2013年2月23日土曜日

心理学科および人間福祉学科では、今年もカナダ・ブリティッシュコロンビア州の州立大学トンプソンリバーズ大学で海外短期フィールドワークを行っています。今年は心理学科19名、人間福祉学科10名の29名のグループです。このプログラムは今年、JASSOの奨学金を得ることになりました！2月23日、成田空港からバンクーバー空港へ、そしてすぐにバンクーバー空港からカムループス空港にフライトです。写真はカムループス空港での一枚です。プロペラ機で着陸しました。空港に直接降り立ちました。さすがに寒いですが、過ごしやすい陽気です。空港ではホストファミリーが皆さんを待っていてくれました。簡単に自己紹介を済ませ、それぞれホストファミリーの家へと向かいました。さて、週末はどのように過ごしたのでしょうか。。

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オープニング・セレモニー。

2013年2月25日月曜日

今日はオープニング・セレモニーと大学の案内が行われました。右に見えるのが（逆光ですが）、トンプソンリバーズ大学の国際交流スタッフのラリー・ピートさんとヨシエ・オザワさんです。文京学院大学とトンプソンリバーズ大学の特別で親密な関係について語ってくれました。左の後ろの方に見えるのが、副学長です。わざわざ挨拶に来ていただきました。

みんな週末の英語漬けにやや疲れ気味ですが、3週間はあっという間です。楽しみましょう！明日は、午前中は英語の授業、午後はダウンタウンの探索です。まだ心理学、福祉学の本格的な講義は始まりませんが、少しずつ慣れていきましょう。

 

本学教員からのOpening Speechです。

 

February 25, 2013

 

This is my seventh time to be making a speech.

First, I would like to express my gratitude to Lorry, Larry, Yoshie, Marsha, Kelly Warnck, Dr. Sandra Vermulen, other professors who are not here, TRU-World, and the host parents. This program cannot exist without you.

 

I am glad to announce to you that this outstanding program has got a scholarship for each student this year by Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), which means that the program has been authorized its value and uniqueness by the Japanese government.

 

Today I am going to talk about what I think the secret of communication is, since our students are in the midst of communication crises as you can tell by their faces.

 

Communicating in a real sense is very difficult as we all know. Most of the professors and teachers I have talked to told me that students usually do not understand what teachers are trying to say, or do not remember less than one-thirds of the information that teachers are trying to convey in the class. And I agree with it as a teacher now, and a student as I used to be.

 

Then, what should we do to communicate better? Well, it is a very difficult question. But I believe that trying to communicate with a language which you do not usually use is a good chance to get to know the secret of real communication. In using English, the students from BGU are like pre-school children, maybe worse. They must be feeling so insecure and so incompetent that they believe they cannot communicate here in Canada.

 

To take up my miserable experience, I also felt the same way when I first landed on the United States to study as an exchange student. The first day I got to John F Kennedy airport, I was overcharged by an unlicensed taxi driver. He demanded that I should pay 45 dollars for 5 minute-drive after we got to a hotel called Kennedy Inn, which I never forget. Though I asked for a discount and finally paid 25 dollars, I knew it was still too unfair to consent. At that moment I felt so insecure and so incompetent. I was sorry for not having English skills. I was so depressed that evening that I stayed alone without taking dinner in a small hotel room until next morning. Of course I did not have breakfast, either.

 

However, by the time I was able to communicate in English with less frustration, I gradually came to realize more essential aspect of communication, which is, just being able to communicate is a miraculous, delightful experience. Being frustrated by not being able to communicate is just a tiny, negative part of communication. Getting to realize what a person in front of you is trying to convey is such a delightful experience, just as we finally come to realize what a baby in front of us is trying to say. We usually forget this essential, positive aspect of communication and that is what I came to learn through my stay in the United States.

 

Since then, learning English has not been only a verbal issue, but it has also been a learning to use my every sense, every emotion, et-cetera, to sympathize with other people, which made my learning process more fascinating and let me realize that it is also true in my daily communication in Japanese.

 

Conveying or communicating with our first language seems so easy. But being and studying in a foreign country let us understand that it is a miraculous phenomenon to be able to convey or realize anything, and just a single success in communication brings us delight beyond description. To realize the true communication cannot be educated instantly. It is developed, cultivated, through all our experiences that are harsh and miserable at times.

 

Last year, I mentioned, in the opening speech, that our bond had become even tighter through the disaster that occurred in Japan two years ago. You tried, using your every sense, every emotion, to stick close to our sorrow and fear. And you voluntarily let our students stay for additional days and sent us warm-hearted messages. I felt that it was not a shallow pity, that was a real, profound communication that we never forget for the rest of our lives. And I would like my students to learn just a small piece of the secret of the real communication here in Kamloops because you are excellent teachers of it.

 

Thank you again for being with us and sharing the time and delight with us.