ウェリントンに来たなら、カフェは絶対に立ち寄るべきでしょう。そして 'flat white' というNZとオーストラリア限定のコーヒーを楽しんでください！（flat white についてについて詳しくはこちら）
小さい街なので、カフェ巡りなんかも簡単にできます。ぜひ比べてみてください。お店ごとにこだわりがあって意外と違い分かりますよ（笑）NZではflat white しか飲んでないのでそれで比べてます（コーヒーに牛乳入れない方、すみません）
1．Pulm
営業時間 9時～22時
HP http://www.plumcafe.co.nz/
キューバストリートにあるお店で、入り口は小さいので見逃さないように気を付けてください。地元の人に人気ですが、いつもそんなに混んでいないです。快適にコーヒーが飲めますよ。店員さんも新設でフレンドリーな方が多いです。店内の雰囲気はとても落ち着いています。
もちろん、コーヒーも抜群においしいです。香りよし、味よしで苦味はそこまで強くありません。飲みやすいです。普段あまり飲まない方にもおすすめです。エスプレッソとミルクの調和が最高です。ぜひ飲んでみてください！
24.5.17
NZ ホームステイ？寮？
交換留学する際に最も悩むことの一つに寮にするかホームステイにするかという選択があると思います。寮生活は同世代の海外の学生と生活を共にするので刺激的で楽しい毎日や深い交友
寮生活の危険（完全にホームステイ推進派ですｗ）
＊ここに書くことはあくまでも留学生の傾向に関して個人的意見であり、全員にこれが当てはまるわけではありません。注意して読んでください。
まずは意外と思いつかない寮生活の危険性について。楽しいイメージが先行しがちですが、その楽しい輪に自分が入れるか考える必要があります。英語のレベルに関わらず、文化が違うなら、話し方、話す内容もおのずと変わってきます。それについていける日本人って意外と少ないと思います。これは日本の留学生寮でも同じで、欧米からの学生とアジアの学生で必ずグループが分かれます。色々な国の人と仲良くするはずが気が付いたら日本人やアジアの留学生としか話さないことはよく起きます。
日本の留学生寮でも同じことが起きていました（遊びに行った時の体験談です）。アジアの学生と欧米からの学生がそれぞれ中心のグループができていました（原因は色々ありますがここでは省略します）。
また、大学によっては留学生と現地学生が同じ寮に住むこともあります。その際に気を付けたいのは、現地学生は自分たちがマジョリティの環境ではその国の言語を話せない人間の相手をしません。冷たいなと思うかもしれませんが、全員が留学生や異文化交流に興味があるわけではありませんし、彼らも若いので言語が堪能でない留学生の相手よりは流暢な人同士で会話するほうが楽しいと考えているようです。「言葉が話せない奴のお世話は俺らの仕事じゃね」みたいな態度です。誇張しているように聞こえるかもしれませんが、本当です。ここを勘違いしてしまうと、あるいはちゃんと調べずに現地学生もいる寮に行ってしまうと、特に英語圏であれば、ネイティブと英語が堪能な欧米の学生の輪に入れません。入ろうとしても会話をすぐに打ち切られるのが関の山です。
私がアジア人で唯一マウンテンバイクの同好会に参加した時も、アジア人が私だけのパーティーに参加した時も、誰一人私に話しかけてくれる人はいませんでいた。授業でほかの学生の発言がわからず発言できないでいると無視されます。これが現実です。やはり人間は同じような人といるのが心地いいのでしょう。悲しいですが、アジアも欧米もこの点では同じです。
ホームステイの良さ！
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| Living Room |
一方、ホームステイはどうか。今回は大学と契約しているホストファミリーのもとに滞在することになりました。家族構成は夫婦と子供2人そしてau pair という制度を利用している女の子が1人の計5人です。仲介の方がおっしゃっていたようにご夫妻は何かと親切で、課題の添削なんかもやってくれます。晩御飯の際は積極的に話しかけてくれますし、一緒にラグビーを見に行くこともありました。他のホームステイしている学に話を聞いても皆同じことを言います。
ご飯は毎回一緒に食べます。冷蔵庫に入ってるものは何でも食べていいと言われています。おいしい昼ご飯作ってくれます。シャワーの時間制限ないです。大人（学生じゃない）なので英語下手でも無視されません。部屋もかなり広いです。学校まで自転車で10分です（丘の上の家なので帰りは20分ｗ）。バス停まで徒歩3分。近くにコンビニあり。
よくあるホームステイの欠点はここではすべてカバーされているだけでなく、むしろ日本にいた時より快適な感じがしますｗ もちろん、たまたまでしょ？と言われてしまえばそれまでですが、寮生活にだけ目を向けるのはもったいないと思います。ぜひご自身の生きたい大学のホームステイがどんな感じなのかを調べてみることを強くお勧めします。よい、留学生活を！
*動画は庭で花火をしたときのものです！
*写真はホームステイ先で撮りました！
30.4.17
What is art?
What I have to say first is I have no talent for art. Seriously, my painting, singing, playing musical instalments are really awkward. Those must be evaluated at less than a cent. Why do I write about art? Visiting the art gallery in Christchurch gave me many awareness to what art is. I have also rights to express my opinion about art though I'm not a skilful painter.
In my opinion, art is the opposite concept of "nature". Nature is created not by human but invisible and unknown power like god. It obey the perfect and effective rules. I don't have a religion. However, when I am asked "who made this universe and its perfect rules?", my answer is "god." I don't have so much knowledge about science. As far as I know, god is the most persuadable answer for me. What we shouldn't forget is that human being has also been a part of the nature. Our ancestors had been obeying the rules of nature and have been existing as a part of it.
However, as they evolves to human being, they have reached the stage of creator. We human generate a something new in this world by ourselves. I think this must be art. In this point of view, everything human made is worth to be called art. That is, it always stands by this question: what can human create? Arts include not only paintings or sculptures but also buildings or any products like car.
Interesting is that the criterion to evaluate art depends on people and age. Some people think more abstract painting. On the contrast, others prefer just watching cars collection. In Renaissance, paintings like a photograph tend to be highly evaluated, while more uniqueness or creativity have been praised nowadays.
Art can also be seen as challenge to overcome the limit of language. We usually assume we see this world completely but we don't. We just get to know the world only through languages. If we use different languages, we capture the world differently. Art works, especially modern ones, cannot describe the words because those are beyond the language. What we have to do is just to watch those and fell something unknown.
To sum up, art works are all artificial things. It depends on people which kind of art is fascinating or worth to pay. The most important is that we enjoy it as it is. If you feel something unknown, that is the one the artists want to tell you.
Below are pictures taken in gallery in Christchurch. Those are totally unknown for me.
In my opinion, art is the opposite concept of "nature". Nature is created not by human but invisible and unknown power like god. It obey the perfect and effective rules. I don't have a religion. However, when I am asked "who made this universe and its perfect rules?", my answer is "god." I don't have so much knowledge about science. As far as I know, god is the most persuadable answer for me. What we shouldn't forget is that human being has also been a part of the nature. Our ancestors had been obeying the rules of nature and have been existing as a part of it.
However, as they evolves to human being, they have reached the stage of creator. We human generate a something new in this world by ourselves. I think this must be art. In this point of view, everything human made is worth to be called art. That is, it always stands by this question: what can human create? Arts include not only paintings or sculptures but also buildings or any products like car.
Interesting is that the criterion to evaluate art depends on people and age. Some people think more abstract painting. On the contrast, others prefer just watching cars collection. In Renaissance, paintings like a photograph tend to be highly evaluated, while more uniqueness or creativity have been praised nowadays.
Art can also be seen as challenge to overcome the limit of language. We usually assume we see this world completely but we don't. We just get to know the world only through languages. If we use different languages, we capture the world differently. Art works, especially modern ones, cannot describe the words because those are beyond the language. What we have to do is just to watch those and fell something unknown.
To sum up, art works are all artificial things. It depends on people which kind of art is fascinating or worth to pay. The most important is that we enjoy it as it is. If you feel something unknown, that is the one the artists want to tell you.
Below are pictures taken in gallery in Christchurch. Those are totally unknown for me.
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| Don't think, feel! |
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| The beard made of bubble - unique! |
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| Seriously, what's this? |
Everybody Has Inferential Racism
I don't know how to describe what I want to express. I suppose Mild Racism make sense to you. I define it as below: the action resulted in racism despite the person don't recognise it as racism. I think, in fact, this is a nature of human being. something unknown makes us feel scared all the time.
It is true that racism is one of the most hottest words nowadays. as the populisms prevail worldwide, racism are rising and racists who didn't appear before insist strongly their superiority and hate other races in public. in the liberal perspective, it is absolutely incorrect. people are all equal and a race doesn't mean people's superiority or inferiority. I am completely for this idea. people are treated equally and racial stereotypes shouldn't be permitted. We human beings are all human beings.
Although most people agree with this thoughts, it doesn't mean whether they obey their believes or not. Actually, almost all people might have racism in their mind. Let me take an example of my experience. In the university-organised trip, people there don't know each other originally. After a couple of minutes passed, someone talked to the other and the others do the same thing. At this time, people always talk to same race people. The percentage is almost a hundred. I've never seen people talking to different racial people first.
What we can understand from this example is that people clearly discriminate their own race from other races. If they had purely equal point of view to races, they wouldn't act like that. Most of them understand what they should in that of liberal mind. However, people, even university students who soak themselves in the liberal dominant field, don't act according to their believes. The fear for unknown or difference is quite strong.
To be honest, it is very hard to regard different things as same. Human beings have some physical particular or colour of skin, eyes and hair. We look different from race to race. That is a fact. If we try to understand the commonness of human beings, it is necessary to throw your emotion away and see the world logically. This is advanced stage of thinking. Not all of us can do it.
I think racism will exist until people overcome the fear. Liberal just insists racism is bad thing because it's bad. There are people who don't understand the insistence of liberal. Then, they urge racism strongly. In addition, intelligence or media are on behalf of liberal. That makes racists more extreme. Interestingly, racism is more stronger in the country liberalism lead. For example, the US, UK and France. As the liberal dominate a country, people who are against or can't understand the liberalism thoughts get more and more extreme.
Social network service also promote the tendency by making the platform to unit the racists. Also, they can elicit only their favour information from SNS. They spend lots of time not to understand the oppose idea but to prove their insists.
Mild racism may not hurt anybody but that is a origin of racism. Almost everybody has it. We need to know we have it not to become a racist. When you consider racism, this kind point of view, I think, is necessary. The worst thing is just criticising them that they are not educated and extreme. If you want persuade them, you need to be rational and logical enough to correct their misunderstanding. If you just say discrimination or racism are bad, they will never be persuaded. I still believe everyone can see other race people as same human beings though their looks are different from them.
It is true that racism is one of the most hottest words nowadays. as the populisms prevail worldwide, racism are rising and racists who didn't appear before insist strongly their superiority and hate other races in public. in the liberal perspective, it is absolutely incorrect. people are all equal and a race doesn't mean people's superiority or inferiority. I am completely for this idea. people are treated equally and racial stereotypes shouldn't be permitted. We human beings are all human beings.
Although most people agree with this thoughts, it doesn't mean whether they obey their believes or not. Actually, almost all people might have racism in their mind. Let me take an example of my experience. In the university-organised trip, people there don't know each other originally. After a couple of minutes passed, someone talked to the other and the others do the same thing. At this time, people always talk to same race people. The percentage is almost a hundred. I've never seen people talking to different racial people first.
What we can understand from this example is that people clearly discriminate their own race from other races. If they had purely equal point of view to races, they wouldn't act like that. Most of them understand what they should in that of liberal mind. However, people, even university students who soak themselves in the liberal dominant field, don't act according to their believes. The fear for unknown or difference is quite strong.
To be honest, it is very hard to regard different things as same. Human beings have some physical particular or colour of skin, eyes and hair. We look different from race to race. That is a fact. If we try to understand the commonness of human beings, it is necessary to throw your emotion away and see the world logically. This is advanced stage of thinking. Not all of us can do it.
I think racism will exist until people overcome the fear. Liberal just insists racism is bad thing because it's bad. There are people who don't understand the insistence of liberal. Then, they urge racism strongly. In addition, intelligence or media are on behalf of liberal. That makes racists more extreme. Interestingly, racism is more stronger in the country liberalism lead. For example, the US, UK and France. As the liberal dominate a country, people who are against or can't understand the liberalism thoughts get more and more extreme.
Social network service also promote the tendency by making the platform to unit the racists. Also, they can elicit only their favour information from SNS. They spend lots of time not to understand the oppose idea but to prove their insists.
Mild racism may not hurt anybody but that is a origin of racism. Almost everybody has it. We need to know we have it not to become a racist. When you consider racism, this kind point of view, I think, is necessary. The worst thing is just criticising them that they are not educated and extreme. If you want persuade them, you need to be rational and logical enough to correct their misunderstanding. If you just say discrimination or racism are bad, they will never be persuaded. I still believe everyone can see other race people as same human beings though their looks are different from them.
27.3.17
Road to an English Master
I noticed my English got better than one of first day in Wellington. I don't suppose I speak so much in daily lives and classes. In a brief conversation, it became unnecessary to translate English into Japanese.
It is very lucky that I don't have any Japanese friend here because it helps me to speak less Japanese. Seeing Chinese students, I guess their situations are still tougher than that of me. They always have talks with other Chinese students. Obviously, that's not their fault at all. In fact, a friend of mine, who is Chinese made up his mind not to talk to other Chinese. Oh, jeez, it's too much. He said: " I came here to study English, not Chinese." His attitude toward other Chinese is very cold and harsh. Also, he never speak Chinese even if the opponent is native Chinese speaker.
Anyway, my decision can be right. Making more friend and polishing my English are the next objectives. it might be difficult if I don't talk to them from me, so why not talk from me?
I strongly recommend to choose NZ Japanese who wanna go abroad to learn English and haven't decided where you go. People are basically nice and you will have had a good time here. One thing: don't participate language program of your university. It is a waste of your money and time. You cannot learn English in the surrounding with Japanese.
11.3.17
Off Life in NZ
Those pictures taken on last Sunday describe the life in Wellington, which is the capital city of NZ. The garden in those pictures was made only for one day. It is adequate rest on weekdays and weekends that enable them to do such a hard work throughout a day.
They usually came back home at till 6 pm. Then, eating dinner with and staying their family, they go to bed at around 9 pm.
Wellington is a absolutely beautiful city with lots of green and place to chill out. City is really compact and living area, usually on hills, is quiet. Each house has a large garden which allow you to do lots of things.
日曜日のNZの首都ウェリントンの写真です。ホームステイ先のパパさんが一日で作っちゃいました（笑）家族サービスは当たり前で毎週末は仕事は絶対にせず、家族と過ごしています。日本でも働き方改革とか言ってますから、期待したいですね。。。平日も基本的に5時までには家に帰ってきます。ただただうらやましい。。。週末はよくホームパーティーが行われます。
ウェリントンは本当に素晴らしい街です。中心は栄えていて遊ぶところもありますし、居住地は静かです。家はどれも大きくて基本平屋です。大きな庭がもれなくついています。BBQしたいわ。いつやってくれんのかな？（笑）
In the future, the skill or ability required to a human resource is not tolerance for an extreme working time but creativity, which generate something new. It appears only when their daily lives are rich and satisfy them. Pursuing a Quality of Life might contribute to the Japanese economy. At least, I hope so haha.
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