Even When We're Different, We're Kind of the Same

Last year, while my family was on vacation, we were riding the gondola back to our hotel after a long day out. We got on, taking the bench on one side, and then another family of three took the bench on the opposite side. I realized right away that the family across from us was speaking Japanese. I had just started learning, and I was exhausted from the day's activities, so I didn't want to burden these strangers with my halting attempts at their language.

Meanwhile, my kid had locked onto the kid in the other family. They immediately started their own conversation in the international language of children-- funny faces and pantomime. After awhile, my kid clocked that the other kid wasn't speaking English. My kid looked at my wife and asked "Mom, why isn't she speaking English?"

And then just a second later, the kid across the aisle from us asked her mom (in Japanese), "Mom, why doesn't she speak Japanese?"

My wife answered "Well, honey, not everyone is from a country that uses English, and not every family speaks English at home."

And the woman across the aisle answered (in Japanese), "Well, sweetie, some people aren't Japanese."

And then the father across the aisle and I started cracking up immediately about the twin conversations that just happened. He was a little surprised that I spoke some Japanese (chotto dake... demo...). It was less surprising that he spoke some English, of course, since many Japanese schools teach English and many Japanese people maintain some English fluency. We chatted a bit until the gondola made it to the landing at the hotel and we went our separate ways. The whole thing was such a delightful reminder that even when people are a little different, they are usually a bit the same. And kids, of course, are kids, no matter where they are from.