Summer Workers, 2005
BGMは『主よ、人の望みの喜びよ』です。ボリュームを調整してください
BGM is 『Jesus, joy of man's desiring』. Please adjust the voluem to your liking.
夏になるとアメリカ・カリフォルニアのマスターズ・カレッジから（卒業生を含む）Summer Workers の方達が立川駅前キリスト教会にお手伝いにいらっしゃるのが恒例のようになり今年で5年目になります。今年は今回で３回目になるアイザヤ・ターリー氏をリーダーとして男性５人と女性２人の計７名の方が７月７日（木）に８月５日（金）までの予定で来日されました。昨年までは約４０日間の滞在でしたが、今年は都合で３０日間の滞在となりました。
This was the 5th year since it has become a usual practice for the people
of U.S. Summer Workers from the Master's college (including graduates)
in California to come to help with the activities of the Tachikawa Ekimae Christ Church when
summer would come. A total of 7 workers consisting of 5 male members and 2
female members headed by Mr. Isaiah Talley (his visit to Japan is
the 3rd time by this year) visited Japan on July 7 and was scheduled to stay up to August 5.. The length of stay
up to the previous years was about 40 days, but this year it was reduced
up to 30 days due to their circumstances.
私は彼等と余り多く接したわけでは有りませんが、今回は次の教会行事を通じ彼等と接することが出来ましたので、少ない情報の中から更に抜粋しご参考までにご紹介します。皇居と浅草観光、英語教室、料理教室、そしてゴスペル・ナイト。
Although I did not have a much chance to talk with them, I could get touch with them through the following church activities: Imperial Palace and Asakusa sightseeing, English classes, Cooking classes, and Gospel night. I would like to introduce a little information obtained from them for reference.
注１．皇居と浅草観光は彼等の訪日後最初の休日７月１８日に、私は乞われてボランティアでガイドを務めました。何しろ東京見物は５０年ぶりぐらいなので、ガイドが迷子になっては様にならないと、インターネットで色々調べてのお務めでしたが、交通網の発達のお陰で兎に角乗換えが多くいちいち資料を見ながら使い慣れない英語でのガイド正直疲れました。その時の写真をご覧になりたい方は右のイラストをクリックして下さい。
Note1. Imperial Palace and Asakusa sightseeing: I served as a guide for their sightseeing of Imperial Palace and Asakusa
by the volunteer on July 18. It was their first day off after their arrival
to Japan. Since it was about 50 years since I went to the Imperial Palace
and Asakusa last, if the guide himself is lost it isn't good, so to speak.
So I did the job after previous investigation of various information through
the applicable web site, but honestly I got very tired because we had to
change the trains/subways frequently thanks to the development of traffic
net work of Tokyo and also because I needed to speak unaccustomed English.
Please click the following illustration if you want to see the pictures
of that time.
注２．英語教室は教会の主催でSummer Workersが先生となり、原則一対一の英会話レッスンプログラムで、小さなお子様からご年配の方まで結構申し込みがあったようです。私は例外的に当HPの翻訳文の校正をお願いする形で参加させて頂きました。幸い大学で英語を専攻された方が先生になって下さり、良い勉強になりました。拙い英文に大きく手を入れることなく冠詞漏れや、定冠詞・不定冠詞の逆使い、表現のマイナーな変更等で済まして下さった能力には感心をすると共に感謝しています。
Note2. English classes were carried out with the sponsorship of the church and the summer workers
becoming the teachers. The principle of the program was to teach English
conversation for from small children to senior people on the face to face
basis. Many people applied for the classes. I was allowed to participate
in the class to ask for the exceptional proofreading of the translation
sentence of this HP. Fortunately, a summer worker who majored English in
the college became my teacher, and it became good study. I wish to
admire and express my gratitude as well for the teacher's proofreading
ability without changing greatly of my poor English and for the ability
to finish the work by merely correcting our reverse-use of the definite
article and the indefinite article, or leakage of them , or minor change
of expressions.
注３．料理教室（教会婦人会主催）は教会会員のお義父さんで定年退職後趣味が高じてプロの蕎麦屋さんになられた方が講師で、Summer Workers を含む参加者にそば粉を練る、伸す、切るのそばの打ち方を実技を交えて教えて下さり、最後に出席者の皆さんで作った手打ち蕎麦を試食し大好評でした。又、Summer
Workersの中に料理学校で料理を勉強された方がいらして、婦人会の皆さんにアメリカンクッキングの妙技を伝授し、こちらのお料理もお蕎麦と共に皆さんの食膳に提供され大好評でした。料理教室の写真をご覧になりたい方は右の顔文字をクリックしてください。
Note3. In the cooking classes (church women's association sponsoring), the father-in-law of a member of the church acted as an instructor. He
became to manage professional buckwheat (Soba) shop after he retired, his
interest in it intensified. He taught the participants including summer workers how to knead buckwheat
flour, how to lengthen it, and how to cut it. He acted those things step
by step and let us to do the same things following him. At the end, the
buckwheat hand-made by all the participants was served to try taste for
everybody and it was very popular. Moreover, there was a man among the
summer workers who studied cooking at a cooking school and he instructed
the ladies of the women's association in the feat of an American cooking.
The dishes were also offered to our table with the buckwheat, and they
were very popular too. Please click the following emoticon if you want to see the pictures of the cooking class.
注４．ゴスペル・ナイト “ゴスペル”とは本来『福音』（ふくいん）という意味で、イエス・キリストの十字架に起源のある音楽です。音楽のジャンルを問わず、イエス・キリストを称えている歌であれば『ゴスペル』なのです！教会が発するゴスペルこそ、ゴスペルのスピリットが表されています。立川駅前キリスト教会では過去数回ゴスペル・ナイトの催しを行なって来ました。2005年のゴスペル・ナイトは7月23日に行なわれました。皆さん非常に楽しんでいらっしゃいましたので当夜の様子をスナップした写真をご紹介します。次のイラストをクリックすればご覧になれます。
Note4. Gospel Night: The original meaning of "gospel" is the "good news"
and is the music which has its origin in Jesus Christ's cross. Regardless
of musical genre, if a music praises Jesus Christ, it is "gospel".
The spirit of gospel is expressed just for the gospel which the church
emits. In the Tachikawa Ekimae Christ Church, gospel nights have been performed
several times in the past. The gospel night of 2005 was performed on July
23. All participants very much enjoyed the gospel with the summer workers.
So I introduce the snapshots of the situations of the gospel night. You can see those pictures by clicking the following illustration.
１．リーダーのアイザヤは日本にくる途中中国を訪問し一ヶ月以上滞在されました。最近の日中関係(魚釣島を巡る領土問題、日本大使館えの投石問題、小泉総理の靖国参拝問題等）を考慮し、中国人は我々日本人のことを嫌っているのではと彼に伺ったところ、彼曰く「嫌っているのは日本の政府であって日本人ではない。彼等はアメリカの政府も嫌っているが、我々アメリカ人のことは嫌っていないし、我々が中国を訪問したときも歓迎してくれた」との話しでした。ちなみに彼は数多くの外国を訪問しているようですが、日本を一番好んでいるようですし、将来は日本での宣教活動を望んでいるようです。しかし大学卒業後どのような仕事に就きたいのか聞いたところ、「危険を覚悟でとりあえずイラクで仕事をしたい」とのことでした。理由は危険地域であるために、年収が非常に良いので奨学金の返済が短期で出来るからだと言いました。立派な心がけですね。もしイラクで働くようになったら、無事の帰国と早期の再来日を祈りたいと思います。
1. Isaiah who acted as the team leader this time visited China on the way
of coming to Japan and stayed there for more than one month. So, I asked him if the Chinese dislike us Japanese in consideration of
the recent Japan-China relations (territorial problem of a small island
in the Pacific Ocean, the problem of throwing stones to the Japanese embassy,
and the problem on prime minister Koizumi's Yasukuni Shrine worship, etc.),
he said "what they dislike is Japanese government and not Japanese".
He further said "they dislike U.S. government too though, yet they do not dislike us American people. So,
we were welcomed by them when we visited China." For reference although he visited a lot of foreign countries in the past
he seems to like Japan most; and he also seems to be wanting to do the
missionary's work in Japan in the future. However, when I asked him of
his desire for after graduation of the college, he said "I want to
get a job in Iraq for the time being even if it is a dangerous area."
The reason was that because of the dangerous area he can expect far better
annual income and will be able to repay the scholarship loan in a short
term. It is a splendid mind. Is not it? I want to pray for his safety homecoming
and an early revisit to Japan if he really goes to work in Iraq.
２．皆さん勿論家族ぐるみのクリスチャンで、普通はご両親の影響でクリスチャンになられのですが、中にはご自分が先にクリスチャンになり母親を説得し一緒に洗礼を受けた方もいらっしゃいます。
2. Of course all of their home family members seem to be Christians. Although
usually a man becomes a Christian because of the parents' influences, there
was a summer worker who previously became a Christian and persuaded their
mother and were baptized together.
３．全ての方にお伺いしたわけでは有りませんが、クリスチャンの方は産児制限をあまりなさらないのか平均してご兄弟・姉妹が大勢いらっしゃるようです。ある方は９人の兄弟・姉妹の一番上で大学を卒業したばかりだそうですが一番下の子はじきに２歳になるまだ１歳だそうです。父親は４８歳そして母親は４６歳だそうです。少子高齢化に悩む日本は見習はなければいけませんね。その方の父親はスーパーマーケットのトップマネージャーをされており、毎日幾つもの管下のマーケットを訪問し、販売促進作業に多忙を極めておられるそうです。彼の職業のお陰でご家族の買い物の手間は大分省けているようです。私がお話しをさせて頂いた時に、その方のご家族がたまたま山にキャンプに行かれているとの話しでした。私の知人のアメリカ陸軍軍属の方は毎年10日とか2週間とかまとめて休暇をとり、バケーションを楽しんでいましたので、その方のお父さんもそうされているのかなと思い尋ねましたら、トップマネージャーともなると、やはり責任が重く連続の休暇はせいぜい多くても3日ぐらいとのことでした。
人の上に立つということはあらゆる面で大変なことですよね。
3. Although I did not ask all of the summer workers, Christian people do
not seem to do bath control because they seem to have many brothers and
sisters on the average. A certain worker who graduated from the college
recently, is the eldest one of 9 brothers and sisters, and the youngest
brother is still one year old who will soon become two years old. It was
said that the summer worker's father is 48 years old and the mother is
43 years old. Japan in which there are worries because of a declining birthrate
and a growing proportion of elderly people, should follow it. The father
of the summer worker is in the position of the top manager of a supermarket,
and has been working very busily every day by visiting many markets under
his jurisdiction to push for sales promotion. It seems to be able to save
the time of shopping of the family very much thanks to his occupation.
It was said that the family of the worker had gone to a mountain to camp
by chance when I had the conversation with the worker. My acquaintance's
civilian employee of an American army used to take a consecutive ten days
or two weeks off every year, and had enjoyed the vacation. So, I asked
if the worker's father do the same thing, but the answer was "because
of the heavy responsibility as the top manager, a continuous vacation can
be taken only around the three days even in case of at most a lot."
Leading is serious in all respects.
４．これは今回初めて聞いた話しではありませんが、アメリカではホームスクールといって、子供さんの教育を高卒までは、母親が家庭で行なうケースが多いようです。アメリカは広大な土地なので、学校の数が少なく通学が大変なのかなと思い伺いましたら、学校は沢山あり通学には別に不便は無いが、主に経済的と宗教上の問題が理由で家庭でのホームスクールのシステムが存在するそうです。大学への進学時にはホームスクールでの勉強とテスト結果の記録を大学に提出すれば良いようです。日本ではちょっと考えられませんね。それにしても、高卒までの全教科を家庭で教えるとなると、特にお子さんの多いご家庭の母親は大変ですね！
4. This is not the story I heard for the first time, but in the United
States there exists a system called "home school", and there
are many cases where the mother educate her own children until up to the
children achieve the degree of senior high school graduate at home. Because
the United States is acres and acres I wondered if the reason of existing
of the home school system is the shortage of schools available for children
and inconvenient to attend, but that was not the reason. According to a certain summer worker, there are a lot of schools and the
inconvenience in going to school does not exist. The main reason why many
people make use of home school is due to the economical and/or religion
problem. When the home school graduate enters a university or a college,
it seems to only have to submit records of study and test results from
the home school to the university or the college. Such a system is hard
to be thought of in Japan. However, if all subjects to the degree of a
senior high school graduate need to be taught in the home, the mother who
is a home school teacher especially one who has many children, is serious.
５．ゴスペル・ナイト時にたまたま私の隣に座ったあるWorkerは日本語の歌を字幕に写るローマジを読み上手に歌っていた。仮にメロディがわかっていたとしても発音の全然違う外国語で歌を歌うのは難しいと思うのは私だけでしょうか？ そのWorkerは素晴らしい音感と頭脳の持ち主に違いないと思いました。
5.A certain Worker who sat by chance next to me at gospel night sang a
Japanese song very well reading Roman characters shown on the screen. Is
it only me that think that it is difficult to sing a song in a different
foreign language of the pronunciation at all even if the melody is understood?
I thought that the worker must be an owner with a wonderful musical sensitivity
and the brains.
６．全てのWorkersは教会会員のお宅に分散してホームスティしておりましたが、食事その他生活環境の異なる日本の家庭での生活は如何だったのでしょうか？気になるところですが、すべての方が日本を好んでいる様子が次の言葉から理解でき安心しております。”うどん、そば、ラーメン、豆腐、うなぎ、寿司、刺身を含む日本食全て好き、但し納豆は？？？” ゴスペル・ナイトの後婦人会心づくしの軽食を食べ、あるWorker曰く”このゼリーはアメリカのゼリーと味は全然違うがとても美味しい、私は好きです。” ちなみにアメリカのものは物凄く甘いそうです。そういえばアメリカ人のホームメードのチョコレートの甘さ、ハンパじゃないですよね！そのWorkerも同意していました。他のあるWorker曰く”現段階で７人中３人のWorkersがまた来年も日本に来たいと思っている。” こういう言葉を聞くと嬉しいですね。
6. All the workers were distributed to, and home-stayed in the houses of
the members of the church. How about the life at home in Japan where the
life environment such as meal and many other things was different? I am
relieved to understand that all the members like Japan from the following
words though it was anxious. "I like all Japanese foods including
Udon, Soba, Ramen, Tofu, Unagi, Sushi, and Sashimi, with the exception
of Natto." After enjoying the Gospel Night, a certain worker ate the
snack made by the church ladies association members, said "the taste
of this jelly is much different from that of U.S., but taste is good and
I like it." For information, the United States one is said to be terribly
sweet. Incidently, the sweetness of American-made chocolate is very strong
and terrible. The worker also agreed with it. Another certain worker said
"at present stage it is not for sure yet, but three workers out of
the seven are wanting to visit Japan next year again." I am very pleased
to hear such words.
Pictures of Sightseeing Pictures of Cooking Class Pictures of Gospel night Page for Summer Workers, 2006 