先日、インド出身で日本に4年ほど住んでいる友達が今月中に日本を発ち、インドに帰ることになったので、公園でランチを一緒に食べました。
The other day, I met up with a friend who's originally from India and has lived in Japan for roughly 4 years. She recently decided to move back to India, so we had lunch together at a park to catch up.
友達は現在写真を撮ることにハマっているそうです。スマホ用カメラレンズを最近買ったようで、一枚撮ってもらいました。ドアップ写真
Right now, my friend is apparently really into photography. She recently bought a camera lens for her smartphone and took a picture of me. It's an extreme close-up shot...
友達はIT業界で働いていましたが、小さい頃からアートやデザインが大好きだったそうです。現在20代後半ですが、安定した仕事を辞め、美術を学びにもう一度大学に戻るそうです。
My friend worked in the IT sector for many years, but she's always had a passion for art and design. She's currently in her late 20s, but she decided to leave her stable job and go back to school to specialize in fine arts.
勇気ある決断だね、と私が言うと、「そうでもないよ。やりたいことをやるだけ」と笑顔で彼女が答えたのが印象的でした。
I told her it takes guts to make a choice like that, to which she replied with an easy smile, "Not really. Just doing what I want to do." Her words still stand out in my mind.
日本でできた友達は、海外の人が多いんですが、ここ1~2年で日本を発つ人がかなり増えました。
Many of the friends I have made in Japan are from overseas, and there have been a lot of them who have left Japan, particularly in the past 1-2 years.
ほとんどの場合「コロナで色々と考える機会ができて、本当にやりたいことは何なのかに気づき、転職・転勤を決意した」という理由か、もしくは「コロナで家族や友達の大切さに気付き、母国に帰りたいと思った」という理由でした。
In most cases, COVID had something to do with the decision. Some people realized that they want to change jobs or transfer after getting some time to think and reflect on what they truly want to do during the pandemic. Others realized they don't want to live so far away from their family and friends after being stuck in Japan for so long.
コロナ禍で生活や行動、交流が制限され、できなくなったからこそ「実はやりたかったんだ」と、今まで忙しくて意識していなかった願望に気づいた人は多いと思います。
Due to the pandemic, our lifestyles, behaviors, and interactions with others have been severely restricted these past few years. I feel there are many people who realized what they truly want to do precisely because they could no longer do it. A lot of these hopes and dreams can be difficult to discern when we're so busy with our daily lives.
そんな願望をただ口にするだけではなく、実際にアクションにつなげた友達を尊敬します。
I have nothing but respect for my friend who did more than just talking about her ambitions and actually took action to achieve them.
友達がまた一人、日本を離れてしまうことは悲しいですが・・
彼女の成功を祈ります！
彼女の成功を祈ります！It's always a bummer when another friend leaves Japan but...I'm wishing for her continued success.
あと、全然関係ないですが、ブログを再開するにあたって、前のように英文の読み上げを音声ファイルとして貼れますかというメッセージを頂きました。役に立つかどうかはわかりませんが、作るのはすごく簡単なので、前のようにブログ終わりに音声ファイルを貼りますね
Also, this is totally unrelated, but I received some requests to resume the English audio files I used to provide in old blog posts where I read aloud the English parts. I don't know whether this is useful for anyone, but it's so easy to make, so I'll try my best to post audio files at the end of posts.
Have a safe and lovely weekend!
AUDIO FILE
音声ファイルプレイヤーが表示されない方は、音声ファイルをこちらからアクセスできます