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学期の始まりは出会いの時期
新学期を迎え、大学に新しい学生が入ってきました。
武藤さんの住む下宿にも、台湾からの留学生、サンディーが入居しました。
ある晩、武藤さんが台所で料理をしていると、彼が話しかけてきました。
日本好きで、日本に精通しているサンディーの話に、武藤さんは自分の無知を恥ずかしく思います。
ですが、台湾の話になると、それまで冗舌だったサンディーが悲しそうな表情に。
一体その訳は?
Newcomer
As I've mentioned before, the second semester at Australian universities begins in August, so there's a general influx of new students around the end of July. That's why I had a lot of opportunities to meet new students from around the globe: from China, from Germany and from Turkey. And what's more, we had a new person move into our house: Sandy from Taiwan.
One night, I was alone in the kitchen cooking dinner when Sandy came in. "Kazu, how are you doing today? Busy?" He spoke like a priest in church: slowly, carefully and earnestly. He was very easy to understand.
We chatted for a while and then we uncorked some wine. The wine worked well for Sandy. He spoke more fluently with some alcohol in him, although he never quite shook off his priest-like air.
Sandy loves Japan and he knows a great deal about it. I was surprised by his knowledge of history, especially Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin. He was also very familiar with Shintoism and Bushido. Once he started on these subjects, he wouldn't stop. He was more knowledgeable than I was. He asked me a lot of questions, but I couldn't answer them, and again I was ashamed of my ignorance of my own country.
We moved onto Taiwan and Taiwan's view of Japan and China. As he talked about his own country, he looked a little sad. He told me that he had little motivation to do anything because he missed his life in Taiwan so much. "I'm homesick," he said with a melancholy smile.
I knew how he felt. I had felt the same way when I'd come to Australia. I had experienced the same problems, and I had complained about Australia whenever I'd met with some inconvenience. Luckily I had some very good friends who helped me, and so I tried to do for Sandy what they had done for me.
I told him that he should make the most of his situation and learn from it, even when things didn't look as though they were going so well. It's hard to encourage others in a language that's not your own, but I think I told him everything I wanted to say.
Later I remembered what it had been like when I'd come to Australia and I'd been homesick too. Six months have passed since then, and what have I learned? Have I learned something that I wouldn't have learned in Japan? I have made a lot of friends here and they are very important to me and I have learned the value of friendship, but still what else have I learned? Have I learned anything else at all?
I remembered what my teacher had said before I left Japan. He'd told me that studying abroad with only a vague idea of what you wanted to do was risky. So I started thinking: Why am I here? What have I done since coming here? I was suddenly worried. The phrase "so little done, so much to do" flitted through my mind, and anxiety hung heavy on my heart.
- Newcomer
- 新顔
- As I've mentioned before
- 前に書いたとおり
- second semester
- 2学期
- general
- 全体の
- influx of 〜
- 〜が入ってくること
- opportunities
- 機会
- from around the globe
- 世界中から
- Turkey
- トルコ
- what's more
- さらに
- move into 〜
- 〜に入居する
- came in
- やってきた
- priest
- 聖職者
- church
- 教会
- earnestly
- 誠実に
- was very easy to understand
- とても理解しやすかった
- chatted for a while
- しばらくおしゃべりをした
- uncorked 〜
- 〜を開けた
- worked well for 〜
- 〜によく効いた
- fluently
- 流ちょうに
- alcohol
- アルコール
- (never)shook off 〜
- まったく〜をなくすことはなかった
- priest-like air
- 聖職者のような雰囲気
- a great deal
- とても多く
- was surprised by 〜
- 〜に驚いた
- knowledge
- 知識
- especially
- 特に
- (was)familiar with 〜
- 〜に詳しい
- Shintoism
- 神道
- Once 〜
- 一度〜すると
- subjects
- テーマ
- knowledgeable
- 知っている
- was ashamed of 〜
- 〜を恥じた
- ignorance
- 無知
- had little motivation to do anything
- ほとんど何もやる気が起きない
- missed 〜
- 〜が恋しい
- melancholy
- 沈んだ
- had experienced 〜
- 〜を経験した
- had complained about 〜
- 〜について不平を言った
- whenever I'd met with 〜
- 〜に出合うたびに
- inconvenience
- 不都合
- Luckily
- 幸いにも
- make the most of 〜
- 〜を十分に生かす
- even when things didn't look as though they were going so well
- 物事がそれほどうまく行かないと思えるときでも
- encourage 〜
- 〜を励ます
- what it had been like when 〜
- 〜のときどうだったか
- value
- 価値
- friendship
- 友情
- abroad
- 海外で
- vague
- 漠然とした
- risky
- 危うい
- suddenly
- 急に
- so little done, so much to do
- したことはあまりにも少なく、すべきことはあまりにも多い
- flitted through my mind
- 心をかすめた
- anxiety
- 不安
- hung heavy on 〜
- 〜に大きくのしかかった