FEATURE: Hotel trainee's hope is to work and live in U.S.

(Kyodo)

Keiko Sugai is waiting for her work visa so that she can realize her dream of getting a job in the United States after spending four years in Honolulu, first as a student and later as a hotel trainee.

The 24-year-old made the first step toward her goal of becoming a full-fledged member of society in December when she successfully passed a job interview for a front desk position at a Honolulu hotel where she had been training.

The hotel's manager asked her, "Keiko, would you like to (work)?"

And at that moment she realized she was a member of the staff. If all goes well, she wants to live in the United States for the rest of her life.

After graduating from college in Japan, she enrolled at the University of Hawaii's School of Travel Industry Management as a sophomore in 2002.


In addition to attending challenging classes on the hotel business, she trained at the hotel in Honolulu.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Tokyo said the number of Japanese studying in China, Britain, the United States and other major countries totaled 79,455 in 2002, up 3,800 from three years earlier.

Sugai first visited Hawaii with her family when she was in elementary school and she went to Utah on a home-stay program as a high student. Her yearning for life in the United States gradually grew stronger.

When told her father about her dream, he did not object and told her: "You yourself will depend on the outcome of the choice you have made."

Recalling his remark, Sugai said that he probably wanted to tell her to assume responsibility for herself.

The environment surrounding her on-the-job training reinforced her conviction that she could demonstrate her capability in the United States.

While going through the training, she was told that there was no disparity in pay between men and women and that she could explicitly give her views on matters to her boss.

Hired as a manager-trainee, she now is waiting for her work visa, which should be good for three years. The U.S. government has a quota for the number of people allowed to obtain such visas.
It does not set a priority for any nationalities but grants a visa renewal on condition that American employers file an application with the government.

Sugai has seen many Japanese friends return to their homes after failing to receive visa renewals.

"I will have to (convince) my employers that they need me," she said. "I must get a promotion from being a trainee to a manager within the three years."

She said it would be difficult for her to return to Japan. "There still is a strong awareness in Japan that women should stay at home. I think it's hard for me to get married with a Japanese man...I will thoroughly consider getting U.S. citizenship. I don't think I'll return to Japan."

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