娘：お母さん、何をびっくりしているの。
母：上海がこの10年であんまり変わったので、あっけにとられてしまったわ。
Akke ni torareru
Musume: Okaasan, nani wo bikkuri shite iru no.
Haha: Shanhai ga kono juu-nen de anmari kawatta no de, akke ni torarete shimatta wa.
Daughter: What are you looking so surprised for, Mom?
Mother: Shanghai has changed so much in the last 10 years, I am quite taken aback.
Akke ni torareru means to be taken aback, amazed, flabbergasted or speechless.
I recently went to Shanghai with my family on vacation. It was the first time I had been there in 10 years. Because it is a coastal port, Shanghai has always been faster to become modernized than other parts of the country, and the same is true of it today. Even so, I was continually amazed at how much it had changed.
First of all, I was surprised to see hardly anyone wearing the old blue uniform that they used to wear. Instead, girls were wearing sweaters and coats of all colors. It was more like being in Hong Kong or Taiwan. Chichi ga akke ni torareta yoo ni, aru dansei wo furikaette mite iru (My father was looking over his shoulder in amazement at a man). I wondered what he was looking at, and then I realized that the young man was talking on a portable telephone.
At one point we arrived outside Shanghai Station. Soko ni atsumatte iru hitobito wo mite, musume tachi wa akke ni torareta yoo da (My daughters were gaping in amazement at the people who were gathered there). They were standing around without anything particular to do - a thousand of them, even more - all carrying enormous bags. "They have their futons in those bags," our guide told us. Kare no setsumei ni wa, minna akke ni torarete shimatta (Everyone was flabbergasted when they heard his explanation).
Since China started opening up economically, a disparity between different ranks of society has begun to emerge, and these people had come to the city in search of employment. Even though it was springtime, the weather was still cold, and I wondered how many nights they were prepared to spend sleeping outside the station. I also wondered if there really was work for them.