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帰省する人を見て、自分の故郷がイヤだったから都会に出てきたから、都会みたいになったら規制したいな、と思いつつ、それはイヤで、昔のままであって欲しい、という勝手なことを言いました。徒然なので、論理気にしないように。(TOEFLの答案には向いていません。）
Many people travel abroad during the Golden Week holidays, but just as many go back to their hometowns, where their parents and old friends still live an idyllic life. So, how long has it been since you last returned to your hometown? If you ask me, you have chosen the wrong person; I haven't gone back for the past decades. Frequent tourists would know more about the prefecture of my birth. The last time I came back was to attend my father’s funeral, where I got to meet most of the familiar faces I knew from my childhood. But not once ever since.
Truth be told, I have always been proud of these familiar faces, my extended family and friends, that is, and the place we were born and raised happily, as well as its nationally famous local noodle. But then, why don’t I ever return? One reason may be shared by those who emigrated to cities: bugs. There are too many of them in the countryside, and living away from the frustrations and irritations of being bitten by unknown insects and being taken aback to find a centipede crawling on the face towel was always my dream. Since my dream has come true, there is no reason to part with it.
Another reason is more social and more encompassing and complicated. There is no industry worth mentioning. No offense, but I see nothing that can attract city dwellers unless they are so much into catching insects. In this highly technological society, you can work from anywhere as long as you are equipped with the internet. True. I can work from any place I prefer, but I prefer not to have a centipede on my towel.
As an English-teaching professional, I once thought of, hey how about this?, my hometown establishing primary and secondary schools that offer English immersion, a sort of privileged type of education, as well as inviting a branch school of a well-established junior high or university, for example. Those schools would attract ambitious young families. With them would come a wide variety of shopping malls, apartment buildings, libraries, you name it, thus starting a new phase of development that my hometown had never faced when I was still a resident: gentrification.
It would transform the way my hometown looks, with lots of intelligent buildings and sophisticated establishments. Well, it will be a long time before I can see it happening. Maybe I should wait until I completely retire from my career, even though I can’t imagine what it is like not to be able to teach English online because of age. Then I will think about returning home seriously. Or on second thought, I will not. In a gentrified hometown, I will miss all the chance encounters with a centipede in the bathroom.