2008年7月31日木曜日
一年間ありがとうございました!!
一年半前は高知県の存在すらほぼ知らなかった私ですが、今となって本山町と高知県は私には掛け替えの無いhome です。 この大好きなhomeにgood-byeを言わなくてはいけない事実が悲しくて悲しくてたまりません。
でも、これで私と日本との関係は終わったわけではない事も事実です。
本山町で得た経験を活かし、何等かの形でカナダと日本の関係を深めるポジションに入る事が私の夢です。 実は八月にはカナダにすぐ帰るのではなく、一ヶ月間東京のカナダ大使館で実習訓練の形で勤めます。 たった一ヶ月間でしかも無給料で勤めるのですが、私の将来の夢の事を考えると最高の経験をできると思います。 このインターンシップに採用されたのも本山町で国際交流員として活動していたから可能だったのです。 これからも皆さんの期待を裏切らないよう、そして本山町で過ごした一年間の思い出を一生忘れなく精一杯生きていきます。
皆さん本当にありがとうございました!
Thank you Motoyama!!!
2008年6月11日水曜日
Long time no type
- ソフトのナイターで初ヒット! しかもこの試合二安打!
- 日本で梅雨が始まったこと。 もちろんカナダは無いので初体験。 今はそんなに言うほどじめじめしてないと思いますが、皆はこれからだと警告しています。 八月の猛暑に比べると梅雨のほうがずっと居心地がいいと思っています。
- 徳島県の鳴門渦を拝見した事。 ちなみにドイツ館にも寄りました! これで四国の全四県を制覇しました。
2008年5月9日金曜日
ただいま!
心配して損するとは決して言いたくはないですがBeijing で過ごした6日間、何も問題は無かったです! もちろん地面も空も汚い事は汚かったですけど、身体的にも精神的にも害は何も感じなかったです。 食べ物も美味しかったし、観光地も楽しくて、最高な旅をenjoyする事ができました。 一番印象に残った場所は天安門、紫禁城、そしてもちろん万里の長城でした。
凄く良い旅をできてとてもうれしいた事はうれしかったのですが、やっぱり本山町に帰ってきてホッとしました。
2008年4月24日木曜日
Stage Managing
このミュージカルがご存知の無い方にちょっと説明します。
2008年3月28日金曜日
卒業おめでとう!
卒業式で生徒たちの輝いた姿を見られた事はとてもうれしかったのですが、三月の終わりは人事異動の時期でもあり、この何週間は複雑な気持ちでした。 せっかく仲良くなった教員や一緒に仕事をする人の何人ともうお別れをしないといけないのはとても残念に思います。それに、CIRとは中途半端な期間で採用されるのだと改めて思いました。七月の終わりに皆がやっと今学年に慣れてきた時に僕はもう帰らなくちゃいけないことを今考えるとちょっと辛いです。
This month all the schools have been busy with graduation ceremonies. It was the first time that I’ve actually seen a Japanese graduation, and not surprisingly it was very different than the ones I attended as a student in Canada. Like most if not all of Japanese ceremonies, they were more structured and formal compared to their Canadian counterparts. While I’ve already witnessed many Japanese ceremonies that were just as formal, I was most impressed with these graduations because they didn’t involve fully grown adults but kids who normally acted appropriate to their age.
While it was nice to watch my students behave so well in what were emotionally moving ceremonies that reflected over the 11 month long Japanese school year (seven of which I was here for); it was also a reminder that next month was the start of a new school year with new teachers and co-workers. It’s unfortunate that I have to say good-bye to many people that I feel like I’ve just gotten to know. I’m reminded of how the JET programme’s scheduling of contracts is revolved around our (English speaking nation’s) yearly schedule rather than Japan’s. I can’t help but anticipate further feelings of disappointment when I have to leave this country all together in July; at a time when I’d be just getting the hang of this coming school year.
2008年3月12日水曜日
The possible drawbacks of pointing and waving
例えば人差し指と親指を使い、円を作るジェスチャーがありますけどそれは日本では「お金」を示すと聞いています。 しかし、カナダやアメリカで同じ行動をとると「OK」のサインになり、ブラジルでは相手を侮辱する意味なのです。
Gesturing can be a very important part of conversations, especially if the person your conversing with does not speak your language very well and vise versa. Anyone who has had experience speaking with someone whose first language is not your own should know what I’m talking about. When words seem to be failing, people tend to rely more on arm flailing, facial expressions, finger pointing and miming; often with out even knowing it. We do this in the belief and in the hopes that physical gestures will have a higher probability of having a common meaning compared to spoken words. There are however examples of gestures that have completely different meanings across cultures.
One example is when you use your index finger and thumb to create a circle and spread the rest of your fingers out wards. Canadians, Americans and perhaps Australians and Britons would recognize it as a sign for “OK”; that the situation is fine, if not good. In Japan however the same sign depicts money, and in Brazil it is supposed to be a very insulting gesture.
Another example is the well known two fingered ‘V’ sign, which involves extending only your index and middle finger upwards. In the West, this sign can be associated with victory or peace, but in Japan the ‘V’ sign seems to have become a signature gesture to use when posing for photographs. Turning the sign around so that the back of your hand faces outwards however, changes the meaning of the sign completely. In the United Kingdom and Australia it is said that this backwards V sign is an insulting gesture.
There are many other examples of physical gestures having completely different meanings across cultures; and while you should be careful not to insult someone when you don’t mean to, my purpose of this article is not to scare you from using gestures. In fact, gesture away I say. Even if you do make an embarrassing blunder, that in it self could be a humorous ice breaker to laugh over and develop friendlier ties with your acquaintance from a foreign culture.
2008年2月20日水曜日
義理チョコyay!
カナダのValentine’s Dayは日本見たいに女性が男性にチョコレートを上げる決まりは無いのです。 個人的の経験の環境から言うと、男性が女性になんらかのギフトを上げるのが普通です。 ギフトはチョコレートだけじゃなく花束、宝石、ぬいぐるみでもOKです。 女性から男性に上げる例もあり、友達の間にギフトを交換する例はありますが、日本の「義理チョコ」と同じような習慣は無いと思います。とにかくValentine’s Dayとは単にロマンチックな事をする日であり、独身よりカップルの人達のほうがいろいろとやる日なのです。 ですから男女の区別無く独身にとってValentine’s Day はいやーな祝日なのです。日本のValentine’sには皆がチョコをもらって楽しめることができていいですね!
ちなみにこの前中国から二人の友人が遊びに来ました! 少しだけ四国を観光しに行ったけど詳しくは広報を読んでください!
February 14th, in case anyone forgot, was Valentine’s Day. In Japan it is a day where it is customary for women to buy chocolates for men. Now not every women gives chocolates and not every man gets one, but from what I understand there are two forms in which chocolates can be given. A woman can either give a man chocolates because she has true feelings for him, or she can give him chocolates because she has a purely platonic (usually professional) relationship with the man based on respect. The former is referred to as “hon-mei” chocolates, where as the latter are called “giri” (obligatory) chocolates. I myself received a few Valentine’s chocolates for the first time in my life (all “giri”).
In Canada there aren’t any set-in-stone customs associated with Valentine’s like that in Japan. That is to say, gifts don’t have to be chocolate, and while usually it’s the man that gives gifts to whomever he has feelings for, it’ can easily go the other way around. What Canada definitely does not have in the same degree as Japanese culture is the concept of an obligatory gift to non romantic acquaintances on Valentine’s day. It’s not unheard of for a group of friends (most likely female) to exchange Valentine’s gifts, but I have to assume that giving a Valentine gift to your opposite sex superior will raise some unwanted eyebrows.
Traditionally, Valentine’s is one of those days single people absolutely detest. At least in my experiences in Canada, V-day is reserved for those who already have a romantic life or for those who are taking a chance to get one. In Japan on the other hand the only qualification that is required to receive a “giri” chocolate is to have a female acquaintance. Now to those women out there who may be a little insulted over the fact that someone decided that only women give chocolates and men receive them, please just wait a month for “White Day”. White day is a day generally believed to be created by the commercial industry in Japan where it is customary for men to give gifts to the women who gave him chocolates on Valentine’s day. You see, everybody wins.