00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast!
Hello, hello.
Okay.
We got a message from the one who is in Canada as an exchange student, I guess.
Okay.
He is studying in Canada.
Ah, I see, I see.
Kevin-san, Yama-chan, konnichiwa.
I am Yuna.
私は、今、日本に帰るためのパッキング休憩の合間に、このDMを書いています。
じゃ、もう帰るところか。
Okay.
私は、カナダ・アルバータ州のカルガリーというところに、一年間留学生として滞在しています。
ちなみに、高校一年生です。
Okay.
日本に帰るまで残り一週間となり、私は今、とてもワクワクしています。
Okay.
それから醤油や味、ごめんなさい、味噌など味の濃いものが恋しくてたまりません。
さて、私は一年間の留学を通して楽しかったこと、つらかったことをたくさん経験しましたが、
よくも悪くも一番思い出に残っているのは友達作りです。
私は小さな頃から英会話に通っており、ネイティブとの会話は心得たものだと思っておりましたが、
実際にカナダでの友達作りには苦戦をしました。
どうやら私の英語は面接をしているみたいなのです。
なるほど。
私は中身のある話をするのが好きなのもありますが、
友達から面接の質問と返答を繰り返しているようだと言われ、
最初の頃は本当に友達ができませんでした。
それに気づいてからは少しずつですが、趣味の合うこと、仲良くなることができました。
私のほとんどの友達はアジア系の人たちです。
もっと違う国の文化を持つ友達も作ってみたいのですが、
なかなかヨーロッパやカナダの友達ができませんでした。
かっこ、ユーモアが違うという理由があると思います。
ケビンさんはアメリカ文化の背景を持つ人間として、
アジア人がアジア以外の人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
そしてヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
友達作りで何か思ったことはありましたか?
長い文章を読んでいただきありがとうございました。
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
アジア人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
アジア人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
アジア人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
03:00
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
アジア人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
アジア人と仲良くなれる秘訣はなんだと思いますか?
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしていた時に、
ヤマちゃんはフランス留学をしているときに、
ヤマちゃんのフランス留学、
ヤマちゃんの中国留学、
ヤマちゃん
came to the United States?
Yes, I'm not sure.
Yeah, I think so.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Right, right.
I don't know how long they've been in the United States,
but maybe their parents also came to the other countries,
or like, oh, I see, I see.
Right.
Yeah.
So I guess, so you think that,
like those unspoken connections is the reason?
I guess, yeah, I guess so.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, and, you know, people are attracted to others
that are alike, you know?
Right.
So I understand that.
Yeah.
Yeah, like if you have many, like I say,
like types of people, it's sometimes very easy
to like connect with like people that seems close to you.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's like the easiest step.
Yeah, that's very understandable, yeah.
I guess if you were to make friends with someone
who's not within kind of your, you know, zone,
I guess you have to work hard for it, you know?
I guess you have to go out there and push yourself
and communicate, you know, trying to make the bond.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, as much as possible, I guess.
Right.
Yeah, I guess you do need more effort on that.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, compared to people who are,
who have the same, you know, closer racial.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I understand.
It's like a, it's just like you, so even in Japan,
you always be together with your football club members.
Yeah.
You always spend time with your basketball club members.
Right.
And it's very difficult to, you just step into,
for example, like a football guy stepping
into like baseball guys, you know.
Right, right.
Circle, that's a, yeah.
That's true.
At the same time, it's difficult,
but at the same time, it's not impossible.
I mean, that's, that makes very interesting conversation
and you can learn many things, so.
Right.
Yeah, it's, I guess.
Yeah.
Just like that.
Yeah, right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So in my case,
Yama-chan, when you were studying in France,
06:01
what did you think about making friends?
So I went to very, very countryside of France.
So there were no Asian people.
Like they were all, I would say European people.
There are some like Spanish guys, like Italian guys,
but basically they are, like their parents
and grandparents were also in France.
Yeah.
Like basically they were French guys.
Yeah.
So I had no Asian guys to be friends with.
Yeah.
So that doesn't happen, that didn't happen to me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
Right, the only choice you had was to be friends
with the local.
Yeah, yeah.
French guys.
Right, right, right.
So, but it was difficult for me to,
so I play football in France too.
So I made friends through football kind of.
So it was very easy for me to get into
football people's circle.
Yeah.
But at the same time, just simply difficult
to get in like handball.
In France, handball is like biggest sports.
Okay.
Just like baseball in Japan.
It was difficult for me to get into handball people's circle
because we don't have that much,
like things to talk about basically.
Yeah, yeah, it's true.
So yeah, that was difficult, but yeah.
I see.
That's what I felt.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
But at the same time, they were very different from me
and I was very different from them.
So kind of, they were kind of curious about me all the time,
like about the culture, about like everything.
Yeah.
Like how, you know, including everything.
Very fortunate.
Which is very fortunate, you know?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So I was kind of, like kind of the famous guy in school
because I was very different and I was the one.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So in a good way, in a bad way also,
but it was good for me to make friends.
Yeah.
Everybody was like open to, oh, I know you kind of,
from Asian country and yeah.
Yeah.
I feel like the fact that she was able to learn
that, you know, there are racial differences.
Like when you're trying to make friends,
there's the racial factors that it's involved in,
like, you know, oh, I kind of regret
not being able to make friends with these people
and stuff like that.
The fact that she got that experience is,
I think, huge, right, at her age.
I think, you know, when you stay in Japan,
in Japan, there's not a lot of, you know,
foreign students, right, in the community.
So it's most of the times, more often than not,
it's just Japanese people around you
and like the lack of diversity really kind of,
09:04
you know, it creates sort of like its own atmosphere, right?
Yeah.
And the fact that she got to experience that, you know,
that diversity really kind of enriches her mentality,
I think, and it's, I think it's a huge gain, I think.
Right.
She thinks it is a regretful thing,
I think it's a huge gain.
Right, right, right, right, right.
You never kind of experience these things in Japan.
Right, right.
Yeah, true.
I think that's the same in the United States,
Canada, France too.
It's not like discriminations or those things,
but it's just simply, it's like that.
It's like Christians get together easily,
Muslims get easily together,
and like Asians get closer easily.
Right, right.
And that's just, it is.
When I have conversations with people who've, you know,
who has been only in the Japanese community,
I feel this difference of like,
I don't question the difference in the people.
Like for, again, if the person who grew up only in Japan,
when, okay, so like, hmm,
when that person sees somebody else
and is a little bit different,
kind of goes into like the question mode.
Oh, why is he like that?
Where did that come from?
How did, why does he think like that?
But for me, I kind of default into like,
oh, that's him, like he is how he is,
and I guess there are,
like it's no use to question why he's like that,
it's just how he is.
So I've come to like,
I've learned to accept all the differences
and really don't really struggle
over any of the differences, right, that are there.
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, right.
So I'm more, I hardly ever meet somebody
and I'm surprised of what anyone does.
Like I meet somebody
and that person does something unexpected, right?
I hardly ever get affected.
Like I hardly ever get like on the spot damaged.
Yeah, yeah, too surprised or like too worried
or anything like that.
I mean, you might get into the relationship
with this person and decide not to,
you know, kakawaru with him anymore,
but on the spot, it's very easy for me
to like go with the flow
and accept whatever's in front of you.
Oh yeah, I love that.
Yeah, I agree with that.
That's, I guess, the biggest experience.
Yeah.
These kind of over the language like skills.
Right.
12:00
That's more bigger like experience.
That's true, that's true.
Yeah.
Right.
All right, thanks for listening guys.
Thank you.
Bye.
