【出身国 / 大学】ドイツ / ルール大学ボーフム
【在学期間】2023年10月～在学中　経済経営学類特別聴講学生　C.Tさん

1月から今日までの間に、私は多くの新しいことを経験し、異なる文化や人々に出会いました。

まず、福島の冬は長くて厳しいものでしたが、時々ちょっとした休息の時もありました。気温はだいたい0度から6度の間でしたが、本当の問題は風でした。そのため、大学や他の場所へ行く時は毎日適切な服装をする必要がありました。

また、1月に剣道を始め、それが私の心構えや体力を向上させ、特に睡眠スケジュールを整えるのに大いに役立ちました。練習は主に朝に行われたので、それに合わせて適応しなければなりませんでした。これまでのところ、訓練も順調で、来月には防具一式を手に入れることを期待しています。

次のワクワクする出来事は春休みでしたが、天候が悪かったため、時間が過ぎるのを待っていました。後半には、１週間の日程で東京に行き、2週間滞在するドイツからの友人を迎えました。私たちは東京タワーやスカイツリー、浅草、渋谷など、東京の主要な観光地を見て回りました。ある夜はナイトライフを楽しみ、とてもスリリングな経験もしました。

ある日、私たちは富士山への日帰り旅行に参加しました。天気は完璧で、これ以上ないほどの写真撮影のチャンスに恵まれました。私たちは河口湖からインターネットでよく見る有名な塔のある神社まで行きました。

その週の後半には、両親が東京に来たので、日本の文化や食べ物などを紹介しました。東京での滞在が終わったあとは、新幹線で北上し、福島で1日過ごして私の日本での生活を両親に見せる機会をつくりました。次の日は仙台から飛行機で大阪へ行き、そこから特急バスで京都駅へ向かいました。荷物をホテルに預け、嵐山の迫力ある竹林での夜遅くの散策に出かけました。京都での2日目は、金閣寺、銀閣寺、祇園、清水寺を訪れました。どこも観光客でいっぱいでしたが、とても美しかったです。その後、両親は自分たちが予約していた旅行グループと合流し、私たちは大阪へ向かいました。大阪はドイツのフランクフルトに似ていると思います。到着後、私たちは道頓堀を訪れ、遅くまでカラオケを楽しみました。次の日は姫路城に行きました。白い塔や壁が印象的な場所で、その頃ちょうど桜が咲き始めていましたが、大阪から少し離れているため移動はかなり疲れました。旅行の最終日には新幹線で福島に戻り、間もなく日本を離れる先生のバーベキューパーティーに参加しました。その後、上野で両親と最後のミーティングをし、出発を見送ることになりました。

4月になってようやく天気が良くなり、友人たちと一緒に磐梯吾妻スカイラインに行きましたが、残念ながらまだ閉鎖されていたため、引き返して猪苗代湖に行きました。湖は非常に大きく、周囲には山々や自然が広がっており、個人的にとても楽しむことができました。そこには京都や他の重要なランドマークのように文化に合った無色のコンビニもありました。

これが1月から4月末までの私の体験です。8月まで福島に滞在してさらに多くを学びたいと思っています。

【英語】

In my time from January to today I've encountered many new things and experienced new places of culture as well as people.

First of all, the Winter in Fukushima has been long and enduring for the most part, with brief moments of respite here and there. It's mostly been around zero to six degrees when looking at temperature, but the real problem was the wind, so you had to clothe yourself appropriately every day when going to university or any other place.

I've also started doing Kendo in January, which has helped me greatly in improving my mindset, physique, and most importantly fixed my sleep schedule. We mostly had trainings in the morning, so I had to adapt accordingly. So far, I've come along quite well in my training and am hoping to receive a full set of armor in the coming month.

The next exciting thing to happen was spring break, where I basically just sat around and let time pass because there was little you could with the weather still being awful. In the latter half though, I first went to Tokyo for a week where I welcomed a friend from Germany, who was visiting for two weeks. We saw all the important sights Tokyo had to offer, like the Tower and Skytree, as well as Asakusa and Shibuya. One evening we even went to Shinjuku to experience the true nightlife of the area, which is always a thrilling experience.

One day, we even participated in a day trip to Mount Fuji, and the weather could not have been more perfect. Cloudless skies graced us with the best photo opportunities I could have ever asked for. It took us from Lake Kawaguchiko to the famous shrine with the pagoda, as you see it on the internet all the time.

Later that week, my parents joined me in Tokyo, and I got to tell and show them all about Japan, its culture, food and more. After our time in Tokyo was over, we went on the Shinkansen northbound, and arrived back at Fukushima for a day, where I showed them where and how I lived during my time in Japan and got to take a break from traveling. The next day we all went to Sendai and flew from the local Airport over to Osaka and took the express bus to Kyoto station. From there we left our luggage at the respective hotels and went for a nice late-night excursion to Arashiyama, with its impressive thick bamboo woods. Our second day in Kyoto was a very busy one, as it included the Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, Gion as well as the Kiyomizudera, which were all fully packed with tourists but equally beautiful. At this point my parents left us for their own booked travel group, while we headed to Osaka, which in my opinion is like Frankfurt is to Germany, if you can understand the comparison. Once arrived, we went to Dotonbori for a good night out and had a great time singing karaoke until late. Next day's program was Himeji-jou, which really left a lasting impression on me with its white towers and walls as the Sakura also started blooming around this time, but the commute there was quite exhausting, as it is a bit away from Osaka. The last day of my trip included me taking the Shinkansen back to Fukushima, where I arrived just in time to participate in our dear Professor McMichaels barbecue party, who was going to be leaving Japan soon. After that I had one last meeting with my parents in Ueno, bidding them goodbye for the foreseeable future until I go home as well.

Later in April, as the weather finally decided to get better, a few friends and me visited the Bandai-Azuma Skyline, which was sadly still closed, and turned back to now drive to Lake Inawashiro. The Lake is unfathomably large, and there are mountains and nature all around it, which I personally really enjoyed. It even had a colorless culturally appropriate convenience store next to it, as they have them in Kyoto and similarly important landmarks.

These have been my experiences from January to the end of April and hope to still gain even more from my stay in Fukushima until August.