GLOCAL LOUNGE : From Nepal to Waseda
The School of Social Sciences Gauchan, Alisha (freshman)

Nepal: Where Elders Are Respected and Have Small Generation Gap

She came to Japan in the fall of 2004, after studying Japanese language for 6 months in Nepal. After that, she started going to Japanese language school in Shinjuku, while working part time at a fast food restaurant. She entered Waseda this April. She says she a very difficult time to adapt to the life in Japan and had to undergo different kind of problems. “It was a very hard time for me, especially the food. At first, I found almost everything too mild and sweet to eat and lost my appetite. Due to that I become very thin. But now I have become used to Japanese foods and can even eat Natto.

Calendar of Nepal: The count of months and dates differ from that of the A.D. system.

(C) Himalayan Map House Pvt. Ltd A panoramic view of mountain and lake in Pokhara where she spent her childhood. “Mustang”, which is the place of her communities' roots, is famous for buckwheat production. But they do not have buckwheat noodles like in Japan; instead they eat stir-fried Buckwheat leaves.

Prices in Japan are far more expensive than those of Nepal, so living in Japan is not a simple matter. For this reason, she covers her school expenses by working part time and by getting financial support from her relatives. “I work in a Beef Bowl chain restaurant near Waseda, a job which I found in a job hunting magazine. In the restaurant I have made a lot of friends who are also students at Waseda. Working and studying is difficult but serving customers has become a good way to learn about Japanese culture.”

Nepal has four different skin-colored people and 36 different communities. They have their own mother language, but all of them also speak Nepali as a national language and live in peace harmony with each other. “I belong to “The Thakali” community which has very small population,” she says. “So, to preserve our community for future generations, we have a culture of helping each other. In Nepal it is common to find two generations of people living in the same house. And normally the parents look after their children until they become able to stand on their own feet and the children look after their parents when they become aged. Besides, there are a lot of festivals and events throughout the year where elderly people are respected, and you can communicate with your relations and family. This helps to build up a strong relationship. In Japan, the young generation and the old generation have their own separate society and are busy. I think they should communicate more.” She feels there is a generation gap problem in an urban society like Tokyo.

Aiming to be International

Till her 6th year of school Alisha was brought up in “Pokhara”, which is well known among tourists for its natural beauty of mountains and lakes. After that, leaving her home and parents she went to the capital, “Kathmandu”, for her higher studies. “When I was small, I used to go to the school in shorts or half pants like the boys, though almost all the other girls wore the traditional costume called “Kurata-surwaal”.”

The literacy rate of Nepal is 36.5%, and there are many who stop going to school at the primary level. Furthermore most of these dropouts are girls. “Many girls in my neighborhood learned housework from an early age and were married very young. But I was fortunate to have been blessed with understanding parents who took education seriously.”

She aims to become an independent women and this is very rare in Nepalese society. “I want to go to graduate school too and want to work for the NGO of UNO in future because UNO is actively working all over the world, and they have transparent projects.” She expresses her dreams with full of expectations in her eyes. I believe one day her hard work and strong personality will surely allow her to achieve her goals.