みんなのフォトエッセイ

クリスティン／メナーシャ高校（アメリカウィスコンシン州）

Kristen／Menasha High School (Wisconsin, USA)

本人が書いた文／Original text／本人原文／본인이 쓴 글

これは、私の母と父です。母と父はわかい。父と母は四十さい。

This is a picture of my parents on New Years Eve. My parents are both 40 years old and I think that this picture is a very good example of how they usually are. They have been married for 20 years now. The room this picture is in has carpeting now but other then that it's the same.

これは、私のいとこ。男の子はMaxといいます。今、Maxは六さい、でも、この時、四さいです。女の子はEllieといます。今、Ellieは三さい、でも、この時、一さいです。

These two cuties are my cousins, Max and Ellie. They are now 6 and 4 but when this picture was taken they were only 4 and 1. They now also have a brand new little sister Eva but I don't have a picture of her yet. Of all my aunts and uncles these a three are my only cousins.

これは、兄です。兄は二十一さいです。

This is my older brother, Adam. Adam is 21 years old and is a junior at UW-Madison, where he studies statistics. Adam's played the guitar off and on now for about 8 years. Adam is a bit of an outsider to the world.

これは私のうちです。このうちはとても古いです。1920年ぐらいにたてられました。

This is my house. It was built during the 1920's. We've redone it since we bought it 15 years ago multiple times now. About 10 years ago we changed the outside from blue to the tan. My house is located on Doty Island, we are surrounded by Lake Winnebago, the Fox River and "the channel."

これは私の日本語のクラスの友だちです。

These are a few of my friends from Japanese class. In the picture from left to right it is Kaila, Emilie, Nikki, and Chrissy. This picture is from two years ago but I love it because it captured what they're all like perfectly. Emilie is an exchange student in Japan this year.

これは、二年生のガールスカウトです。

This is a picture of my Girl Scout troop from second grade. I'm the second from the left. All but one of these girls still go to my school. From left to right it is Annee, Me, Kelsey, a girl whose name I forgot, Melissa, and Anna. This picture was taken at Bubolz Nature Center at some point during the winter.

これは、母と私です。毎年、ドアカウンティーというところに行きます。

This is a picture of my mom and I in Door County. My grandparents own a timeshare there and every year we take a week to visit there. Door County is a very beautiful area. Now we usually go in the summer but we used to go during the winter, but now my grandparents use their week in winter to go to Florida.

これは、私です。イースターのときの写真です。

This is a picture of me. I think I'm around 7 or 8. This picture was taken on Easter Sunday. I got the cat puppet in my Easter basket because it looked like our cat. I like this picture because it is a good example of how I was as a kid.

これは、私と私の家族です。クリスマスツリーをきりにいきました。

This is me, my dad, my brother and our old dog cutting down our Christmas tree. Every
Year we go out to a tree farm and cut down our Christmas tree. The dog, Shadow, died a few years ago. My mom was the one who took the picture.

これは、私のあたらしいいぬです。Graceです。Graceちゃんは一さいです。

This is our new dog Grace. She's only one year old but she's already a complete part of the family. Isn't she adorable? She's a Golden Retriever. We got her from a dog breeder in New York two Novembers ago. Grace is also a brat. We took her through all the dog training classes but she still barely listens. Everything she does is in its, bratty.

赤毛のわたし

家族について

   わたしの家族はヘンです。それぞれが少し変な癖や変わった行動をとっていて、ひとつの家族をつくっているのです。わたしは両親と犬のグレーシーと猫のフロスティと暮らしていて、兄のアダムはウィスコンシン大学マディソン校で統計学と日本語を勉強しているので、いっしょに住んでいません。
   家族みんなが犬に夢中です。１歳半のゴールデンレトリバーです。グレーシーは甘やかされてお行儀が悪いけど、とてもかわいいのです。でも最悪なことは自分がどんなにかわいいかを知っていて、デイリークィーンに行くことを含め欲しいものはなんでも手にいれてしまいます。
   わたしの両親は本当にヘンです。うまく表現できませんが、おもしろいけど変わっているのです。母は小さな信用組合とYMCAで陶芸の講師として働いていますが、最近本格的に陶芸の仕事を始めました。父は履歴書上では普通かもしれませんが、かなりヘンだとわたしは思います。ネーナ鋳造工場で工場長をしていますが、時間があるときは歴史と地図の勉強をしています。特に地図が大好きで、ただ座ってじっと地図を見つめています。なにがおもしろいのやら．．．。
   これがわたしの家族についてです。すべてを書くことはできませんが、どんな家族か想像ができると思います。わたしを含め、みんなヘンです。みんなそれぞれ好き勝手に生活していますが、それでいいのです。少なくともわたしたちは楽しく暮らしていますから。

将来の計画について

わたしには、夢見ているだけで終わって、実現されそうにないですが、たくさんの計画があります。まず海外の大学へ行きたいです。それが日本ならいちばんいいのですが、たぶん無理でしょう。ほとんどの国では入学するには高い基準があり大変むずかしいのです。無理だったらウィスコンシン大学マディソン校へ行きたいと思います。
化学と哲学を勉強して、化学者、薬剤師、人類学者または翻訳者になりたいです。30歳になるまでには少なくとも5ヵ国語を話せるようになっているでしょう。わたしはいつもことばに興味を持ち、もっと習いたいと考えています。旅行も大好きで、南極以外はすべての大陸に行ってみたいと思います。

過去について

   わたしの出生証明書には看護婦さんのサインしかありません。わたしが生まれた瞬間にお医者さんがいなかったのです。お医者さんより早く病院に着いて、10分後の夜中の1時12分には生まれたからです。そこはオハイオ州のデファイアンスという小さな町でした。母が「ヒッピーの町みたいな名前だから」というだけでどうしてもその町に引っ越したかったのです。ヒッピーになりたかった．．．それだけで理由は十分でしょう？でもデファイアンスに着いてすぐ、そこはまったく正反対の町ということがわかりました。
   デファイアンスに引っ越したあと、みんなで動物保護施設の見学に出かけました。そこで兄はある子犬を見つけ、とても気に入ってしまい家に持ち帰りました。これはわたしが生まれる前の話です。およそ1年後にわたしが生まれたので、シャドーと名づけられたその子犬はまだ小さいのに外で飼われることになりました。シャドーはわたしのことを見たがって、網戸を引っ掻いて穴を開けてしまったほどでした。
   それから約１年半後に父はウィスコンシン州のニーナで仕事をすることになり、フォックスバレーに引っ越しました。今は、わたしたちはニーナの隣のメナーシャという人口約16,000人の小さな町に住んでいます。わたしは幼稚園から高校まで、ずっとメナーシャの学校へ行っています。幼稚園と2年生まではニコレット小学校で、3年生から5年生まではクロヴィスグローヴ小学校に行き、そこで日本語を勉強し始めたのです。メープルウッド中学校へ進み、今はメナーシャ高校へ通っています。

友だちについて

わたしの友だちもわたしの家族のようにみんなおかしいです。親友はアニーです。親友とかいうレッテルをはるのは好きではないので、変な感じがしますが、アニーはたんなる親友以上の友だちです。わたしたちは出会ってすぐ気が合い、仲よくなりました。アニーと友だちになって5年が経ちますが、今ではアニーのような友だちがいないなんてことは想像ができません。
友だちとあそぶときは、たいてい誰かの家へ行ったり、ドライブをしたり、映画やショッピングに行ったりします。どれも大したことはありませんが、わたしたちはどこへ行こうと何をしようとみんなでいればそれだけで楽しいのです。笑っていることが何より大事で、ドラマチックなできごとなどなくてもいいのです。

不機嫌になること

何も考えずに言葉を口にしてしまう人に対して、とてもわたしはいらいらします。世の中にはその人が言ったことばで相手がどのように思うか、どんなに傷つくかを考えない人がたくさんいます。そのような人びとが発することばは聞くに堪えないし、またくだらないのです。

わたしの変な癖

   わたし自身も実はとてもヘンな人なのです。おそらく家族や友だちよりもっとヘンでしょう。「不機嫌になること」を考えているときに、友だちがわたしの変な癖を20個リストにして持ってきてくれました。自分がどんな人間か、ちょっと怖くなりました。
   ポテトチップスを食べるとき、（無意識に）まず先に舐める。何か納得がいかないことがあると何度もその話を繰り返し話す（人が間違ったことをするのが許せないのです）。ときどき自分の手と話をする。何かを言いたいことがあるときはよくペンをテーブルに落とす。おもしろいTシャツを着る（よくわかりません）。靴下をコーディネートしない（逆にコーディネートされているとイライラします）。ほとんど靴を履かない。
   友だちは変な癖ばかりだといいますが、わたしはそうは思いません。癖は個性で、わたしはただユニークなだけなのです。何かを考えるのが好きで、いつも何かについて大げさに考えています。たった今もわたしは洗脳されているのではと心配しています。考えてみると教育でも何でもみんな洗脳なんです。別の友だちはこの質問をすることもわたしの変な癖のいい例だと言いました。自分の癖について考えているのは私ぐらいだと言うのです。
   わたしは人より先に寝るのが嫌いで、いつも最後まで起きています。小さなときでさえ、何も起こらないと確信できるまで起きていたものです。

旅行について

旅行が大好きで、いままで2度日本へ行ったことがあります。最初は交流プログラムで2週間、香川県の観音寺市へ行きました。2家族のところでホームステイをして、とてもすばらしい時間を過ごし、もう1度日本へ行きたいという気持ちになりました。　2度めは去年の夏、USAサマーキャンプのカウンセラーとして日本でのキャンプに参加しました。わたしは2ヵ月間名古屋に滞在し、学校で8年間学んだより多くの日本語を学びました。3日間のキャンプが2回あり、ほかに3件ホームステイをして日本の家族と過ごしました。　その夏の旅行で人生と今までの自分について学びました。自分で洗濯や料理をしたり、この旅行中にとても成長したと思います。つたない日本語を使ってぜんぜん知らない人と話すこともできましたし、1人の女性として自信がつきました。人生で大切なものは何か、自分自身であるということはどういうことかもわかりました。

写真シートのキャプションを読み、日本の学生の英語にとても感動しました。写真を選んだり、それぞれの写真に文章を書くのはとても大変だったと思います。いろいろ違う点もありますが、日本の学生の生活はわたしたちととても似ています。「であい」は、日本の学生の生活とわたしたちの生活を比較するのに、とても役立つと思います。

Life as a Redhead

My Family

My family is very weird. We're all full of little idiosyncrasies and oddities that, when combined, make us all one family. I live with my both my parents, a dog, Gracie, and a cat, Frosty. My older brother, Adam doesn't live with us anymore. He studies statistics and Japanese at UW Madison.
      My family is obsessed with our dog. We have a one and a half year old Golden retriever, Grace. She is spoiled rotten, and absolutely adorable. The worst part is that she knows how cute she is. She gets everything she wants including trips to Dairy Queen.
      My older brother, Adam, is a junior at UW-Madison. He's going for a major in statistics, which puts him into the most boring person to talk to category. Statistics is a branch of a math, which analyzes statistics. He is also minoring in Japanese, which makes him more interesting but barely.
      My parents are the only other people in my house. They are by far the weirdest. They are fun, but weird. There is no way to really describe my parents. My mom works at a small credit union and as a pottery instructor at the YMCA. She also just started her pottery into an actual business. My dad doesn't seem quite as weird on paper, but I think he is weirder. He is a m Plant Manager at Neenah Foundry. If he had his way all he would do all day is study history and maps. My dad loves maps. He can just sit and stare at them. I don't really get it, but oh well.
      That is my family, for the most part, it is impossible to actually describe them but it gives you an idea. We're all weird, myself included. We have our own way of living, which is totally different then anyone else, but that's alright, at least we have fun.

My Plans

I have lots of plans, none of which will actually happen, most of which I only dream about. I would love to go to college abroad, Japan would be the best but I don't think that would be possible. I would love to go to school outside of the US but most other countries have such higher standards for education that its hard to get into their schools. I want to go to school either in England or Japan, but if I don't get in there I would like to go to UW-Madison.
I want to study chemistry and philosophy. There are lots of different things I want to be, a chemist, a pharmacist, a anthropologist or a translator. I will be able to speak at least 5 languages by the time I'm 30. Languages are something that I always want to learn more of. I also love to travel. I want to have lived on every continent, except Antarctica.

My Past

There is no doctor's signature on my birth certificate, only an attending nurse. There was no doctor when I was born; we beat him to the hospital. I was born within 10 minutes of arriving at the hospital, at 1:12 in the morning. The hospital was in a small town in Ohio. This small town was Defiance, which my mom was willing to move to because "it sounded like a hippie-town." Since my mom wants to be a hippie that was a good enough reason, although upon arriving in Defiance we soon learned that it was almost the opposite.
After my family moved to Defiance they decided to visit the animal shelter because they were a having a tour-day. My brother then saw a puppy that he fell in love with and brought home. This was before they had me. After about a year came the time to bring me home from the hospital. Since our new dog, Shadow, was still a puppy they decided to put her outside. She was so eager to see me though, that she scratched a hole through our screen door.
After about a year and a half my dad was offered a job in Neenah, WI and took it. We were being relocated- to the Fox Valley. We now live in Menasha a city right next to Neenah, it's small, only 16,000 people. I've gone to Menasha Schools all my life. Kindergarten through the my senior year. For Kindergarten through 2nd grade I went to Nicolet Elementary School. For 3rd-5th grade I went to Clovis Grove Elemntary School, where I started to learn Japanese. I went to Maplewood Middle School and now go to Menasha High School.

My Friends

My friends are all, well, weird. Just like my family. My best friend is Annee. To have a "best friend" is a weird feeling I don't like giving labels like that, but she is by far my best friend. We just know each other, somewhere along the line we just clicked. We've been friends for almost 5 years and I can't imagine not having a friend like Annee.
When I hang out with my friends we don't usually have much to do. My friends and I usually just hang out at somebody's house, drive around in somebody's car or go to a movie or shopping. None of our options are all that great, but we make do. We have fun no matter where we go and what we wind up doing, so long as we're all there and having fun. We care the most about laughing and don't really like having drama in our lives.

My Pet Peeves

It bothers me when people talk before thinking about what the words they're saying really mean to themselves or to other people. There are a lot of people in this world who don't bother thinking about how what they're saying could hurt someones else's feelings or how what they're saying portrays them. They just say a bunch of crap that sounds terrible and wind digging a hole for themselves.

My Quirks

I, myself, am very very weird. Weirder then any of my friends and family. While trying to think of my pet peeves my friends came up with a list of about 20 quirks that make up me. I am who I am and that kind of scares me.
      Apparently when I eat chips I first lick the flavoring off, I guess I do but I've never done it intentionally. I also tell stories over and over, when I see something I don't agree with I feel the need to tell "everyone". Which I do but only because I don't like it when I see people being wronged. I talk with my hands. I often toss my pen on to the table while making a point. I wear "fun" shirts. I don't really get that one. My socks never match, it actually bothers me when they do. I wear shoes as little as possible.
      One of my friends told me my life was a quirk, which I don't agree with. A quirk is personality trait and my laugh is just… unique. I like to think and am always paranoid about something, right now I've become overly worried about being brainwashed, because when you think about it everything is a form of brainwashing, even education. Another friend told me that even asking that question is an example of my quirks because I'm the only person who would think about them.
      I have to be the last person asleep. No matter what. I always have, even when I was little I stayed awake until I was positive nothing else was going to happen. If there are people at my house I have to be by them, otherwise I want to know what's going on.

My Travels

I love to travel. I've been to Japan twice, which is more then I can afford. The first time I went was for two weeks with an exchange program. We went to Kanonji Cityin Kagawa Ken. I stayed with two different families and had such a good time I felt the need to return to Japan again the next summer.
This past summer I was a camp counselor at USA Summer Camp, an English immersion camp in Japan. It was run by Guy Healy and was recently expanded by the Japan Travel Bureau. I spent two months in Nagoya, Japan where I learned more Japanese then I have in all 8 years of studying. We would have two three-day camps and then spend a week with our host families. I had three different host families.
My trip this past summer taught me more about life then anything I have ever done in the past. I grew up a lot on my trip, I learned to do my own laundry and find my own meals. I was able to talk to complete strangers in a language I only half knew. I came back from Japan a much more grown up and confident young woman. I learned about what is truly important in life and learned what it is that makes me who I am.

Well reading the cards I was very impressed by the Japanese students English. I think it must have taken them a lot of work to compile all the picture and write something for each of the pictures. The Japanese students lives were very similar to ours although they also had a lot of differences. I think the cards make it easy to compare and contrast the lives of the Japanese students and our lives.