アユボワン！（シンハラ語で「こんにちは」）

入社2年目の西野と平野です。今回は、スリランカでの研修の様子や文化について紹介します。

スリランカは、インド洋に浮かぶ自然豊かな島国で、国土は北海道の約0.8倍と非常に小さな国です。私たちが赴任したのは、コロンボ市内のケラニ河新橋建設事業の現場で、交通の要衝となっている既存のケラニ橋の交通渋滞緩和を目的に、新橋と高架アクセス道路を建設するものです。

Ayubowan! ( "Hello" in Sinhalese )

In this series, we, Nishino and Hirano in our second-year at SMCC, would like to share our experiences during the OJT (On-The-Job Training) held in Sri Lanka and the culture of the country.

Sri Lanka is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean, surrounded by beautiful nature. The country is very small compared to Japan, it's just about the size of the Japanese island of Hokkaido (about 0.8 times the size of Hokkaido). We were assigned to the project called the "New Bridge Construction Project over the Kelani River" in Colombo city. The project is to construct the new bridge and the elevated access road in order to help reducing the traffic congestion on the existing Kerani bridge that has been a major transportation hub in the city.

現地でのコミュニケーションは主に英語ですが、朝礼や安全大会では母国語である「シンハラ語」も使われています。スリランカの方々は皆フレンドリーで、英語があまり得意ではない私たちにも積極的に話しかけてくれました。

「スバ ウダサナック（おはよう）」と「ストゥティー（ありがとう）」などのシンハラ語も教えてもらい、赴任の最終日には「もうスリランカには帰ってこないの？」と言ってくれるほど、絆を深めることができました。

At the project site, English is the main communication language but Sri Lanka's mother tongue, "Sinhalese" is also used during the tool box meeting and at the safety rally.

Local staff at the site were very friendly and always came to talk to us even though our English is not very good. They taught us some words in Sinhalese such as "Subha Udhāsanak (Good morning)" and "Sthuthi (Thank you)". Towards the end, we bonded really well, and on the last day, they asked us if we will be back any time soon.

スリランカは、世界有数の紅茶生産国としても知られていて、スリランカ人はとてもよく紅茶を飲みます。熱帯国であるにもかかわらず、どんなに暑かろうが熱い紅茶を飲み、とにかく大量の砂糖を入れて飲んでいることに驚きました。

Sri Lanka is well known to be the world's leading tea producer and they themselves also drink tea frequently. We are surprised that despite being a tropical country, they drink hot tea with lots of sugar even on a very hot day.

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  【手にした大量の砂糖】
  【A massive amount of sugar in his hand】

休みの日には、ショッピングモールに行ったり、海岸沿いを散歩して満喫していました。コロンボ市内ではたくさんの高層ビルが建設中で、これからの勢いを感じました。また、日本人職員の皆さんと遠出をして食事につれていってもらい、現地の料理も堪能しました。

We enjoyed our day-offs by going to shopping malls and taking a long walk along the coast. We felt that the city is vibrant and dynamic and growing rapidly as many high-rise buildings are under construction. We also enjoyed a traditional Sri Lankan cuisine when the Japanese staff at the site took us on a trip to the countryside.

約1か月間の研修で、当社（三井建設）が施工した国会議事堂を見学したことが印象に残っています。コロンボから約15分の首都スリ・ジャヤヴァルダナプラ・コッテにあり、広大な湖の上に建っている姿は圧巻です。1982年に完成した当建物には、日本から輸入した建設資材も多くつかわれ、「アジアのどの国も親近感をもってもらえるような建物」をコンセプトに設計されたそうです。まさに、日本とスリランカをつなぐとても大切な場所です。

During a month-long training, we had a chance to visit the parliament building constructed by our company (Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.). It made a memorable impression as the building stands on one of the small islands surrounded by the huge lake in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, the capital city of Sri Lanka, which is about 15 minutes away from Colombo. The building was completed in 1982, and many of the construction materials were imported from Japan, under a concept of "a building that brings affinity to all the countries in Asia". Certainly, it is the most important building that connects Japan and Sri Lanka together.

スリランカで当社が建設した建物が、現地の方々に愛され、役立っていることを知り、とても誇らしく感じるとともに、私たちも人々に愛されるものづくりに携われたことを誇りに思います。短い時間でしたが、スリランカで過ごした日々は刺激的で、これからも現場での経験を積み、世界でも活躍できるよう頑張ります！

We feel very honored to have known that the building we constructed has been loved by people in Sri Lanka and been beneficial to the country, as well as we feel proud that our company was able to take part in the construction. Though we only stayed for a short period of time, every day was very exciting for us. We will try our very best to gain as much experience as possible to be able to work and contribute globally in the future.