When choosing my CIP activity, I hoped to find an activity that I could continue to perform after I leave Japan, and would allow me to explore an aspect of Japanese culture that the study abroad experience does not typically emphasize. Through this logic, I decided to take a weekly Japanese cooking class for my CIP, at the La Carriere Cooking School. I have always enjoyed cooking at home for my family, and I personally consider Japanese food to be the best in the world, so the opportunity to expand my knowledge in classes taken by actual Japanese people was a unique opportunity.

While taking my cooking class, I had the opportunity to interact with Japanese people outside of a classroom or host family setting, which expanded my understanding of Japanese culture. Something that immediately surprised me when I started to attend was that we were expected to wash the dishes during and after we finished cooking, which would not be orthodox in this type of cooking class in the west, and I felt tied in to a Japanese ethic of respect for the teacher and of not troubling others. Other aspects of the students gradually stood out to me, from the fact that the class was largely divided between young professionals and old retirees with few people in the middle, which reflects work dynamics in current Japan, to the different ways the students reacted to American, Costa Rican and (through some recipes) French culture. I also learned much of the kanji and words used to describe French food, and even became much better at deciphering Japanese onomatopoeia as my teacher struggled to communicate instructions to me.

However, it is true that by taking a class rather than a group activity, the amount of interaction that I had was limited compared to that of other KCJS students, and the varying attendance of these classes meant that my interactions stayed formal with most of the cooking students. In reflection, it may be better for students that are not particularly extroverted to aim for activities that more directly emphasize interacting with Japanese people, such as activities in Doshisha’s circles. Regardless of the activity, it is crucial to pay attention to the routines of Japanese society to the extent that one is capable, as managing basics such as proper aisatsu matters a lot more than equivalent pleasantries do in the US. Most importantly, realize that while it is inevitable to embarrass yourself with Japanese several times, you will never see the people again at the end of the CIP, and there is no reason not to be bold and practice as much as you can talking to Japanese people. Much like the host family, the CIP is a type of interaction that a class or individual practice is completely incapable of providing, so putting in effort is very important to how much Japanese you ultimately learn studying abroad.

For my CIP I chose to enroll in Apollo Art Academy, an art school that was only about a 10 minute walk from my homestay. My hobby has always been drawing, so I wanted to get involved with art in some way during my stay in Japan.

A fellow KCJS classmate, John Evans, also enrolled into the same school as me and we both had classes on Thursdays. The thing about art classes is that they usually span over a long period of time, so it came as no surprise to me that the class I took ran from 1:30pm to 5pm. In fact, most of the other students in our time slot stayed longer than 5pm to get more progress done on their works.

When we first arrived at the academy, I was not sure what to expect, but Tanaka-sensei and everyone else were very welcoming and helped us fill out the short application sheet. Afterwards, we started with a trial class before beginning an actual lesson course. Evans-san and I had both originally wanted to take watercolor or oil pastel lessons, but Tanaka-sensei started us out with pencil and wanted us to slowly progress upwards to working with color.

Originally, I had been considering joining an art circle at Doshisha University, but I am glad that I chose to enroll at Apollo instead, because I heard that art circles usually consisted of students all sitting separately and working silently on their own individual projects, and I felt that I would not had had the chance to practice much Japanese. Midway through each class, everyone gathers around a big table and we get a chance to chat with eachother while eating snacks. In addition, Tanaka-sensei usually walks around the class giving each student individual criticism throughout the class. Though there are times where I am not 100% sure if communication was clear, attending these classes has been a very fun experience getting to know the other students in my class while also improving my art skills and I will most likely continue with this CIP in spring semester.

As a music education major, I knew as soon as I heard about the community Involvement Project that I wanted to learn a traditional Japanese instrument. The quarter before I came to Japan, I took a class on Asian pop music and was introduced to a duo called the Yoshida Kyoudai, brothers from Northern Japan who play a three-stringed banjo-like instrument called the shamisen. I became entranced with their music and decided I would try and learn the shamisen as well.
Having learned many other instruments before, I expected it to be pretty easy, but it came with its own challenges. Finding the individual pitches was not very hard, but I found the bachi (pick) extremely difficult to use. I worried so much about it that my wrist would get tense and keep me from being able to play properly. My teacher, a very motherly older woman, would tell me to relax, repeatedly. It was something I had heard from teachers before, but it had a different meaning with her. While other teachers had told me to relax so I could play correctly, she would tell me to relax because to her, the emotion behind a piece was so much more important than whether or not each individual note was correct, so it wasn’t worth it to stress over playing perfectly.
In her I also noticed an interesting change of personality during and after lessons that I hope to emulate one day with my students. During my lessons, she would rarely praise me (unless I was extra worried that day and she felt the need to reassure me that I was doing fine) and was very business-like, only saying what she had to to get her point across. However, after my lessons, she would chat away without hesitation, discussing everything from music to the intimate details of her life as if we were old friends. At times she surprised me with how much she felt comfortable sharing not only about herself, but also about her other students. I think Japan and especially Japanese teachers can come off as having a very serious, businesslike approach to things, but as I’ve learned, that doesn’t necessarily mean that people are unfriendly or don’t want to have a close relationship with you. The philosophy is that during the lesson, the teacher’s job is to teach, not to be friends. However, afterwards, the teacher wants to encourage a positive attitude towards learning and having future lessons, and so will talk as if you’re friends.