Now that the semester is coming to an end, I can say I’m glad I joined the piano circle – even though I have mixed feelings on my experience. It was great to get a taste of Japanese college student life through circle activities and meeting new people, especially since the piano circle was a diverse group with different backgrounds and levels of experience talking with foreign exchange students.

While everyone was friendly, I found it hard to make closer friends. Since many of them don’t have a particular interest in spending time with exchange students, they tend to stay within their groups of friends that are solidified outside of the circle. In making piano circle friends outside of the circle’s room (box), I found that the power of your school year was surprisingly strong. Surprisingly so in that I didn’t observe any emphasis on senpai-kohai relationships in the circle, but ended up invited to an all first-year piano circle casual dinner at the 食堂. I additionally observed, when helping out at the school’s EVE festival, the other two first years that I was advertising our booth’s food with started joking around and overall acting casual very quickly, though they had just met that afternoon. Bonding within your own school year was evidently natural, and bridging the senpai-kohai dynamic to become close friends seemed rare if done at all. That also brings me to the point of my own ambiguous status as an exchange student, since although they invited me, I doubt they would have invited a third-year Japanese student. (Of note, as an exchange student, you’re also not an “official Doshisha student” for any event purposes, etc.)

The other major difficulty in making friends is that the piano circle has no fixed meeting times every week. While that’s ideal for fitting into it into one’s schedule, I would generally only see the same member once or twice per month even if I went at the same time every week. At the beginning, I asked a few members when they usually go, and the reply was generally “when I have time.” I was surprised by how some people always seemed to show up at the same times though, and wonder if there’s a reachable level of friendship where you’ll casually text the other when you’re at the circle box. Regardless, whenever I did go, the members were always open to talking and helping out with my homework. I could tell that some of them weren’t used to talking to exchange students, aka figuring out my strange Japanese, but they all responded to my questions and often asked questions in return.

Ultimately, I didn’t get that much piano practice done this semester, but I had an interesting experience! Even if I got along with a smaller percentage of the piano circle students than students that have a particular interest in meeting exchange students, I’m glad I got to meet a diverse group that is likely more representative of Japanese students as a whole. My one regret is that I wish I had understood the above dynamics earlier and made more of an early effort to become closer friends with some piano circle members. But I’ll be here next spring, and plan to continue my piano circle adventures until the end of the semester in February. The piano circle is a no stress, social option for anyone with even a slight interest in piano, and I highly recommend it. 🙂

ピアノ研究会にいる間、大半の時は他のメンバーと話して、本当にピアノを弾く時間が短い。だから、私のピアノの能力はまだ高まっていないけど、無意味な訳ではなくて、とても楽しみである。二週間前に一年生の晩ご飯に誘われたし、いつもいろいろな話に花を咲かせるから、皆が優しいと思う。良い友達になるのを楽しみにしている！小学の一年生の時、ピアノを始めた。毎日45-60分練習して、毎年演奏会を二回していた。そして、大学に入るまでピアノをしていた。大学に入った後で、授業で忙しくなったから、あまりピアノを弾かなくなってしまった。私は時々友達と一緒に寮の共用のピアノを弾いていたけど、授業が難しくなるに連れて、その機会がどんどん少なくなった。それから、自分で弾くのは当然つまらないし、先生がいらっしゃらないから、ピアノのやる気もなくなってしまった。

だから、同志社大学のピアノ研究会に興味がある。ピアノ研究会は毎日同じ時間に集まるのではなくて、時間があれば、自由に決めて行く。一学期2500円で使えるピアノが四台ある。二、三ヶ月ごとにコンサートがあって、前回は先週だった。コンサートに出たかったら、幹部の前で演奏したい曲を弾いて、もしいいと言えば、コンサートに出られる。とは言え演奏するに興味がなくてもいい。熟練した人に限らず、ピアノに興味がある限り初心者でも誰でも入れる。一年生と二年生は多くて、四年生は就職活動で忙しいから、今四年生が二人しかいない。

ピアノ研究会にいる間、大半の時は他のメンバーと話して、本当にピアノを弾く時間が短い。だから、私のピアノの能力はまだ高まっていないけど、無意味な訳ではなくて、とても楽しみである。二週間前に一年生の晩ご飯に誘われたし、いつもいろいろな話に花を咲かせるから、皆が優しいと思う。良い友達になるのを楽しみにしている！