「Volunteering」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Sylvia Yu: Bazaar Café

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Wednesday afternoons look a little like this: I take a brisk stroll from Doshisha, walking along Karasuma before making a turn down an alleyway that eventually leads to Bazaar Café. It’s a modest place—handwritten signs and dog-eared books lined along shelves and all—with a welcoming presence (indoor slippers, greenery of the garden) and an even more welcoming staff. From my first day volunteering here and onwards, I’ve been met with a familial feel; in between washing and drying dishes and silverware, preparing meals, and serving customers, we learn bits about each other’s lives and how we spend our days. I enter Bazaar Café from the back with a lively おはようございます (which is, by the way, not exclusive to the morning!), don my apron and bandana, and slip into the kitchen where everyone is already at work. A fellow volunteer asks me what I learned in school that day as she prepares Buchimgae (Wednesday is also when Korean food is served; cuisine varies by day of the week), the manager peeks through the curtain to announce an order that has just been made and everyone answers with a resounding はい. So the afternoon goes.

Workwise, Bazaar Café isn’t particularly demanding. There are days in which business is far less busy—empty, even—that there is ample time for aimless conversation as we drink tea. To note, the people that constitute the staff of the place are certainly not one type of person; they include a mother studying sociology in a university with a family in Denmark, a girl from Germany taking a gap year to gather her Japanese roots, an elderly man who rehabilitates those with former addiction (“変なおじいさん” he dubs himself, but perhaps 優しい is more apt), to name some. And yet, despite these differences, I don’t feel a significant degree of distance with anyone; every week is, of course, an opportunity to learn subtleties of Japanese culture and vocabulary here and there (said mother studying sociology likes to quiz me as I store cups in the cabinet), but additionally grow closer to those that I work alongside. At Bazaar Café, which places an emphasis as a safe space, there is a great sense of community. We speak without filter nor fear.

That said, Bazaar Café is wonderful place to volunteer if you are seeking a chance to practice Japanese conversational skills while taking part in what feels like family. It’s got a casual atmosphere, makes a great studying spot (so friends have attested), and of course, serves good food (I can attest!). I leave a little after three with an お疲れ様です and wonder what to anticipate the following Wednesday.

Alana Hodson: English Assistant at Hiyoshigaoka High School

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For my CIP, I was fortunate to be able to participle in two CIP activities. The first of the two was volunteering as an English language assistant at Hiyoshigaoka high school. I had no idea what to expect going into this CIP, but as soon as I arrived (along with my classmate, Mika, who was also doing the same CIP) we were instantly welcomed by the head teacher of the program, Oe-sensei, and the other JET ALTs. They explained to us how the high school’s English club was run and what our role was, which was to simply converse with the students in English. However, we quickly found out that it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Although the students were able to use English during times of structured activities, they were often quite reluctant to do so outside of those times. That being said, I have seen the students use English well, so I am sure that had the club been more strict about the use of Japanese, their English would have improved greatly.

The Hiyoshigaoka students were phenomenal at organizing events. While I was there, I was able to participate in two of the events; a Valentine’s Day party and an Aikido lesson. The Valentine’s day party was a lot of fun and the students used a lot of English. For example, two of the activities were “speed dating” and acting out skits, both of which were done completely in English. I was very impressed!

My second CIP was also about teaching English, but with a much younger age group. My host mom is an English teacher, so I was able to help teach her classes, which were from about ages 5 to 10. One of the most interesting things I was able to do for that part of my CIP was to read a children’s book in English while my host mom read the same book in Japanese, taking turns reading each page consecutively. One of the most surprising things I noticed while helping out my host-mom is the accuracy the children’s pronunciation.  I was often asked to read a category of words and then the children would repeat the words after me. They always were able to repeat the words perfectly!

By participating in these CIPs, I got to observe how English is taught and studied at both the high school and elementary age. It was very interesting to see how each age group interacted with the language. The younger children where more eager to share their English skills with me, though it was most the at the basic vocabulary level. However, the older student, although they knew much more in terms of grammatical structure as well as vocabulary, seemed more reluctant to converse with me or other native speakers, but did very well when their English skills had to be applied for activities. My favorite English teaching method I got to see was when and ALT at Hiyoshigaoka helped one of the students with the difficult to distinguish syllables such as R vs L, SH vs S, and V vs B. He was able to coach her through the proper mouth and throat movements use to produce each sound, and in just one session, the student improved tremendously!

Madison Covington: BAZAAR Café

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At first, due to my lacking social skills, 「気にしない 」demeanor, and the ‘already a minority but especially a minority here’ situation, I was not looking forward to interacting with native Japanese people one-on-one without a sensei nearby translating my awkward hand gestures.

However, after I started volunteering for the BAZAAR Café, these worries though still subtly present were compromised with immense kindness, patience, open-mindedness, and 無料の美味い料理. As said at a meeting by regular a volunteer of the café, BAZAAR is “a home away from home.” A place for minorities, LGBTQ, 外国人, and those who are unable to find a community to settle and communicate with others who share their interests. All in all, a haven for any and everyone, a basho for open expression, free of judgment or the beloved ‘unasked for’ commentary. Not only that, but everyone there loves to eat. Every dish is prepared and put out with great care. If someone were given the opportunity to look inside the kitchen, they would truly understand that “yes, there is a certain way a grapefruit must be cut.” and “No, it is not just cutting it in minuscule slices and hoping for the best.”  No dish faces discrimination. From the Philippines to Thailand, most all recipes have a bit of home present within them due to the diverse backgrounds of the people who made them.

Though I’ve unnecessarily talked a lot about food, there are a couple of other things I have learned from my time here. One, I look somewhat descent in a green bandanna; Two, the entrance is in the BACK, accidentally entering the actual household will only result in feelings of embarrassment and force a child to escort you to the doorway; and, three, kindness can transcend any language barrier.

Though this experience was short, it left a lifetime impression and a story to tell for when I return. Advice to anyone looking for a place: if you want cool people, a cool atmosphere, and hot coffee, I encourage you to drop by.

Marcia Lagesse: Klexon

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For my Community Involvement Project (CIP), I participated in the Kyoto International Club Klexon. Klexon is a Japanese nonprofit international club that brings together English-speaking volunteers and Japanese participants who want to practice their English. They generally meet up on Tuesdays, from 7pm to 9pm, at the Kyoto City Gender Equality Center, or Wings Kyoto. Occasionally, they’ll host an event over the weekend or holidays.

Klexon’s time was divided into two parts.  For the first hour, I spoke individually with Japanese participants. While the English speakers remained in the same place for the entire hour, the Japanese participants switched chairs every 5-10 minutes, so that in an hour I spoke with sometimes up to 12 different people. While initially a lot of the Japanese participants were rather shy and the conversations slightly stilted, after a few sessions conversations became more lighthearted and free-flowing. The Klexon managers gave us previously decided upon topics to talk about, but I found that the conversations often flowed naturally, and often ended up speaking about the common topics of interest between myself and my Japanese partner instead of those assigned. Through these one-on-one talks I managed to create a more personal connection between myself and the Japanese participants, and often found myself exchanging LINE numbers with them.

For the second hour, we were randomly put into groups of 5-6 people, usually with 2 English speakers and 4 Japanese participants. We gave small introductions, describing our names, where we come from, and our hobbies. Much like the previous one-on-one conversations, conversation often flowed naturally and we found ourselves speaking of new topics. Through these group discussions I learned more about a variety of topics; Japanese traditions, the Japanese view on religion and their own connection to religion, Japanese work culture, Japanese family structures, etc. Klexon provided me with a unique opportunity to gain an insight into Japanese culture, directly from Japanese people.

It was interesting to learn more not only about Japanese people and culture from the Japanese participants, but also about why the other English speakers decided to move to Japan. While some of them were American, a lot of them were from differing countries, each with their own point of view on Japan. An outsider’s point of view is often telling, and promoted serious discussions such as those about racism and discrimination in Japan.

Through Klexon, I’ve not only learned more about Japan and its culture, but I’ve also gained good friends. I often go to bars or karaoke with the Japanese people I met at Klexon, providing them with ample opportunity to practice English, and myself with an opportunity to practice Japanese. In sum, I’ve had a great time at Klexon, and I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a way to meet more Japanese people.

Khanh Ta: FBI Filmmaking Circle & Kyotographie

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For my CIP this semester, I decided to continue the CIP that I previously did during the fall, which is my filmmaking club at Doshisha University. Even though during the spring, Doshisha students have spring vacation from February until April, FBI club still has a lot of filming activities depending on the projects and students. Hence, one of the club members that I am close to actually invited me to join the shoots for her project during this time, so I was able to continue with this activity. I suppose, similar to how many student film projects in America are very network based, here too at Doshisha and Japan at large, film is also a network based domain.

Since shooting schedule is very irregular, there are weeks when I don’t have CIP participation. However, there are also weeks where we meet 2-3 times a week for around 4-5 hours in order to film the many scenes required for the project. Sometimes, shoot schedules are also adjusted based on the weather; especially, Kyoto often snows a lot during spring, so we had to reschedule twice. Our roles also vary depending on the day of the shoot; every member always want to try new responsibilities during a film shoot, so sometimes our roles are exchanged between one another. This is quite different from the US, since our roles are often decided during the pre-production stage, and people usually stick to that role throughout the entire project rather than changing it up day by day.

As aforementioned, since FBI doesn’t meet as regularly during the spring, I decided to join another activity as well for my CIP, called Kyotographie. Through a friend I met on the internet who is currently working at this company (a media editorial agency), I was introduced to Kyotographie. The company is currently organizing for an international photography festival in Kyoto, and they need volunteer help, so I decided to join as well as introduce it to my friend from E class, Kasey Huang. The fact that I was able to find a volunteering job to apply for and even introduce my friend to it really reminds me of networking experience in America as well. Originally, I wasn’t sure of how networking is like in Japan, but this experience proves to me that it is actually very much the same.

At Kyotographie, I get to utilize some of my advertising and communication skills from my actual major, combined along with Japanese, for work. From trying to connect the company to many different local universities in Kyoto to trying to expose the festival and events to many Japanese media outlets and students alike, these experiences allow me to do what I usually do best in English, only now in Japanese. At first, I was originally afraid that my Japanese wasn’t good enough to be used in the work place. However, considering this is a very international company, many people use both Japanese and English; while everything is mostly spoken in Japanese, many technical PR, advertising or art terms are in English, so I was able to do my work just fine. Thus, I feel that this volunteer is a great stepping stone for me to prepare myself for the workforce later if I manage to get a job and live in Japan.

In general, for those looking for CIP, my advice for future students is that having around two or more CIP experiences during the spring would be ideal. This is because even if your CIP are guaranteed to meet, you’re not guaranteed to meet as regularly as the fall semester.

Nancy Nguyen: Assistant English Teacher at Hiyoshigaoka High School

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For my CIP activity, I volunteered as an English conversation partner at Hello Village at Hiyoshigaoka High School. Hello Village is a center at the high school that encourages Japanese high school students to practice their English conversational skills. Originally, I intended to take a bus every week after class to go to the school to practice English conversational skills. However, because Japan’s academic calendar differs greatly from that of the American academic calendar, there was a long gap in which I was not able to volunteer because the students were on spring break.

Regardless, I’ve had various interesting experiences during my time as a volunteer, and also discovered many similarities between Japanese students studying English and American students studying Japanese. I particularly remember one time when an ALT was helping a student prepare for a pronunciation test. Seeing the difficulties with pronouncing certain consonants in English such as “v” and “b” reminded me of my own struggles with pronunciation in Japanese such as with “su” and “tsu.”

Also, what was interesting to me was that there was differing types of students that I would meet at Hello Village. Some students were particularly more outgoing than others and more excited to speak English: some were because of their participation on the English debate team and others, I found out later, were known to be the “boisterous” of their class. But many students I encountered were more reserved and self-conscious about their English ability, and it was interesting to see that whenever I spoke with them, they would often consult each other as a group first before responding as a whole. However, even with the vastly different personalities, every student I encountered at Hello Village was eager to practice and improve their English. Their eagerness inspired me to examine my own reasons for wanting to learn Japanese and doing study abroad.

Even though there were difficulties because of differences in academic calendars, I still found my time at Hello Village to be a worthwhile experience during my semester in Japan.

Veronica Winters: Kyoto Reborn

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During the spring semester of 2018, I decided to volunteer at a Kyoto-based NPO called Reborn Kyoto. The organization has an international presence with branches in Rwandan, Laos and Cambodian and other South East Asian countries. The center that I work at coordinates the purchase of old kimonos, which they then take apart and wash to send abroad as fabric. Offices abroad teach local women how to sew certain patterns using the kimono fabric and send those finished items back to Kyoto. A shop around the corner from the primary center sells and collects the proceeds. I have experience volunteering at both the main center and the shop around the corner and from those experiences I have learned two major things about Japanese/Kyoto culture.

The first thing that I realized was that tea time is an important time for bonding in the office. This may not be true for all places and all businesses, especially those run by the younger generation. However, the main center is run by older women (age 60 and upward) who value tea time. Before I understood its importance I once tried to refuse participating in tea time, stating that I could keep working and did not need tea. The head of the branch insisted strongly by simply reiterating the suggestion that we have tea and I felt a strong pressure to accept. Since that time I have never refused tea time. We usually drink together with a snack after I have completed my volunteer shift and talk about current events such as the Olympics or about their grandchildren and I have come to look forward to tea time with the older ladies every visit.

The second cultural practice that I noticed had to do with language and politeness level. Of course, there are different registers of politeness embedded in the Japanese language. However, what I did not know, was the protocol when leaving the office before or after superiors and co-workers. You cannot use the same phrase to say “Good work today” (otsukaresama) or “I’m going for the day” (osakini shitsureishimasu) towards superiors and co-workers. I was a bit confused at first because the ladies that work there are so old and their job titles do not necessary correspond to their age, but you can gauge the importance of someone’s position via listening to the politeness register used toward them and that which they use toward others. For example, at the shop around the corner from the main center, I witnessed the older ladies who worked there using plain form with the customers, which is very unusual. It was probably due to the fact that they were several decades older than the customers; nevertheless, the shop workers made sure to use a Kyoto-specific type of honorific polite form haru to maintain that they respected the customers.

I enjoyed my CIP this semester a lot more than last semester’s (dance class and church) because I felt a lot more integrated and got to use and hear a lot more Japanese. A good CIP activity will allow you to build relationships with the Japanese people involved and not just participate in an event. It will be sad to say goodbye to the lovely ladies that I have been working with for the past 3 months. They treat me with such warmth and patience, so we have become rather close. I hope that future KCJS students will lend a hand and volunteer at this organization.

Jiayi Huang: Kyotographie

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For my CIP project I volunteered at Kyotographie this semester. Kyotographie is an International photography festival that takes place in Kyoto every Spring. My work there included making timelines for various events, translating the program introduction into Chinese, creating a media outreach list, and putting up posters in Universities and cafes.

Kyotographie is a very International workplace. There are staffs from France, Britain and Hong Kong. It is a generally easygoing work environment: people sit around a big table, the director brings her kids in sometimes, and work hours are flexible. Nevertheless I still caught a glimpse of the Japanese work environment. For example, when Japanese staffs are listening to their supervisors, they have to answer “はい” after each and every sentence to show that they understand what he/she is talking about. However, the conversation is very fast-paced and the response is too immediate to convince outsiders like me to believe that they truly understand. It seems more natural to me that if people take more time to digest the information and ask more questions. When they are talking to me they slow down a little bit and use easier words to make sure that I understand.

It was also surprising that one of the staff would reply to me back in English every time even though I speak to her in Japanese. It is a common phenomena I often witness in Japan but did not expect to be the case at a work place. It reminds me that when I am in China and a foreigner speaks Chinese to me I might reply him/her in English as well. For some people they see it as an opportunity to practice English, and for some else it is a place one can say “Hey I speak English as well.” I think it is largely due to the fact that Japan and China (and most East Asian countries) are relatively homogenous societies where people don’t get to interact with “outsiders,” and it makes the moment that they speak another language special. However, now that I have lived in Japan and learned that speaking a language while the other person is using another to talk to you can be frustrating for that person, I know how to interact with foreign people better.

Overall working in Kyotographie is fun and if you are looking for CIP in Spring semester I recommend checking Kyotographie out. Also, the exhibitions are going to be from April 14th to May 13th, I will be doing supporting staff work for the exhibitions then and please come to visit us!

Amy Zou: Kyoto University Hospital's NicoNico Tomato

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In addition to the daily Japanese classes and electives, I spent the spring semester of 2018 volunteering and helping out the staff at the Kyoto University Hospital’s In-patient Children’s NicoNico Tomato Program. Every week consists of a new task designed to celebrate the closest holiday. The sheer level of consideration for the children throughout my time there was highly impressive and completely tangible. Despite the gap in language levels, I was able to grasp that these obaa-chans that worked at NicoNico were very fond of children.

The first project I worked on with the staff of NicoNico was Valentine’s Day cards for the in-patient children. The completion of these cards took the span of several weeks, likely due to the level of details incorporated into each card. Not only did the card require precise sewing techniques, a realistic rendition of a bar of chocolate was incorporated as well, looking freshly opened with the foil artistically ripped. The end result took the appearance of a coat on a hanger with a white, fluffy scarf coiled around the hanger to make it more realistic.

While working on individual components of large projects, the staff gossips as furiously as one might expect obaa-chans to do. The instances of gossips were both among the most interesting and yet most difficult part of my community experience. While the stories are highly entertaining when I understand them, the counter is that I rarely manage to fully understand them. From their interactions, it seems evident that the obaa-chans have likely known each other for a significant period of time and are friendly enough to use highly casual forms of speech with each other. As such, conversation between the other staff typically occur in casual Japanese with liberal usage of regional dialects.

With my ears constantly hearing casual forms, I subconsciously want to return conversation in such a way despite knowing that the more proper way is more appropriate. It is particularly difficult as interactions with the children are meant to be done in casual, while interactions with the staff and the parents of the children should be more formal. The transitions are exceedingly odd and difficult to adjust to, and perhaps I can argue that I have learned a lot about switching formality of speech through this experience, but truly, I have only been able to notice it after committing mistakes after mistakes of misrepresented respect. Nevertheless, the experience of working with children and for the children was highly enjoyable with the welcoming staff. I would definitely enjoy continuing volunteer work in this program if I had a longer time to spend in Japan.

Zoey Peterson: Volunteer English Teaching

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I spent my CIP project volunteering as an assistant English teacher for an informal English class held in the house of my host family once or twice a week. Every Monday and Wednesday, two classes were held and taught by my host mother’s daughter (who is an adult with four children of her own). One class was for 5- and 6-year olds; the other was for 7- and 8-year olds. The teacher’s 3-year-old daughter also participated.

I love children, so an excuse to interact with them was very enjoyable for me. I learned a lot about Japanese and Japanese children as well. For example, for the younger children especially, there was a ‘warming-up’ period of a few weeks where they simply stared at me in astonishment and almost never spoke. The teacher apologized, saying they were just surprised by my presence, and were usually much louder. After two or three weeks, they opened up and started talking to me, asking me questions like “Where are you from? How many people live in America? What’s the weather like there?” They all speak very quickly and in Kansai-ben, so understanding them in the beginning was a little difficult. I learned some of the Kansai-ben particular to Kyoto, such as ‘hin’ to signify negation (dekihin instead of dekinai) or -haru as the slightly politer way to end verbs.

The older children took less time to warm up to me, asking me questions after maybe one or two weeks. The youngest child, the 3-year-old, took almost a month and a half to speak to me at all. She also was reluctant to speak even in my presence. During class, she would instead whisper her answers into her 6-year-old sister’s ear. The only exception was the children of the teacher; her three oldest children had lived in America for a year or so, and she hosts foreign students herself so they were not shy at all. Her 6-year-old daughter talks to me often inside and outside of class, occasionally saying surprisingly advanced or observant things to me.

I was also able to interact with the parents of many students as well, who treated me as another teacher and thanked me after each lesson. Some even sat in on a lesson or two, and spoke to me afterwards to thank me. The parents were very serious about picking up their children on time, and apologized profusely if they were late even a few minutes.

In all, it was a wonderful way to get to know many of the neighborhood children. I even recognize some of them when walking around these days, and the braver ones say hello and wave at me. It was also a great way to pick up more Kansai-ben and improve my own pronunciation. I’d highly recommend volunteering in any way with children to future KCJS students!