本日のエアビーゲストは、アメリカのオレゴル州からアンデュ。こう見えて、若干２８歳。毎度思うけど、白人さんって年齢高めに見えるよね（笑）てっきり年上か、ギリギリ同世代かと踏んでいたのに、まさかの年下！？
まぁ、でも、いつもの事なのであまり動じなくなった（笑）
そんな彼からのリクエストは、うどん。しかも「焼うどん」。どうやら昨日ススキノで焼き鳥、たこ焼き、焼き肉、、、を食べ「日本食の『焼き』の付くものは美味い！」と知ったらしい！
前菜や副菜は予定通りに、メインだけかき揚げうどんから、焼うどんに変更したらとっても喜んで完食してくれた。
そんなアンデュ、今までの英語圏のゲストの中ではすこぶる会話がしやすい！それもそのはず。中国で英語の先生をしてるらしい。私たちの会話のペースを待ってくれるし、わかりやすい単語で、わかるまで説明してくれるし、そんなアンデュのお陰で私たちもめちゃめちゃ楽しく、会話も弾んだ。
待ち合わせ場所から我が家までのルートには北海道神宮があるので、その前を通る時によく「ここは日本の神様がいるところなんだよ」なんて説明するのだけど、今日はその流れでこんな話をした。
「神道では、神様はいろんなところに、沢山いるんだよ〜それをね、『八百万の神』っていうの」
「どう書くの？」って聞かれたから書いてみる。
「どうして8？」
「日本ではね、8はラッキーナンバーでね。主要作物の米は88の様々な工程があるから、八十八で米と書く。日本文化と米は切っても切れない関係にあるんだよ。八百屋も、いろんな野菜が置いてある野菜屋さんだから、八百屋だしね〜」
「なるほどね。漢字や日本語にはひとつひとつの言葉にストーリーがあるから面白いよね〜！」
そうか。あるのが当たり前だから、そんなこと感じたことなかったけど、確かにその通りだ。全部言葉の成り立ちには意味がある。
「逆に、英語とかはないの？」
「ないない！その言葉、どうしてそういうの？とか聞かれても僕には全然わからないよー」
「そういえばさ、日本では曜日にも意味があるでしょ？中国なんてナンバーだよ？」
「そうなの？確かにある。mondayはmoon、tuesdayはfire、wednesdayはwaterだし、Thursdayはtree、fridayはgoldで、saterdayはearth、そしてお日様だもんね。おそらくだけど、それも八百万の神と近くて、それぞれの自然の元素の中に神様が宿っているっていう思想から来ていたりもするのかもねー」
国外からの目線で見たときに、はじめて見えてくる日本の良さがある。
「キリスト教は、三位一体なんだよ。ジーザス、スピリット、ファーザー。この３つが1人の神様になっていて、これらはこういう関係性で成り立ってるって教えられるんだ」
「ジーザスとスピリットは理解できるけど、ファーザーって概念が捉えづらい。難しいなぁ」
きっとジーザスは私たちの想像する息子の概念ではないし、父もまた然り。それぞれの言葉の持っている曖昧なカタチを理解するにはもう少し勉強が必要だ。
実は私、両親がキリスト教信仰で、生まれた時に洗礼を受けてミドルネームまで持ってるくせに、正直、全然ちんぷんかんぷんだった。父と子と聖霊のみなみなみな、、、くらいに聞き覚えがあるのみ。一応カトリックだなんて、もちろん恥ずかしくて打ち明けられなかった。
「godはなんていうの？」って聞くから
「かみ」「じん」「しん」と教えたら
「ムスリムでは『ジーニー』って言ったりするよね。なんか似てるね」って。
ホントだ。アラジンと魔法のランプに出てくる彼もジーニーだ。
「『神宮』の『ぐう』はなに？」
「ドームっていったらいいかな？木のドームだよね」って言ったら
「ムスリムでも、神様のいるところはドームだね」と
そんなこと、繋げて考えてみたこともなかったよ。その名のごとく、おージーザス！興味深い。非常にためになる。
それぞれの言葉のさらに奥にある、言葉を言葉足らしめているものへも誘われること会話は本当に楽しかった。
私自身が、長年言葉を司る仕事をしてきているからかも知れないし、言語の面白さの本質は実はこういうところにあるんじゃないか？とも感じた。
海外の人の方が、日本のことをよく知ってるって、よく聞いていたけど、アンデュに会ってそれを顕著に自覚した。
旅をしよう！国内も国外も！
こんな視野で世界を見て入れたら、人生一生「つまんない！」なんて感じることはないんじゃないかと思ったよ。
あ。最後にね。
アンデュが仮名を覚えるのに使ってるって教えてくれた方法。忘れないように記載しとく。
a!（あ
kana!（か
system（さ
tell（た
now（な
how（は
much（ま
you（や
really （ら
want!（わ
ん！がないね！（笑）
日本人ゲストも大歓迎なので、そんなエアビー体験ホストの話を聞きたい人もwelcome our home dinner!
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