも期間限定のクリスマスに仕上げてみました。
今回はサンディエゴにいる翻訳者Ｇさんにサンディエゴの魅力についてお伺いしました。
遠く離れたサンディエゴですが、意外や意外！日本人や日本のお店、日本をイメージ
した素敵な公園もあるそうです！

それでは、翻訳者Ｇさん、よろしくお願いします。

I have lived in San Diego, California since 2003. Before that I lived
two years in Chicago, which I moved to in 2001 after living 7 years
in Tokyo. I moved to San Diego because even I grew up in Los
Angeles and like Southern California very much, I wanted someplace
a little less crowded and more relaxed than LA.

San Diego is notably different from LA (and Orange County) for a
significant military presence.
San Diego is the primary West Coast port for the Navy and there is
also a very large Marine base as well as an Air Force base.

(West Coast port for the Navy)

It is not unusual to see uniformed military around the city, something
I never saw in LA. Local news frequently features stories on units
deploying and returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Downtown San Diego is also a mere 15 miles (about 25 kilometers)
from the Mexican border.  Many people, especially in the San Diego
suburbs right on the border, commute to jobs in Mexico. This part of
Mexico running along the US border is referred to as the maquiladora
and is endowed with tariff advantages for those who chose to set up
there. Many Japanese firms have factories and other facilities on the
Mexican side of the border for the express purpose of manufacturing
goods in Mexico for export, mostly to the US. Toyota, for example,
has a truck plant in Tijuana, Mexico, which sits just south of the border.
Japanese electronics are also well represented, with companies such as
Panasonic, Kyocera, Sony, and Hitachi manufacturing in the maquiladora. 

Not surprisingly, a number of Japanese live in San Diego, either on a
temporary or permanent basis. This is a nice benefit for both me and my
wife, who is Japanese. There are three Japanese markets as well as a
small Japanese bookstore and several Japanese restaurants.
We have several Japanese friends and acquaintances. Balboa Park, San
Diego’s largest park, includes the Japanese Friendship Garden.

         

(Japanese Friendship Garden)

The roots of the Garden go back to the 1915 World Exposition held in
Balboa Park and the Japanese Tea Pavilion built for the occasion. All in
all, this gives me more opportunities to speak Japanese than I might have
in another city of comparable size, certainly an important consideration
for me (and for my wife, too!).

Even though most of my translation work comes from Japan, we plan to
stay in San Diego. Not only for the reasons I give above, but also for the
excellent climate, something we really appreciate after 7 years in Tokyo
(those summers!) and two years in Chicago (those winters!). I also like
San Diego’s close proximity to desert – I seem to have become fonder
of desert country as I have gotten older, and we can get to the desert in a
little more than an hour. Also, it’s close enough to LA so that we go up
there for a concert or museum visit whenever we get the urge.

世界各地にいる翻訳者さんを訪ねる旅・・・いつかしてみたいなあー。
世界一周旅行できるかも♪