「にこにこトマト」というボランティアグループは京都大学の病院の小児科病棟で病気の子供の相手をしています。私はそこでボランティアをしています。
私は「にこにこトマト」でいろいろなことで子供を手伝っています。たとえば、最近私たちはハロウィーンのカードを作ったんですが、とてもていねいに作りました。他には、がざりつけを準備した時、しわや隙間を全部とりました。「にこにこトマト」のボランティアはとても献身的です。毎日いろいろなイベントがあります。もうすぐ、ハロウィーンのパーティーがありますから、病気の子供達も楽しいことができます。私も手伝えることが本当に楽しみです。遊ぶ部屋で子供と遊ぶのです。子供は衣装を着て、トリック·オア·トリートをして、一緒に歌を歌って、ゲームをします。
「にこにこトマト」は本当にいいことだと思います。
CIPのために、私は日本に来る前に先生になることに決めました。でも、今週の月曜日まで（１０月２１日）私のCIPはまだ始まっていませんでした。私と他の先生になりたい留学生はよく開晴中学校の先生にメールをお送りしましたが、予定が忙しかったので、解決策を待ちました。でも、最近予定ができて、月曜日に中学校に行きました。
着いた時、先生にお会いして、他のボランティアにも会いました。日本語であいさつをして、ちょっと喋りました。それから、フィリップというボランティアは私を案内してくれました。学校はすごくきれいで、楽しいところのようでした。私の子供の時の学校を考えたら、ちょっとうらやましくなりました。
２時２０分に私の英語のクラスが始まりました。私はちょっと緊張していましたが、自己紹介をしました。それから、学生が先週のテストをもらって間違えた質問をなおさなきゃいけなかったから、私はよく先生の日本語での説明を日本語で聞きました。日本語で英語の教え方を聞くことはものすごく面白かったと思います。
この初めての経験はとてもいいけど、私はちょっとびっくりしました。日本に来る前の日本人の学生のイメージと反対に、中学校の一年生はすごく元気でしたが、少し失礼でした。先生が教えている間、色々な学生はうるさく話していました。それで、時々立って教室の中を走りました。私は本当に信じられませんでした。たぶん、まじめに習う事の方が英語より大切です。この二つについて、将来先生のお手伝いができれば、と思います。
今年の四月に、KCJSを申し込み始まった時、プログラムと活動について読んで、すぐに「CIP」に興味を持ちました。日本人の学生と市民と会えて、いっしょに働けて、友達になれる機会です。実は、僕は、おもしろくてクリエイティブな人と知り合いになりたかったのです。始めKCJS「CIP」の活動リストを読んだ後で、特に興味が沸く活動が見つけられませんでした。去年の夏には、ビデオと写真を取る仕事をしましたから、日本に住みながら、その趣味を続けたかったです。だから、ちょっと楽しみではありませんでした。でも、KCJSの「CIP」の発表で、新しい選択肢が発表され、その日、HUBについて知りました。
HUBは僕にとって最高の機会です。去年の夏、非営利団体で仕事をしました。HUBは新しい非営利団体です。たくさんの広報活動の物を速く作らなくてはいけませんが、僕はビデオを作るのが大好きです。僕が作った最初のビデオを見せたら、HUBでは、皆とてもびっくりしていました。皆が楽しんでくれたから、僕はもっと自由に色々なことができるようになりました。秋期が終わる前に、プロみたいな広報のビデオを作りたいです。あまり時間がないけど、楽観しています。時間があったら、このプロジェクトします。HUBの皆といっしょに、すばらしい物を作れると思います。
私はCＩPとして、英語を教えることをえらびました。 京都文教高校の竹内先生の学生と英語で会話をします。 行く日は週によって違います。週末に先生から連絡をもらって、何曜日に行ったらいいかを確認します。同志社から地下鉄の烏丸線にのって、烏丸御池駅で東西線に乗りかえます。東山駅を出たら、学校まで歩いてのは５分です。行く時、たくさんの自動販売機とお土産屋さんの前を通ります。守衛さんから、番号が書かれた名札をまらって、入ります。
クラスが終わってから、二人の女子高生と話します。竹内先生のクラスの生徒達は先学期オーストラリアのアデレード市に留学しました。だから、その二人は英語の会話を練習し続けたいのです。会話では生活とか留学の経験など、色々なことについて話します。学生はすこし恥ずかしがりやなので、一緒懸命考えて、いろいろな質問を聞かなきゃなりません。「はい」と「いいえ」で答えられる質問をさけることが必要だと学びました。そんな質問を聞くと、高校生は簡単に「はい」か「いいえ」で答えてしまって、それ以外は何も言わないのです。
時々問題もありますが、先生と学生はとても優しいので、私にとって、いい経験になると思います。
私は色々な活動をしています。まず、１０月から上京中学校で英語ボランティアを始めました。今、英語スピーチ大会の為に練習をしている優秀な二人の学生達を手伝っています。学生が朗読するのを聞きながら、発音とか言い方が間違った時、その問題点を書いておいて、練習が終わってから学生に指摘しています。勿論間違いばかり指摘するのは厳しいので、その前に学生の長所も褒めています。そうすれば学生も自信が付いて、もっと努力するようになると思うのです。この学生達とは英語の指導ばかりしているのではなくて、単なるお喋りをしながら時間を過ごすこともあります。
もう一つ、京都大学のJusticeというバレーボール部にも入っています。このサークルは毎週２回あるいは３回試合を行っています。みんなは自由な時間に来て、バレーボールをしながら楽しくストレスを解消しています。初心者も歓迎し、丁寧にバレーボールの仕方も教えてくれる優しいチームです。このサークルは楽しいことは楽しいのですが、私は実は少し満足してない点があります。普段はあまり他のメンバーと話す機会がないのです。もしかして私が外国人だから私と話さないのかという気もします。私だけ同志社大の学生だし、それに外国人なので、他のメンバーに話し掛けるのは思ったより難しいです。今はその壁を越えるのが目標です。でも私の低い日本語の能力で本当に出来るのでしょうか？
I think the biggest difference I’ve noticed between volunteering in America and volunteering in Japan is definitely the sense of responsibility that each volunteer has towards the group. I think that sometimes, in America, especially within the college community, people just choose to join volunteer groups at random, coming and going at will. However, at Nico Toma, it seems that most of the volunteers at Nico Toma have had personal experiences related to the Kyoto University pediatrics ward. In any case, it is clear that, while the atmosphere may be very cheerful and light, they are all very devoted to this particular group. Though this may just be a result of the nature of the volunteer group, I feel that Japanese volunteers are much more dedicated to their tasks.
I’ve also noticed that the volunteers at Nico Toma are very particular about small details. Each detail of the project at hand is discussed by the group, down to the color and thickness of the pipe cleaners used to make the handles for the tiny bags that will hold candy to be distributed at the children’s art exhibition. While in America, these details might be overlooked and considered irrelevant, I found it refreshing and fun to work on simple things so thoroughly, since our hard work made the final products something that we could all be proud of. Furthermore, I found it interesting that this level of attention to detail was a given in any project, be it pricing used goods for the bazaar, or coloring next month’s calendar, or hanging up seasonal decorations in the children’s ward.
Overall, while I may not have necessarily been accepted as a fully fledged member of the group, I did enjoy my time at Nico Toma as much for the insight into Japanese culture as for the empathy for and awareness of these children’s situations that I feel I’ve gained, even if only a little. At the risk of sounding cheesy, I hope that I was able to help these children even if it was in a small, indirect way. Thank you, Nico Toma!
An important part of the KCJS program is the Community Involvement Project, CIP, which encourages students to engage in an extracurricular activity where they will be much more submersed in Japanese culture outside of the classroom. Examples of potential CIP activities include Japanese archery, tea ceremony, martial arts, sports, farming, international exchange circles, and various kinds of volunteer work among other possibilities. It was difficult at first I think for many students to find a fulfilling activity before expanding our networks in the Kyoto area. While it is significantly more difficult to find an activity in the spring due to many Japanese universities being on break, the fall semester overlaps well with the Japanese school year, making it simpler to find activities which will fill the CIP requirement. However, I think the value of the CIP depends primarily on individual students’ efforts, and the fact that universities are mostly on break during this time can lead to students finding even more valuable CIP groups.
For the first semester, I was unsure at first what kinds of activities would be available for me, and chose tennis as a safe option, as the group meets regularly, and with my skill level I would be able to adapt relatively quickly. In retrospect I would say there was nothing wrong with this decision, but I feel that overall it held little value for me as a cultural experience compared to other possible activities. After a few weeks I began to find other ways of integrating myself into the community, such as Taiko lessons, English instruction, and volunteering with disabled youth and kindergarteners. I enjoy tennis, but it has limited value as a way of learning about Japanese culture compared to these other activities.
Currently, my primary extracurricular activity is volunteer work at the Aiai House, a social welfare corporation where staff members take care of youth with disabilities, which span a large variety of physical and mental handicaps. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the staff here by the woman at whose house I teach English once a week. I can say without a doubt this has been the most worthwhile experience of my year abroad.
The Aiai House is divided into two floors. The residents on the 2nd floor are for the most part less disabled than those on the 1st floor, and in fact the 2nd floor residents work with the staff to operate a bakery once a week to raise money for the Aiai House. While their capabilities are limited, each one of the residents has a job in this process. The activities at the Aiai House keep them physically and mentally stimulated while providing them with a means of bringing in a small amount of money for their families. The staff members regularly conduct these kinds of activities that go above and beyond their duties in helping to keep the residents healthy and stimulated, kindness reflected even more so in the fact that they give this time for relatively small compensation. I have also felt this kindness ever since I started volunteering, as staff members have even invited me for dinner at their homes on occasion, and always go out of their way to involve me in conversations. One of the staff even offered to have me stay with her family during the New Year’s period when she heard that I would not be allowed to stay with my home stay family. Over time I have also become a recognized member of the staff in the eyes of the residents, and I feel grateful to have earned this level of trust with them. In some ways, I am also glad that the novelty of my being a foreigner has subsided, meaning I can experience more natural interactions not as heavily influenced by my foreignness.
Over time I have noticed my attitude and perspective with regard to the group changing and maturing. I sometimes almost forget their disabilities, in the sense that I see them simply as other friends who just communicate differently. Spending time with them has helped me understand their individual personalities and methods of communication, which are far more complex than I had anticipated. Understanding the personalities of people with disabilities also gives deep insight into the fundamental differences between American and Japanese mindsets. For example, one of the people I help take care of on the second floor cannot speak, but is highly insistent on following manners, and will not be satisfied until she is sure every person says “itadakimasu” before eating, and “gochisousamadeshita” after finishing. I feel very lucky to have met this group, and plan to continue my volunteer work with them until I leave Japan later in the summer.
While there are many ways in which my study abroad experience has been enriched by this volunteer work, above all, the relationships I have forged at the Aiai House are the most valuable thing I have come away with in my time here.
It’s a little hard to give you all an update on my CIP since the school has been on break for the last few weeks. Instead, I’d like to talk about my observations of Japanese high school life and the high school system, since I can go into more detail in an English blog post.
I wish I could sit in on (and understand!) some of the non-English language classes, if only to see if their as boring as people tell me they are. I know I already mentioned this in my last blog post, but it really shocked me when I asked my high schoolers what their favorite subjects were, and they looked at me like this was an inconceivable notion. They truly don’t seem to enjoy any of their classes, and the kind of system that shuts people down like that is pretty concerning.
Though, of course, I’ve heard equally bad things about the American public education system, so I should really stop judging the Japanese system. Growing up, one of my childhood friends was too smart for the classes he was in, and his boredom and frustration caused him to just give up on doing schoolwork altogether, until he had terrible grades when really he should have had amazing ones. But the thing is, people like that, in the U.S., can get a second chance. He eventually wound up at community college, got a 4.0 there for two years, and transferred into UC Berkeley. Frankly, he saved a ton of money on tuition for the first two years, and now he’ll get a degree from a world class university. Not too shabby.
People here don’t seem to have those kinds of chances. There’s not a lot of room for alternative paths. It makes me think about the Ghibli movie, Whisper of the Heart, where the main character, Shizuku, decides not to focus on schoolwork and to pursue her dreams instead. She’s lucky enough to have parents who encourage that kind of thinking, but even so they warn her that she will have no one to blame but herself if not getting the right test scores ruins her life from then on. And her sister gets angry because she believes that you only get options in life if you play by the rules—only by getting into a top notch high school will the main character have multiple doors open to her.
On another note, one other thing that really took me aback was the discovery that the class with whom I’ve interacted the most, a group of middle school girls whose English teacher is actually an American guy from Wisconsin, is considered the advanced/special English track class. That surprised me for two reasons. First, honestly, they didn’t seem that much better than some of the younger students in the normal track. They knew more vocabulary, but they practiced talking about nearly the same things as the younger kids. Maybe that’s not something to be blamed on them, but on the course syllabus and the rigidity of the way the Japanese education system teaches English. Second, the girls had always struck me as extremely cheerful and outgoing, almost to the point of obnoxiousness (like I said, discipline in the middle school section is pretty lax) but it turns out that they, as a class, are kind of outcasts at school. During a break between classes, most students flooded the hallways, chatting with friends at lockers or visiting friends in other classrooms. But these girls all stayed in their one little classroom, talking to each other. When I asked one of them why they did not also go out into the hallways, she told me that they don’t really have other friends. Very sad!
For my CIP this semester I have been working as an English Assistant at Kamigyo Middle School, just a ten-minute walk from Doshisha’s campus. Since our semester does not quite fit with Japanese middle school semesters, it has been about one month since I last volunteered there. Since then I have stayed involved with Japanese communities on a smaller scale: going to events with my host family, meeting with my language partner, and making new Japanese friends through other KCJS-ers. Though my CIP has been less active this semester than last, I feel that I’ve been a more active Kyoto-an this semester than last.
My job at Kamigyo Middle School mainly involves doing practice interviews with students, though I have also been asked to help out with homework. During the time I was volunteering the school year was coming to an end, so I believe the students had important tests that they were preparing for.
The way we practiced interviews was as follows: I would tell the student to come in and tell me their name, they would read the passage, I would ask them to read the passage aloud, and then they would answer questions. Though most of the readings and questions were quite useful, covering important basic topics, there were a few that I found responsible for carrying stereotypes—those that generalized facts or compared cultures in a light that made the Japanese reader clearly side with the Japanese custom.
Unfortunately, because I only got to volunteer a few times, I didn’t get to know the kids as well as I would have liked (I would have loved to go twice a week!). However, I have learned a few things I hadn’t thought of that would be useful when teaching English to Japanese middle school students. First of all, it helps to be up to date on the current popular movies, anime, etc. – media is one of the easier things for the students to talk about in English and I remember missing out on a conversation with one student because I didn’t know anything about the movie she was excited about. I also found that – despite the idea I’d heard that English teachers should never speak Japanese so as to maintain their English-only image – Japanese was helpful if not necessary for teaching English. If I hadn’t known Japanese I wouldn’t have been able to help with Japanese-to-English translation homework or been able to explain the meaning behind small grammar corrections.
I am glad to have gotten the opportunity to work at Kamigyo Middle School, and I hope I get to go volunteer a few more times before I leave Kyoto!
My recent weeks at NikoToma have gone more smoothly than the weeks preceding them I think. Perhaps that can be attributed to me getting over the initial disappointment I harbored about not being able to play with children. I was under the impression that we [the volunteers] would be doing activities with children every week, but I quickly learned that wasn’t the case. However, as one of my teachers commented, it is volunteer work after all, and more often than not, volunteers have to do rather less-than-pleasant tasks, so「仕方がない」. If we did not do those small, tedious tasks—using toothpicks to pick up microscopic cutouts of animals and painstakingly glue them to bite-sized paper handbags; making sure to find a “balance” when arranging goody bags, lest the aesthetics of the candy be ruined, even though the kids are just going rip it open in crazed excitement —who would?
At this point, I know it seems like I’m actually belittling the program with sarcasm, but I’m not. I’ve grown to genuinely appreciate (if not enjoy) the things we do at NikoToma, whatever they may be, because I know we are providing the volunteer group with help that it needs. Besides that, it just so happens that all of (or almost all of) the students in KCJS from Boston University participate in this CIP, and this has instilled a certain amount of pride in me about being a part of it. And that’s enough to make me happy about going.