浪人時代の下宿生活：2023年8月14日（月）

1980年4月から81年3月まで，私は東京都文京区白山で老夫婦の一戸建て住宅で下宿生活を過ごした。二階建て住宅であり，玄関は共同，1階に老夫婦がお住まいになられ，東大生2名と駿台生2名が2階の4部屋をお借りし，トイレは1階の共同トイレを利用させてもらっていた。

　というのも，高校を卒業後に愛知県の自宅を出て，1980年3月から4月までは駿台予備学校下総中山寮（千葉県船橋市）に集団生活を始めるべく入寮することにしたが，4人一部屋の生活では，同じ「文2クラス」の予備校生が一緒に暮らした。しかしながら，入塾試験でたまたま私の成績が最も良かったとして，他の3人からいじられていた。仙台，長野，広島の出身の予備校生の陰湿な態度と言葉に耐えることができず，1ヵ月余りで退寮し，一人で文京区白山で下宿生活をすることに決めた。文京区白山の賃貸物件は，東大生と駿台生限定の下宿部屋の物件であった。

　東大の現役生は2人とも理系であったが，ほとんどの日において先に部屋の灯りを消すのは私たち予備校生の方だった。大学に入学すると，こんなにも勉強しなければならないんだということを毎日実感させられていた。今から思うと，毎日が濃厚で充実した日々だった。

My boarding house life during my period of studying for university entrance exams：August 14th(Monday)

From April 1980 to March 1981, I lived as a boarder in a detached house owned by an elderly couple in Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. The house had two floors, with a shared entrance. The elderly couple lived on the first floor, while two University of Tokyo students and two students from a preparatory school called "Sundai" rented the four rooms on the second floor. We used the shared restroom on the first floor.

This decision was prompted by my departure from my home in Aichi Prefecture after graduating from high school. Initially, from March to April 1980, I moved into Sundai Yobigakkō Shimousa Nakayama Dormitory (Funabashi City, Chiba Prefecture) to start communal living. However, in that dormitory, where four people shared a room, I lived with other students from the same "Bun 2 class" of preparatory school. Coincidentally, due to my high scores in the entrance exam, I faced teasing from the other three students. Unable to withstand the malicious attitude and words of these preparatory school students from Sendai, Nagano, and Hiroshima, I decided to leave the dormitory after a little over a month and chose to live alone in Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku. Rental properties in Hakusan, Bunkyo-ku were exclusively for University of Tokyo and Sundai students.

Both of the active University of Tokyo students were majoring in the sciences, yet most days, it was us, the preparatory school students, who turned off the lights in our rooms first. Entering university made me realize every day how much studying was required. Looking back now, those days were filled with intense and fulfilling experiences.