私はCIPとして、京大病院のニコトマというグループでボランティアをしています。ニコトマは病気の子供たちのために色々な楽しい活動をするグループです。毎週違う活動があって、子供と遊んだり、ニコトマの人達を手伝ったりします。ニコトマのグループの人達はやさしくて、各活動に自分の心を使って努力をします。二月に子供のバレンタインチョコを作った時、チョコのふくろは全部手で作ったのですが、それは細かくて、きれいでした。

そのふくろを作りながら、私は他のボランティアの人たちと話しました。KCJSから来ている学生がたくさんいたから、私たちの出身とか大学などの質問をされました。それから、日本とアメリカの違いも話しました。ボランティアに来る人は週によって違うから、毎回新しい人に会って、自己紹介をしました。大人の人以外に、同志社女子大学と京大から来る学生と一緒にボランティアをしています。それから、子供と遊ぶ時は、簡単な日本語でもいいです。言葉が上手に話せるより、笑顔でいることが大切だと気がつきました。

ニコトマの人たちに聞かれた質問の中で一番難しかったのは「どうして日本に来て、日本語を勉強したいと思ったんですか」という質問です。その質問をされると、いつもあいまいな答えしかできません。色々な理由があるから、はっきり言うことが出来ないのです。けれども、はっきりしていることは日本に来て、たくさん経験したいということで、もちろんニコトマは大切な経験だと思います。

I started this CIP thinking that I would be spending most of my time playing with the children of the hospital, setting up activities and helping to make sure these activities went smoothly. This hasn’t been the case! Because of my schedule, I actually end up spending more time with the other volunteers and the leaders of Nico Tomato – namely Kanda-san and her wonderful crew of eager workers.  It is a different experience from what I expected, but I have come away with some interesting insights into the social hierarchy of Japanese volunteer groups, and more than enough hospital gossip. The times I did get to play with the kids were few, but memorable. One time I was waiting in the hallway for a coworker and a kid in a wheelchair stopped next to me, flipped open his DS and showed me how to play the game he had. I recorded some simple English phrases, and he repeated them – very cute!

Reflecting on my time with Nico Tomato, more than anything I hope I was a little helpful to the group. Even though I often couldn’t be there for activities, I usually helped with busywork – assembling cards, organizing newsletters, delivering things from one section of the building to the other. The ensuing conversations were always interesting. For example, I entered into a debate about how the annual Christmas card should look (and the Christmas card is indeed a serious matter, the amount of effort that goes into these holiday cards is almost staggering), but I realize I had never been put into an argumentative situation before. I sat back and listened to how the other workers suggested changes to their superior, who was making all of the final decisions. I learned how to politely argue! I hope I convinced Kanda-san that the red ribbon was better, in the end. Some things I really loved about my experiences with Nico Tomato were getting to see these glimpses of daily life, of learning Japanese perspective on things like Halloween, American style weddings, and being able to provide answering foreign perspective to an equally interested audience. I’m thankful that I was able to spend time at Nico Tomato! It felt like a short time, but I always felt welcomed by Kanda-san and the rest of the volunteers.

In class, Fukai-sensei asked if we thought we had become a member of the group we were participating in for our CIP. I couldn’t think of an answer, so I thought about it the next time I went to Ohara to teach and I came up with a lot of reasons why I think I have become a member of the teaching staff at Ohara. It happened so slowly and in such small, subtle ways that I hadn’t noticed.

The first day of my CIP I received my own desk in the teacher’s room where all the teachers have a desk to do work between classes or during off periods. When I go back to my desk between classes, all the other teachers are there taking a break as well so I’m presented with many opportunities to have conversations with them. Some of the time we talk about the school or the students or the days classes, but most of the time it’s relaxing conversation about an event someone went to over the weekend or a TV show someone watched the night before or an article in the newspaper or a picture someone took on a trip. Through complicated examples and a long discussion, I learned the breakdown of the meaning of the word for the structure of a specific kind of Chinese poetry, which all started with a conversation about a comic in the newspaper. I really feel like a part of the group when I can have comfortable conversations like these with a group of people I don’t know very well and who are all much older and wiser than I am. In front of the students I’m only supposed to speak English, so these conversations with the teachers give me the chance to practice my Japanese, especially honorific forms.

There are so many small things that make me feel like a member, like being able to get up during a break and make myself coffee or tea or hot chocolate in the kitchen whenever I feel like I need some, or the students and teachers calling me Cecilia-sensei, or being invited to the end-of-the-year party exclusively for Ohara teachers. Every week after school gets out, I’m driven to the train station by one of the teachers and we have casual conversations about Ohara or Kyoto or America. I think being able to relax and not feel nervous while I’m helping teach classes or talking to any of the teachers is a good sign that I feel like a part of the staff at Ohara.

Even though everyone at Ohara has helped me out in so many ways, like letting me get a feel for what it’s like teaching and showing me how a Japanese school works, I suppose coming to the school and letting the students hear English the way it’s supposed to be spoken and letting them hear a proper English accent is a small way of giving back to the school. I might read through a conversation in one of the textbooks and notice something that doesn’t sound quite right. Being able to fix that and teach what sounds right to the students is beneficial for the kids. Because the students don’t get the chance to meet and talk to a foreigner very often, being able to go to the school and play with the kids is a great opportunity for them, so I’m happy I’m able to provide that opportunity and see the students be excited to learn English.

Japanese and American schools operate in very different ways. The way the day is broken up into periods and the subjects students learn are very similar, but there have been some large differences that I’ve noticed while volunteering at Ohara. For my elementary and middle school in America, all the students went to the cafeteria at lunch time and picked up their own tray of food to bring back to their classroom to eat. At Ohara, the students go to the kitchen to pick up their lunch, but it comes as a tray of rice and several pots filled with the day’s lunch that need to be divided up and put into bowls. The students work together to make sure everyone gets a bowl of each item on their lunch tray, along with a carton of milk and a straw, with the work being done by the students and the teachers overseeing, making sure that everything goes smoothly. I usually eat lunch with the 1^st graders, and it’s great to see kids so young learn about teamwork and responsibility without even realizing it.

A similar situation was when the students were preparing for their culture festival. The students did all the preparations for the gym, like rolling out mats, setting up chairs and bringing in instruments, with the teachers only supervising to make sure there weren’t any problems. Thinking back to the time when I had chorus concerts or plays in elementary or middle school, there were no students involved in doing any sort set up; everything was done by the teachers and janitors. Also, Japanese schools incorporate a cleaning time where all the students get involved in cleaning their classroom and the hallways by themselves. In America, the janitors do the cleaning of the entire school. I think it’s great that the students have to do this sort of thing themselves because they learn the importance of organization and teamwork and cleaning, valuable life skills, starting from when they’re very young.

I’ve learned a lot from my CIP at Ohara. In the future I plan on applying to the JET program to be an assistant English teacher, so the practice I’m doing by working with the English teachers at Ohara and occasionally teaching a class solo is very valuable. I’ve been learning how English is taught as a second language in Japanese schools, which I can work off of when I go to a different school to teach in the future. Not only have I learned valuable information and skills from the teachers at Ohara, I’ve also learned a lot from the students I’ve been working with. Being able to help them with homework or watch them learn English or just playing with them after school has helped me understand what they like and the ways they like to learn.

Since I’m studying abroad for a full year, I have the opportunity to continue this CIP next semester. I’m really looking forward to working with the teachers and students at Ohara and learning more from them. I have a lot of fun each week when I go to volunteer, so I’m happy I get to see more of the people I’ve met since I’ve started my CIP at Ohara.

私は京都市立大原学院で小学生と中学生に英語を教えています。大原は京都市内の中心部から一時間かかる田舎にあります。大原には人が少ないですが、景色がきれいで、有名な神社もあります。大原学院は小学校と中学校が一緒にあって学校は結構大きいのに、生徒は九十人しかいません。

私は毎週水曜日に大原に行って、子供達と給食を食べたり、遊んだり、英語を教えたりします。十時半から五時半まで大原にいますから、生徒の昼ご飯の時間から放課後までいます。

たいてい、大原に着くと小学校一年生と昼ご飯の準備をして、一緒に給食を食べます。一年生は英語が分かりませんが、私はいつも英語で話しています。給食の後、英語の先生と英語の授業の準備をして、一年生と二年生の授業を教えます。生徒が正しい英語の発音が聞けるように、私は全部英語を使って、英語の先生に日本語の翻訳をしてもらいます。その後、中学校の一年生の授業を教えます。この生徒は小学生よりもっと複雑な英語が使えます。

放課後は、バドミントン部と一緒に練習します。バドミントン部で英語だけ使いたいですが、学校の先生と一緒に練習しているので、時々日本語が必要です。最後に、まなびに行きます。まなびというのは、生徒が両親が迎えに来るを待っている間に、図書館で宿題をしたり、本を読んだり、ゲームをしたりする時間のことです。まなびでの私の仕事は学生の宿題を手伝ったり、英語の本を読んだり、ゲームをして一緒に遊んだりすることです。

こんにちは！今日はCIPについて話をする。最初はCIPのしたいことが全然分からなかったから困っていたけど、先生と話した後で子供のためにボランティアにした。私のCIPは「ニコトマト」というボランティアグループだ。京都病院で入院中子供達と遊んだりするグループで、私はアシスタントとして活動の準備を手伝っている。例えば、もうすぐハロウィーンが来るので、子供達に楽しいハロウィーンを経験させるために、皆とキャンディが入っているカードを作り、２０日のパーティにカードを渡す。カードは本当に可愛いであり、ボランティアの皆さんと作ったのは楽しかった。

毎日ニコトマトに色々な活動があるけど、授業があるから準備の時間だけに行けることが多い。それでも子供と少し遊ぶことができるので、嬉しい。まだ二回しか参加してしなかったけど、これからもっと楽しくなると思う！