フィリピンのマークからキャンパスレポートが届きました。

マークはフィリピン大学ロスバニョス校で化学工学を専攻している
シニア（最上級生）です。
学部卒業後の日本の大学院入学を目指し勉強中です。

彼の通うフィリピン大学ロスバニョス校はとても豊かな自然に恵まれて、
なんとキャンパスで幻の花「ラフレシア」も見ることができるそう。驚きです。

日本の大学とはちょっとスケールが違います！
今日は英文ブログをお楽しみください。

Greetings! This is Marc from the Philippines.
I am a university student of the University of the Philippines – Los Baños.
I amcurrently in my senior year of my degree program BS Chemical Engineering.

I’m working my way towards reaching
further developments in my academic career
and hopefully take my masters studies in Japan in a year or so.

For now, I will give you a tour of my university.
It is often said that the University of the Philippines (commonly referred to as UP)
is the most prestigious university of the Philippines.
It is the national university after all.

What most people don’t know is that UP is
consisted of multiple campuses spread all over the Philippines,
with each campus having its own specialization.

多くの行事が行われるウマリ講堂
The D.L. Umali Auditorium is where most events in the university are held.

The Los Baños campus, which is located just a few hours south of Manila,
specializes in the agricultural and forestry studies,
as well as engineering and biological sciences,
though it also offers a wide array of degree programs.

The University of the Philippines – Los Baños, UPLB for short,
is also the largest university in the Philippines!
It is situated at the foot of Mt. Makiling, a dormant volcano
with a large area of forest reserves.

Since UPLB specializes in forestry, foresters use the mountain as the place to do their fieldwork,
hence the whole mountain is part of the campus itself!
It is a popular mountain to climb among mountaineers
and with its vast flora and fauna, many biologists take interest in it as well.

Since the university is in the countryside,
you can definitely enjoy nature here. Many Filipinos come here to reach the peak of Mt. Makiling.

広大な森林エリアを持つ休火山、マキリン山。ラフレシアの花も見られます。
マニラ周辺のバードウオッチングの聖地です。
Mt. Makiling, a dormant volcano, is covered with a vast area of forest.
(photo grabbed fromhttps://www.up.edu.ph/index.php/the-uplb-of-their-younger-days/)

Along the way, you can encounter some interesting wonders of nature,
which definitely piqued the interest of mountain enthusiasts and researchers alike.

The rafflesia is a rare flower found in Southeast Asia known for its pungent odor.
It smells like rotting meat despite its vibrant and large appearance.
The rafflesia in the mountain are small, but it is still worth the see.

There are also a few places to visit once on the trail to the top of the mountain,
such as the mud springs, which is a hot spring on a field of mud
(it’s not allowed to take a dip there, though)
and the flat rocks, a creek where some people take a dip to freshen up.

Once on top, you can see an aerial view of the university
as well as the surrounding area like the Laguna lake,
the largest lake in the Philippines.

The rafflesia in the mountain isn’t the only interesting plant in UPLB.
There is what we call the cotton tree,
which is a large tree over 100 feet tall, and easily stands out during spring
due to the fluffs of cotton growing on its branches.

悪名高い　コットンツリー（日本名　木綿　キワタ：
種子に白い毛が生えており、布団の綿や枕に使う）
木の枝に白いふわふわが見えますか？
The infamous cotton tree of UPLB is seen with some cotton fluffs on its branches,
ready to be blown by the wind.

Once in full bloom, it would release the cotton by having the wind carry it around,
which looks like snow is falling during the day with the bright sun,
until it covers the area with a sea of white cotton.
It’s definitely a sight to see, but be warned
– many people get allergies from it (including me).

My university is definitely one of a kind here in the Philippines
as it takes nature and the beauty of it with utmost importance.

Thanks to its welcoming vibe and competent research opportunities,
many foreign students also study here hoping to learn more from its nature sciences.
There are surely more things to show here!

Hopefully, I can show more of them in the future.

Bye for now!

ラフレシアに興味がある方はこちら！
https://news.abs-cbn.com/…/watch-rafflesia-flowers-bloom-on…