カテゴリーアーカイブ: Swarthmore College

Kevin Terusaki: DESA (Doshisha Exchange Student Association)

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After participating in a street dance circle at Kyoto University for the first couple of months, I eventually had to pick a new CIP activity due to the street dance circle’s one month break. During that time I also attended many of the events held by DESA, the Doshisha Exchange Student Association, and decided that this would be my new CIP. Many of the students in DESA are exchange students which may be discouraging to some who really want to improve their Japanese, but there are many Japanese students that are interested in meeting students from other countries as well.

DESA has hosted a variety of events including watching a Sumo wrestling tournament in Osaka, a food and video game night, going to see eerie demons at the Setsubun festival, and eating all you can eat shabu shabu at a restaurant served by ninjas. Besides the official DESA events, there were many opportunities to hang out with DESA members like random hikes, dinners, etc.

Every event was a great opportunity to practice Japanese and learn about Japanese culture that you normally wouldn’t learn in the classroom. For example, in the Kansai region it is popular to perform boke (playing dumb) and tsukkomi (pointing out mistakes), a comedic art that comes from manzai. This was a great way to learn about Japanese humor, which at times, I do not understand at all. I’ll admit that performing jokes in another language is quite difficult, but it is entertaining despite the challenge.

Compared to egoistic dancers, the street dance circle, DESA was more welcoming with a laid-back ambiance. Most likely due to the structure of egoistic dancers, it was difficult to interact with other people who danced different styles. I mainly interacted with those who practiced popping and locking. There also was definitely a senpai-kouhai relationship amongst some group members. As a new member in a group, it was hard to connect with certain people.

Overall, DESA has been a great opportunity to not only make new friends, but to experience and learn various aspects of Japanese culture. It’s unfortunate that there is only a month left to spend in Japan, but I hope I will have more opportunities to hang out with DESA members before the semester ends.

照崎ケビン：ストリートダンスサークル

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私のCIPはストリートダンスでした。毎週、水曜日と土曜日に京都大学に行って、ダンスを練習していました。サークルの中で、ヒップホップとかポップとかブレークダンスなど色々なスタイルがあります。私はヒップホップとポップをします。練習は楽かったですが、難しかったです。皆はだいたい四年間ほどストリートダンスをしていますから、上手なんです。
ポップのスタイルを全然したことがなかったので、先輩に初歩を教えてもらいました。練習場所に着いた皆におはようと言っていつもウォームアップをして初歩をします。何回も初歩をします。かがみがありませんから、上手に出来ているかどうか分かりませんです。時々、先輩が手伝ってくれました。練習していない時、先輩と他の部員に話す機会があります。だいたい、皆英語が下手なので、日本語の話す練習にもなります。
残念ながらストリートダンスのサークルは一ヶ月の休みに入ります。日本の大学は春休みなんです。それで、他のCIPを探さなくてはいけません。もうCIPではなくなりますが、ストリートダンスは楽しかったです。

Jackson Pietsch: Taiko + Igo

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Through my two CIP activities, Taiko drumming at Kitanotenmanguu Shrine and the Go club at Kyoto University, I learned several new skills. First and foremost were Taiko drumming and how to play Go, but a close second came from speaking with a good number of native Japanese people who were not as used to “dumbing down” their language for gaijin as my host parents, teachers, and other Japanese friends have been. I had to deal with speech that was much faster and more colloquial than what I was normally used to, and so had to practice both asking for clarification on specific parts of a sentence, and trying to grasp larger meanings from context. Luckily, the activities of Go and Taiko can usually be broken down and explained as one simple motion at a time, so as far as I knew there were never any terrible miscommunications.
I have not been to Go as often as Taiko, and every time I went there were different Kyodai students there, so I did not make any lasting connections through Go. However, despite the fact that I was generally unable to go to after-practice dinners or other functions, I was able to speak closely and in a friendly way with several of our other team members, and also to perform at the March 25th festival at Kitanotenmanguu. The festival alone was a great experience, and I’m glad to have been able to meet some of the people I did and participate in something I otherwise would never have the chance to.

ジャクソン・ピーチ：太鼓

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ほぼ毎週土曜日に、同志社の西にある北野天満宮（きたのてんまんぐう）で太鼓の練習があります。みんなは着くとすぐに準備をして、三つのチームになってから、曲をたたき始めます。練習会は三時間ぐらいで、終った後で時々みんなで晩御飯を食べに行きます。

太鼓をする人は全員二十五人ぐらいです。ほとんどの人は大学生やあるいは社会人ですが、二人の小学生もいます。僕以外に、KCJSの留学生が四人います。三つのチームの中で、先学期はじめた留学生は二番目のチームで、僕と他の今学期始めた二人は三番目のチームで叩きます。

そして、太鼓の練習がない週は、他の二人の留学生と一緒に京大の囲碁部に「ご」をしに行きます。まだ二回しか言っていませんが、その二回でたくさん習いました。それに、とても楽しかったです。京大は今春休みだから、人は少なかったけど、京大生に色んなことを教えてもらいました。