Festina lente.

One of my friends in Newcastle recommended me and I was fascinated by it.
I am going to write about talks which I watched in this blog from now on.
The problem is the number of talks in TED: there are already more than 1,000 talks and new talks will be added on daily basis.
It will take long to finish all of them. But anyway, it's so informative and inspiring.

I watched the following talk this morning.
'How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries' (Adam Savage)
http://www.ted.com/talks/how_simple_ideas_lead_to_scientific_discoveries.html

Adam Savage exemplifies how scientific discoveries stemmed from simple ideas.
The examples are Eurocentric but useful to understand how discoverers utilised their initial ideas as a starting point of their research and experiments, which led discoveries.

He finally made his points as follows;
"They (discoverers)are not so different from us. [...]
They thought a bit harder what they were looking at. They were a bit more curious
Their curiosity changed the way people thought about the world and thus changed the world."

These points seem to be applicable to not only science but also other fields of study and daily life.
I realised the importance of curiosity throughout my life and especially during my days abroad.
I saw a lot of people from vaious countries and curiosity was driving force of enjoying conversations. Also, this led me to do research on their countries afterwards.
This enabled me to discover something, though these were not scientific.
Also, it would be safe to say that my study in England has been motivated by my curiosity.
I wanted to try something completely new and I am sure that this was a right choice.
This enabled me to recognise my hidden interests, which I would never be able to find out if I studied law here.

Curiosity generates further curiosity and motivates people to leap into their interests.
Be curious and this will be surely beneficial.

今日でオンライン広報大使としてブログを書かせていただくのは最後になります。
半年間ありがとうございました

最後にメッセージに変えて、私が今まで7カ月強の留学生活で経験し、
今後留学される方の参考になりそうなことをいくつか書いておきます。


・英語は毎日進歩するわけではない
毎日英語に触れることは前提条件ですが、
それを満たしたとしても効果を実感するのにはある程度の時間がかかります。
私の場合は、
「3週間ほどもやもや⇒一段階進歩」の繰り返しでした。
もやもやしている時期は上手くいかないことが多くて悔しい思いをするのですが、
「これを乗り越えれば次のステージに行ける」と思って何とか乗り切ることができました。

つい最近も全然エッセイが進まず会話も退化した気がしていたのですが、
先週の中頃から面白いぐらいエッセイが進むようになり、成長を実感しました。


・留学中に是非ヨーロッパ各国への旅行を！
イギリスから大陸欧州への旅行はとても行きやすく、日本から行くのに比べ格段に安いです。
格安航空会社もありますし、ユーロスターやバス、フェリーでも大陸に渡ることができます。

私はイースター休暇に
イタリア、スロヴェニア、ドイツ、オーストリア、スロバキア、ハンガリーをバックパックを背負って旅してきたのですが、
(近々ブログで詳細を書くのでもしよかったらチェックした下さい^^)
交通費、宿泊費、食費、雑費を全て含めて10万円もかかりませんでした。
日本から旅行しようと思うと往復の航空券だけで10万円ちかくかかってしまうのではないでしょうか。

日本のパスポートを持っていればシェンゲンビザを取得しなくても旅行できるので、
長期休暇もしくは週末を利用して是非他の国にも足を運んでください♪


私は本当は帰国する前に行き残した国全て回りたいのですが、
今回は十分な時間がないので次回ヨーロッパのどこかの国に留学したときにとっておこうと思っています。


・十分な事前準備を
これはビザに関しても英語に関しても当てはまります。

イギリスのビザ要件はころころ変わるので、常に最新の情報をチェックしてください。
書類の記入ミスなどもぬかりなく。

英語に関しては、ビザの申請要件と各大学の求める語学要件を満たした上で、
日本でもある程度英語の勉強をされてから行かれると良いと思います。

私は大学の求める語学要件を満たし、
渡航前に英語を自分で学習し9月末から正規の授業を受け始めたのですが、
それでも最初は大変でした。

普段滅多に感情を乱さないのですが、
哲学の初回授業の後には自分の無力さがあまりにも悔しくて泣いた覚えがあります。


・自炊がおすすめ
イギリスの料理はまずいことで有名だと思います。
私の個人的な感想は、「イギリスの料理はシンプル」ということです。
例えば大学のカフェテリアでフライドポテトを頼むと、ポテトをあげたものがそのまま出されます。
塩コショウ、ケチャップ、酢などの調味料は各自にお任せというわけです。
あとメインの料理の付け合わせは茹でただけのニンジンと豆とか。これも自分で味付けします。


私は最初のころはちょこちょこ外食もしていたのですが、
最近もっぱら自炊です。
私の場合味は大丈夫だったのですが、外食は値段が高いと感じました。
特に最近はまたポンドの値段が上がっているので…

イギリスは移民が多い国なので、スーパーに行くと本当に色々な国の食材が手に入ります。
私は先日生まれて初めてクスクスを調理し、ハマってしまいました。
イギリスで何袋か買って日本に持って帰ろうと思っているくらいです(笑)
スーパーも高いところから安いところまで色々揃っているので、
ご自分の予算に合わせて選んでみてください。
私はTESCOかMorrisonsで買い物をします。


あと、場所にもよると思いますが、
私の住んでいる地域は市場で安い野菜が沢山手に入ります。
ベジタリアンには嬉しいです♪
お店の人が優しくて、いつも少し割引をしてくれるのも有難いです。


・色々なことに目を向けて楽しい留学生活を！
万全の準備をしたつもりで渡英しても、必ず予想外のことがおこります。
落ち込むこともあると思いますが、上手く対処して留学生活を楽しんでください。

私はホームシックには一切なっていないのですが、
今までに3回精神的に落ち込み、
最初の学期には大幅に体重が落ちました。
きっと知らない間に相当ストレスを抱えていたのだと思います。
しかしそのような負の経験も自分の成長につながったと思っています。

留学中にsocietyに所属するのもおすすめです。
自分と同じ趣味を持つ人と友達になるのはとても楽しいですよ。
あとアルバイト、ボランティア等に関わってみるのも面白いと思います。
チャンスはいくらでも転がっているので、
常にアンテナを張っておもしろうそうなことに取り組んでみてください。



留学は自分と向き合う絶好の機会です。
ご自分にふりかかるもの全てを楽しんで充実した留学生活を送ってください♪

いつの間にか前回の更新から大分時間がたっていました…。
オンライン広報大使として日記を書くのは今月が最後なので、今日明日と更新します。
5月以降もブログは続けるので(英語にもどしますが)、もしよかったら今後ものぞいてみてください。


今日はニューカッスルの英語について。
ニューカッスルの人々は大変強い訛りをもっています。
この地域の英語はGeordieと呼ばれていて、ネイティブスピーカーでも理解に苦しむことがしばしば。
しかし最近はfashionableなアクセントになってきているらしく、
アナウンサーでも訛っている人がでてきているとか。


大学生は色々な国地域から来ているのでそうでもないのですが、
地元の人の英語はすごいです。
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiG1stRg8BM
↑この英語を早口にした感じ。
独特のイントネーションがあり、真似しようと思ってもなかなかできません…(苦笑)

ちなみに前学期ニューカッスル出身の教授の授業を履修していて
リスニングの面で大変苦労しました。

しかし人間の耳というのはすごいもので、
留学当初は本当に何を言われているか分からなかったのですが、
最近は少し分かるようになりました。
今ならバスで地元の人に話しかけられても会話できる気がします。
日頃Geordieアクセントにさらされていたのと、
任意出席の発音の講習でGeordie accentについて学んだからでしょうか。


あと、イギリス英語とアメリカ英語は大分違いますね。
最近は中学高校で学んだアメリカ英語がどんどん脳の端の方にいってしまって、
アメリカ訛りの英語は話せなくなってきています。

ニューカッスルに来る人は、最初独特の訛りで苦労するかもしれませんが、
慣れればすこし楽になるので、あまり気を張らずに楽しんでください♪

Time flies and less than two months left before leaving this country.

My life in the UK has been thought-provoking and I learned a lot of important lessons.

In this entry, I will write about a goal inspired by my studying-abroad life: to acquire another foreign language.

In the UK, there are a lot of people who have a good command of more than three languages. For example, I have an English friend who can use Japanese,German and Dutch.
Another Bangladeshi friend have a great command of Bengali, English, Hindi and Swedish.
I even know a person who can use eight foreign languages.

I had learned German for two years in Japan. Unfortunately, however, I lost my motivation of keeping learning it and I quit two years ago. As a result, I cannot speak German any more though I can recognise some sentences if they are written or spoken.
I really regret my decision two years ago.

I traveled around the Central Europe during the Easter vacation (I'll write about it in a different entry) and realised that German is still useful even though most people can speak English as well.

This will be highly beneficial if I will work for a company in Europe.
Many companies now expect applicants to have a great language ability. There are no doubt that they must have excellent English skills. And having the ability of another foreign language becomes advantage.

A lot of people here have assumption that English by Japanese people is horrible.
Honestly, I agree with their view since there are a lot of Japanese who can't speak English well enough here in the UK.
It is really strange, I feel. I don't understand why they do not have sufficient English ability despite the fact that they had learned it at least for six years.
There are a lot of international students in the UK and most of them can speak English very fluently.

I recommend you to learn the second foreign language very hard especially if you want to work abroad. The competition in the global market will be much more severe than you expect.

I am aiming at leaving Japan as soon as possible and building my life in another country, though I am still contemplating which country I will migrate to.
For those who are like me, English is definitely not enough: Those who can use only two languages including English could be below average.

This entry is about my trip to India from 2/20 to 2/27

My main aim of this visit was to attend my friends’ wedding functions.
I made friend with quite a few Indians last year and two of them got married each other.

I had been waiting for visiting India for months.
In fact, I got a visa before moving to the UK and sent kimono to here to wear at their wedding.

On 2/20, my heart was filled with excitement since the day when I leave for India came finally.
I arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the morning on 2/21.
Immigration officer did not talk to me at all when he checked my passport and visa, unlike one in other countries I had visited.

As for the transportation from the airport, I did not encounter a big problem since the bride, one of my friend, kindly arranged pickup from the airport (I couldn't find the driver and had to call him though).
Also, she arranged accommodation and pickups for me and other friends for every function :)

An hour after me arriving at a guest house, two Indonesian friends, who had traveled in India since 2/13, came and we celebrated our reunion.

We attended four functions in total in Delhi.

1.Sangeet and Mehndi
This is a pre-wedding function for the bride side. It was held in the afternoon in a small hall.
In the sangeet ceremony, the bride's relatives and friends sang folk songs and danced.
Three women played traditional musical instruments and Indian ladies chanted. Some songs were about love and some of them were tips for wife.
Though I couldn't sing with them, it was fun to listen to Indian music.

After that, male attendees joined and we danced together.
All Indian women were wearing Sari or Punjab.
They were wearing colourful dresses so it was so beautiful and exciting.


In the Mehndi function, women could get henna.
I’ve got one on my right palm and left arm.
Although almost a week has passed since I’ve got, it is still visible :)
The bride got henna from her fingers to the elbows.
She could not eat food since she was not allowed to use her hands before henna being dry so one of her friend fed her, haha.

After the sangeet and mehndi functions, we had lunch outside.
Food was clean and tasty. In addition to various types of curry, I enjoyed dessert and salad.
There were vegetarian dishes as well and they were clearly indicated.

I saw a lot of new people on that day and I felt that this function was a kind of social event.


2. Sagan and Chunni Ceremony
On the next evening, we attended another function. This was held in a big hall.
When we arrived, the groom, the bride's brother and the Hindu priest were on the stage and a ritual ceremony was going on.

After a while, the bride came and they exchanged gifts.

Then the dinner started and we enjoyed Indian food, dessert and snacks.
During dinner, some of the bride's friends and relatives danced, sang on the stage.

After the dinner, we danced together. Music was not Indian folk music but western music. It was like a small night club.


3. Chuda function
This function was held in the afternoon on the wedding day in the bride's house.
At the beginning of the ceremony, people from the groom side came to give a lot of gifts. They were mainly food, cosmetics and snacks.
After giving gifts, they went back and only people from the bride side remained.

In this function, the bride got loads of bangle bracelet. (I'm wondering how long she should wear these bracelet)
After that, she got Kaleerey. Kallerey are dome shaped streamers with tinkling silver and gold bells. They tied Kaleerey to bracelets. I thought Kellerey are made of actual gold and silver but my friend told me that that's not true. Therefore, it's not so heavy.

Then, we put turmeric on bride's hands and some of her Indian friend fed her with Indian sweet.

Then we had lunch together and the function was over. Strangely I was not feeling well at this point and I slept before leaving for the wedding venue.


4. Wedding ceremony
This is of course the main function. The wedding ceremony was held in a huge ceremonial hall. Hindu ritual ceremony and dinner were held outside.

I was wearing a evening dress. However, the outside temperature was much cooler than I had expected, probably 11 or 12 degree Celsius.
Hindu ritual ceremony lasted two hours I felt like being put in a fridge.

After the ritual ceremony, some attendees went to the dinner place and others went inside to give presents to bride and groom and to take photos with them.

I managed to take a photo with bride and groom.
Unfortunately, however, my physical condition was really bad due to the weather and water.
As a result, I couldn't eat dinner though they served various food and dessert.
Also, I failed to take pictures with those who I had made friends with in Delhi..
I had to go back to the guest house at 22:30 though the wedding was supposed to end at midnight...I was so unlucky and it was so sad.


Wedding functions I attended are those of Punjabi tradition. India is a very diverse country and each region has different customs. Punjabi wedding was so shiny and gorgeous. It includes a lot of presents and jewelleries. And they have some post-wedding functions, though I couldn't attend them.
It will be amazing if I can attend wedding functions from different customs in the future.


The next entry will be about my trip to India apart from wedding functions.