「Volunteering」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Justin Chao: HUB Kyoto

投稿日時: 投稿者:

Upon hearing about KCJS’ CIP requirement, I found myself struggling with 2 possible choices. The first was to pursue my interests and seek some kind of personal project; examples being to learn a form of Japanese craft such as an instrument or Karate or something along those lines, and the other being to pursue an opportunity that would be help me in finding a job after college. I decided upon the latter, participating in Impact HUB Kyoto. What initially drew me to HUB was the laid-back environment and overall emphasis on being a self-starter. This did not change throughout the semester, as the laid-back environment and encouragement of pursuing individual interests and projects did not cease to exist. As an example, I initially started on a Facebook/social media project where I would supplement HUB Kyoto’s Facebook page with my own page in English. However, after a period of research, I had second thoughts pertaining to the practicality of such a project, and instead, worked on translating newsletters from Japanese into English. The flexibility and encouragement permeating through HUB was a huge positive for me, as it allowed me to pursue projects related to my interests; social media marketing and translation, whilst volunteering under an entrepreneurship network that could help me out in the future, as far as finding work.

On the topic of the HUB network, another aspect that greatly interested me was the overall atmosphere and manner in which HUB is run. Because its members are so laid-back and emphasize self-starting, HUB stands in firm contrast to my image of a stereotypical Japanese business. One characteristic of culture shock I have experienced is how intense Japanese working ethics and culture is, and after being involved with HUB for a period of time, I am very happy to see that although the Japanese salaryman life is not particularly all fun and games, there are always exceptions, of which is exemplified by HUB. Granted, HUB is a worldwide network of entrepreneurs, however it is encouraging to know that if I were to absolutely want to try and pursue opportunities in Japan in the future, I am not necessarily confined to the never-ending hustle of a typical Japanese corporation.

Overall, I am happy to have been involved with HUB Kyoto. There have certainly been times where it felt like actual work as opposed to a fun way to get involved in the Kyoto community, but in retrospect the opportunities to pursue projects such as social media marketing in a Japanese context and translation work, as well as the experience of feeling the positive community of HUB first-hand are truly an invaluable experience for me. If my time in Kyoto had been longer, and my schedule was not so confined by school and the home-stay, I feel as if HUB would had been exactly the kind of opportunity I was looking for, as far as doing something fun and productive in Japan for an indefinite period of time.

Romana Perez: Niconico Tomato

投稿日時: 投稿者:

           For the past 8 months I have been volunteering at Niconico Tomato, a volunteer group at Kyoto University Hospital. I have had the opportunity to help kids staying long-term in the hospital. Most of what Nicotoma does is to create events for the children. At Nicotoma we often create intricate cards, do crafts with the kids, and have sales to raise money. I’ve particularly enjoyed created various crafts and using my hands to create something beautiful that a kid can enjoy. I am really glad to help the children have fun and I want to continue to do similar things in the future.

            Since I am leaving soon and returning back to America, I often think about how I can continue to help children in America with a similar program. I know there are programs at hospitals in the US, but they are often very different. The ability to play with the kids as a volunteer is the same, but often fun activities and events are lacking. I also find the attention to detail to be lacking as well. At Nicotoma, all seasonal decorations are taken care of very carefully and used year after year, where in the US new ones are often bought or old ones are easily damaged. Also, at Nicotoma every craft is organized and planed out in advanced, which allows the cards we make to be intricate, but very easily put together. I don’t imagine American programs to be as detailed and they would probably be bought. From what I’ve seen and heard from friends in the US who have volunteered in similar programs, the kids usually make crafts but rarely receive them from staff. Also, the regulations and rules for American programs are very strict and can restrict the fun the children can have. For example, a lot of the events we have at Nicotoma give the kids a lot of sweets. In America, since childhood obesity is a big problem, I don’t think we could do similar activities.  

Either way, if I do become a doctor I want to continue to help however I can. I also want to maybe take what I’ve learned from Nicotoma to improve any program I’ll participate in the future. One idea I have if I am able, is to maybe set up a pen-pal system between American children and Japanese children. I think it would be a very cool activity for kids to talk to each other around the world, especially ones with similar situations. So hopefully I can accomplish that goal.

            One thing that remains the same between the two countries is the energy of the kids, and I want to protect their hopeful outlook on life. I’m a little sad to leave Nicotoma, but I know they will continue to give excellent care toward the kids. I’m glad to have been able to make a difference, however small. I’m glad to have picked this as my CIP. I am also grateful to the kindness of the members of Nicotoma who were always helpful and generous. I had a lot of fun (and snacks!) and I am just very grateful for the experience.

Aubrey Harper: Pottery class and Klexon

投稿日時: 投稿者:

I started off this quarter doing the same project as last quarter, pottery lessons.  I started the lessons late so they carried over to the first half of this quarter.  I really enjoyed the lessons, but when it was over I wanted to find a CIP that didn’t cost as much money. One that cost no money would be even better.  So that narrowed my options down to clubs and volunteering, unfortunately the circles at Doshisha weren’t very active this semester because the Japanese students were on spring break for two months in February and March.  I began to look into volunteering opportunities, but I was wary of committing myself to something when I was going to be gone in a month and a half.  I was rereading the other student’s entries to try and find something and I stumbled upon Klexon.

Klexon is an international language exchange organization.  They have a meeting each week; they also have special events on weekends occasionally. I have only gone to a few meetings, but it isn’t as awkward as I thought that it was going to be at first.  I am a rather shy person; I’m not big on talking to strangers in English, let alone in Japanese.  But I found that many of the other people at Klexon, were just as nervous to talk to me, which somehow made it less daunting.  Many of the Japanese people at Klexon are students, but there are also a lot of office workers, who are transferring to an English speaking country or have spent time working in an English speaking country before. I also met a man who just quit his job and was planning on traveling the world.  Because Klexon is meant to be a language exchange program, talking to and making friends with the other people is expected and I found that while many people were shy like me, it wasn’t so hard after a few minutes to keep a conversation going.

With pottery lessons on the other hand, I felt like an outsider very keenly for most of the classes. I was not only a foreigner but also much younger than the other students and a first-time potter. Eventually I began to feel like I was gaining ground in the group, but soon after that the classes were over. I think that if it had been a longer class I would have been able to make more progress. I’m not sure that there is really a secret to making integration into the group easier, if there is I would like to know it. For me it just took time and being polite.

Cameron Bothner: Impact Hub Kyoto

投稿日時: 投稿者:

Impact Hub Kyoto is an intense choice for CIP, make no mistake. The organisers,
since day one, have referred to us as interns, and it’s an accurate designation.
Impact Hub is no minimal-effort choice, but I’ve never been one to pick the
minimal-effort option.

If I had one fewer draw on my attention, then I would have been able to give as
much of my time as Impact Hub initially wanted. They asked for three hours of
work and one long hour of check-in meeting a week, plus regular attendance and
assistance at events. And I would have given it all, too; Hub is a cool
organization building the right kind of community and encouraging the right kind
of innovative-slash-disruptive ventures. As it turned out, after a near
thirty-hour weekly commitment to Japanese class, two arduous afternoon classes,
and an understandable desire to form meaningful personal relationships in this
new country, I only had two hours a week to spare. To see it written makes it
look like very little, but it was enough time each week to finish a draft of my
flyer template which I would receive comments on the following week.

More than just being an interesting project, however, Hub is a great place to
meet friendly, interesting people. The space, a cool retrofitted Noh Theatre,
encourages collaborative work and conversation, and there were always a few
members milling about. Impact Hub members are by their nature fascinating
people: artists, activists, academics, and entrepreneurs, and at events or
during the afternoon, conversation was always engaging.

However, either Hub is not really a characteristically Japanese organisation, or
Japanese organisations aren’t really that different from American ones. (I’m
inclined to think that it’s certainly not the second option.) Impact Hub
encourages individual creativity and emotional honesty, and a number of the
members’ English was better than all of our Japanese. This made Hub a
comfortable place to work, certainly, but I recognise that that aspect runs
contrary to the goals of the CIP.

Impact Hub Kyoto is not the CIP for everyone. In fact, it wasn’t the CIP for
everyone, and some found others after a few weeks. But I found it a valuable
experience.

ギルモア・コリン：Impact Hub Kyoto

投稿日時: 投稿者:

私はCIPでImpact Hub Kyotoという団体でボランティアしました。HUBは何か達成したい信条を持っている人のコミュニティです。HUBでは、その信条を果たすのを手伝うために、色々な面白い人に会ったり、新しい事をならったり、助力を貰ったり、協力をしたりできます。

私と一緒に働くメンバーはエリさんとトモアツさんです。他のKCJSの学生もHUBでボランティアしています。エリさんとトモアツさんは私たちの色々なプロジェクトについて教えてくださいます。私のプロジェクトはニュースレッターのデザインを作ることでした。

それから、一ヶ月に一回、ボランティアでHUBのイベントに行かなければ行けません。それで、先週の金曜日にHUB Kitchenというイベントに行きました。そのイベントはHUBのコミュニティのメンバーの新しい本の出版を祝うためでした。そこで面白い人にたくさん会いまし た。同志社大学生と友だちになって、ザ・ラスト・サムライのガイドも会いました！すごく楽しかったです。

CIPのHUBの経験はとても楽しかったです。HUBのコミュニティにも京都のコミュニティにも接することができて嬉しいです。

トリ・モアー：ニコニコトマトのボランティア

投稿日時: 投稿者:

一ヶ月頃前、京都大学病院でニコニコトマトという組織で毎週水曜日ボランティアとして働き始めました。京都大学病院は鴨川の東側の今出川と四条のちょうど真ん中にあります。病院はその地域の一画の全部で、６階建てのすごい建物です。病院自体は四階建ての三十七の診療科がある病院で、しかもレストランとカフェも入っており、全体で一区画になっています。病院の雰囲気はビジネスライクでいつも込んでいます（でも、駅の混雑ほどという訳ではない）。医療に興味があると言っても、行き始めた時はすごく緊張していました。

京都大学病院でニコニコトマトのプレイルーム

京都大学病院でニコニコトマトのプレイルーム

しかし、四階の小さくて可愛いトマトのマスコットが貼ったドアを開け一歩入ったら、そのビジネスライクな雰囲気がすぐなくなってしまいます。たいてい来るボランティアは主婦で、皆いつも優しくて世話をしてくださる人です。ボランティアの係りの河合さんはいつもいて、その人はその日の予定を教えるくれ、三階にあるプレイルームで荒井さんという、子供に教えるのが上手な自然科学の先生を手伝いながら子供達と遊びます。プレイルームに行かない時、ニコニコトマトの普通の活動は募金活動のための商品を整理したり、 休日のスタッフのためにプレゼントを作ったりします。ボランティアをしたかったら、ニコニコトマトはいい場所で、私も再来週の行くのを楽しみにしています。

ニコニコトマトのホームページ

カメロン・ボスナー：Impact HUB京都

投稿日時: 投稿者:

私はImpact HUB京都でインターンシップのCIPをしているが、それを通じて親切で真面目な日本人と有意義な関係を築くことが出来た。よく習ったり、いい経験を得たりしているので、感謝している。では、HUBで何をしているか説明しようと思う。HUBではよく面白いイベントが企画されるが、他の人にイベントのことを詳しく知らせる必要がある。だから広報のために、宣伝ビラのテンプレートをデザインしている。将来のイベントの細部が簡単に入れられたり、見た目が纏まりがあるイメージを呈したりすることがテンプレートをデザインする意図である。
アメリカでも、このようなことをしたことがあるが、テンプレートを作る過程がちょっと違うと思う。アメリカでは、示達が綿密で、批評が直接的に行われるのに対して、日本では、初めは自由にすることが出来るが、相手が望む方法までやんわり方向付けられる。その上、言葉の壁があるから、意志疎通はやっぱり難しい。詰まる所、時々大変でも、多忙でも、本当にHUBでインターンシップすることはいい経験でだということである。

ジャスティン・チャオ：HUB Kyoto

投稿日時: 投稿者:

私のCIPはHUB Kyotoです。HUBは今出川の近くにあるから、キャンパスからは歩いて行けません。毎週、水曜日に一時から四時半ぐらいまでHUBでCIPをすることになっています。HUBにいる時、他のインターンと係の人とCIPの事をします。

これまで、CIPでは名刺の情報を新しいデータベースに入れる仕事をしてきました。これはちょっと易しそうけど、実は難しいと思います。よく名刺に人の名前が漢字だけで書いてあります。だから、漢字を読む練習として、いい練習だと思います。それから、その名詞について、どんな情報が書いてあるかがアメリカと比べると、とても面白いです。時々、その名刺に漢字だけあり、その名刺のデザインはシンプルで、ミニマリストです。そのミニマリストな名刺を受け取るのが日本の会社です。でも、時々、名刺が洋風なデザインで、漢字もあり、ローマ字もあり、その名刺の見た目がぜんぜん違うこともあります。専門が国際関係なので、このような事に興味があります。

 

ソローキナ・アナスタシャ：Deepest Kyoto Tour

投稿日時: 投稿者:

今学期のＣＩＰのため Deepest Kyoto Tour (DKT) という団体に参加しました。毎週水曜日、ひとまち交流感で開かれた会議でDKTのコーディネーターに会いました。そして、毎週土曜日と日曜日に、外国人のために作られたツアーを経験しました。DKTには同志社大学の交換留学生とKCJSの留学生の二人も参加したことは幸せでした。

この活動の最もいい点は日本語の勉強ができたことでした。毎週水曜日のミーティングで会社の仕事についての単語を学んだり、日本のマナーやEメールの書き方も練習できました。そして、ツアーで大工や学者、写真家などいろいろな人々に会い、それぞれの年齢や職業が違う人と話すようになりました。

このツアーで歴史についても多くの貴重なことを学びました。シネフィルの私に一番楽しい体験はおそらく映画村のスタジオツアーでした。しかし、他のツアーでユダヤ教と仏教の関係の仮説を初めて聞いたし、黒澤明の映画のもともとの撮影現場を歩いたり、古墳の中にも入ったりしました。

一方、時間の問題があってDKTをやめることにしたので、現在、私は新しい活動を探しています。探している活動は多様な人々に会えることが続けられる活動です。できれば、自分の気持ちや考えを想像的に表せるような活動もしたいと思います。

例えば、ダンスクラブに入り、体を動かす、それとも映画サークルに参加し、映画についての会話を楽しくする活動を目指しています。ＣＩＰに関して、将来には無限の可能性があるでしょう。

バネッサ・テナザス：善立寺保育園のボランティア

投稿日時: 投稿者:

今学期もCIPのために毎週火曜日３時から５時まで保育園でボランティアしています。４歳〜５歳の子供と一緒におやつを食べたり、話をしたり、砂場で遊んだりします。その他、テーブルを拭いて片付けることも砂をかき寄せることも自然に手伝うようになりました。

相変わらず子供達は早口の関西弁で話しますが、ほんの少しでも分かりやすくなってきた気がします。しかし、今もどのように日本の子供の悩みを解決すればいいのかまだ分かりません。幸いあまり真剣な事について相談されていませんが、はやく最もいい方法を見つけたいのです。先学期と比べると、先生に話しかけることに慣れてきたと思いますので、時々直接聞く方がいいかもしれません。

保育園の全員ともっと仲良くなるために、これからも頑張りたいと思います。できれば、英語か他のアメリカから来たことについて帰国する前に子供達に教えたいので、考えておきます。