静岡英和女学院 中学校・高等学校

7月からアメリカ、インディアナに1年留学している高2の生徒から、お便りが届きました。

I landed safely in the United States on 29th July. I was able to meet my host family although my flight was delayed many hours. Thank you all for your support. Before I came here, I was extremely excited to go, and I couldn't even sleep and believe that one of my dreams was going to come true soon. I want to thank my parents, family, and those teachers and friends who encouraged me. On the other hand, I was a bit nervous about transferring airplanes, catching up on school work, making new friends, fitting into the environment, and figuring out how to get along with my host family, etc. However, I believed in myself that no matter what happens, I can absolutely make it because this is not the path that my teacher or even my parents made; this is the path that I decided for myself.

I will be studying abroad for a year. It has been a month and 10 days since I came to the United States of America. The first difficulty I encountered was my British accent. The cabin crew in the airplane could not understand my accent so I had to switch to an American one. I thought I got a wonderful opportunity to learn another accent of English. I am grateful for that. But I am afraid of what would happen if I forget my accent. I'll try my best not to forget it because I respect them both.

My school has started, and I've made some new friends. I also found friends to eat lunch with! I hung out with my friend the other day. I tried a real American burger, which was delicious! She also drove me to a famous bubble tea place and showed me around. She already has her driver’s license and has her own car! People at the church are super friendly and kind to me. When I go to church every week, I always feel peace, and it is a very special place for me.

Thankfully, I was able to enter in the 12th grade at school, so the work is quite challenging, but I always try my best to understand. I also get a lot of homework every day from different subjects. The easier way is to do the homework with someone, which is what my agency suggested. But, I choose to do my homework and everything by myself to strengthen myself as much as I can. Sometimes it takes so long that I have to sacrifice my sleep time, but this is what I wanted to do, so I'll continue doing it this way because it's not beyond my capabilities, and I'm really content with it. I'm here living everything in English, not for only studying English. I pushed myself to the limit of my abilities and got good results at school! I had never pushed myself like that in Japan and it made me really happy. I'm walking in the precious new days in the US which God gave me.

My host mother took me to a garage sale, and it was a sight I had never seen before and very interesting. She bought a lot of stylish items. We also saw an old-fashioned car auction, and we could ride in a helicopter. My host brother is going to take me to Taylor Swift’s orchestra concert next week since my birthday is on September 12th. She is one of my favorite artists so I’m extremely excited and can’t wait!

There are plenty of fascinating and challenging things here, so I'll always do my best with everything, and I know that God is always with me. He provides me a way even in difficulties. I will not wait for others to do something for me but act on my own initiative and I would like to make use of what I have learned in Eiwa and other experiences in other countries and move forward one day at a time.

学校が始まり新しい友達ができ、一緒にランチを食べる友達もできました。友達と街で食べた本物のアメリカン・バーガーはとてもおいしかったです。その子はもう自分の車に乗っています。
教会の人たちはものすごくフレンドリーで親切で、とても落ち着きます。

私は高３に編入することができ、勉強は大変ですが、がんばっています。毎日各科目の宿題があります。誰かと一緒にやると楽にできると助言もいただきましたが、できるだけ力を伸ばすために、一人でやっています。時に睡眠時間を削ってしまいますが、これを自分に課しています。勉強以外もすべてを英語でこなしていくことは、日本ではできなかった神さまに与えられた素晴らしい体験です。

先日ホストマザーがガレージセールに連れて行ってくれました。初めてで、とても面白かったです。昔の車のオークション会場にも行き、ヘリコプターにも乗りました。ホストブラザーが私の誕生日に大好きなテイラー・スイフトのコンサートに連れて行ってくれることになり、今からとても楽しみにしています。

素晴らしいことも大変なこともありますが、いつも最善を尽くすようにしています。どんなときも神さまが共にいて、大変なときも必要なものは備えてくださいます。人に何かしてもらうのを待つのではなく、自ら進んで行動し、英和や他国で学んだことを活かし、一歩一歩前進していきたいと思います。