Who is the Ugly Duckling?

This year marks 400 years since Hans Christian Andersen's birth. The other day I had an opportunity to talk with a portly expatriate Japanese child who recently returned to Japan. The country she was raised in was poor and she said the expatriate Japanese children called themselves "Ugly ducklings." This is taken after the name of Andersen's famous tale "the Ugly duckling" that was born ugly and bullied by other ducklings and birds. The ugly duckling grew and one day saw his own figure reflected in the lake and realized he was a beautiful swan.

I interpreted this using my imagination, "You people who have different faces and shapes were used to being bullied by the local children. One day you realized you were children of Japan, a rich country, and became very happy. So you called yourselves 'Ugly duckings,' right?" She became embarrassed, but I continued, "I am a beautiful swan and not an ugly duckling. Andersen's story which indicates that swans are more beautiful than ducks, is taken as a discriminatory story by many Westerners."

Then she shook her head and said shamefully, "Nicus-san, Japanese children go to the local Japanese school. As our parents said it was dangerous, we were sent by car to the school and had no opportunities to play with the local children. On the other hand, parents said eating local food would lead to food poisoning, so we had luxurious food imported from Japan. Before we realized it, we all became fat. That's why we called ourselves 'Ugly duckings.'"

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