Ryoko's Swiss Report
May 1
Hi! Nishiguchi-san
Thanks a lof for your mail. I'm so sorry for hardly writing to you
these days. Nice to know that you're coming to Switzerland
again. I'll have finished my school in June, and will stay whole
July in Lausanne, so maybe it's possible for me to join you.
I'll see.
No relaxing day these days. I had 2-week vacation, but
most of the time I was at home. I wanted finish many things
during the vacation, but I couldn't. Maybe I wished to do
much more than I'm able to.
School has started again, and from the end of this week,
I will start "exam hell" and it will continue till the end
of the course. I'm really fed up with exams, but...
2 more months and everything will finish!
Just the forest next to my appartment relaxes me.
Day by day, it's becoming greener and I make small
discoveries everyday. There are two squerrels living
in the big tree in front, and once they came to my balcony!
Today, it was nice weather after several rainy days,
and I stayed at the balcony having dinner and an ice-cream,
and watching the forest. It's very nice.
I learnt that Koizumi-san had been elected. Five women
in the cabinet!? The Japanese politic seems to be becoming
more interesting, and I'm quite excited. I'm glad that
somebody who can express their own opinions is at last
the Japanese prime minister. Let's see how he manages.
Please say hello to everybody in the class.
Talk to you soon and have a nice golden week!
Ryoko
April 4
Dear Nishiguchi-san
What a surprise!!!
You are now able to write in French!
Wow! It's really exciting.
Maybe you can also write in other languages as well?
I'm so sorry for a long silence.
My computer was out of order suddenly in March and it took me some time to
recover it. Now it's OK. What is pity is that all the data I had in the hardware have gone, including e-mail adresses.
For some people,I had written memos, but for the others not.
All I can do is to wait for their mails...
I'm pretty busy at the moment with exams.
I have finished all the exams for the school, but I have one more the day after tomorrow.
It's an official French exam like TOEFL or Cambridge Exam etc for English.
I will write again when I finish it.
Tomorrow is our English class, right?
Please say hello to everybody and the new teacher.
Talk to you soon.
Ryoko
Feb. 15
Hi, my ski-mate!
Salut Nishiguchi-san,
Sorry for a long silence.
Most of my exams finished last week
and tomorrow, I'll have the last one.
You seem to enjoy skiing every weekend!
Great!!! I have been skiing only twice so far.
In fact, I went skiing with my friends last
weekend. It was warm, sunny, and clear,
marvelous weather.
The ski ground is over the border between CH and FR, so we can go to FR on ski, if we pay extra money.
I, for the first time, tried a ski-lift, without a
chair, pulling us up to the top with a cable.
(I don't know its name. Do you know what it is?)
I didn't fall down while skiing, but several times
while taking the ski-lift. It was so embarassing.
I've improved the technique to take a ski-lift!
Have fun and nice ski weekends!
Ryoko
Jan.31
Hi Nishiguchi-san,
I wish I could have gone skiing with you
in Togakushi. I like Togakushi a lot.
Not only for skiing but for enjoying
the atmosphere there. And of course
for eating, too!
Exam period has begun again.
In addition, I have caught a cold.
It's been long time since I had it last.
I think most exams will finish next week.
Please say hello to everybody.
January 14
I went skiing yesterday!
My first ski in this season!!!
The weather was fantastic, no clouds,
clear blue sky above 1500 m. Below 1500 m,
it was covered with dense fog. So, clouds
looked like a lake from heights.
We went to Verbier in the canton of Valais,
which is liked by good skiiers, because
it's huge and the snow condition is very good
most of the time thanks to the height.
And there are much less snowborders than
in the other ski grounds. Everybody ski so
well there. Actually, I have never seen
beginners skiing.
It's abslutely immense! You will need a few
days to finish all ski pistes. There are many
long slopes. I have no idea exactly how long
they are. But in my impression, Verbier
consists of slopes much longer than the one
I like in Japan in Nozawa, which is 5000 m.
Even though we didn't go to the highest
place, Mont Fort, we enjoyed wonderful
powder snow. My friend's favorite bumpy slope
receives the sunlight only in the morning,
so it has always good soft snow. I really
liked those soft moderate-sized bumps.
I was really happy to ski with my own skis,
not 2 m long ones! The ones I brought
are those I used when I was a begginer and
are short and soft. It's so easy to go
everywhere with them.
I wish I could go skiing with you there!!!
You would really like Verbier.
it is a real ski paradice.
Panoramic view of snow covered Alps!
I think you told me that you would go skiing
in this month. I heard the snow condition in
Japan was very good this year.
I wish you nice ski!
Talk to you soon.
Ryoko
November 15
This weekend I was in Zurich to see one of my best friends.
She worked with me in Interlaken last year. Without her,
I would have had been under so much stress.
We both are interested in discussion over diverse topics
such as politics, environmental problems, cultural issues,
history, religion, etc, etc. We can chat endlessly!!!
I had thought that Zurich would be just a "little big city",
but actually it was quite an attractive city. I also met
my friends from the summer course in Lausanne University,
and they guided us in Zurich. There was a music festival
on that day and the city was full of musicians.
So! you have now an American teacher. Nice!
I have two American friends here in Lausanne.
They are very cheerful, open, and friendly and
I like them a lot. Their cheerfulness refreshes me
especially because I am in Switzerland where people
are rather cold. I was not really interested in the U.S.,
but now my friends make me feel like visiting there once.
Please say hello to Russell for me.
One more month to go, and I will be in Japan.
There're so many things I'd love to do including ski!
You won't have a Wednesday class on 27th Dec?
I look forward to seeing you all soon!!!
November 3
Well, I'm going to answer your questions.
1) dumper & dumpee
Dumper is somebody who leaves/abandons something
useless or troublesome, like rubbish and problems,
behind or to somebody else. Dumpee is the person
to whom dumper has left something.
2) Ouija board
I don't know how to explain it with my own words, so
I take the translation from a dictionary. It's "a board
marked with letters of the alphabet and other signs,
used in seances to receive messages said to come
from the dead".
3) toilet-papering & toilet-papered
I asked to my American friend what they meant.
It's a strange American joke. Toilet-papering means
to put/wrap/hang/cover somebody's posessions
(can be a house, a car, trees, anything!) with
toilet papers. If you are toilet-papered,
it means you are the victim of this joke!
There're so many strange words, aren't there?
My friend, Jessica, was surprised that I knew such a
uncommon word. We're interested in learning the nationality
of your friend who sent you the questionnaire!
Since I came back from England, I talk to Jessica
(she is bilingual) more often in English. I'm learning how to
switch languages quickly! It's very good exercise for me.
October 28
Salut, Nishiguchi-san
Merci de ton e-mail.
Beautiful season has come!
The wineyard along the lake of Geneva has changed color and
is completely yellow. Absolutely marvellous!!
This is my most favourite season in the year, although
it's extremely short.
The day before yesterday, I went for a walk
in the wineyard with my friend, Jessica, and we enjoyed the
beautiful view having lovely picnic.
My vacation in Wales was fantastic. I worked in a reserve
for wild birds. We repaired things, cleaned hides and toilets
(the most important task!), worked at the reception,
cut glasses and trees, etc, etc. I liked working in the nature
and those experiences were useful for me to learn about
a nature conservation NGO.
The reserve includes hills, oak woodlands, marshlands,
reedbeds, peat bos, and pastures, and is surrounded by
the river Avon, the sea, hills, and forests. I liked very much
such a wide diversity and appreciated the richness of
the nature in Wales. I would love to go there once again.
The other 2 volunteers, Dee and Cliff (a couple, English), were
lovely and always nice to me, and we shared lovely time.
She took care of me so nicely like as her daughter. After work,
we went walking, shopping in the market, drinking in a pub.
I can't forget the sunset we saw at the seaside one day after
my arrival. It was fabulous. I mean, the color of the sky, gorgeous
gradation of orange, pink, purple and blue, and the sorroundings,
the sea, the estuary, endless beach, small towns...
The reserve was pretty far from London, and I had wondered
whether I would go or not until the eleventh hour, but it was
absolutely worth going there. The person in charge of coordinating
voluntary staff was so helpful and it was thanks to her that
I could make a decision to join. She answered my questions
everyday and gave me more information that I asked.
I like a lot such helpfulness of the British people.
And I love the nature in Britain.
Anyway, the beautiful vacation has finished. My school will start
next Monday and I'm trying to be ready for it. You know, it's
hard to get back to the normal life after being relaxed.
I realized how bad my English was, so I'm going to make more
efforts with my English as well. It's awful! I mean, I have spent
so much time and so much money for this language, and once
I don't use it, I forget it so easily. Well, this is the language.
As for language learning, I think there is no end, even for the
mother tongue.
This mail is getting long, but I'm going to fininsh with the answers
to your questions. Here we go!
>1. What time is it: 22:18
>2. Name as it appears on your birth certificate: Ryoko Mori
>3. Nicknames: (from childhood to present): Ryo-chan, Rio, Oryoryo
>7. Pets: Snoopy & Teddy + Totoro
>15. Hometown: Toyonaka
>16. Current Residence: Lausanne
>17. Been in love before? : Yes
>18. Been to Europe? : Yes
>21. Loved somebody so much it made you cry? : Yes
>22. Been in a car crash? : fought against a car with a bike and lost
>23. Croutons or bacon bits? : croutons
>24. 2 doors or 4 (on a car) : 3 (= a camping car!)
>25. Coffee or ice-cream? : ICE-CREAM!!!
>26. Blanket or stuffed animal? : blanket
>27. Dumper or dumpee? : 49% dumper, 51% dumpee
>28. Salad dressing? : balsamico + olive oil
>29. Lucky number? : 8
>31. Movie: Sound of music
>32. Quote from a movie : No limit
>33. Foods: Okonomi-yaki
>34. Day of the week: Saturday
>35. Song at the moment: O sole mio
>36. Tv show: Maybe, BBC and CNN, but I don't watch TV so often
>37. Toothpaste: Candida pepermint flavour
>38. Restaurant: Thai, Indian, Indonesian, Chinese... any Asian restaurant!
>39. Flower: Forget-me-not
>40. Least favourite thing: taking exams
>41. Sport to watch: judo, swimming
>42. Fast food restaurant: Mos burger
>43. When was your last hospital visit?: many years ago
>44. Favourite drink: 100% apple juice (not one-cup!)
>45. What colour is your bedroom carpet?: no carpet, wood flooring
>46. How many times did you fail your permit and/or drivers' license?: no
licence yet
>47. What do you think of Ouija boards?: power scientifically unproven
exists
>48. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?: in a national park
>52. What do you do most often when you are bored?: doing nothing
>53. What words or phrases do you overuse? : really
>54. Friend who lives farthest away? : Gitana
>55. Most annoying thing: to be defeated
>56. Best thing: walking in the nature
>57. Bedtime: anytime between 7:00PM - 2:00AM
>60. What time is it now? 22:52
September 30
Konnichiwa!
It's weekend! Yahoooo!!!
My friend was here after school to have dinner and study
together. We chatted, chatted and chatted and studied
so little. It's OK... It's Friday Night!!
She is Swiss but she had been living in Argentine since her
birth. Her parents are German natives but she doesn't speak
German. She is interested in Japan, a fan of Kitaro (a singer
not Kitaro from Ge-ge-ge no Kitaro) and practice Ninjutsu(!?).
She is from the other side of the earth, but we have many things
in common and get along very well.
Well, I recently had an idea why the Japanese are not
so good at learning foreign languages compared to the other
nationals. I would like to write about this today.
If I write
horse �@�@���� �@�@�n
or
friendship �䂤���傤�@�@�@�F��
With which one do you understand the word most quickly
and easily? I think it's �n and �F��.
We can vividly grasp the meaning at a glance, because
chinese characters have meanings and give us
an image of the object/situation.
This means the Japanese are used to working more with
images than with letters. We use chinese characters to
write nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, which are
important elements in a phrase. So, we understand
sentences by images.
However, in most foreign languages, it's the alphabet that is
used to write words. The alphabet itself doesn't have a meaning,
but by putting several letters togeter, meaning is conveyed.
In the brain, there is a part which works for images and another
for, let's say, letters and numbers. Japanese are used to using
an image part more than a letter part in reading. So, we have
more difficulties in reading a text only with letters.
On the other hand, the nationals whose mother tongue is
composed of the alphabet have facility in reading in a foreign
language also composed of the alphabet, because
they use the same part of the brain.
As you told me once, I agree that the giographical condition and
historical fact are reasons why the Japanese are rather weak at
learning languages. I also think of the other reasons, but
what about the above idea? I felt like talking about this in the
Wednesday class. I'm interested in the other's opinion &
reaction.
If this is true, Chinese should be easier to learn.
At least, for reading comprehention, it must be.
Anyway, we haven't any got advantages in learning Western
languages, but about Chinese, our advantage is enormous.
Imagine the effort to learn the huge number of characters!
Have you learnt Chinise? I think my next target is Chinese.
For me, it's mainly because there is such a big Chinese-speaking
population and because I'd love to learn one of Asian languages.
By the way, I re-started Italian. And I've started Spanish.
Maybe it's not a good idea, because those two languagese are
so similar that we tend to mix them up. But why not trying?
English, French, Chinese, Spanish, if I could speak
5 languages incluing Japanese, it would be ideal!
Well, it's long way to go.
Bon weekend!
Ryoko
PS
A funny vocaburary!
In English, we say "walkie-talkie"
in French, we say "talkie-walkie".
Is it the French mentality!?
September 3
I started the new school last Monday.
I enjoyed the summer school so much that I missed
my friends there and the university a lot at the beginning,
but now I don't have time to be nostalgic any more.
I already thought that I would have to study a lot, but
the reality is harder than I thought. Normally it takes
2 years to get the diploma which I aim at. As I'm going
to try it in one year, I'm now in the class of the 2nd year and
I've got to study by myself what the others already finished
in the first year. The good thing is that there're a few more
foreigners in the same situation.
It was a good decision that I changed schools.
Lessons are more interesting and teachers are more "sympa".
I feel better in this school.
Most of my classmates are Swiss, but there're also many
foreigners who have been brought up here. There're also
many double nationals. In Switzerland, you never know people's
origin until you ask.
One of my classmates from Tunisia is only 23 years old,
have already worked in the tourism for 10 years and speaks
Arab, French, Italian, English, German, Spanish fluently,
and also Dutch, Scandinavian languages!! As for the director
of the school, I don't know how many languages on the earth
he speaks! I have met many multilinguists like them in Europe.
It's brilliant!! I would love to be like them.
How's your French going?
Bon weekend et a bientot.
Ryoko
PS
I will go back to Japan on 24th Dec and will stay with my
parents for 2 weeks. Do you still have English class
after Christmas? I hope I can see everybody once
while I'm in Japan.
PPS
In French, there are two types of "You".
One is "Tu" and another is "Vous". "Tu" is to friends,
family, those familiar with you, and "Vous" is to people
you don't know and those elder to you.
Do you mind if I adress you as "Tu"?
August 14
It's absolutely a wonderful surprise that you started studying French!
Have you already told it to the other classmates?
I'm sure they would be surprised and admire your challenger spirit.
Which site is it? It sounds interesting.
Does the computer speaks?
I'm wondering how you learn the pronunciation.
Last night I went out with my friends from the summer school.
We spent all the night at bars and discos. I normally prefers
to stay at home at night, but last night was exceptional.
It was really fun!
This weekend, there was Street Parade in Zurich.
Streets are incredibly crowded with people from all over Switzerland,
(because of Street Parade, there were much less people in discos
in Lausanne last night), and they dance like a fool to techno music.
Some of them wear strange costumes and many people told me
it was fun to see those people.
It's Switzerland probably unknown to many tourists!
I like European summer very much. Everybody looks happy.
Bon chance et bon courage pour ton francais!
Ciao
Ryoko
August 8
Everybody tells me that in Japan it's crazy hot in their mails.
In Switzerland, the weather is also crazy, but in another way.
Last week, we enjoyed 3 sunny, hot & beautiful days, but afterwards it again began raining on and off.
Sometimes it's cold, sometimes it's hot. This kind of weather tires me.
Last Saturday, I went to the festival in Geneve to see the
firework. It was marvelous!! The variety of fire works is richer in Japan, but the presentation was absolutely fantastic.
2-5 fireworks were shot off in line to the music one after another.
I also saw the firework in Lausanne on 1st August. It is the Swiss national foundation day and there are firework displays everywhere.
Those fireworks reminded me of Japanese summer festivals.
Three summers already in Europe!
Ryoko
July 25
Thanks for your interesting diary. I enjoyed reading it a lot.
You seem to have fully enjoyed yourself. Right?
I could imagine how impressed you were when you saw the view
from Gornergrat. It is impressive. I agree.
I have a small memory there. Last year, I also went up to Gornergrat.
A group of Japanese tourists talked to me.
They were very friendly and nice to me, and we took pictures together.
When they had to leave there, a couple gave me a bag of Japanese
candies, taking my hands in their hands and cheering me up, saying
"When you eat them, just remember about us."
I was so impressed almost to tears.
At that time, I was tired of some problems I had and was sad.
So all the more, I appreciated their kindness and the warm nature of the Japanese so much.
Well, next time when you come to CH, please try Verbier.
It's the place my friend Evelyne took me for skiing several times.
The view from the top of Mont-Fort is absolutely impressive!!
360 degree panoramic view of white mountains.
Matterhorn is also within sight.
There is glacier, so summer ski is also possible.
Last week, the summer seemed to come back.
The temperature was not that high, but there was the sun.
And on Sunday it was so hot!!
But, again the weather has deteriorated. Today it's raining...
This weather seems to last for several days.
On the contrary, everybody writes to me it's crazy hot in Japan
and they're longing for the rain.
It was 39 degrees yesterday??? Phew...
It's really ironic, isn't it?
My summer course in the Lausanne University is going well.
My classmates are all nice.
Out of 16 students, 11are Swiss Germans.
At the beginning, it was a bit pity for me as I had been looking forward to seeing different nationals. But now I'm happy about my classmates.
Swiss German students don't speak Swiss German among them and
we always chat in French. In the other classes, it's not like this.
I find them very motivated.
It seems to me that people interested in language are open, full of curiousity and friendly.
So it's very easy to have nice friends in a language school.
My friends from Canary Islands in Spain and from Zurich are super sympa!
Actually everybody I have met in the course are lovely.
I LOVE a language school !!!
P.S.
Another is "sympa" is French.
It's an abbriviation of "sympathetique".
This word should exist in English, too, maybe its spelling is sympathetic and it has a bit different meaning or usage.
It means nice. "sympa" is so frequently used that I mixed up.
Sorry about this confusion!
July 15
The weather in CH is still bad. The weather forecast says it will change on Monday, but I don't really count on it, because they always say it will change in 2-3 days and never changed!!
I absolutely miss the sun. I want to be tanned more.
My fridnd is here and we are chatting, chatting, chatting ...
It's always nice to have a friend at home.
And it was really a pleasure for me to see you in Geneva!
I really enjoyed myself.
Please send my warmest regards to everybody.
See you soon.
July 7
Well, as for Swiss food...
Typical Swiss food are cheese fondu, racrette, Rosti, sausage...
always something with cheese, potato, sausage ...
I like them but they're pretty heavy to eat in summer time,
and Swiss people eat them only in winter time.
During summer time, it's mostly for tourists, I guess.
There should be some reaustrants serving those Swiss specialities,
but I'm not sure whether you really want to eat.
What is popular among Swiss people is Asian dishes, like
Chinese, Japanese, Thai... What Swiss people eat in a daily life
is not that interesting, too simple &, for me, poor variety.
Asian food is the best!!!
July 5
I will start summer vacation course in Lausanne University next week.
I'm looking forward to it because I know there will be lots of different
nationals joining this course and for everybody French is
FOREIGN LANGUAGE!! I can study only French, not learning
something in French. It's fun!!
Please say hello to everybody (Today is Wesnesday, Right?
I have just woken up!)
I'm wondering what to do today.
It's such a nice weather, blue sky and the sun!
I hope the weather will be like this during your stay in CH.
Ah, maybe I go for a short walk along the lake and
read books in the sun!
You know, I'm quite tanned now.
When I'm in Europe, I love sunbathing.
It's Soooo nice!!
June 24
Although Japanese are said to be non-religious people, I always think that Buddhism is the basis of Japanese mentality or Asian mentality.
I would love to find the evidence and also the connection
between Japanese mentality and the Buddhism.
And I'd like to learn about Buddhism for myself, too.
I'm interested in it not as a religion but as a way of living.
June 23
Hi!
I heard from my best friend that in Japan it's a trend to get married to a "foreigner" (for a Japanese, most of the time, a foreigner means Westerner) or to have a "foreign boyfriend" (the couple people talk about is mostly Japanese woman & Western man). She told me that this trend came from recent international marriages of celebrities and magazines featured international couples. Their partners are westerns like French, Australian, American...
A coupe of Korean & Japanese, Brazian & Japanese, Philippine & Japanese are also international couples.
Why a couple of Western & Japanese draw people's attention?
Do you remember we once talk about the expression "Nihon-jin ha haku-jin ni YOWAI" in the class?
I haven't found the right English corresponding to it.
I've had the impression that Japan was more international than before, but it's still not. The internationalisation in Japan is still biased.
Since I began staying in the West, I become more interested in
every continent, every country, every area in the world.
I would love to learn more about Africa, Asia, Latin America ...
And I appreciate much more the Eastern culture.
It's true that once we live abroad, we know more about our own country.
I think most of the Japanese don't know about Africa, but
African people know a lot about Japan and they can even talk about the Japanese history. My friend from Cameroon knows about the Meiji Restoration, national isolation during Edo Period, etc.
Do you know the name of the Meiji Emperor? I didn't know.
But he knew!! How embarassing!
It was him who told me that the Queen Mother passed away.
But the problem of biased information on foreign countires
seems to exist in "international" Europe as well.
For the Europeans, foreign countries mean those in North & South
America and Africa. Their knowledge on Asia is so limited. I think it's because of the distance, but also because historically they have more contacts with those countries in every way.
Here is something strange.
Europeans hardly know about Japan, which is far from Europe, while Japanese know quite a lot about Europe, which is also far from Japan.
June 20
I still have many tests left.
Tomorrow, I have tests for marketing & English
correspondence, and on Wednesday, for phsychology & accounting.
My last exam is on next Tuesday.
I'm absolutely exhausted.
I've got to study for tommorow's tests and tried to study, but my brain didn't work at all. I was just sitting without doing anything, thinking anything.
So, I gave up and went to bed just to take a nap and to rest my brain. Incredible! I even can't sleep!!
I'm wide awake.
Ahhh, My poor little brain!!
I'd love to ride on a roller coaster and shout!!
June 19
How do you eat salad?
With salad dressing? Or with salt? Or without anything?
I put vinegor (my favourite is Balsamico), olive oil and a bit of salt. And in addition, I put basil leaves chopped up into small pieces.
I leant this in Italy. Try once! It tastes so nice.
Especially tomato tastes lovely in this way.
Actually I've just eaten it for my dinner. I was so thirsty and felt like eating salad.
I studied at the balcony whole day, enjoying the beautiful sun & blue sky. I've caught the sun!!
June 17
This weekend, the weather forecast sais it will be beautiful weather, hot & shiny!!
But I'm obliged to stay all the day at home because of TESTS!!
As my vocaburary is limited and I do not really know how to write in French, I have to learn hundreds of vocabs & sentences in textbooks by heart! Otherwise, I cant write nothing, even if I know answers.
What would teacher's reaction be, if I answer all in Japanese???
June 10
Well, I'm wondering what kind of information I could put on the site.
What, do you think, would be interesting?
Recently, I haven't taken so many photos like last 2 years.
So far only 5 photos. Amazing?
I've already taken so many pictures and I don't really have
the interst in taking photos any more.
But I would like to take a photo with my classmates
in the near future. It would be nice.
June 4
I'm fine, actually very fine as I'm enjoying 4 days off.
Thursday was Swiss national holiday and school gave us extra holiday on Fri. I thought I would prefer to go to school
but it was good for my tired poor brain after some exams.
I'm so relaxed, enjoying the sun in the park & in my balcony,
visiting my friends... etc. Fortunately it has been beautiful
weather for these four days. Aaaa... the SUN!!
I love it!
Today my 2 Brasilian friends visit me, and we have dinner together.
I'm going to cook "dry curry". (It sounds strange in spelling this cooking in English, isn't it?) I'm very much looking forward to it. I'm used to cooking only for myself and eating alone, but it's much much nicer to eat with friends or family.
Last year, I had my best friend just next door and we vistited
each other often. It was really fun and I miss the time I spent
with her. She is in Japan now.
Last two years, I was sometimes desperate to talk in Japanese,
but this year not really. Maybe in the future, yes, but It seems to me that I'm mentally stronger than before or more confident in myself or come to accept the situation more easily or more easy going or...I don't know.
In one month, two-month summer vacation is already starting.
I'm thinking what to do. I would like to do a part-time job, or
voluntary activities in a NGO. And I think I'm going to take a
French course only to study French. I need it.
I get used to reading, listening, speaking French, but grammer and writing, not. Those two are terribly difficult in French and even natives make so many mistakes. Awful language.
I found a nice radio program and I enjoy it every day. It has
nice musics. Luckily, my room is big enough to dance with the music. I quite like this room but I'm thinking of moving after 6-month contract. I would like to live in an apartment which
overlooks the lake. And here is a bit far from the town and
it might be hard during the winter time.
My Brasilian friend, who is a dancer, taught me how to dance the other day at school, duing the break time at the corridor!
I was so embarrassed and blushing. I would love to learn but I can't in that situation. I'm still a shy Japanese.
May 27-2
What do you think if you see somebody raising the ends of eyes
to express Asian eyes?
Yesterday, a friend of mine made that gesture while chatting.
I told him that it was impolite. He asked me, �gWhy?�h
Actually, I expected this answer. I already had this conversation many times, but I was interested in his response.
It was the same as usual. I became sure that they just express
what they see without any bad intentions.
Asians, at least Japanese, wish to have bigger eyes like Westerns. So, cosmetics to show eyes bigger are popular and some people even take cosmetic surgery to make their eyes bigger.
But why do we think bigger eyes are nicer and more attractive?
Another example.
In Japan, except �gGanguro�h, girls in general wish to have fair skin. It seems to be the tendency in Asia, because I heard Thai girls don�ft go to the beautiful beach because they don�ft want to be darker.
On the contrary, in Europe people try to get tanned as much as possible.
You see people exposing their bodies to the sun EVERYWHERE!!
How many times I�fve got the compliment,
�gYou have nice color!�h
�gThe grass is always greener on the other side of the hill�h.
Be natural, it is the best!
May 27-1
It�fs nice that you have now a French-accent Canadian teacher.
Sounds interesting! Please say hello to him.
�gJe me rejouis de vous voir en decembre!�h
By the way, about English�c
One day a friend of mine said,�gAh, I wish everybody would speak only English!�h and it brought a big discussion between us.
In my opinion, language is one of important elements of a culture, and it creates differences among cultures. If English were spoken instead of local language, cultural character would diminish or change.
For example, ambiguous expressions frequently used in Japan do not exist in English. Polite expressions are so varied in Japanese. Without those two expressions, can Japanese be still Japanese?
In her opinion, individuals make differences and it doesn�ft matter which language we speak. Even if she speaks English, it doesn�ft change her character, and her character has nothing to do with her mother toungue, Swiss German.
I do understand her point of view, but I still believe that language is a part of culture and it should be protected.
It would greatly disappoint me if musical Italian were not spoken
in Italy, and soft gentle Thai were not spoken in Thailand.
If English were the only language in the world, it would be practical. But isn�ft it boring???
Anyway, I want be better at discussion. What a pity! At last I didn�ft manage to express myself well in the discussion.
Everybody is such a good speaker here!
May 20
One month has already passed since I came to CH.
How fast time flies! It�fs so amazing.
One student has left and we are now only 9 now in the class.
Small class and varied nationality really please me.
After school, I sometimes study with my friends. Tomorrow,my Brazilian friend is coming here and we will study together.
I�fm very happy about their help and I�fm also happy to help them.
Explaining to them in French is very good exercise for me.
We help each other. I have LOVELY classmates!!
May 12, Friday
Well, what shall I report this time�c
OK, about my classmates!
My classmates are 1 Swiss, 1 Austrian, 1 Italian,
1 Portuguese, 1 Jamaican, 1 Cameroon, and 3 Brazilian.
But actually, the first 4 were born in CH and Jamaican girl
has been here for 9 years. French is the mother tongue for
a Cameroon boy and Brazilian boys speak very good French.
So! Among talkative Europeans and Latino,
I�fm the only �gshy(?!)�h Asian.
Latin people are funny & kind, and I like them.
Brazilian boys teach me some Portuguese and are also
interested in learning some Japanese from me. It�fs nice!!
Jamaican girl once talked to me in Jamaican patois.
I was so surprised. So different from so-called English!
Everyday is full of discovery.
Mixture of different nationals is always fun.
This is what attracts me to Europe.
May 4, Thursday
Hi! How're you doing?
Last week, I found my flat and started the school.
And yesterday, I moved to the flat.
Today, I finished shopping, arranging my stuff and cleaning.
So my new life in CH has started!
My flat is located in a nice place, very suitable to me.
Guess where! In the forest!! It's inside Lausanne, but I can see a lot of green from the balcony and can hear the stream flowing. I had a dinner at the balcony today and found a squirrel climbing up a tree.
I am very happy to find a nice flat.
The only problem is that it's so (too) quiet.
Last year I had my best friend only next door, but this time I'm alone. But it will improve tomorrow, because I'll have a radio!
About school, ..... it's quite hard as my French is not good
enough to understand lessons. Lessons are varied, and some are OK, but the others are so hard.
The other tough subjects are translation from English to French, marketing, and rights. I also take German lesson,but it's for beginners, so seems to be OK. Actually,I enjoy it very much. I really like learning languages.
If I can, I want to take Italian lesson, too. I will see.
It's been quite hot in CH. I wear half sleeved T-shirt every day.
It's incredible! But I think it will become cold again.
2 years ago (already!), it was like this. In May it was so hot, but afterwards became cold. The climate in Europe is strange.
Ryoko
This page hosted by 
Get your own Free Home Page