From September 2015, I have been participated in the production of a bi-monthly informational journal called Life in Kyoto under kokoka Kyoto International Community House. I volunteered for the Japanese version, English version, and Chinese version. The production cycle is eight weeks long, and themes of articles are decided based on the season of the year and aimed to help foreigners know Kyoto better and navigate their lives in Japan.

For the Japanese meeting, there are about twenty people, and the age of participants range from undergraduate students to senior men in their sixties. Because of the nature of the production, this volunteer experience involves a lot of talking about tiny details, from grammar to choice of words, which I appreciate the most, since it gives the chance to experience how Japanese people actually talk and collaborate, and I can ask any question I want no matter how trivial it seems. As for the English meeting, number of participants can range from three people to ten people. We correct grammar and making sentences easier to understand. Since English is my second language and Japanese is my third language, this volunteer experience really helps me with improving both languages’ skills.

Aside from learning language, this CIP gave me an opportunity to look into Japanese society and be an “in-group” member of kokoka. Specifically, during the volunteer orientation at the beginning of 2016, I was in charge of introducing Life in Kyoto to people who are interested in participating as volunteers. In addition, when they do come to meetings, I was the one to introduce the over-all flow of meeting, explain details of translations, and encourage further participation.

Also, after I am identified as in-group member through consistent participation of both English and Japanese meetings and trying to talk with other members after meetings, other Japanese volunteers started to talk with in casual form and Kansaiben instead of honorific style of speech. Last semester, when I have difficulties pronouncing certain words, which obviously show others that I am a foreigner, other Japanese volunteers would try to continue the conversation with very simple Japanese or English and talk very slowly. In contrast, it changed this semester; even during conversations with new Japanese volunteers, when I sometimes fail on Keigo, they would continue the conversation with normal Japanese. This level of trust and acknowledgement in my Japanese language level really moves me. At last, once you are in-group member, people will naturally take care of you various ways. For instance, I was considering changing my major from Psychology to Classical Japanese at the beginning of this semester, and after one of employees at kokoka heard about this, she introduced me two people from Kyoto University who might help me figure out studying Classical Japanese in Japan.

From my experience, I learned that consistent participation and interaction with other members are the key to be accepted as a member of the group. So, I want to encourage future participants of CIP in general to talk with Japanese people before, during, and after each activity. It could start with talking about the weather, asking for recommended restaurants in Kyoto, confirming names, asking about their universities, and complaining how stressful school work is. Please do not feel devastated if you make mistakes in Keigo or pronunciation. After all, Japanese is not our first language, so as a international student, you will always be forgiven, but do not use that as an excuse to communicate in English only. If you keep trying, at some point, your Japanese could be good enough to talk fluently with Japanese natives. For future students who are considering taking Life in Kyoto as their CIP, I would recommend go to at least one Japanese meeting and one Eglish meeting, and check with your KCJS senseis to know more about the long meeting hours, and if you language level suits.