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偶然の出会いから友達に
大学で友達を作るのは至難の業。
多人数の講義では、近くに座った学生同士でも、たいていみんな赤の他人のようにそっけなく振る舞います。
人数の少ない個人指導の授業なら、知り合いはできますが、クラス外での深い付き合いに発展することはあまりありません。
ですが武藤さんは先日、300人が受講するビジネスの授業で、ふとしたことから出会いのきっかけをつかむことに…。
A chain of events
In a university lecture, especially a lecture with a huge audience, you seldom have the chance to make new friends. There doesn't seem much point in turning to the person sitting next to you and trying to start a conversation because most of the students behave as though their neighbors are complete strangers. Unless, of course, they come in a group where everyone knows each other already. That makes it worse for the people coming in on their own. It's very hard to break into these groups, unless you're a sucker for embarrassment.
Even in tutorials, it's hard to make friends, as in good friends who you socialize with outside of class, not just tutorial mates. But it's certainly easier to get to know the other students in a tutorial than it is in a lecture, and it really does help to be on good terms with people, especially when it comes to problem-solving and writing essays because you can help each other.
Anyway, this week I want to tell you about a strange new encounter I had in my business class. It's a 300-student class, so it was the last place in the world I expected to make a new friend, but funnily enough, I did.
I was sitting in the classroom one day, waiting for the class to start. Looking around, I noticed this girl I'd met before, sitting by herself. She was Australian but she had been born in Korea. She was kind, easygoing and sometimes helped me with my work, and even though I didn't know her very well, I thought it would be a good chance to practice some English and possibly make a good new friend, so I went over to her.
I sat down behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, how's it going?" I said. The person who turned around was not the person I thought it was. It was someone completely different, someone I didn't know at all! I tried to recover: "Have we met before?" I asked. "No," she said. There was an awkward pause. Then I said, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else." "That's OK," she said, and as I tried to say something else, the lecture started. I was a little embarrassed.
On that same night, I went to the phone booth to give my girlfriend a call, and as I was coming out, I saw her waiting at the bus stop next to the phone booth. She looked at me in surprise. "What are you doing here?" she asked. I told her that I was calling my girlfriend, and so we got to chatting.
Her name was Seline, she was Korean-Australian, and she was studying Japanese. She was cheerful, friendly, and had a faint Korean accent, which I always find disarming. So over the next week, we chatted some more in business class, and we discussed some of our business assignments.
It's funny how chance encounters shape your life. If I hadn't accidentally bumped into Seline at the bus stop, we would still be complete strangers, but now we have met, we are good friends.
- A chain of 〜
- 一連の〜
- lecture
- 講義
- especially
- 特に
- audience
- 受講者
- seldom 〜
- めったに〜しない
- There doesn't seem much point in 〜
- 〜するのは意味がないように思える
- turning to 〜
- 〜の方を向く
- conversation
- 会話
- behave as though 〜
- 〜のように振舞う
- neighbors
- 近くに座った学生たち
- complete strangers
- まったくの他人
- Unless 〜
- 〜でない限り
- on their own
- ひとりで
- break into 〜
- 〜に加わる
- sucker for embarrassment
- 決まり悪い思いをするのが好きな人
- tutorials
- 個別指導
- socialize with
- 付き合う
- mates
- 仲間
- certainly
- 確かに
- get to know 〜
- 〜に知り合う
- be on good terms with 〜
- 〜とうまくやる
- when it comes to 〜
- 〜のこととなると
- problem-solving
- 問題解決
- encounter
- 出会い
- it was the last place in the world I expected to 〜
- 〜することが世界で一番期待でない場所だった
- funnily enough
- 不思議な話だが
- noticed 〜
- 〜に気付いた
- sitting by herself
- 一人で座っていた
- easygoing
- おおらかな
- even though 〜
- 〜だけれども
- practice 〜
- 〜の練習をする
- possibly
- もしかしたら
- went over to 〜
- 〜のところに行った
- tapped her on the shoulder
- 彼女の肩をたたいた
- how's it going?
- 元気?
- turned around
- 振り向いた
- someone completely different
- まったくの別人
- recover
- 立ち直る
- Have we met before?
- 前に会ったことがありますか?
- awkward pause
- 気まずい沈黙
- mistook 〜 for someone else
- 〜を別の人と間違えました
- was a little embarrassed
- ちょっと恥ずかしかった
- phone booth
- 電話ボックス
- give 〜 a call
- 〜に電話をする
- was coming out
- 外に出た
- bus stop
- バス停
- in surprise
- 驚いた表情で
- got to chatting
- おしゃべりした
- Korean-Australian
- 韓国系オーストラリア人
- cheerful
- 陽気な
- had a faint 〜 accent
- かすかに〜のなまりがあった
- find disarming
- ほほ笑ましく思う
- assignments
- 課題
- chance encounters
- 偶然の出会い
- If I hadn't accidentally bumped into 〜
- 〜に偶然出会っていなかったら