こんにちはEigemannです。
(English below)
インディアナ州のある中西部は広大な平原地帯で、見渡す限り木々ばかりで山などの地形的な起伏はほとんど見られない。勉強以外の留学生活は退屈そのもので、この時期も窓から外を眺める時間が増えていた。田舎で本当にやることがなかった。何かを見つけるのは自分次第だったが、まだ精神的に幼く、自立できていなかったと思う。
次第に、同じ日本人留学生たちとつるんで遊ぶようになった。彼らの大半は、早々に寮を出てオフキャンパスの家を賃貸して住んでいた。自分は、学校の外に出てしまうと現地の人たちとのつながりが途切れてしまう気がしたので、最後まで寮に住んでいた。しかし、寮に住んでいても現地の人たちとの交流はあまり多くなかった。
最も力を入れていたアクティビティはバスケとビリヤードだった。学校の体育館やあちこちの場所にリングがあり、バスケはやり放題だった。インディアナ州はバスケットボール熱が非常に高い土地柄で、バスケはほぼ生活の一部だった。ビリヤードもバーに行かなくても、学校のゲームコーナー（学校内にゲーセンがあった）や近所のボーリング場にテーブルがあったため、ビリヤード三昧の生活を送っていた。どちらも日本にいた頃は少しかじった程度だったが、この時期にやり込んだおかげで、かなり上達した。
とにかく、皆お金はあまりなかったが、時間は余っている人が多かったため、スポーツにかなりの時間を費やした。学校のジム施設が大きく、しかも使い放題だったのも大きな要因だ。ある日、友達がスケートボードを持ってきた。場所が限られるため、大学の駐車場の空いているところで乗ってみたが、すぐに足が滑り、尻もちをついた。友達には「向いてないからやめたほうがいい」と言われた。これが自分の初めてのスケボー体験だったが、この経験がその後のライフスタイルに大きな影響を与えることになる。
食事は、寮のカフェテリアの食事があまりに不味すぎて、次第に足が遠のいた。1人で食べるのもうんざりしていたこともある。友達の家でピザを食べたり、前述したHardee'sに夜な夜な留学生たちと集まり、ダベりながら食事をする日々が増えていった。結局、West Chesterで過ごした夏のキャンプの延長のような生活を送っていた。これに関しては、もはや自分の力ではどうにもならないと半ば諦めて受け入れるようになっていた。
(続く
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The Midwest region, where Indiana is located, is a vast plain, with an endless expanse of trees and hardly any geographic features like mountains. Apart from studying, my life as an exchange student was utterly boring, and during this time, I found myself spending more and more time staring out the window. It was a rural area, and there really wasn't much to do. Finding something to occupy myself was up to me, but I was still mentally immature and not yet independent.
Gradually, I began hanging out with other Japanese students. Most of them had moved out of the dorms early on and rented houses off-campus. I stayed in the dorms until the end, fearing that if I left the school, I would lose my connection with the locals. However, even while living in the dorms, there wasn’t much interaction with local students.
The activities I dedicated the most time to were basketball and billiards. There were basketball hoops at the school gym and various other places, so we could play as much as we wanted. Indiana is a state that is extremely passionate about basketball, and the sport was practically a part of everyday life. As for billiards, I didn’t have to go to bars to play since the school had a game corner (there was actually an arcade on campus), and there were pool tables at nearby bowling alleys as well, so I spent a lot of time playing. I had only dabbled in both basketball and billiards when I was in Japan, but thanks to the time I invested during this period, I became quite skilled.
Most people didn’t have much money, but they had plenty of time, so we spent a lot of it playing sports. The school gym was huge, and the fact that it was available for unlimited use was a big factor. One day, a friend brought a skateboard. Since the places we could skate were limited, we tried it out in an empty spot in the university parking lot. As soon as I stepped on, my feet slipped, and I fell right on my butt. My friend told me, “Skateboarding isn’t for you, you should quit.” That was my first skateboarding experience, but this would later have a significant impact on my lifestyle.
As for food, I gradually stopped eating at the dorm cafeteria because the food was just too awful. I was also tired of eating alone. I spent more time eating pizza at friends’ houses or gathering with other Japanese students at Hardee’s late at night, chatting while we ate. In the end, it felt like an extension of the summer camp I had spent in West Chester. By this point, I had come to accept that this was something beyond my control.
To be continued.
