<新年のご挨拶>
新年が始まってすでに8日目ですね。自分にとっては学生から社会人復帰する変革を求められる年になりそうです。このブログの題目も新しいものへと変更することになるでしょう。今まではUniversity of VictoriaにあるBComにて勉強している一、留学生という立場でしたが、これからはカナダに残って、社会人としての視点から生活や仕事、趣味等について書き込んでいくつもりです。今までの留学生生活の総まとめなんていうものも、いずれは書き上げてみるのもいいのかなとは思いますが、あまりたいしたものにはならないかなって今から忠告を!
そうそう、話は飛びますが、鳥取の県名はやはり「鳥を獲る」というところからきてるそうです。県のホームページによると、県名の呼び名の歴史は、大和朝廷の時代にまでさかのぼり。当時、鳥取平野には生存する鳥を捕らえて暮らす狩猟民族がすんでいたそうです。後にこの民族が大和朝廷に「鳥取部」として所属したところから、この地方を鳥取と呼ぶようになったとのこと。なーるほど。]]>Vic-snow-riahttp://morikichi.exblog.jp/6120183/2006-11-30T09:37:27+09:002006-11-30T09:37:27+09:002006-11-30T09:37:27+09:00mori_mori_108未分類
Some people are happy about this regardless of its downside. Mt Washington opens earlier than the regular schedule. In fact, it opens tomorrow. According to Mt Washington's ski resort website, it would be the best condition ever in 28 years of its operating history. More than 20cm of new snow is expected before the ski hill opens tomorrow.
Others are quite unhappy about the huge amount of the snow. Since a local community has prepared enough to adjust to this sudden change of the weather, the major challenge is to maintain the quality of public services and make sure that everything is going to be alright. I don't hear any big accidents on the roads; however, quite a few minor traffic accidents were reported and people got injured due to the slippery road condition. I heard that the electricity has been shut down in some locations, too.
I'm glad to see snow falling down in a silent night though. Having too much snow couldn't be a happy winter memory for Victorians...]]>Let it snow! This time it could blow out the minds of Victorians!http://morikichi.exblog.jp/6105704/2006-11-27T17:11:04+09:002006-11-27T17:11:04+09:002006-11-27T17:11:04+09:00mori_mori_108生活もの
Oow... Just let you know that the snow season came to Victoria earlier than last year. It was really getting cold here. But I didn't suspect that it would snow in a few days. It started snowing from this morning. It wasn't that heavy at the beginning. So that I didn't think it would last for that long. Nevertheless, it's a midnight now. And it's still snowing in a quiet night. I'm gonna post some pictures from today later on.
Here's quote from Wikipedia about the snow in Victoria
Victoria averages just 26 cm (10 in) of snow annually. Every few decades, Victoria receives very large snowfalls, including the more than 100 cm (39 in) of snow that fell in December 1996. On the other hand, roughly one third of winters will see virtually no snow, with less than 5 cm (2 in) falling during the entire season. When snow does fall, it rarely lasts long on the ground. Victoria averages just 2-3 days per year with at least 5 cm (2 in) of snow on the ground.
Well, it seems that Victoria already got the amount of the snow that it would usually have for the season. ]]>車、免許などなど・・・http://morikichi.exblog.jp/6093673/2006-11-25T06:35:57+09:002006-11-25T06:35:57+09:002006-11-25T06:35:57+09:00mori_mori_108留学もの
カナダでは免許の取得方法が日本とは大幅に違っているのに気がつきました。日本では免許を取得するとなるとまず頭に浮かぶのが、地元にある自動車教習所。たいてい25万から30万ほどの料金、1ヶ月から3ヶ月以内の期間で免許の取得はできるはず。カナダの場合には、まずは基本的な交通ルールのテストを受け、これに合格した後、半年の間の猶予をもって、次に一般道を使ってのRoad Test。これに合格すると、晴れてNew Driver(初心者ドライバー)に昇格するわけです。コンピューターをつかっておこなれる交通ルールのテストに合格した際にはLearning Driver(見習いドライバー)となり、すでに一般ドライバーの資格を持っている人を横に乗せて、一般道を走ることが許されてます。いわば、Learning Driverの資格を得た後は、個人で日本みたいに自動車教習所へと通って運転技術を磨くか、それとも知人・親などの力をかりて、独学で運転を極めるかは、それぞれ個人の判断にゆだねられているわけです。(※この話は結構おどろかされました。すっかり自動車教習所が一般化している日本では考えられませんよね。)
さてさて、話をちょっともどして、New Driverとなった後にもまだまだ試練は残されてます。New Driverの資格を得た2年(?)後でしょうか、そのころになると今度は一般ドライバーとしての資格試験をうける必要があります。この試験はNew Driver試験よりは比較的に簡単なものになっている模様。さすがに2年も自分で運転をしてきているので、たいていのことはすでにやりこなせるほどの技術は身についているので、この試験は誰もがあっさりとパスできるのでしょう。ただし、初心者ドライバーから一般ドライバーへの昇格はけっこう大きいものがあります。なにより初心者ドライバーは違反や刑罰にはかなり弱めに作られているため。もし、何かしらの事故、または違反を犯すようなことがあれば、即刻剥奪されてしまう可能性もあります。これにたいして、一般ドライバーの資格は柔軟性があり、そこそこの違反にもある程度耐えることができます(ちょっと言い方があやしいですがね。ポイントをとられるみたいなところでしょうか)。
さてさて、日本ですでに免許をとっている場合、カナダで試験をとる必要性はないみたいです。自分の場合は免許を交換するという形で、地元の免許を取得することができました。これはカナダでも州によって、法律が違うので、もしBC以外の地域に留学されるという場合にはまた異なった取得方法となってしまうのかもしれませんが。とりあえず、BCの場合には意外に簡単に手続きを済ませることができます。]]>Why don't we go for the second cup?http://morikichi.exblog.jp/6052181/2006-11-17T03:20:02+09:002006-11-17T03:20:02+09:002006-11-17T03:20:02+09:00mori_mori_108未分類
話は今年の4月にさかのぼって・・・
4月に書いたビクトリアで楽しめるコーヒーのお話。
最近は当時御用達だったMirageを離れ、Dolce Vitaというダウンタウン、London Drugsの手前にあるカフェとMayfair Mall内、American Eagleの反対側に位置するCafe Supremeというカフェに訪れることが多い。
Dolce Vitaなら、AfricanoというちょうどAmericanoとLatteをミックスしたようなEspresso Coffee。Cafe SupremeならCoconut Mochaがお気に入り。Coconut Mochaはそのままの感じだろうか。Coconutの風合いがかなり出ていておいしいと思う。
Cafe Supreme Offical Website
※Dolce Vitaの方はどうやらホームページが見つからない模様。ググッても出てこないということはまだ存在しないのだろうか。とりあえず、「La Dolce Vita」というShelbourne PlazaにあるEspresso Bar & Deliとは間違わないように。別のお店らしいので。]]>We are and will be compromised.http://morikichi.exblog.jp/6030933/2006-11-13T07:53:00+09:002006-11-16T14:59:52+09:002006-11-13T07:53:20+09:00mori_mori_108生活もの
As being suffered from a long-lasting economic slump, Japan still takes a leading position in the world economy. People are intriguing about its high economic standard. On a occasion, some people asked me why the prices were so high there after I mentioned that I was from Japan.
After staying oversea for more than a few years, I kinda got to know that this mystery was no longer true in some sense. I said "some sense" because it is true that we allow ourselves to buy the things at the price that people in the rest of the world would think twice before paying for them.
Obviously, our land is expensive due to the fact that we do not have much space and our population is too large to fit to the small dimensions. Also, it is true that our social norms crave for the expensive goods. Our nature boasts that we're better off if we have the things that are more expensive than anybody else. This may not be true anymore after the deflationary spiral kicked in.
Going through the things in my head, I was a bit nervous telling that I did not know how to answer that simple question about Japan. I would not answer that the prices were not as high as they thought. In the end, I felt that they would be hurt if I agreed with them, opposing to my thought. I was simply not prepared for the conversation that were evolved from that simple question.
Well, I would post here the things that I would actually tell otherwise.
One, maybe the price in the restaurants is little bit expensive here. Perhaps, It may depend on the choice of the place. Some restaurants have generous prices for the foods and beverages. (oh, I forgot about the Tips!! Thank you, Bunni!)
Two, Tax. This may change after our government raises our value-added tax in Japan. However, after including GST and PST, the prices you would see in the receipt are quite different from the ones you saw in the price tag. I was disappointed at this change after experiencing the things over and over. Well, after the number of the same experience, I would not feel anything about this anymore though. 14% is just too much for the taxes.
Three, Tuition! Well, I believe that international students in Japan would not be discriminated in this matter. I guess they pay the same amount of tuition fees as the local students pay. Here, in Canada, the tuitions are extremely expensive for the international students. We pay more than twice (sometimes, three times) the one that local students pay. If they pay $200 per credit, we pay $400 to 600. This cost us a lot. Although we understand that we have not been contributing to the society by paying certain amount of the taxes to the government, I cannot help thinking that is just an lame excuse in order to cover the lack of the funds to sustain the local community, especially the facility of the university. (Look, the UVic is building three new buildings simultaneously now. I wonder how much those constructions cost the UVic.)
To be continued... ]]>デザイナーの卵。http://morikichi.exblog.jp/6025026/2006-11-12T04:44:13+09:002006-11-12T04:44:13+09:002006-11-12T04:44:13+09:00mori_mori_108生活もの
先月、ちょっとしたいきさつでかかわることがあったとある会社のホームページの作成のお話でして。まぁ、なにがいいのたいのかといいますと、それはちょっとした自慢話とでもいうのでしょうか。かなりややこしい言い回しですが、下記のアドレスにあるホームページの作成を担当させていただきました。