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大学の食堂で会ったドイツ人
「そこに座ってもいいですか?」--大学の食堂で読書していたら武藤
さんに、突然ある男性が話しかけてきました。見知らぬ人と話ができ
るいい機会だと考えた武藤さんは、「どうぞ」と席を勧めることに。
話をするうちに、彼はロバートというドイツ人で、とても日本に興味を
持っていることが分かりました。感情のこもった独特の口調で語りか
けてくるロバートに、武藤さんは好感を持つようになっていました。
The German
One day, I was sitting in a crowded cafe, reading a book over lunch, when suddenly someone said to me, "Excuse me. Do you mind if I share your table?" I was taken aback. In Japan people seldom ask if they can share a table with others, but I said, "No, not at all. Go ahead." In any case, I was bored with my book, and I thought it would be a good chance to chat with someone new.
He introduced himself as Robert.
"So where are you from?" I asked.
"I'm from Germany," he said. "I came to Australia two months ago. How about you?"
"I'm from Japan and ..."
"Japan!? Wow! I'm really interested in Japan!" he said, and he started reeling off reasons why he was interested in Japan: "You know, Japan and Germany had a close relationship during World War II."
"Um ..."
"And I'm also very interested in Japanese culture because one of my friends got married to a Japanese woman and he lives in Japan."
"Have you been to Japan?"
"No, I've never been. By the way, where in Japan do you come from?"
"Gunma, but when I say Gunma, no one knows where that is so I always say 'near Tokyo, about one and a half hours away.' "
"Tokyo?!?! Wow! Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world. I envy you because I was born in the German countryside. Did you know Germany is now the third most-developed country in the world after the U.S. and Japan?"
Robert was very talkative, but I liked him and his way of speaking English. He always tried to talk clearly and always spoke with feeling. So I could tell his interest in Japan and Japanese culture was genuine. I wanted to keep talking but I had to go to class.
A few days later, I ran into Robert in front of the university cafe and we chatted over coffee. He asked me, "Are you interested in classical music? If you are, I have tickets to a concert at the Opera House. Why don't we go? It's Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons.' To be perfectly honest, I prefer pop music to classical music. But I thought listening to classical music in the Opera House would be a great experience, so I said I'd go.
This was my first time to go to such a big classical-music concert. I didn't know what to wear. This turned out to be a huge problem for me. I thought I should probably avoid going in jeans, but if not jeans, what should I wear? So I asked my friends about what was appropriate for a concert at the Opera House. Most of them said smart-casual, perhaps a suit without tie. So I went for the suit idea, and decided to wear the suit that I'd worn only once before, at the matriculation ceremony for Gunma University. I looked at myself in the mirror and laughed. I looked funny in a suit.
Then the day came for me to go to the Opera House! I was very excited. The concert was to start at 8 p.m. so we had arranged to meet in front of the station at 6 p.m. I was impatient for 6 p.m. to come. At 5:30 I was already in front of the station, and then ...
(To be continued)
- crowded
- 混みあった
- over 〜
- 〜を食べながら
- suddenly
- 突然
- Excuse me
- すみません
- Do you mind if 〜
- 〜してもいいですか
- was taken aback
- 驚いた
- seldom 〜
- めったに〜ない
- No, not at all. Go ahead
- いいですよ、どうぞ
- In any case
- ともかく
- was bored with 〜
- 〜にあきていた
- chat with 〜
- 〜とおしゃべりする
- someone new
- 知らない人
- introduced himself as 〜
- 自分のことを〜と紹介した
- Wow!
- すごい!
- (am)interested in 〜
- 〜に興味を持っている
- started reeling off reasons
- 次々と理由を言い始めた
- close relationship
- 緊密な関係
- World War II
- 第二次世界大戦
- got married to 〜
- 〜と結婚した
- Have you been to 〜
- 〜に行ったことはあるの
- By the way
- ところで
- no one knows where that is
- 群馬がどこにあるのか誰も知らない
- 〜 about one and a half hours away
- 〜から1時間半くらいのところ
- envy 〜
- 〜をうらやましく思う
- was born in 〜
- 〜に生まれた
- countryside
- 田舎
- third most-developed country
- 3番目の先進国
- talkative
- 話好きな
- clearly
- はっきりと
- with feeling
- 感情を込めて
- interest
- 興味、関心
- genuine
- 本物の
- A few days later
- 数日後
- ran into 〜
- 〜にばったり会った
- in front of 〜
- 〜の前で
- classical music
- クラシック音楽
- Opera House
- シドニーのオペラハウス
- Why don't we go
- 一緒に行かないか
- Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons.'
- ビバルディの『四季』
- To be perfectly honest
- すごく本当のことを言うと
- prefer 〜 to 〜
- 〜より〜の方が好きだ
- what to wear
- 何を着ていくか
- turned out to be 〜
- 〜になった
- probably
- おそらく
- avoid 〜
- 〜するのは避ける
- appropriate
- ふさわしい
- smart-casual
- カジュアルだけどおしゃれな
- perhaps
- たぶん
- suit without tie
- ネクタイなしのスーツ
- went for 〜
- 〜でいくことにした
- decided to 〜
- 〜することにした
- (had)worn only once before
- これまで一度しか着ていない
- matriculation ceremony
- 入学式
- looked at myself in the mirror
- 鏡に映った自分を見た
- laughed
- 笑った
- funny
- おかしく
- was to start at 〜
- 〜に始まることになっていた
- had arranged to 〜
- 〜することにした
- was impatient for 〜 to come
- 〜になるのが待ちきれなかった
- To be continued
- 続く