I went through the main gate of the airport. Here is the exit of Japan. I saw some young guys were waiting for the airplane alone. I wanted to know why they were there and what made them go abroad. I arrived at the gate for my airplane. The weather was getting worse and it was cloudy. I didn’t really care about the weather because I was about to see the new world. When I noticed , I was already in the airplane and the airplane started flying. Let’s go!It would take about 10 hours to get to LA. On the way , the airplane went into thick clouds and it was thundering inside. That was scary and I thought “Will my life end here ?” Well after awhile , we got out from the thick clouds and everything was just fine. I was listening to music and then fell asleep.
I felt strong vibrations below my feet.. I didn’t know what happened! Oh I arrived!
OK I couldn’t see the American continent. That was why I couldn’t realize that I was already in America. I arrived! The airport smelled like a foreign country. There were so many kinds of people, so I thought this was the whole world! My friend Oscar was there.
He was with Dai. We went to their house..
We went on the freeway. There were 5 lanes on each side. I noticed each lane was much wider than Japanese ones. I noticed trees around the freeway were almost dead. I never expected those brown trees in California. After one hour we got off from the freeway. The area of their apartment was in a good area. We brought my stuff into their apartment. “ Here is my new home! ” I was excited to live in a new place because I had lived in the same house my whole life. We went to eat something American. We ate thick American foods and enjoyed them!
My new life just started. I thought about what I needed to become an actor. There were some reasons I decided to stay in Los Angeles. One of reasons was to study acting. One of the other reasons was to find out if I liked everything here. If I hated it here, how could I become an American actor here? I had to make sure if it was worth challenge Hollywood.
I became a student to stay here longer. My school life was supposed to start after 1 week. My place was really great but I had some problems. It took at least 45 minutes to get tto my school from the house. So I asked Oscar to drive me to the DMV, then I could get a guide book for a driver’s license. I could only study at home because of transportation problems. It was weird to study how to drive in a foreign country because I didn’t drive in Japan.
It would take maybe 30 minutes to go to a convenience store. Nothing was convenient. After 3 or 4 days, I would go to the DMV to take a test. I was surprised because I could take a paper test in Japanese language! So I chose it. But it didn’t work well.. I was studying with a English guide book. So I didn’t understand questions in Japanese.. I failed.. If I failed 3 times, I would have to pay $30 extra. I felt I had 2 more chances.
My language school started. My English was still immature. I didn’t know about American accents and I didn’t know how to talk casually. I saw some Japanese people. It was my first time to see other Japanese here in America. Only teachers were American and others were foreigners just like me. I could communicate with a lot of people and cultures there. After a while, my friend Steven from school drove me to the DMV. But I failed again.. Was I rushing ? Yes I couldn’t waste one moment to become an actor.
How was I commuting to school ? I was taking the train. I couldn’t believe that I used the train even in America! Me and the trains couldn’t be separated.. I used a local line and a metro line. Some American people talked to me. That was funny, so I couldn’t forget about that. Sometimes to get home, I had to wait for the train for 1 hour in a station..
OK this was third time to go take the paper test! The result was… I passed it! I got a temporary driver’s license. Then I went on the streets. Oscar and his brother Bobby were working day time on weekdays. So they helped me learn how to drive at night. I appreciated them a lot. I asked Oscar why he could help me a lot and he said “I wanna believe your dream and help you to make your dream” I couldn’t betray them. Then I got one more reason to succeed as an actor. My practice days started. It was a manual car, so I could barely start the car in the early days.
After 3 weeks since I arrived here, I got used to see everything here. It was not like a fantasy anymore. I decided to take the exam for driver’s license. A white lady was an instructor and she was talking so fast. I guess it was too speedy. I couldn’t understand what she said and I made mistakes. Then I failed.. After 1 week, I challenged it again. Finally I got my license! What I needed at the time was only my car..
How could I find my car?? I checked free papers and looked online. I went to look at some cars but they were bad cars… I found a good car in a Japanese website. I went to see the car. It had some dents but still ran strong. I talked with my friend and decided to buy it! The owner was going back to Japan. So I could get the car after a few weeks. We went there again. The owner was washing the car for me and said “Good luck!” and gave me the keys. I hoped someday after I grew up , the owner would see me on movies. The keys were also keys of becoming an actor…
I finally got my car. Everything seemed like it was going good. I had to overcome some trials later…
To be continued...
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