「Volunteering」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Maya Nakamura: Bazaar Cafe

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My CIP this semester was the same as last semester’s, which is volunteering at Bazaar Cafe once a week. As I explained in my last blog post, the cafe functions more or less like a regular restaurant, but aims to help give work opportunities to people who may have a difficult time finding a job and generally to just be a welcoming space to people of all backgrounds. Similar to last semester, I go once a week usually to help out around the kitchen while the cafe is open to the public. And recently, one of the supervisors asked if me and another volunteer could help translate their menu along with some other miscellaneous restaurant related tasks. However, since the cafe is in the process of trying to become an official NPO/NGO, they are closed this month, while hosting and catering occasional private events during the week. Thankfully this means that I still have plenty of opportunities to help out each week.

What has been really great about my time here is since I’ve been volunteering since September, I’ve grown rather close with many of the workers, volunteers, and managers. Definitely more so than last semester, I’ve been looking forward to every volunteer opportunity each week and sometimes end up staying for as long as 4 hours (compared to my usual 2) simply because I enjoy everyone’s company. By spending time with everyone, I always have opportunities to speak and practice Japanese; not only that, everyone else is also very eager to help teach me new words or handy phrases, which I am always very appreciative of. In this regard, I could say I’ve been doing a lot of out-of-class learning and practice with the Japanese language, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure if I can say I learned anything “new” this semester by continuing my time with them. Rather, I feel like I am building some very special bonds and friendships with an incredibly unique and welcoming community and to me, that is a lot more important. If I had to attribute how I achieved this sense of community to anything, I would say it came from consistently going every week and not only helping out on regular days, but also helping out and participating in their larger events, which I had the opportunity to do both last and this semester. I think that it showed them that I cared to even be a part of their community in the first place and so they welcomed me and other volunteers with open arms.

If you want to have a flexible CIP and have the opportunity to meet a lot of different kinds of people, volunteering at Bazaar is definitely a great place for that. And for anyone who does choose this as their CIP, do your best to committing to going every week; ask a lot of questions and keep an open mind. They are always very grateful for any help they receive and I personally have no regrets with choosing them. Knowing that I only have about a month left with them makes me really sad so I plan on doing as much as I can to help out before I go!

Grace Bologna: ECC English Tutoring

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My CIP from last semester culminated into four days of policy building on the sustainability of journalism at the All Japan Model United Nations Conference over winter break. As I returned for a second semester of KCJS, I decided to change my CIP from a school activity to a more volunteer-based project. Thus, I began tutoring English through a previous host mother’s ECC English class.

After nearly five months of non-stop Japanese lessons, becoming an instructor rather than a student was certainly a change, as was speaking English in a classroom setting. However, I powered through and worked to instruct to my best ability despite realizing that living in Japan had managed to erode my grammatical skills.

I had previously spent a summer in Kyoto as a high school sophomore, nearly five years ago now. I stayed with a small host family just west of Doshisha while commuting to a Japanese language school daily. I’d kept in touch over the past few years, and when I reached out to ask if my host mother would be willing to accept a volunteer assistant teacher, she seemed excited. We met in January to discuss lessons plans, games to play with students and how to prepare them for an ominous upcoming English conversation test in February. I returned the next week to begin helping run classes.

Over my time at ECC I worked with a variety of students, ranging from second year elementary schoolers to third year middle schoolers. I was incredibly impressed by all of their dedication, many arriving to English lessons after both regular school and juku cram school. They did their best each lesson and honestly inspired me to work a bit harder myself.

A typical lesson would last a little over an hour. Students would come in and warm up with a short conversation exercise, like stating their favorite sweets, sports, or season. We’d then begin work from their textbooks, typically covering a conversation piece followed by a series of questions detailing the scene. We also sang quite a few songs and played more interactive games like ‘Simon Says” or ‘Heads Up.’ Finally we’d go over homework and prepare for the upcoming speaking text before going home.

I was surprised by how rigid the language study was. Even organic activities like playing games or speaking about weekend plans seemed carefully scripted. Perhaps most rehearsed was interview test prep. Students were expected to introduce themselves by name and then reveal exactly three facts about themselves. Acceptable facts were outlined to include school, hometown, age, and favorite sport. The students would then respond to a few prepared questions (What time do you go to bed? Do you like steak? Etc.) Before pointing to certain objects in a picture.

I was struck by the differences in this language study and my own experience learning Japanese. I began taking Japanese classes in high school, and despite being twice the age of some of the ECC students, remember playing far more games and interacting naturally albeit in fractured Japanese. As I result, I gained far more confidence with Japanese, seeing it as a free-flowing language rather than a series of acceptable answers and responses. The difference was apparent. Simply changing questions slightly (What time do you wake up? Do you like sushi?) rather than the previous questions seemed to stump students. I began to more clearly see the cultural pattern of Japanese adults who have spent multiple years learning English yet shy away from foreigners. Learning English in a series of set phrases is relatively easy, but any change to the existing structure tends to leave you reeling.

I have to say that interacting with the students was challenging at first. Most of them were incredibly surprised to see me (very distinctively not Japanese) in the classroom and grew nervous. I think at the start of my time, the students certainly distrusted me and as a result were quieter in class. They weren’t quite sure if I spoke Japanese or if I would be harsh towards their English. Yet over time, I feel I got through to many of the students. They grew more relaxed in my presence and more willing to engage with me by choice rather than through coercion. I was happy to provide the foreign exposure necessary for speaking English with foreigners. I hope that the positive interactions with me will lead those students to be more outgoing as they interact with native English speakers in the future.

I’d definitely recommend working as an English tutor while at KCJS. For one, the activity is fun and rewarding in its own right. Building relationships with Japanese elementary school students is a unique experience and one that will vastly improve your colloquial Japanese. However, more than that, I think it’s important to see if you enjoy teaching English. Many American college students studying Japanese hold vague plans to participate in JET as an assistant language teacher. In my experience, many JETs go into Japan without real knowledge of what teaching English is like. Students are shy and the majority of the work is more about coaxing them from their shells than intensive English study. It’s not a good fit for everyone, and teaching English as a CIP is a wonderful opportunity to check if it’s for you. I’d highly recommend everyone give it a shot.

Sonia Steinmann: Bazaar Cafe

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Volunteering as Bazaar Cafe was a rewarding experience that allowed me to practice my Japanese, meet people, and get a glimpse of a Japanese working environment. As an attempt to integrate into a corner of Japanese society, it proved to be both fulfilling and challenging.

Bazaar Cafe is a small cafe situated in the back of a house, only a short walk from campus. The visitor passes through the side of the house into the backyard, where the cafe opens out into a garden. Becoming a volunteer was as simple as showing up one day with a friend who had already been volunteering. The work I have been doing during my weekly visits hasn’t been very rigorous, involving, essentially, translating the menu, washing dishes, and putting things in their proper place.

What I would soon find was that the atmosphere of Bazaar Cafe was extremely relaxed and casual. I only arrived at this opportunity after trying and failing to get another, at a non-profit. Whereas applying to a Japanese company had required communications in keigo and a resume in accordance with regulations, Bazaar Cafe has allowed me to experience a very different kind of Japanese-language environment. I quickly found that my use of polite (desu-masu) form was excessively formal. Having absorbed strict rules of politeness and discretion through Japanese language class, I now had to learn how to communicate in this casual environment.

While I am usually working in the back of the cafe, a recent evening of performance art brought me into contact with the customers, as I collected used cups and answered questions about the night’s performances. As most volunteers were not in attendance, it was only me, the owner, and two other employees. At the end of the performances, the organizer took a moment to thank the cafe for releasing the space, and I naturally bowed with the rest of the employees and spoke a few words about how interesting it had been. It was during this evening that I felt most integrated into the Bazaar workplace environment, and like a member of Bazaar Cafe.

I would therefore encourage students to look for a CIP not only based on the type of work, but also the environment. Although the non-profit I had initially applied to aligned more closely with my interests, the loose environment of Bazaar Cafe was ultimately a better fit and more fulfilling, even if washing dishes sounds less than exciting. Applying to the non-profit, while ultimately not successful, was also a highly instructive experience in communicating with potential employers in Japanese, and I would encourage others not to be discouraged by the idea of reaching out for opportunities in Japanese. Overall, Bazaar Cafe has been an unforgettable part of my study abroad experience.

Xiangyu Zhang: Life in Kyoto

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For my CIP, I participated in the production of a bi-monthly informational journal “Life in Kyoto” (LIK), under Kyoto International Community House. “Life in Kyoto” is making newsletters for foreign residents, especially foreigners who came to Kyoto one to two years ago, providing the informations which foreigners can feel relieved by reading. Since the production cycle is two months, we met two times per month on Wednesday evening, usually for about two hours at a time.

I volunteered for the Japanese version, and English version of the newsletter. It was a great opportunity to get to know the difference between cultures. The most interesting difference I experienced is about the masculinity and femininity in Japanese language. From an all-women’s college where gender neutrality is highly appreciated, I could not even imagine that somebody said that “this word choice (which are Kanji compound) is too masculine and let us find a proper word (such as kunyomi words) for her”, which I heard several times during LIK meeting. I do not think it is because my native language is nothing but Kanji so I cannot tell how “masculine” the word is, and I do have the idea that Japanese language system is separated by gender. But it was still shocking when hearing people do discuss in this way for article contents. Besides gender differentiation, in Japan, how one talks and is talked to is determined by one’s seniority, and occupation. Fortunately, LIK volunteer group members are quite easygoing and friendly, and everyone was trying to create a welcoming atmosphere to new-comers. So in our meeting, members basically talked with each other with polite form, except for senior people to younger people.

Other than bi-weekly meetings, our communication was almost done by emails, which enabled me to learned how to politely email in Japanese. In the past, when emailing in Japanese, I had to search for and check the politeness word by word online, but now, to a large extent, I can directly type without copy-and-paste. Some people may think the Japanese email is full of meaningless and overwhelming greetings, but I do appreciate the warmth and the respect show in the email by the routine “お疲れ様です” and “お手数をお掛けしますが、どうぞ宜しくお願いします”.

Moreover, as a volunteer, I had gone through almost every process of publishing a journal: making plans, writing, proofreading, and editing, which involve lots of detail-oriented works, such as reading the draft aloud to find missing particles and grammatically incorrect expressions, and word choosing, as the above-mentioned. The most difficult part in the proofreading is to make every sentence easier to understand in both Japanese and English. And as a non-native English and Japanese speaker, it is about mutual learning. I pointed out my suggestions to the contents, and I got invaluable advice from other volunteers on the article I wrote in Japanese and English. I would say how much you can learn depends on how you would like to raise questions no matter how trivial the detail seems to be. I enjoyed the mutually learning experience very much.

All in all, the volunteer experience with LIK was interesting and rewarding. As a foreigner I feel I was needed by everyone in every stage of the publishing work, from content writing to proofreading. On the other hand, I really appreciate the interaction with other members. I would definitely recommend the volunteer opportunity at LIK.

Mika Braun: Assistant English Teacher at Hiyoshigaoka High School

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For my CIP I volunteered at Hiyoshigaoka High School as an English teaching assistant. While I regretted not getting to use my language skills more, this was a valuable experience nonetheless. As I hope to return to Japan one day as part of the JET program, it was incredibly informative to see what the day-to-day life of an ALT looks like and hear about their experiences. Every Wednesday there are 5 ALTs at the school, which I hear is extraordinarily high number. Fortunately for me, I was able to talk to all of them about their time in the program and gained further insight into the experience. During one visit I sat in on a tutoring session where an ALT was helping a student with pronunciation differentiations. It was fascinating to observe how he described the mouth movements to better facilitate the sounds. I quickly found myself following his instructions and mouthing the words. I had never before considered the stark contrast between English and Japanese in terms of facial movements.

Since I go in the afternoons there is no fixed class, but an after-school, free-form English club. On Valentine’s Day there was big event where many students participated in themed, student-run activities. One such activity was こくはくreenactment skits in English. Students were given example situations in which to they had to こくはくsomeone (for example: on a train, at the beach…). This resulted in some high-quality acting and hilarious moments. Another one was a ‘speed dating’ activity, which I participated in along with the ALTs. We had to talk to the students and answer Valentine’s Day-related questions, which ranged from “What kind of candy do you like?” to “Should couples live together before marriage?” Needless to say the questions escalated realllly fast.

Engaging with the students was incredibly entertaining. One week we played an American pop music recognition game and they beat me with flying colors. Another week a student asked whether the McDonalds hamburgers in America were enormous in comparison to those in Japan. Unfortunately, the high school academic year started wrapping up last month and is now finished. I was unable to go in for a number of weeks because students were studying for and taking final exams. I wish I had known that this would be the case from the start of the KCJS semester and could have found an additional CIP activity, one that perhaps involved more Japanese practice. However, I hope to return at least once more before the end of the KCJS semester as the students return for the new school year.

Ka Kei Li: Volunteer at Kyoto International Manga Museum

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For my CIP, I volunteered at the Kyoto International Manga Museum once a week, alternating between reception/archive assistance. I loved manga when I was in middle school, so I thought, why not try to reignite that passion? Also I had always been wanting to experience working at a museum, therefore I chose this position.

This activity turned out to be way more formal than I thought it would be. I did not expect that I had to have an interview for this, and my name tag says “intern” instead of “volunteer.” I am expected to enter the office and greet everyone in a loud voice, saying “こんにちは。今からインターン入ります、よろしくお願いします！” “お先に失礼します。お疲れさまでした。” everytime I start working and leave, as if I were an employee of the museum. On the first day, my supervisor Watanabe-san told me this is basic etiquette and that she herself does that every day as well. As it was still early into the semester when I started volunteering, I felt like I embarrassed myself countless times by not suing the proper honorific speech towards the staff. The set phrases and almost ritualistic greetings were a little difficult to get used to, and I was slightly uncomfortable about how demanding they were towards their only volunteer. Yet thanks to this I’m able to get a taste of the Japanese workplace early on, and since the staff was generally really nice to me, I gradually got accustomed to the environment.

On my reception days I did translation, both verbal and written, to assist them during Chinese New Year when Chinese tourists flocked to Japan. Behind the reception counter I observed the hospitality and efficiency Japan prides in proximity. They are extremely observant; the receptionists would actively look for foreign tourists who need help, while handling a wide range of administrative tasks. Sometimes I even felt that they are excessively polite, even towards me. I translated a list of phrases into Chinese for the shop staff, and they thanked me repeatedly, even though I also replied “you’re welcome” repeatedly. Besides that, I got to have casual conversations with the receptionists during times that weren’t very busy, but I noticed that all of them tend to start conversations with small talks, and they would even repeat what they said. For example, they would start with “the rain is pretty bad recently, yeah?” and whenever there’s a pause in the conversations they would bring it up again and again: “rainy days make me feel sleepy” “I hope next week will be sunny”. . . Although the conversations would have been carried on fine without those fillers, I appreciate their effort in filling up the silence.

When I get to stay in the reading room and assist with book organization or preservation, I don’t really get the chance to converse with Japanese people. However one thing I learned from handling books in the reading room is that the Japanese really do research on everything ever. Since the reading room is mainly used for research purposes, the majority of the books there are research or theory publications on manga. I was astonished by how specific and obscure the topics can be, such as “on the evolution of the depiction of ballet in manga” or “reality as a fictitious narrative.” I returned during my free time to read some of these books.

Volunteering at the Kyoto International Manga Museum was in many ways rewarding. My duties went beyond my expectations, but I got the opportunity to explore Japanese culture not only through being in a Japanese workplace, but also through having casual conversations with the staff, and taking a glimpse into the massive collection of publications of the museum. Also, my time there did reignite my passion towards manga.

Avni Rajpal: Volunteering with Niconico Tomato

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Like many KCJS students before me, I volunteered with Niconico Tomato at Kyoto University Hospital for my CIP. I spent time making artsy decorations and doing activities with the children and their parents. Having read a bunch of previous students’ CIP blogs I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was going into, but the experience surprised me in a number of wonderful ways.

I was initially struck by the unique linguistic challenge that comes with volunteering to help kids alongside a group of おばあちゃん (grandmotherly older women) – switching rapidly between casual and formal speech. I had gotten used to a です/ます(formal) in the classroom and short form with my host family kind of lifestyle, and I greatly struggled with the fact that in the real world things aren’t quite so smooth. For weeks I lived in fear of offending one of the volunteers, or potentially addressing a baby in 敬語 (honorific speech). Through this volunteer experience, I was able to practice and improve my speaking to be appropriate to the situation and involved.

Another thing that really blew me away was the painstaking detail in in all the craftwork. For Halloween and Christmas parties for example, every card was made incredibly patiently with a number of different details carefully assembled together to create something beautiful, colorful and fun. Maeguchi Sensei told me that everything was taken care to be absolutely perfect because for the kids, every event could potentially be their last. This really touched me and made me more truly appreciate the happy environment that niconico Tomato creates for chronically ill children and their families in an incredibly tough situation.

The volunteers were kind and helpful, and though I was shy at first I began to feel like a part of the group with time. I had a lot of fun with the kids, because sometimes even when a group of lovely volunteers dedicates their day to planning a new and exciting activity, everyone just wants to play with blocks in the playroom. I might not have made lifelong connections through this experience but I’m glad I was able to meet the people I did and see the world of good that well organized volunteering can do.

Jiayi Huang: Assistant English Teacher at a local elementary school

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For my CIP this semester I worked as an assistant English teacher in a local elementary school. I chose this CIP because I wanted to know what is the nature of Japanese schools. Also, I grew up taking English as Second Language courses so I wanted to compare the English classes taught in Japanese schools to the classes I have had.

I go to this elementary school every Wednesday or Friday afternoon and rotate between four classes of the six grade. I was surprised to find out that each class has one teacher who teaches all the subjects. As a result, the progress and difficulty of the English classes are largely depended on different teachers. For example, one class is more advanced and is learning things outside of the textbook while another class sticks to the same page for two weeks just because they have different teachers. Another thing that strikes me is that even though it is an English class, most part of it is still conducted in Japanese. For instance, the listening comprehension has Japanese translation following right after the English part so the students would wait for the Japanese part and ignore the first English half. Also, students do not practice writing in English at all and they write answers in Japanese on the textbook. There are a lot of differences between the Japanese English classes and those that I took in Chinese elementary school. Japanese elementary school starts learning English in the fifth grade but we started learning basic English such as “A for apple” since the first grade. And the teachers are in charge of teaching one subject in about four classes and make sure that everyone are on the same page.

Japanese elementary students are a lot louder and in disordered than I expected. Japanese students talk among themselves during classes and the teachers will just look at them and wait for them to quiet down. When I am reading the listing comprehension materials out loud I have to raise my voice so that the students would pay attention to me. Sometimes the teachers will apologize to me after class for that. I discussed about this situation with my host family and they told me that if the teachers do anything aggressive in correcting students they would often get sued by parents and lost their job. I also learned that Japanese elementary students wear short pants even in winter. When I talked to Nakamura sensei in class she told me that there is this concept in Japanese that “子供は風の子,” or kids can still play around even in cold wind. However, in terms of language, the Japanese students are more polite. For example, after Japanese students finish cleaning classrooms and when they return their keys they say “〇年〇組の〇〇です。〇〇室のカギをお返しに来ました。”at the door of the teachers’ office. Another example is that when students finish answering a question they will ask the class “どうですか。” and the class will answer “いいです。”

Overall the students and teachers were very nice to me and it was a great experience to see how Japanese elementary schools actually are. And I was able to compare the English classes taught in Japanese schools to the classes I have had. The students sometimes come talk to me after class and after I dyed my hair they taught me the word “イメチェン” which means one changed one’s image. I learned more about Japanese culture and made friends with six-graders and I hope I can meet those students in the future.

Hyun Woo Kim : Bazaar Cafe

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By working at Bazaar Café, I was able to work directly alongside Japanese workers. In doing so, I got to pick up a lot of Japanese terms related to cleaning and cooking. I was able to learn words like 布巾, the cloth you use to wipe the dishes, and 吹く, to wipe. I was also able to learn about Japanese phrases and etiquette used in the workplace. For instance, I learned that when leaving before everyone else, you say お先に失礼します as opposed to お疲れ様です.

Bazaar Café serves as a place where people who would typically be considered social outcasts in Japan can work and be a part of a supporting community. I remember on my first day of work, all the workers at the café gathered in front of me to introduce themselves. Some gave a short introduction regarding their name and how they would like to be called. Others, in addition to their names, spoke frankly about their past troubles, ranging from drug addictions to mental health issues. I was taken aback by how honest they were about their past problems, and I came to understand that this was possible because of Bazaar Café. It truly was a safe haven where people can talk frankly to one another without fear of judgement. A month or so later, I had a more in-depth talk with one of the works. The conversation began naturally, and they spoke matter-of-factly about their past addiction, health, and sexual orientation. The degree of trust they had in me was something I had not witnessed in Japan up until that day. In return, I came to respect and trust them as well.

Working at Bazaar Café was truly an eye-opening experience. It was helpful in a practical sense because I got to learn about important workplace phrases and mannerism. But perhaps more importantly, it allowed me to learn about Japan as a society and hear about these hardships that are not openly discussed. I felt part of a tight, trusting community, and I felt like I was able to see a side of Japan that I would not have been able to had I done my CIP elsewhere,

Alex Hutchins: Bazaar Cafe

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I have enjoyed volunteering at Bazaar Cafe on Friday afternoons for many more reasons other than my love of doing dishes. This is to say that I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet people in Japan who embody narratives outside of the societal norm — who break down oft-repeated monolithic statements about Japan’s cultural homogeneity. Granted, I came into this experience with a certain level of background knowledge surrounding Japan’s cultural diversity, but it is another thing in its entirety to meet and speak with people who have had those experiences. I have witnessed a group of people — there are a wonderful volunteers at Bazaar Cafe –who are dedicated to ensuring that Kyoto welcomes ALL people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. I did a lot of dishes at Bazaar, but I was also able to do a lot of thinking — and I think it is because of the people I met here at my CIP that have made me realize that Kyoto is a place that I will definitely be returning to. Recently the cafe hosted its annual event at the end of November celebrating inclusivity and featuring food and goods from organizations representing groups from places such as Okinawa, Syria, Korea, and so on. This demonstration of community, aside from Kyoto’s physical beauty, has made the main hours of washing and drying worth it, and makes me excited for my future efforts to go to graduate school in this city. For me, Bazaar Cafe made Kyoto “home.”