今月から、新しいJETの先生が着任されました。お名前はディスティニー・グラバー先生とおっしゃいます。以下は、ディスティニー先生が書かれた英文です。日本語で概略を加えてはありますが、ぜひ皆さん自身で英文を読んでみましょう。

≪ディスティニー先生自己紹介文≫

 

Hi, my name is Destiny Glover, but you can call me Ms. Destiny or Destiny! I am from California in the United States of America. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and then moved to San Francisco for University and have lived there ever since (about 8 years). I am half Black, half Mexican and can speak English and Spanish. I have two families and both are quite big. I am the eldest in both families with younger siblings, half-siblings and step-siblings. I graduated from San Francisco State University with a Degree in Recreation, Parks and Tourism and a Minor in Africana Studies. It has always been a goal of mine to work with youth in an enrichment and mentoring based field.

 

こんにちは。私の名前はディスティニー・グラバーです。「Ms. Destiny」または「Destiny」と呼んでください。カリフォルニア州出身です。日本に来る前はサンフランシスコに住んでいました。スペイン語と英語を話すことが出来ます。私の家族は大家族で、私は長女です。若い人達を相手に働くことは、ずっと私の夢でした。

 

Some of my favorite things are: the color yellow and orange, the book The Song of Achilles, the movie The Little Prince, the tv show Bob’s Burgers, and the sports running and gymnastics. My favorite animal would have to be my cat Figs, who I miss very much. My favorite fruit and foods are papayas, and mac and cheese but I really pickled foods like ume-boshi, takuan and kimchi.

 

私の好きなものたちをいくつかご紹介します。好きな色は黄色とオレンジ。本は『アキレウスの歌』、映画なら『星の王子様』、テレビ番組は『ボブズ・バーガーズ』が好きです。好きなスポーツは、ランニングと体操です。それから、ペットとして飼っている猫のフィグズも忘れちゃいけませんね。食べ物なら「マッケンチーズ」と言いたいところですが…実は、梅干し、たくあん、キムチが大好きです。

 

Typically when spending time with friends we love to watch movies, travel, shop, eat and just spend time together. Some of my friends I’ve known since college and others are newer. I have lived with the majority of my friends at some point!

 

友だちと過ごすなら、一緒に映画を見たり、旅行をしたり、買い物したり…。一緒に暮らしていたことのある友人も多く、共に時間を過ごすのが大好きでした。

 

The last job I had right before coming to Japan was managing an indoor house plant shop where I was in charge of hundreds of plants. It was one of my favorite things because I love plants so very much! It’s a big hobby of mine and in my home in San Francisco I owned more than 50 plants. It was a very peaceful and fulfilling job to see plants grow and help them along the way!

 

日本に来る前までは、観葉植物のお店を経営していました。植物が本当に大好きで、家には50個以上の植物がありました。草木が育っていく過程を見ながら、その生育の手助けをすることはとても幸せで、仕事は大変充実していました。

 

I have taught before at an elementary school in San Francisco, I usually worked with students that were 10-11 years old. But I have worked with students ranging from 7 all the way to 12 years old. I really liked teaching and I miss my old students. I unfortunately had to stop teaching because of Covid-19 so I am excited to be back in a classroom. I worked mainly with students who were learning English as a second language. They mainly spoke Spanish, Cantonese, and Vietnamese at home. I could relate to them because I learned how to speak English and Spanish at the same time at home but in school I learned Spanish first, so my understanding and comfort with English grammar, spelling and reading were difficult for me as a child. In fact I think it was my hardest class in school until about Junior High then I fell in love with reading.

 

私は7歳から12歳までの子ども達を指導した経験がありますが、コロナ禍で指導を中断しなければいけませんでした。ですから、今回再び教育の場に戻ってくることができ、わくわくしています。当時は英語が母国語ではない子ども達に教えていました。実は、私は英語とスペイン語を同時に話す環境で育ち、学校ではスペイン語での学習から始まりました。ですから、英語での読み書きが最初難しく感じた経験を持っています。その後、読書は大好きになりましたけどね。

 

Some of my hobbies and how I like to pass my free time are by visiting museums and botanical gardens and parks! One of my favorite places in San Francisco is called the Conservatory of Flowers. This is where they care for rare and exotic plants from all over the world. When I was in university I used to work there and it sparked my love and hobby for plants and nature. Another hobby of mine is traveling! I have visited quite a few countries and even lived in Sweden when I was in university studying abroad. I love learning about new cultures and making the world I live in bigger and I believe the best way to do that is to travel and have new experiences! Another way I like to spend my free time is by going to concerts, before the pandemic I would try to see live music at least twice a month! Some other hobbies I enjoy are reading; I love to read and can read a book a day if I’m not too busy! I really enjoy shopping whether it’s for myself or for another person. I’m an especially big fan of second-hand stores and thrift stores! One of the last hobbies I do frequently is arts in crafts. Right now I really like to embroider and give the finished piece to friends and family as a gift!

 

余暇には、博物館や植物園を訪れます。サンフランシスコには「花の温室」と呼ばれる温室植物園があり、そこでは世界中の珍しい植物が育てられています。大学時代にそこで働いていたことで、私の植物や自然に対する情熱に火が付きました。そして、もう1つの大きな趣味といえば旅行です。色んな国に訪れたことがあり、大学時代にはスウェーデンに留学していたこともあります。私は新しい文化を学び、視野を広げることが大好きです。そのためには、実際にその地を訪れて、新しい経験をすることが一番です。他にも、コンサートに行くこと、読書、ショッピングや刺しゅうなども私の趣味です。

 

My hopes for my time spent in Japan are to learn Japanese, unfortunately my Japanese is next to none and I know learning the language will enhance my time here not just while traveling through Japan but also here at Teikyo. I am interested in the culture of a place, so I hope to visit many cultural heritage sites and museums in Japan to learn Japanese culture and folklore. Some goals I wish to achieve here at Teikyo are to be involved with school clubs, not just language clubs but any club that feels I can lend my services to! I also hope that I can ease the students in their transition into speaking English in a more confident, and smooth manner. Lastly, I hope to help them become more comfortable with foreigners and their respective cultures.

 

せっかくに日本に来たのですから、日本語の勉強をしたいと思っています。国内を旅行する際だけではなく、ここ帝京八王子で仕事をする上でも、語学によって私の日本滞在が充実したものとなるでしょう。部活動への参加もしてみたいし、私からも何か皆さんに対してできることがあるかもしれません。みなさんの英語力向上・異文化理解のお手伝いもできると良いなぁ。

 

I have been in Japan for a little over a week and have enjoyed myself so much already! I am so grateful to the Teikyo staff and students for being nothing but welcoming, kind, patient and helpful to me in my first week here! It is a daunting thing picking up your life and moving halfway across the world to a country where you know no one and don’t speak the language, but I can honestly say everyone has made me feel so welcome and I really appreciate it! Thank you for taking the time to read and learn about me! I look forward to working with you all and integrating myself in the community!

 

日本に来て一週間ほどが過ぎましたが、とても楽しく、とても充実しています。先生方や生徒の皆さんに温かく迎えていただき、とても感謝しています。地球の裏側から、言葉も話せない見知らぬ国に引っ越すわけですから、不安だらけでした。ですが、皆さん一人ひとりが心から歓迎してくれて、本当に感謝しています！これから皆さん方と共に過ごし、この環境に馴染んでいくことが楽しみです。