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STUDENT INTERVIEW: Adriana Jane da Rosa (SILAC)
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| Adriana Jane da Rosa |
This week Brett has been sent back to last weeks interviewee Dean Abadzic's old class, the SILAC Himeji class, to interview one of his classmates, Adriana da Rosa.
Brett: Can I interview you for the newsletter before you rush off home?
Adriana: Yes.
B:Now you're from Portugal ...
A: No, I'm from Hong Kong.
B: But Jon told me ...
A: My father is Portuguese, but I was born in Hong Kong.
B: OK, so you're from Hong Kong. What where you doing before you came here?
A: I'm an economics major in New York State. I'm doing a minor in Asian studies.
(Brett looking confused)
B: You are one of our "international" students?
A: (giggles)
B: So you are on summer vacation from university?
A: Yes, I'm going back to Hong Kong for a few weeks after SILAC.
B: Your family is still in Hong Kong?
A: Yes.
B: You're studying on SILAC?
A: Yes for two months.
B: Your with Nana-sensei and Yamada Sensei, Dean's old class ...
A: Yes but we haven't seen him for a while...
B: Oh, he had to go back home because of work issues, nothing to do with his interview of course. Dean mentioned Yamada Saori in his interview. I don't know Nana-sensei, what is she like?
A: She is very funny. She doesn't seem like a teacher so much as a friend helping us. Our classes tend to be fairly noisy with lot's of talking and laughter. Yamada Saori is a little bit quieter but she is still friendly and helpful. She has good sense of humor too.
B: The SILAC teachers are very busy over summer, I don't know how they can stay so genki (energetic). How does it compare to university?
A: It's much more intense, 5 hours a day compared to 5 hours a week so we move a lot faster, and I'm in a homestay which helps a lot.
B: Really? What's that like?
A: It's taken a little while to get used to their customs.
B: How long have you been there?
A: Just a week.
B: Tell me about the family.
A: The two parents, a 14 year daughter and a 10 year old son. The mother of the family is a piano teacher and the children do jazz dancing, in fact they were in a show in Nagoya. I help the daughter with her English homework but apart from that we use Japanese in the home.
B: How is the food? Any problems?
A: I'm pretty adventurous with food so I'm happy trying anything. We have rice and miso soup with each meal and we serve ourselves from large dishes. I told the mother that I like vegetables and she is giving me lots of salad.
B: Are you learning any cooking tips?
A: I helped make takoyaki ...
(Brett grimaces)
B: Fried octopus balls, not one of my favorites. Does she have a takoyaki grill?
A: Yes it's metal with little circular holes in it. You put the octopus in and it cooks in little balls.
B: Do you see much of your host father?
A: He comes home late most week nights, and he doesn't eat with us on those nights but I usually have tea with him in the evening. The family has breakfast together and he is home on the weekend.
B: Sounds like you'll be lonely when you move back to the villa.
A: Well, I have lots of friends here.
B: What are your plans after you finish SILAC?
A: Back to Hong Kong for 3 weeks then back to school in New York. I'm planning to do a business course.
B: Will you come back to Japan?
A: Yes, next spring I might come back do a semester to get extra credits somewhere else.
B: Nanzan University in Nagoya has a good reputation, I know several graduates.
A: I'd like to go to another part of Japan maybe Hokkaido.
B: It'll still be cool there in spring bring a jacket.
B: Thanks, I'll let you go you must be keen to get home to your host family.
A: Actually some of us (students) are going to have a 4th of July picnic at the river.
B: But you're Portuguese, Hong Kong, err ... I give up.
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Aichi Center
