私が半年に一度帰るボストンは日本に比べて変化の速度が遅いとずっと思っていました。街の景観や人々の様子など日本に比べたら特に東京に比べたら変化はあまりなく、古い地下鉄は駅も含めてそのままだし街の様子も何十年も大きくは変わっていません。けれども、今回は長年見慣れた景色や様々なものが良きも悪しきもあちこちで変わりつつあり今までとは違う思いです。
景気の悪さを感じるのは、街の通りの店屋は飲食店も洋服屋も結構な数が閉店になっていること。そうかと思えば、街の古い図書館やスケートリンクが新しく建て替わるために取り壊されたり閉鎖されたりしています。近年、中高一貫の公立学校が新しく建て替わり、市のプールが綺麗になったばかり。この上、まだ公共の建物が新しくなることは、単に喜んでばかりいられません。それだけ住民の税金が上がることを意味しています。
物価の上昇も驚きです。ガソリンは２年前よりむしろ安くなっていますが、日用品、例えばティッシュペーパーや化粧用コットンなど高くて驚きます。ティッシュは$3.99（600円）、コットンも安いもので$2.99（450円）。コットンが高いことは常々感じていましたが、日本では百均で２パックぐらい買えるのでこの値段には「えっ！何で？！」と叫びたくなる程です。
余裕で暮らしている人も生活費を切り詰めて暮らしている人も様々ですが、我が家は確実に後者です。
I have been thinking for a long time that the US is much slower than Japan in terms of the speed of social change. The scenery of the area and people's looks haven't changed much in contrast to Japan, especially Tokyo. Subway and subway stations in Boston haven't been changed for several decades except the fee. But this time, I felt a little bit different. It has been changing here and there although I don't know whether they are getting better or worse.
I saw many shops and restaurants in the central area of the town closed and this shows how the economy is going worse. On the other hand, the city's library and skate rink were closed or shut down in order to make new ones. Recently the middle school and high school were newly built, and the city's pool was remodeled. I was surprised by the fact that more public buildings will be built in the near future. I think we cannot simply feel happy because it means our tax will be raised.
Although I feel the gas price hasn't risen much in the US, the commodity prices are getting higher. A box of tissue paper is $3.99 (¥600), a small pack of cosmetic cotton 2.99 (¥450), etc. We can get two packs of cotton in 100 yen shops in Japan. They all surprised me.
There are many people who are living comfortably or people who are living by cutting back on living expenses but I can say that we definitely belong in the latter group.
