Anthony Shimamoto: Club Soccer and Klexon

What can be said about my CIP for this semester? First, perhaps I should’ve more prudent in my selection. In doing so I joined a soccer club called Afini at Kyoto University. Perhaps two misconceptions led this to be a less than enjoyable experience. First, while the members were extremely nice, I had not played soccer at all regularly since elementary school, thus my skills were severely lacking in comparison to most of the members, almost all of whom had been playing soccer since a young age. It also seemed that the level of competition in which they were engage in was of a more competative nature, not at all like the intramural club sports that I’ve participated in back in the US. I had also anticipated that at least some part of the three hour practices would be devoted to working out. instead the entirety of the practices was devoted solely to soccer drills and a scrimmage. Also having an afternoon class right after practice impaired my ability to social more with the other soccer members as they would often go out to eat together when practice ended. The result of these two factors left me with a feeling that I accomplished little in attempting to mesh into the folds of Japanese society.

 

However, this past Tuesday I recently participated in an English speaking circle called Klexon at the Kyoto Wings center. The premise of the groups allows for a setting in which Japanese who want to practice speaking English can have the ability to do so. They are helped by volunteers who come to the event that takes places every tuesday evening. I found the Klexon meeting to be quite enjoyable as it was nice to speak with and learn about people’s reasons for wanting to become proficient in English in an informal setting.

4 thoughts on “Anthony Shimamoto: Club Soccer and Klexon

  1. Shimamoto! It’s unfortunate your experience with the soccer club was not exactly what you had expected and you didn’t feel fully incorporated into Japanese society, but despite that, were you able to interact with the club members during practice and did you observe any differences in how they treated you versus their regular members ?

    I went to Klexon the first time yesterday night and it was really fascinating to talk to so many Japanese people who are interested in studying English! (also my throat was so parched afterwards >.<), I hope to see you again in Kyoto Wings!

  2. Aw, I’m sorry soccer didn’t work out. Klexon sounds like a lot of fun, though! Are you going tomorrow? I’m thinking of joining 🙂

  3. At the soccer club there was definitely a rift in the way they interacted between me and the other members. I interacted often with them during practice and they would often give me tips on my soccer but always in a polite way. Thanks for the comment!

  4. You shouldve come last week meg! Thanks for the comment!

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