88歳おじいちゃんの渡米記🇺🇸第三日目「桜八分、ゴールデンゲートへ」

米寿渡米記 - 第三日目（１９９５年２月２１日）

夜はグッスリ安眠？どころか暑くて暑くて何回も目を覚ます。朝になって史子がフロントに掛け合う。フロントではその手落ちを認めて朝食を無料にするからと謝り一件落着。アメリカでは正しい事は飽くまでも主張するべきだ、と在米中に肌で覚えたのだそうである。成程なァ！「一晩位の事、とかこんな事をいったら悪い」等と自己主張が出来ないのが日本の常識？あなたならどちらに軍配を上げる？

Did I sleep like a baby? Far from it! The room was so hot, I kept waking up during the night. When morning came, Ayako went downstairs to talk to the front desk staff. They admitted that there had been a problem, gave us a free breakfast by way of apology, and the matter was settled. Ayako told me that one thing she had learned during her stay in the U.S. was that in America, you have to stick to your guns when you know you're right. Naturally! "It's just one night, so we can't complain..."-isn't that the Japanese way, incapable of asserting oneself? Which side would you have taken?

さて今日２１日は真っ先ショッピングであるが、近くのWoolworthsという大きな店に入る。Made in Japanも大分見掛ける。あれこれ品定めしてカウンターへ。ところが「お年寄りがご一緒ですから一割引いておきます。」にはビックリした。大体アメリカでは老人や障害者は大切にするところらしい。バスでも列車でも国籍を問わず料金は三分の一である。路線バスは皆リフトが備えてあり、車椅子を見れば直ちに下げて手伝ってくれる。座席の若者も老人を見れば、躊躇なく席を譲ってくれる。アメリカでも悪い面も有るだろうが、私は短期滞在なので良い面しか体験しなかった。

Shopping was the first order of the day, and we went to a huge store nearby called Woolworths. There were quite a few items marked Made in Japan. We picked out a few things and took them up to the cashier. "You're with a senior citizen, so there's a 10% discount," she said. I was surprised. In America, it seems, they take care of the elderly and people with disabilities. The fares on buses and trains are one-third the regular rate, regardless of citizenship. All the buses are equipped with lifts, and if someone in a wheelchair wants to board, the driver lowers the lift and gets out to help. If there are young people sitting on the bus and they see an old-timer get on, they give their seats up immediately. I'm sure that America has its bad side, but I stayed only a short time and thus saw only the good side.

さてこの日の第一目標はゴールデンゲートパークである。バスを乗り継いで、パーク入口にて下車、散歩である。名も知らぬコブコブの樹木が配置よく植えられ大きなヤシの木？が高く天を突き、見事な噴水が二基呼吸している。ここで小憩して日本庭園へ。山門を入って一歩踏み込むと、今迄とは打って変わって日本の京都あたりを巡っている様な錯覚を起こす。建物、樹木もすべて日本から移植したもので、園内には日本風茶店もあり満席であった。 先ず日本茶とあられの様なものを出される。接待嬢も浴衣。二世？三世？桜は丁度八分咲きだった。とにかくアメリカまで来て日本情緒を味わえるとは......ここも戦時中はアメリカに接収されたそうである。ここを引き返して再びバスでゴールデンゲートブリッジ入口へ。

Our main goal today was to go to Golden Gate Park. We changed buses, then got off at the entrance to the park and walked in. More trees whose names I did not know had been planted in well-arranged clumps, and tall palm trees rose to pierce the sky. A splendid pair of fountains spouted water into the air. We rested here for a little while, then went on to the Japanese Garden. I stepped through a temple gate, and it was as if the entire trip had never happened, and I was back in Japan, walking around Kyoto. The buildings, the trees, everything had been transplanted from Japan, and there was a Japanese-style teahouse in the middle of the garden, full of visitors. Japanese tea was brought out with snacks that looked like arare. The hostess wore a light kimono. Was she second-generation Japanese? Third-generation? The cherry blossoms were 80% in bloom. At any rate, how odd it was to come all the way to America to experience a Japanese atmosphere! The garden had been seized by the government during the war. We retraced our steps and took a bus to the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge.

このゴールデンゲートブリッジは世界一という話題に事欠かない。橋脚の高さは勿論、その内南側サンフランシスコ側のタワーは世界初めて外洋中に建設されたものである。メーンケーブルの太さも今尚世界最大、鉛筆の太さ程のワイヤー２７、５７２本を束ね直径１メートル程に仕上げたもの。ワイヤー総延長は地球の３周分以上、１２９、３ ２９kmにも達する。又橋中央部の高さ６７mにして、１９階建ビルに相当する。世界のどんな大型船でも通行可能だといわれている。すべて六車線で一日通行量１１７、０００台という。我等はこの橋の人道を５００メートル程徒歩で周囲の美景をカメラに納めて引き返す。

There is no shortage of ways in which the Golden Gate Bridge is the greatest bridge in the world. Of course, the pillars are the world's tallest, and the tower on the south, San Francisco side, was the first ever to be constructed in the open sea. The main cables are still the thickest in the world, about one meter in diameter and composed of 27,572 wires bundled together, each as thick as a pencil. If all the wires were laid out end to end, they would be 129,329 km long, enough to wrap around the world three times and then some. And the central part of the bridge is 67 meters tall, about the height of a 19-story building. It is said that any ship in the world, no matter how large, can pass under it. Every day, 117,000 vehicles pass through its six lanes. We walked about 500 meters down a pedestrian path on the bridge, took pictures of the beautiful scene around us, and turned back.

それからいよいよ帰途へ。斯くして夕闇迫る頃、サンフランシスコ駅へ。二階列車のカルトレインは人待顔である。この列車の二階に席を取る。日はトップリ暮れて窓外の何物も目に入らない。仮眠の内にパロアルト着く。夕食は珍しく日本食にしよう、とユニバーシティ･アベニューにある「みやけ」というすし屋に入る。一斉に「いらっしえい」アメリカ式日本語である。殆ど満席であり入口には順番待ちの客も見える。丁度席が空いて、そこに陣取る。すしはお世辞にも旨いとはいえないが、トマトのすしなんて珍しい。これもアメリカ風か？醤油はキッコーマンだがカリフォルニア産である。

Finally, it was time to head home. We rode to the train station as the darkness pressed in around us. There a double-decker Caltrain was waiting, and we took seats on the upper level. The sun had completely set, and outside the window there was nothing to be seen. While I was dozing, we arrived in Palo Alto. Oddly enough, we decided on Japanese food for dinner and went into a sushi shop called Miyake on University Avenue. In unison, the staff shouted out "Irasshei!" in American-accented Japanese. The place was almost full, and there was a line outside. Just then, some tables opened up and we sat down. I cannot bring myself to say, even out of politeness, that the sushi tasted good, but the tomato sushi was unusual. Is this also American style? The soy sauce was Kikkoman, but made in California.

夕食を済ませて外に出る。史子の友人のかつみさんが車で迎えに来てくれる。そのままスタンフォードのメモリアル･チャーチへ。パイプオルガンの名曲があるというので、それを聞きに行く。確かに名曲らしいが私は睡魔に襲われてコックリコックリ。帰途カフェに寄って１０時頃史子の玄関まで送って貰う。

After dinner, we went outside. Ayako's friend Katsumi-san came by car to pick us up, and we went directly to Memorial Church at Stanford. We had heard there was a concert of famous pieces for the pipe organ, and went to listen. It certainly did sound like famous music, but I was overcome by drowsiness and fell asleep. On our way home we stopped at a cafe, and Katsumi-san dropped us off in front of Ayako's home around ten o'clock.

English translation by Paul Atkins
英語のリスニングの練習をしたい方は、是非動画もご覧ください。

#祖父 #おじいちゃん #アメリカ #渡米
#夢 #夢継ぎ #夢代人 #アメリカンドリーム
#英語 #アメリカ英語 #バイリンガル
#サンフランシスコ