American family use a magic word

by Sayuri

I met my nice second family in America. I spent a weekend with my host family. We talked a lot, cooked brunch and watched a movie together. I felt I touched the real American family life. I found an important thing to live in America; saying thank you anytime. What a wonderful word!

In Japan, we say “I’m sorry” more often than “Thank you.” Japanese tend to think about troubles with families, friends and colleagues. As a result, we easily show our apologies. On the other hand, Americans choose gratitude when they are helped by other people. It is important to live in both countries, Japan and America. I learned it through the home stay. For example, my host mother carried some heavy things, so my host father helped her. After that, she said thank you with a smile. If it happened in Japan Japanese will say I’m sorry before they show their thanks. It is really nice to say thank you when we are helped by someone. People who are given thanks by other people will feel happy and become more kinder people.

We get a smile when we say thank you. Moreover, we feel happy, warm and pleased when we are showed gratitude. It is wonderful to use thank you naturally in our life. It is sometimes difficult to show thanks because of feeling shy. However, if we are able to say thank you, we will become wonderful people. I think thank you is a magic word.