FGL Blog (Rie)

FGL day9

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:17:48 +0900

　今日はカリフォルニア州の裁判所に行き、見学と傍聴をした。日本で１度、裁判の傍聴経験があるが、裁判所内は日本より人の数が多くまた明るいような印象を受けた。以下、カリフォルニア州の裁判を通じて感じた良い点を２つ、悪い点を１つ挙げる。

～良い点～
　第一に、陪審員制度がすべての公判で導入されており、またその陪審員のためのラウンジスペースなど多くのものが整えられているということである。日本ではまだ裁判員制度が多くは導入されていないため、裁判員のためのアフターケアやその他ラウンジスペースなどはどのようになっているのかわからないが、カリフォルニア州では一般市民が裁判に参加し、裁判が終わると何事もなかったかのように出口で談笑している様子を見ると、裁判というもの自体が身近なものとして感じられるような印象を受けた。日本で裁判員裁判というと、裁判員の負担がとても重く苦しいような印象を受けていたが、カリフォルニアの裁判の雰囲気を見て、一般市民が裁判に参加することは国民が司法に触れる機会として、また陪審員になった市民は人を裁くという経験を積むことによって、また新しい何かを学ぶことができるのではないかと感じ、この制度は日本でももっと大きく採用されるべきではないかと思うようになった。
　第二に、裁判所が日本より大きく開かれているスペースになっていると感じた。裁判所にフードコートがあったりラウンジがあったり、特に、人の多さは日本と違いが大きいと感じた。また、裁判中に居眠りをしてしまった陪審員がいたのだが、その時、そこに居合わせた警備員がそっと水をついで持って行ってあげ、起こしてあげていた。そのような光景を見ると、裁判が堅苦しすぎるようなイメージが払拭される。市民が多く参加しているからだろうか、日本の裁判所よりとても良い雰囲気だと感じた。

～悪い点～
　裁判官が話してくれたが、果たして陪審員制度で本当に正しいジャッジができるかということは断定しがたいと感じた。特にアメリカにおいては、日本より教育が行き届いていない部分もあるため困難があると話していたが、私もそのように思う。今日見た陪審員の様子は、とても和やかな雰囲気で年齢、人種、性別も幅広くいた。しかし先ほど例に挙げたように、裁判中に居眠りしてしまう人や、よく見ているとあまり話に耳を傾けていないような人見当たられ、そのような人たちのジャッジで裁判が決められてしまうのは怖いように感じた。リラックスしたムードだからこそ、そのような欠点も出てきてしまっているのだと思った。

FGL day8

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:22:59 +0900

　Today, we learned about “Japan’s changing Democracy” from Prof. Ellis Krauss. He sometimes used difficult vocabularies, so hearing those words and understanding the whole was a little bit difficult for me. However, I could understand most of the lecture because my major is politics and the lecture was really interesting than I expected. The subject of today’s lecture was wide so I could learn many things.
　Professor emphasized that Japanese government now has a lot of problems, for example, one of big problems is debt. As debts are increasing, the government has to cut down costs more and more. However, even that situation, government still focus on welfare systems and as a result, they has increased expenditure ever than before. I felt that there are many contradictions in Japan but people don’t notice it because there are too many things like them, so they are misunderstanding them as a proper thing. Unlike that situation, there were a big earthquake in Japan and the problems are going to be worse. I realized again that Today’s Japan is in a critical phase and we do have to get through it soon.
　I’m interested in international relations between Japan and Asia. Especially, I focus on “East Asian Community”. It is just an idea at the present stage, but if it became real, Asia would be more united group and would get prior positions in the world. I asked professor about this idea. He said “I also think that is a good idea, but it’s impossible to become a strong union like EU.” I agree with that point.
　The lecture was really interesting and there were many points I agree with. On the other hand, I realized that I don’t have much information about politics and it is very difficult to explain politics in English. I have to read some books or watch news and get more vocabularies. What I need is to do that as much as I can.

FGL day7

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:48:30 +0900

　この１週間でまず１番に学んだことは、時間の組み立て方と行動についてだと感じる。ここではLeader’s choice の時間がたくさんあり、何をしても自由な時間が与えられている。しかし、どこへ行って何をするにも自己責任は伴っている。今日はメンバーと一緒に動物園へ行き、帰りは自由解散であったが、自分が想像していた以上に帰りのトロリーやバスの乗り継ぎは大変であった。幸運なことに、一緒にグループでいたメンバーが地図で道を調べてくれ、そして記憶を頼りに歩いて寮まで無事に帰ってくることができた。しかし、自分は人に大きく頼ってしまったところがあるように思う。知らない土地では、行く前に準備をし、自分１人でもしっかりと行動できるようにしておくことは、Leaderということを意識する上で必要不可欠であると思い返した。次からはきちんと自分自身で行動できるように意識を高めたいと痛感した。
　また学んだ事はもう一つあり、それは自分には英語力がやはり乏しいということである。もちろん、通常の会話では単語やジェスチャーで最低限言いたい事は伝わるかもしれないが、例えば授業中に質問したいことがあるときなど、聞きたい事を正確に伝えるためには文章の組み立て方やボキャブラリーの乏しさは無視できない。もどかしい思いを繰り返さないためにも、もっと英語を練習したいと痛感した。これから１週間のうちにできることとしては、できるだけネイティブの英会話に耳を傾けること、ほかのFGLのメンバーが話す英語から会話を学ぶこと、などが挙げられると思う。日本に帰ってからは、やはり毎日英語に触れることが上達への１番の近道ではないかとこの地に来てから感じた。できるだけ英語に触れ、そして失敗を恐れずにチャレンジしていくこと、それが可能になれば、自分の英語力の可能性は無限大に広がるではないかと、この１週間で感じた。

FGL day6

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 15:38:49 +0900

　今日は午前中に星教授のInternational Economics を受けたのち、午後は海の近くで中国のFGLの学生と交流会をした。午前のクラスでは東日本大震災後の日本の経済についてどのような影響があったのか講義を受けたが、星教授がわかりやすい英語で説明してくれたので大学で経済を学んでいない私でも理解することができ、とても有意義な内容を学ぶ事ができた。午後の交流会では中国人の学生とゲームや食事を通じて交流を深めることができ、これも貴重な経験となった。中国人の学生と話をする中で聞かれたのは、「大震災のあと何か影響を受けたことはありましたか？」ということだった。会話を通じて、やはり大震災のニュースは国際的にも未だ大きな関心を集めているということを実感することができた。午前のクラスでは、大震災による経済への影響は悪い事ばかりではなく良い影響もいくつかあるのだと学んだが、経済以外の面を見ると、日本への国際的な不安はしばらく取り除く事ができないのだと改めて考えさせられたような気がする。放射能汚染など不安がますます増大する中、日本人の一員としてどのようなことを思われているのだろうか、正直な意見を知りたいとも思った。ぜひ機会があったら聞いてみたいと思う。

FGL Day5

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:24:10 +0900

~What did you do and learned today?~

Today, I got up late in the morning because I had chatting with FGL members till 3 a.m. and stayed up late. I enjoyed it a lot, but also, I learned and thought over some things as like a future global leader, so I write about that story.

I’m going to Gakushuin university and my major is politics. My university has a characteristic program for students who going to politics department, it called FT (Fast-track) course. If I want to take this course, I have to get a good results on exams, and get high score on TOEIC or TOEFL and pass an interview. I have not decided to take this course because the course starts from second year and the interview test will be taken place in next spring. If I enter it, I can take some extra classes (politics and English), which only FT course students can take, and also, I can graduate university in 3 years and then go straight to the graduate school. It is hard and I have to study a lot, but I can learn many things from it and get valuable experiences as go through some extra classes, such as a field work.

I cannot decide whether take this class because I don’t have specific reasons to take it, and also, I don’t know what a graduation school is and I should go or not. These are why I joined FGL program this summer. I want to try and achieve one goal in my university life, but yet I haven’t found out what a clear goal is.

Talking with FGL members is not only fun but also, gives me another new . I think we can enjoy talking because we are in totally different situations. They have their own purposes for the future. They think about themselves and also, their families. Moreover, they have plans and keep on trying to achieve the goals. After talking with them, I understood what I need is to think about my future plans again and again and make some plans for it on my own. Now, I’m joining FGL program. This means I got chances to find them out. There are many possibilities to get it here, so I just keep trying for it!

FGL day4

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 03:38:50 +0900

~What have you learned about being a leader so far?~

I learned about two things as a leader through the program. Being a leader, I have time of “leader’s choice” and I can decide what to do on my own. This time is important for me and I learned a lot of things.
First, I’m becoming able to easy to listen and speak English because I have been hearing a lot of English conversations through the program. Of course, I use Japanese when I talk to my FGL friends, but there are many times to speak English in UCSD, and it is sure that my English skill is developing little by little. Today, I had lunch with UCSD student, who guided us UCSD campus. I enjoyed talking with her so much.
Second, I feel that FGL members have inspired me a lot. They have different purposes of this program and they all have enthusiasm to study here. Their English is also excellent and they have wide range of knowledge, so when we take a class, many of them ask questions to professors. Talking with these people is very interesting and it’s motivated me a lot. We are going to different universities, and have different dreams in the future. It is valuable experiences for me to communicate with such people.
I learned a lot of things through 4 days. But still many days are left, so I keep on trying to study here and want to talk with a lot of people.

FGL day3

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:23:30 +0900

　今日の中で最も心に残ったことは、午前中にprofessor Hwang の Globalization&Leadership Development の授業を受けたことです。Leadership とはどのようなものか、Leaderになるにはどのようにふるまうべきなのか、など内容が興味深い授業で、授業の途中で質問などもたくさん挙がり、私自身とても刺激を受ける授業でした。このプログラムに参加するにあたって、Leader とはどのようなものかを知ることは必要不可欠だと感じていたので、このような授業を受けられて良かったです。教授の話していた"Look for possibilities"という言葉は心に響きました。明日からも改めて、FGLの一員としてUCSDで多くのことを吸収しようと思えるきっかけにもなりました。

FGL day2

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 15:16:22 +0900

~Describing myself~
~One experience I had today~

My name is Rie. I am in the first year of Gakushuin university and my major is politics. I like to play tennis and I also like to watch baseball game. I’m interested in world culture and languages, so I’m learning English and Chinese in uni, and also I’m studying Korean by myself a little. I’ m not sure what I am going to do after graduation, but one of my goals is to speak these languages fluently.
In Japan, I belong to cultural exchange student organization, which consists of a lot of different university students. This community holds events for people who go to language schools in Japan from foreign countries. Our purpose is to give them some chances to interact with Japanese students. For example, we held “Japanese game party” in June. Through the party, we had a lot of chances to talk each other. The language we use is only Japanese but those experiences always give me new sights. I talked with many people who have different background in the world. Because of this, I have a little confidence to talk to new people, so if I have a chance, I want to interact with UCSD students as much as I can.
Today, I walked around UCSD campus with my friends. First, we went to price center. It was quite big than I expected and there were many UCSD goods. I thought those show how big UCSD is. After we went to price center, we walked through Library walk and saw school of medicine a little, and then headed for Sixth College. There were many buildings so I didn’t catch which the main building is, but I could understand the scale of UCSD. Walking around is a little bit tired, so the next time, I want to go and see many places by bicycle. In addition, I couldn’t find UCSD students today and didn’t talk to them, so I want to find some students and make friends in the next time.

FGL day1

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:48:53 +0900

~One thing I am looking forward to it in this week~

　This week, I’m looking forward to go around UCSD campus and see many facilities in it. Today, I arrived UCSD and went to bicycle shop. On the way to get there, I saw many facilities like super computer center, MDA building and gymnasium. I thought they are very big, but some people said it is just a few buildings and there are more huge facilities in UCSD. Before leave Japan, my friend, who studied in UCSD a few years ago told me that UCSD is very big university, so I want to see them as much as I can.
　To achieve my goal, I have to go many places by bicycle when I have a time and I think the most important thing is to memorize the UCSD map first. I believe I can get it in a few days so I’ll make my efforts for it.