Unlike many Japanese children in Spain, I attended a local school, not a Japanese school. It was because my parent's policy was that since they are living in Spain, they want to raise their children in the same environment as the locals. We spoke Japanese at home and I attended a supplementary Japanese language school on Saturday mornings, so I had some contact with Japanese culture. This time, I'll share an episode from my elementary school days.
In Japan, children go to school alone or in groups from childhood, but in Spain, parents generary take their children to and from school until high school to prevent them from being involved in child abduction cases, although trains and other public transportation system may not be as developed as in Japan. Since the school was less than a 30 minute walk from my home, my mother dropped me off and picked me up at the school gate every day. Like many women, my mother took a long time to get ready, so when she was going to be late, she grabbed my backpack and dashed to pull my mother along. I remember pulling my mother not only once, but many times. I thought it must have been a funny sight for others to see, so I tried to draw it.