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なぜ留学がしたいんだろう?
今週からオーストラリアのマッコーリー大学に留学中の群馬大学生、武藤一也さんが留学生活をレポートします。
生まれつきの好奇心と楽観主義で留学を決めた武藤さんでしたが、ふだん英語を話せることの重要性を強調していた恩師からは、留学を思いとどまるようにとの意外な言葉が…。
Confusion
"I don't think now is a good time to study abroad. You're still in your first year, and you haven't made any significant progress on your major. What are you going to study in Sydney for? Why do you want to study abroad? I think you should stay in Japan and graduate here first. Then, if you want to go on to do some further study, you can go to a foreign country. You need to think carefully about your future. I think it's risky to go abroad with only a vague idea of what you want to do."
These were the words of a teacher after I'd told him about my plans to study in Australia. I hold this man in high esteem, and what he said cut me to the core. I had thought he would be pleased. I had thought he would congratulate me because he had also studied abroad when he was in high school. Instead, he reacted very differently.
So I started seriously thinking about why I wanted to study abroad and how it would affect my future. It struck me that I had no clear purpose. When I made my decision to study overseas, I was just following my natural curiosity and optimism. But the more I thought about it the more I became confused. Why did I want to study abroad?
I have always wished that I could speak English fluently like my teacher. I always remember what he said to me when he took me to New York (My teacher often takes his students overseas). He told me while we walked along the Hudson River: "If you can speak English well, your life will be two, even three times more enjoyable." This had a huge impact on me.
Because of my confusion I found I couldn't focus on preparing myself for studying abroad and sometimes I was at a loss as to what to do. But time was really flying. I had been accepted into a foreign-exchange program and there were a lot of things to do: I had been working part-time as Japanese and mathematics teacher, and I had to hand over those responsibilities to other teachers at my school. I also had to prepare for end-of-term exams at university. My final exam was on Feb. 10 and I was leaving Japan on Feb. 12.
I ended up packing my suitcase the day before I went to the airport. I only packed enough for a seven-day trip — and a sleeping bag. I don't know why I squeezed a sleeping bag into my suitcase but I thought I had to have one. When I look back on it now, packing was terrible, especially for my parents. They too had to prepare for my studying abroad. One week before I left, my parents had obviously begun to worry about me. They seemed nervous around me and they prepared traditional Japanese meals for me every day, although they never told me why.
On the day, I was to take the 1 p.m. bus, so around 11 a.m. I went to my teacher's house to say goodbye. When I got there I didn't know what to say. Finally I squeezed out the words, "I promise I will do my best." I can't remember what my teacher said. He doesn't usually say very much and has not been in favor of my studying abroad. But he saw me off until I was out of his sight. I could not help crying and I swore that I really would do my best and show him how I had matured when I was in Australia.
Finally my adventure had begun ...
- Confusion
- 混乱、困惑
- significant
- 大きな
- major
- 専攻
- abroad
- 海外で
- graduate
- 卒業する
- go on to 〜
- 〜し続ける
- foreign country
- 外国
- vague
- ぼんやりした
- hold 〜 in high esteem
- 〜を尊敬する
- cut 〜 to the core
- 〜の心底まで響いた
- be pleased
- 喜ぶ
- congratulate 〜
- 〜を祝う
- Instead
- 代わりに
- seriously
- 真剣に
- affect 〜
- 〜に影響する
- It struck me that 〜
- 〜ということに思い当たった
- purpose
- 目的
- overseas
- 海外で
- was just following 〜
- 〜に従っただけだった
- natural curiosity and optimism
- 生まれつきの好奇心と楽観的な考え方
- the more 〜 the more I became confused
- 〜すればするほど混乱した
- fluently
- 流ちょうに
- Hudson River
- ハドソン川
- (be)〜 times more
- 〜倍もさらにになる
- huge impact
- 大きな影響
- focus on 〜
- 〜に集中する
- was at a loss as to what to do
- 何をすればいいか分からなかった
- time was really flying
- あっという間に時間が過ぎた
- had been accepted into 〜
- 〜に受け入れられた
- foreign-exchange program
- 交換留学プログラム
- mathematics
- 数学
- hand over 〜 to 〜
- 〜を〜に引き継ぐ
- responsibilities
- 責務
- end-of-term exams
- 期末試験
- ended up 〜
- 結局〜した
- enough for a seven-day trip
- 7日間の旅に十分な
- sleeping bag
- 寝袋
- squeezed 〜 into
- 〜をに詰め込んだ
- look back on 〜
- 〜を振り返る
- terrible
- ひどく大変な
- especially
- 特に
- obviously
- 言うまでもなく
- nervous
- 不安そうにそわそわした
- meals
- 食事
- was to 〜
- 〜する予定になっていた
- squeezed out 〜
- 〜を絞り出した
- promise
- 約束する
- has not been in favor of 〜
- 〜に反対していた
- saw 〜 off
- 〜を見送った
- until 〜 was out of his sight
- 〜が見えなくなるまで
- could not help 〜
- 〜せずにはいられなかった
- swore that 〜
- 〜を誓った
- how I had matured
- どれだけ成長したか