「Boston University」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Phoebe Horgan: Kyudo

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For my CIP I chose to practice kyūdō, or Japanese archery, twice a week for an hour. I chose it mostly because of my previous experience with archery in the US. I practiced and competed in archery all throughout high school, but once I got to college I didn’t get the chance to keep up with it, and ended up dropping it completely. In my CIP, I wanted to try something uniquely Japanese, but also building off of my personal interests, so I ended up with kyūdō.

I was really interested in learning the differences between kyūdō and archery, as there are many. You draw back with your thumb, not your fingers, and wear this massive stiff glove on the hand you use to draw back the bowstring. You place the arrow on the outside of the bow, not the side closest to you. But overall the objectives of kyūdō and archery are very different. In archery, the goal is to hit the target dead center with precision and accuracy, so you can make the same shot over and over again. Every adjustment you make, and every time you change your form is just to better your score. But in kyūdō, the emphasis seems to be more on the act of shooting itself, and less on the results. There’s a formality to it that you find in martial arts and not so much in sports. Just a couple of months isn’t really enough to learn a great deal about practicing kyūdō, but I am thankful that I had the opportunity to try it.

Even so, I ended up quitting it a few weeks before the end of the semester, due to time constraints and stuff. Anyway, apparently it’s really important to Japanese people to have a proper formal farewell and apology if you ever decide to stop doing something, so the three of us who had continued doing kyūdō all had to go and explain our reasons for quitting and thank sensei profusely for all that she had taught us so far and for taking the time to teach us. Although to be frank, the teaching style for Japanese martial arts is very hands-off, so it didn’t particularly seem to take sensei much time at all. Still, it felt marginally better to have that closure than to just stop showing up, so I guess that’s a good thing.

Tyler Bartels: English Assistant, Soccer Circle

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Going into English teaching I had the mindset of learning about the education system, interaction with teachers and students, and preparing for potentially participating in the JET Program (Japan Exchange Teaching). What I soon discovered was I learned much more about Japanese social interaction by interacting with the 7th graders, whose class I was an assistant in. Every week I would go for almost 2 hours and assist in either 1 or 2 classes, allowing me to build a rapport with the students.

I ran into to two types of experiences with the kids. First, the shy kids were hesitant to even look me in the eye. Second, the outgoing kids had no boundaries when asking me questions. I was fascinated that these two extremes existed within the classroom. I had always assumed the Japanese school system was strict and disciplined, leading me to believe that the children I would encounter would fit that image. I found that the teachers and children actually joked around and in talking with the teacher discovered her genuine affinity for the classes. She would describe one class as the “bad boys,” another as having the “shy girls,” and in one case even joked at one girl being as loud as the boys. The point being, I was sorely mistaken on what the schooling system. That being said I was in a public school and can’t speak for the private school system. Regardless, I enjoyed my time with the kids and got a good laugh when they wanted to know if I had kissed my girlfriend before or not.

My second CIP was a Kyodai soccer circle. When I came to Japan the one thing I new for certain that I wanted to do, was play sports with the Japanese. I knew the language barrier would be an issue when trying to forge friendships with other Japanese students. Team sports offer another language with which to communicate, that is almost universal. Whether or not I was able to communicate well in Japanese, after each game we played there was a general atmosphere of closeness. What I found even more fascinating was attending a practice in which the freshmen were present. These freshmen had yet to even attend a day of school, but there ambition to meet new people, and openness to foreigners was shocking as well. Upon finishing practice the freshmen asked me to go to the hot baths after with them, we proceeded to all grab dinner after, and then walked part way home after the last bus had already gone. I can’t say this is the same for other circles, but the most outgoing and open people I have met in Japan have been in these sports circles, whether it be one of 3 soccer circles or 2 basketball circles I’m in.

フィービー・ホーガン：弓道

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私はCIPとして、弓道のレッスンを受けています。月曜日と木曜日に熊野神社の近くの武道センターで一時間のレッスンを受けます。他の二人の学生と一緒に行きますから、本当に楽しいです。

普通だったら、弓道を始めた後で三ヶ月は弓矢を使いません。だから、私たちもはじめは弓を使わないで動作だけを練習しました。でも、私たちはあまり時間がありませんから、川口先生は例外的な措置をしてくださって、二週間後に弓を使わせてくださいました。そしてその一週間後には矢も使いはじめました。

私はアメリカで何年もアーチェリーをしていましたから、弓道に興味を持ちました。アーチェリーと弓道は本当に違います。弓や体勢ややり方はとても違うのに、両方とも集中がとても大切です。難しいスポーツですが、集中すれば、頭が冷静になりますから、弓道が大好きです。

ディーン・ニュエン：京大病院ボランティアニコニコトマト

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京大病院の小児科病棟にニコニコトマトというボランティア団体があります。ニコニコトマトでは子供と色々な活動をしています。日によって違う活動をします。例えば、絵を描いたり、バザーをしたり、本を読んだり、歌を歌ったり、子供はたくさん活動が出来きます。

今学期、僕はニコニコトマトで手伝っています。子供が好きで、アメリカでもよく幼い親戚と遊んで、同じようなボランティアしたかったから、ニコニコトマトを選びました。一週間に一、二回行って、そこで子供と遊びます。プレールームに来た子供はいつも元気そうだし、満面の笑顔だし、大声で笑っているし、とても楽しい雰囲気です。最近、ニコニコトマトは20周年記念のイベントがあったから、他のボランティアする人とたくさん準備しました。準備している時、色々なことを話して、仲がよくなったと思います。

ニコニコトマトはとても楽しくて、面白い場所だと思います。

ガオ・ジャジン：陶芸レッスン

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私のCIPは陶芸レッスです。一週間に一回行って、３時間ぐらいかかります。学生の年齢とレブルはぜんぜん違うので、自分の能力によって、できる陶芸を作ります。学生のレブルは違うから、講義はないけど、質問があったら、個人的に教えてもらえます。私はボストン大学で一学期陶芸の授業を取ったことがあるので、日本の陶芸レッスは難しくないと思います。経験がないなら、日本語で陶芸レッスの内容は難しいかもしれないと思います。

授業の中で、先生は色々な陶芸についての単語を使うので、分からない言葉がたくさんあります。日本語の練習については、先生と話すチャンスがたくさんあります。しかし、陶芸レッスは静かなので、クラスメートと話すチャンスは少ししかありません。それから、陶芸をする人は年寄りが多いので、すごく上手ですから、日本語で話しにくいです。

しかし、最初レッスに行った時、神戸市から来た二人に会いました、その二人は簡単な言葉で良い説明をしてくれました。授業の後、一緒に抹茶ケーキを食べて、次に京都に来る時、もう一度会うという約束をしました。

陶芸を作ることは私の好きなことだから、時々難しいですが、楽しいです。

ガス・チャオ：座禅

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僕のCIPは座禅です。座禅というのは仏教の禅するという意味です。毎週、大徳寺に行きます。そこで座禅をします。一時間、床に座って、手で印 相を作って、床をじっと見て考えを捨てます。実は難しいです。十分後に半跏趺坐することは痛いです。半跏趺坐というのは英語でhalf-lotus positionの意味です。危座することも痛いです。お坊さんは僕の危座をよくなおしてくださいます。ちょっとはずかしいです。考えを捨てにくいです。でもそれは普通です。痛くなったり、考えを捨てられない時、お坊さんに 頭を下げると、お坊さんは僕の肩を打ちます。その後で半跏趺坐をなおしてもいいです。難しいですけどおもしろいです。

お坊さんと座禅した人とちょっと話せました。話せる時間は短い時間ですが、面白いことを見つけました。それは、時々日本 人は僕が日本人と間違えることです。最初、座禅のあと、お坊さんは僕に「日本人…じゃないね？」と聞いて、日本人じゃないと分かると、すごく驚かれまし た。他の時も日本人に間違えられました。

リード・富原：英語　アシスタント

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毎週上京中学校の英語の授業でボランティアをしています。一年生の村松先生という英語の先生の授業を手伝います。毎週火曜日に行って、金曜日にも時々行きます。同志社大学から上京中学校まで歩いて五分ぐらいしかかかりません。十一時半ごろから一時まで手伝います。

日によって違うクラスに行くから、毎回新しい経験です。村松先生の生徒は一年生だから、いつも笑っていて賑やかです。村松先生は僕に英語の文を読ませたり話させたりします。時々僕が英語のゲームを作っておいて、教室で学生とします。生徒は英語のレベルがちょっと低いから、うまく喋れないし、ちょっと恥ずかしがりやだから、僕に質問をあまりしません。でも、僕の目標は生徒が将来英語が上手になりたいと思わせることです。日本の学校の生活が見えるから、とても楽しくていい経験だと思います。

タイラー・バーテルズ：上京中学校の英語のボランティア、サッカーのサークル、バスケのサークル

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僕は留学している間にいろいろな活動をしています。最初に、二月から上京学校で先生と一緒に中学生に英語を教えます。普通の行く日は火曜日か金曜日。着いたら、先生のオフィスに行って、そして、村松先生を待ちます。その後、教室に行ったら、先生のパソコンといろいろな教えるものを運んで差し上げます。それから、英語を教え始めます。

中学生達はちょっとしか英語を習っているから、僕の一番大切な仕事は学生のモチベーションを高くすることです。例えば、僕は学生が発音を練習している時、最初に発音を言って、それから、学生が僕と同じ発音をしたいから、一所懸命練習します。それに、ゲームをする時、モチベーションのために、僕がちょっと日本語で言うと、学生は僕が日本語で話すことを聞いて、「外国人が日本語を習えれば、私たちも英語が習える」と考えます。

教えることとは別に、休み時間に、友だちと遊んで、そして、昼ご飯の休みの間に、学生とサッカーをします。

僕は二つサークルにも入っています。同志社のバスケサークルと京大のサッカーサークルに入りました。バスケのサークルは週によって、練習の曜日と時間が代わります。チームを作って、８分のゲームをして、それから、チームが代わります。来る人の数に応じて、色々なゲームをしたり、チームのメンバーをかえたり、します。男性のゲームの間、女性は短いゲームをします。サークルの中に女性が十人くらいいます。

サッカーのサークルは十時半から一時まで一週間に水曜日と土曜日にあつまります。ゲームの仕方はバスケのゲームのし方と似ています。けれども、女性が少しだけだから、一緒にサッカーをします。その後、一緒に昼ご飯を食べます。

Michele Li: Doshisha Animal Life Circle

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For my CIP, I participated in the Doshisha Animal Life circle with Ryan. It meets every Thursday at 6:30 at the Doshisha Shinmachi campus and this study group’s aim is to enrich their own knowledge on the current situations of animals around the world. But since there were school festivals (Clover Festival and EVE Festival) coming up and free papers they had to finish, their usual study meetings were put on hold to discuss what kind of booth they wanted to set up and what kind of layout they wanted for the free paper. As part of my CIP, I decided to observe if there were any differences in the way they treat foreigners as compared to the way they treat other Japanese students.

Through my participation, I realized that their attitude doesn’t depend on whether you’re a foreigner or a Japanese person, but whether they think of you as a friend or a stranger. If you were a complete stranger, as well as a foreigner, the club members tended to avoid striking up a conversation and preferred to ignore your presence. For example, when Ryan and I went to the first meeting, although they first greeted us with smiles and snacks, as soon as they started to discuss the festival preparations, they turned their backs to us and proceeded to speak amongst themselves. Not once during the meeting did they meet our eyes or try to talk to us. We were left to figure out what was happening by ourselves. This continued throughout the semester. There was another instance when Ryan and I were working with a Japanese club member in order to make decorations for the club’s booth, but it was basically us working in silence. We tried striking up a conversation, asking what last year’s booth was like, etc., but the conversation always died after one exchange. The Japanese student didn’t try to continue the conversation and seemed like he felt uncomfortable talking to us for more than a minute. On the other hand, if you were someone they knew, they would greet you with exuberance and constantly joke with you, even if you were a foreigner. For example, there was a Korean exchange student who was in the club with us, but since everyone in the club was familiar with him, they would constantly chat with him and poke fun at him. There was even this one time when the president of the club wasn’t able to come to a meeting, so she made the Korean student the leader of that day’s meeting instead. Although it was a little disheartening to be ignored after trying to converse with them, it was still an interesting experience to see how the club members acted around each other.

Rachel-A'lexandria Hawkins: Ohara Gakuen

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I wasn’t sure what to expect when I finalized my plan to volunteer at Ohara Gakuen. I was worried that with my limited Japanese, especially in using keigo, I may not be excepted. Nervous and confused, I went to meet with the English teachers and principal. I left Ohara that day feeling that I would be not only accepted, but also appreciated.

The first unexpected thing that I noticed was that all of the staff treated me as an adult. Being nineteen, I’m just barely considered independent in America, and certainly not in Japan. However, as I was held to a high standard of responsibility, and I found myself naturally rising in an attempt to meet expectations.

Though they were clearly pleased with the fact that I was there, they were rightfully worried about presenting me correctly to the students. Having many food allergies, I couldn’t always eat all the food that the kids ate, and I was surprised by how important it was to explain to the children that the only reason I wasn’t eating was because I could get hurt – not because I didn’t like the food. I was a bit surprised, because I didn’t think that the kids would have a difficult time understanding this, but, to the teachers, it seemed to be something important to overcome.

Another hardship for me personally, was switching between English and Japanese so frequently. I’ve had trouble with this in America as well, when talking with a Japanese friend and an American friend at the same time. I was asked to just use English with the students, and I did whenever I could, but there were many times when I had to use Japanese to explain something more complicated, and when I spoke to the teachers. Especially with the younger kids, it ended up being more of me asking about their English in Japanese.

The younger children speak in such small voices that it didn’t matter if I would understand their Japanese, because I couldn’t hear them at all. I didn’t want them to shy away from me when communication problems arose, so I attempted to answer them even when I didn’t hear what they said. This is tough to do in your mother tongue. Together with my lack of Japanese fluency, and having no context for the conversation I was having, the kids would often stare at me blankly, obviously having not understood a word I just said. Even so, when I did say a sentence or two, they were wildly surprised and delighted. One boy asked me a question, and I explained to him as best I could. When I was through, he stared at me with his mouth open. I started trying to rephrase what I said, because obviously my Japanese wasn’t up to par, but after a moment of silence he exclaimed, “Wow! She can speak Japanese!” He seemed to have no interest at all in the answer to the question. I wonder, if he was so surprised, did he expect to just not understand my answer, and go along his marry way after he’d asked the question? Either way, I appreciated his enthusiasm and his cuteness was astounding.

But just in case matters weren’t complicated enough, there was one more barrier to communication that I was surprised to find. In one case, I used the word “novel” while explaining my hobbies to the first graders. The student immediately responded, “What’s a novel?” Caught off guard, and trying to remember if that was indeed the Japanese word for novel, I didn’t respond at first, eventually stuttering out “N-novel?” in hopes that this time around I would say it correctly. The little girl ran over to the teacher and repeated the question. “A novel is a story,” the teacher answered, and the girl, who had since lost focus on the conversation we were having, trotted off to play with everyone. That was an experience I never thought I’d have.

The one downfall of it all, is that I don’t feel as though I’ve done all I can for Ohara. I would attempt to assist in lessons, teach pronunciation, and talk to the students, but I was unequipped to do the latter. I had never been to a Japanese middle school, and I certainly hadn’t studied the English education system for that region of Japan, so I was completely amiss as to how much English a student knew. Then there’s the individual difference between each student. I only ever had the chance to have a few sentenced conversation with any individual student, because the school was large and there was only one of me. And in that conversation, I couldn’t overcome the student’s shyness, gauge how much English they knew, and then make up a conversation that uses their level of English so that they could practice. In that way, I wish I had more time with them, I would have learned more, an I believe I maybe could have had more of an impact on them too.

Some of what I predicted was true; there were levels of formality and structure that I was foreign to, and needed to work hard to overcome. And a lot of what I feared turned out to be just fine. My confidence wavered throughout the program, as I battled with things I thought could be better, and melted as the kids became more and more animated about talking to me and learning about a foreign culture. But in the end, the hour commute to Oohara every week was not something that I dreaded, it was in fact something that looked forward to. On the long bus ride into the mountains, I could feel my eagerness and excitement swelling in me. Even if I had had a terrible experience on every other day, in every other class, it would all be worth it for what one first grader said as I entered the room. 「レイ先生　来てくれた！」”Ms. Rei came for us!” The feeling in my heart that that one little boy drew out, was worth everything in the world.

Thank you Oohara, it’s hard to say good-bye.