#206 work-life balance
過労死などと少なからず耳にした日々から遠くない今日ですが、教師も述べているように
「work-life balance」との言葉は今日的な話題です。
一昔前に言われた「猛烈社員」との表現はもはや死語、でも未だに日々仕事に追われ
プライベートな時間が充分でない日本人は一般的と言えるでしょう。
会社の為なら何でも犠牲にできた時代から、自分が主役として
仕事をコントロールする大切さが強調される時代へと、この国も
確実に変化しつつあるようです。
work-life balance
I've heard work-life balance mentioned recently, but what is work-life balance really ?
There are many people who don't really know when someone asks them.
Work-life balance is the condition when you can strike a balance between work and life.
Work is necessary for supporting your life and makes you feel worthwhile. And private
time is also necessary for leading a full life. Work-life balance means how you work and
live make you feel fulfilled.
Speaking of work-life balance, we tend to focus on having a rich private time. It doesn't mean
that you should abstain from work to enrich your private time,and you shouldn't do
overtime work because life time comes first.
It means you should aim to enrich both work and private time by reexamining your
working time and your way of working.
Companies emphasize the importance of work-life balance, so we seem to put so much
effort into the way we work .
(教師から)
I think the concept of work-life balance is relatively modern.
As we have improved our understanding of what it means to have a healthy life, and as we figure
out what makes a good upbringing for children, we have come to realize that work -life balance
is very important.
But in reality it is very hard to achieve because work often focus us to stay at the office late
into the evening.
And if we can't maintain a good work-life balance, our family unity may suffer. Furthermore our
stress may increase and mental health symptoms such as depression may arise.
So we should do what we can to achieve a good work-life balance.
#205 Immigration
今回の受講生エッセイは「移民問題」についてです。
実際にこの国の入国管理局で起こった悲劇的事件について
書かれています。
海外では大きく報道されましたが、日本国内の主要メディアでは
限られた報道でしたので、ご存知ない方も多いのではないでしょうか。
現在、遺族は日本政府の回答に承諾せず、真相究明のためカンパと署名
を募っています。ネットでは「#JusticeForWishma 名古屋入管死亡事件」で。
Immigration
I am interests in two problems experienced by people from different countries in Japan.
One is Muslim's graves and the other is the Japanese Immigration Services Bureau.
There are about two hundred thousand Muslims in Japan. But they feel anxious about keeping
their religious customs in Japan. Especially they have problems with their graves.
While Islam prohibits cremation,cremation is a typical Japanese custom.
There are only a few graveyards in Japan where they can be buried ,and it is too expensive
(about one million yen per person). Interment is not prohibited in Japan.
The approval of a local government and local residents are required to make a graveyard.
But a lot of Japanese people oppose making an interment only graveyard due to the land pollution
and reputational rumors in the neighborhood. It is difficult for Japanese people to understand
Muslim's stubborn faith because the majority of Japanese people are atheist. So, a lot of Muslims struggle
to bury their deceased family members.
Another problem is that foreigners have been treated in humanely by the Japanese Immigration Services Bureau.
In March,Wishma Sandamali,who is a Sri Lankan Woman, passed away in Nagoya Regional Immigration detention.
She ran away from her husband due to domestic abuse and asked the police for help. But the officer did not protect
her and reported her expired visa to the Immigration Bureau.
Ms.Wishima had been detained for half a year, and then she died without adequate medical care. Also, a few years ago, Deepak Kumar,who is an Indian man, committed suicide in another Immigration Bureau after nine months of detention. And then about 70 detainees went on hunger strike following his death. The environment inside the detention facilities and the treatment of detainees are too terrible. And a long-term detention harms their health. Someone who is angry at these troubles drew graffiti "Free Refugees" on a road near the Tokyo Immigration Bureau.But the officer were blind to their own faults and posted on Twitter,"Drawing graffiti on public objects is illegal".
I wonder if they understand the true meaning of "Free Refugees".
I think that a lot of Japanese people are indifferent to these problems experienced by foreign residents. It is not well known in Japan that recognition of refugee status and keeping one's religious customs are difficult. We will never improve our labor shortage in Japan without foreigner's cooperation. So,we should find solutions in order that foreigners can live with peace of mind in Japan.
(教師から)
I think immigration is wonderful thing . I ‘m from America, which is a country that was built on immigration. But at the same time I understand that movement to another country is something that should be carefully controlled.
For example, when you enter another country you have to understand that the language,food,services, and way of thinking will be different from what you are used to. So you will have to try to prepare yourself for entry into another culture by educating yourself and changing your expectations.
Some people seem to be able to do this relatively easily ,but others resist. The former type ,those who can a dapt
flexibly, are good immigrants, and they should be accepted with open arms.
#204 Can money buy happiness?
幸せって?
簡単なようで、
説明するには抽象的過ぎて・・・
17才にして、これだけ冷静に論理的に
定義できることに、驚きです
日本語でも難しいのに、
説得されてしまいました!
Can money buy happiness?
In my opinion money can't buy happiness. In contrast,some people may think happiness is able to
be bought by money because whatever you want can be bought with money. Despite this, I think money
can't buy happiness. I have two reasons why I think this.
The first reason is that the answers of what is happiness are different depending on the people.
For example, some people say sleeping is happiness,others say laughing is happiness. In my
case,winning a tennis match or getting a high score on a test are happiness. Therefore,money
can't buy these kinds of happiness.
The second reason is that even if money could buy happiness,you would be tired of being happy
because you have to work hard to get money. For instance, some people say " I have money but I
don't have any free time, so I'm not happy". In particular,Japanese workers say this.
Therefore,rich people are not always happy.
Fore these reasons, I think happiness is not able to be bought by money.
There are a lot of definitions of happiness,so it is not necessarily something bought with money.
教師より
I think poverty can be terrible and it can cause a lot of sadness and depression,but money doesn't
buy happiness.
If a person has enough money not to be considered "poor", then they should look for happiness in
themselves. Of course, shopping is fun,and getting something you want to buy is pleasant,but this
kind of enjoyment is not the same as happiness.
Instead , happiness comes from having a dream and working to achieve it.
If you can succeed in your life's goals, then you'll feel happy.
However,money does buy comfort. Food,bed, transportation,medicine, and clothing are all bought
with money,and without these things, life would be uncomfortable.
#203 The most important change in Japan recently
米国の大学への入学を予定されている
高校生の方のエッセイです。
英語力だけでなく、今日の日本社会の変化に
実に的確な見方をしておられます。
大学の講義だけでなく、世界中からの学生
との交流で、さらに見識を広められるのは
間違いないことでしょう。
The most important change in Japan recently
The number of two-income families has been increasing in Japan,so I think this is the most important change in Japan recently. Most Japanese people used to think that the man earned money to support his family and woman did house work or took care of children. I have two reasons why the number of two-income families has increased.
The first reason is that it takes more money than before to support a family because living costs, such as food and child-care expenses, have increased while income have decreased. For example,recently,some worker's salaries have gone down , and what was worse,the number of people who are unemployed has been increasing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it became difficult to support a family with one person's income.
The second reason is that companies improved the working environment for women. Thanks to this improvement,many women find work more easily. For instance,women have the opportunity to take childcare leave. Furthermore,women can leave their workplace earlier than usual when their children have a fever or get injured.
For these reasons the number of two-income families has been increasing. Both parents should help each other when they do housework. I guess two-income families will continue to become more numerous in the future.
教師より
Perhaps the greatest change to occur in Japan recently is the introduction of English in elementary school. This is a sign that the Japanese government is taking English more seriously.
In the past,English was mainly taught in high school as a subject that students has to study if they wanted to take a difficult university entrance exam. In those days, English was seen as a way to test students' intelligence. So the subject focused on grammar and difficult vocabulary. But it wasn't practical and few students actually learned how to use English in a practical way.
But now it seems that the Japanese government intends to teach English as a practical tool of international communication. If this continues,Japan will change greatly because it will become a nation of bilingual people with a more global mindset.
#202 If I was a super hero
中学生の方による、大変カジュアルなトピックのご紹介です。
中学生らしく、まじめにとらえていると思われる方もあるでしょうが
いざ自分が書くと成ると、結構イマジネーションが必要です。
教師の書いた最後のオチには笑ってしまいましたが、
みなさまはどうですか?
If I was a super hero
If I was a super hero,may be I would know everything.
Some super heroes usually say "Believe in love" or "Don't do that" to people. I think that is because they know we should "Believe in love" or "Not do that".
And they always attack bad people because they know that people want them to attack bad people. They must know what crimes the bad people have done.
Super heroes must know how they can save people.
They know the limits of their own power.
But, if this wasn't true they would make an effort to "Believe in love"
or "Not do that ". They would judge themselves, and attack themselves.
They wouldn't know how to save people. They wouldn’t know the limits of their own power.
How cool ! They have a lot of courage to act , so super heroes encourage people.
教師より
If I was a super hero, I would have big muscles and a colorful costume.
I think it's very interesting that super heroes are stronger than everyone
else,but it's really funny that they all have colorful costumes. I wonder where they got them from. Is there a super hero clothing store?
Also, I think it's a little strange that super heroes usually have a normal girlfriend or boyfriend. If I was a super hero, I would find a super hero girlfriend. Then we could wear the same funny costumes.
Finally, super heroes usually have special abilities. If I was a super hero I would try to learn how to communicate with and control insects. Then I would send mosquitos and cockroaches to attack the bad people.
Also,I would tell all the insects to leave me alone-I would never be bitten by a mosquito again.
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