グループ四の一年生のブログ

Gakuen-sai Blog | 学園祭ブログ

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学園祭は日本の成蹊大学や早稲田大学では大体10月から12月までに行われるイベントである。でも、エディンバラ大学の学園祭は二月23日に行われました。今年、コロナの影響が続いたので、日本の大学の場合はハイブリッドの学園祭で、将棋が沢山ありました。そして、オンラインでチケットを予約をしなければならなかったそうです。でも、その逆に、イギリスでは、人々が集まる所が普通の通りの様に行ける状態になっているので、コロナの制限で出来なくなってしまった事が出来た。例えば、エディンバラ大学の学園祭は予約せずに誰でも行くことができます。食べ物やお菓子の屋台は日本の大学ではまだ禁止でしたが、エディンバラ大学の学園祭では屋台はありました。

でも、エディンバラ大学の学園祭と違って、成蹊や早稲田大学の学園祭はもっと大きくて、色んな種類のイベントが沢山あります。今回のエディンバラの学園祭に無かったイベントが日本の学園祭にはかなりあります。例えば、日本語の初動、ダンスのサークルのパフォーマンス、特に、ヒップホップとチアリーダーのダンスがあります。その上、音楽部のサークルが学園祭でライブをすることも普通にあるイベントです。早稲田大学の学園祭では、有名人を呼ぶこともあったそうです。その有名人が自分の話しを生徒達に教えたりします。例えば、早稲田大学の三年前に、Kyary Pamyu Pamyuが来たと言いました。

私たちのグループは学園祭のためにたくさんの物を買いました。例えば、ゲームのためにプールを買いました。私たちはプールで泳ぐために、たくさんおもちゃのアヒルを買いました。アヒルを引っ掛けるために、磁石とポールを買いました。また、私たちはプールに水を入れるので、学園祭にバケツを持って行く必要がありました。私たちは賞品を差し上げたかったので、たくさん食べ物を焼きました。グルテンフリーとヴィーガンの食べ物を作りました。例えば、私たちはたくさんクッキーとケーキを作りました。屋台を飾るために、グループはまた素敵なポスターを設計しました。

The Gakuensai event was held on the 23rd of February 2022 in the Project Room at 50 George square. We arrived an hour earlier than the general public as we needed to set up our stall. We knew setting up the stall would take a long time. The first thing we did was lay out the tables to display the homemade cakes and cupcakes. The homemade goods were baked by members of our group. We made sure to bake a variety of treats, including gluten-free and vegan ones so that they would be accessible to all visitors. It was important that people with dietary restrictions be able to participate in the activity and enjoy the prizes they won there too. Vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free people do not often get to choose from a variety of options, so we included three vegan options two of which were gluten-free and all of which were nut-free.

Once we had finished setting up the table, we inflated the paddling pool and filled it with water. At this time, we realised the paddling pool was very big, but it would make the game more tricky and fun. Filling the paddling pool up was very tedious as the buckets we used had to be filled individually using the tap in the corridor. This meant we had to make several trips back and forth between the pool and corridor. This was slightly embarrassing as everyone had finished and could only watch us!

The idea for our stall was the game ‘hook-a-duck’. We came up with this idea because it is very common at British funfairs and similar to some Japanese festival games. We had prepared many ducks and placed them in the water. We had also prepared rods to hook the ducks and placed them by the paddling pool. People who came to our stall needed to hook as many ducks as they could in 10 seconds. As a reward for hooking the ducks, visitors were given one of the baked goods. Many people were very hesitant to come over to our stall as they did not realise it was free to play the game. We had already decided to not charge the visitors to our stall, so inform them that they did not have to worry about this. Another reason why they said they were hesitant was that the large size of the pool could make it tricky to play! However, once they engaged with our stall, they informed us it was very fun. It was a challenge to hook the ducks within such a big body of water. The visitors also enjoyed our baked goods.

There were many stalls at Gakuensai, such as those selling Japanese food and other various activities. Some of the activities included tarot card readings, karaoke and Just Dance. It was fun to watch students engage in these various activities! We were very impressed with how tasty the food was and enjoyed the activities students had created.　In the interviews, many Japanese students said that the food was one of the best parts of the Gakuensai. It was somewhat disappointing that no one was able to use any cooking equipment to prepare warm dishes. Our favourite stall was Soju tasting as the students had put in a lot of effort to let visitors experience different flavours.

Overall, Gakuensai was an exciting new experience as we were able to try new things we have not experienced before. It was also great to experience what Japanese students do each year in preparation for our year abroad. While we may not be in Japan, the Gakuensai gave us an insight into Japanese university life.