Around the World Iberians and Jackie Chan invade Dublin	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
イベリア人とジャッキー・チェンの侵入 ダブリンでは毎年、夏休みになると、英語を勉強しにやってくる外国人学生たちでごった返します。その多くはスペインやイタリアの学生ですが、ここ数年、中国からの学生も増加中。そして今年は、映画撮影のためにやってきた人気アクションスター、ジャッキー・チェンが、話題をさらいました。

Summer in any city can be categorized into a regular series of inevitabilities. The city of Dublin is no different. The Irish weather will strive to improve but fail, schools will close until September, the mood of the city's population lightens and the ports and airports are full of Irish people seeking guaranteed sunshine abroad on their annual two-week vacations.

Since the late 1980s, the summer season in Dublin has also been characterized by a new annual event a temporary invasion by teenagers. As if from the script of a Hollywood B-movie, every year tens of thousands of teenage students, predominantly from Spain and Italy, arrived in Dublin. They had decided that the best way to improve their English language skills was to take a summer course in the city.

Today, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 students arrive in Dublin over the course of the season. This massive influx of teenage students has been called the "Iberian invasion."

Secondary schools all over the city, which are normally closed from June to September, are re-opened by independent language schools eager to cater for and profit from the Iberian throngs. Students generally stay with host families and overall find the more relaxed attitude of their Irish host-parents to be liberating.

In the first years of the invasion, Dubliners complained about the behavior of the students. The focus of the majority of the complaints concerned the speaking volume of the students on public transport. The students seemed to bawl at each other and spoke with a degree of animation that suggested violence to the more sedate ears of Irish people.

For the months of July and August the city's fastfood restaurants are thronged with gesticulating, voluble and animated Spanish and Italian students. In any McDonald's or Burger King, Spanish predominated and English was relegated to the status of a second language. Over time, mutual tolerance developed and the city's residents became more accommodating to young visitors.

The 1990s have shown a greater divergence of students coming to Ireland to learn English. Since 1995 Ireland has become a popular choice for Chinese parents to send their offspring to study. The Chinese parents' perception of Ireland is of a country which is safe and whose people are friendly.

Last month was a special time for these Chinese students and for Irish movie fans who learned that Dublin was set to experience a new invader, far more deadly than a score of Spanish students. It was announced that a 60 million Irish pound (¥8.4 billion) action movie starring Jackie Chan would start filming in Ireland. The film's working title is "Highbinders."

The story is set in the present, and the term "Highbinder" is said to refer to a character in Irish mythology that is immortal and can accomplish incredible feats using superhuman powers. Despite checking for two weeks, I have yet to encounter even one Irish person who has ever heard the term Highbinder before.

This is the first time a production company from the Far East has financed a film in Ireland. The good news for the Irish film industry is that over 70 percent of the film is to be produced in Ireland and one central scene will involve Chan's character in a rooftop chase across Dublin, where part of the film's storyline will be set.

Jackie Chan effectively took over Dublin Castle for several days, filming to the surprise of several American tourists. The castle was built in 1204 and was the seat of English power until 1922, so there is no better location for an invader to set up his camp, albeit the camp of a film crew.

When I visited the set to get an autograph from Jackie Chan (unsuccessfully), a young American girl visiting the castle on a school tour actually bumped into a Chinese man eating a banana.

A little shocked, she looked him in the eye and said, "You know, you look like Jackie Chan." The Chinese man smiled at her through a mouthful of banana and replied, "I AM Jackie Chan!" The girl recovered from her shock quick enough to get some photographs.

The influence of our summer invaders on Irish people is always tangible. From early intolerance of our Iberian invaders a greater understanding developed. Within Europe, Irish people have a reputation of being welcoming, and hopefully this will continue to be the case for students of all nationalities.

The diversity of links these visitors can create should not be underestimated. The visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, within September will mark the first occasion that a Chinese leader has paid an official visit to Ireland. Mr. Zhu will arrive with an entourage of 100 guests. The official purpose of the visit is to strengthen trade links between Ireland and China. However, I can only wonder if Mr. Zhu's party were more successful in getting a certain autograph and whether they have one to spare.

Shukan ST: Sept. 21, 2001

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