STUDENT INTERVIEW: Adriana Jane da Rosa (SILAC)

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 were 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 so 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.