富山市在住の中学生・高校生による米国滞在記

今年の夏は，当塾在籍の生徒３名（富山市在住）が米国西海岸に滞在しました．内訳は中学１年生が１名，高校２年生が２名です．全員が楽しく過ごせたようで，帰国後に英語で報告してくれました．以下はその内容の紹介です．

1. KYさん

KYさんは現在中学１年生です．
実は彼女は幼稚園の年長時代から当塾で学んでおり，一番の古株生徒でもあります．
今回は米国西海岸に約１ヶ月間ホームステイしました．
以下は，彼女が米国滞在中に記録した日記の一部です．

7/21/Fri:

My dream has come true!
Today, I landed on America after ten-hour flight from Tokyo.
With no jet lag, I’m very excited to meet my host family.
They are all very kind and nice people.

8/4/Fri:

Today, we went to a big shopping mall and had a lunch together.
I tried some pizza and a strawberry cheesecake.
They were all very big and delicious!
At night, we enjoyed singing songs with Karaoke together.
I played the violin, too.
It was fun!

8/12/Sat:

Today, I had a big surprise!
We visited an amusement park named “Knott’s”.
I enjoyed riding a lot of attractions with my host brothers and sisters.
We are all excited and exhausted.
I want to come again soon !
Thank you.

2. RAさん

RAさんは現在高校２年生です．
学校が募集した海外研修でSan Franciscoに滞在しました．

I had a great “ten days stay” in San Francisco.
Many American people welcomed us with their hospitality and generosity.

Please allow me to talk about my host family first.
Jim, my host father, retired from his job 5 years ago after working at Apple surrounded by many “high-caliber” people. It was a good experience for me to talk about a lot of things with him.
Also he took me some interesting places such as “Fisherman’s Wharf” and “Pickleball”.

I was also impressed by U.C Berkeley, one of the most prestigious universities in the U.S.
The campus is so beautiful under the blue sky, and surprisingly, the total area of the school is ten times larger than that of Tokyo Disney land! With some students taking a nap on the lawn, it presents a very peaceful atmosphere.

I wanted to stay there forever because everything was fresh for me. I found that respecting people around you (e.g., your friends and family members) is the most important thing to live your life happily. Every American I met was friendly and positive for enjoying their own life. By saying something positive, you can make both people and yourself happy. I think this is “the thing” I learned from my short stay in America.

I know that my experience reflects only a small part of this country because I’ve already learned a lot from my teacher at Across. He often says, “The deeper you learn, the more you get to know about this wonderful country filled with ever-changing dynamism and diversity.”

Staying in the U.S gave me a lot of things and taught me how to live in a difficult situation.
While studying English in Toyama, I’m thinking that I will be back in the U.S in the near future.
Thank you.

3. KNさん

RAさんと一緒に，学校が募集した海外研修に参加しました．
彼女も米国滞在は今回が初めてです．

This is my first time to visit a foreign country.
I’m lucky because I was able to broaden my perspectives not only by meeting nice people but also by experiencing cultural differences between Japan and the U.S.

Particularly, I was very impressed to see how American people greet their friends.
For example, my host mother welcomes people with a big hug and kisses!

I was little nervous about staying abroad for a long time, but going to the United States has changed my mind.
So far, although I’m still not sure which college to choose, I’ve begun to think that studying abroad would be nice.
Thank you.