For the past 2 months or so, I have been actively participating in the Kyodai Gasshoudan, or the Kyoto University Mixed Voices Chorus. I have been regularly attending practices twice a week and intend to appear in the annual winter concert on Sunday December 4^th.

At first it was not easy—the other members had already learned the songs, so I had to catch up and learn to sing the women’s songs in Japanese. On top of that, the songs for the mixed choir are in Hungarian, which is far harder to pronounce or remember than Japanese. But I persisted, and with the help of some optional long practices, as well as the gasshuku (retreat), which was more work than play, I got a better grip on the lyrics and melody and now intend to sing in the whole concert. I still need to look at the sheet music at times, but I will work hard to be off-book by the concert! At first I may have been a hindrance, but I want to help the choir instead of dragging them down, so I have been practicing all-out. Other than giving it my all, stapling tickets to flyers, and occasionally sharing snacks, there is not much else that I can contribute, but I do what I can.

Through this choir, I realized that singing groups in different countries may share some essential elements, but are ultimately different. Until I joined an a cappella group in sophomore year of college, choir was always a class and not an extracurricular for me. This choir requires an extra time commitment, so the people in it tend to be super-committed to the choir’s activities, not to mention paying its many expenses. Also, like other circles in Japan, people tend to make this their main activity during college, while back in America, people would usually have other activities and choir would not be their main focus. Another difference: this choir has various customs that are, shall we say, different from what I’m used to. This includes various cute and sometimes bizarre nicknames (e.g. Nojinoji, Winter, Zukkii), having long announcements by people in management positions after practice, staying after practice to sing extra songs, and slightly offbeat exercises and warm-ups (such as lip trills and hip-rotating…at the same time). But I suspect that this is not the standard of all choirs in Japan: it is unique to the Kyodai Gasshoudan, a group with a long and distinguished history of excellence and quirkiness.

Being let into this group meant a lot to me. I know that there is already a precedent for KCJS students being in this choir, but even so, the fact that they welcomed me with open arms says a lot about their kind and open-minded spirit. However, that does not necessarily mean everyone is going to talk to me or be my best friend. In a group of about 80 people, it is hard for even native Japanese to get close to each other. Still, through different activities, I was able to socialize and befriend my fellow altos and first-year members, and now my closest friend who helped me from the start (nicknamed Christine or Chris) is even planning on sending me a New Year’s card, which is very flattering if you know how much it means in Japan.

From my CIP, I learned a few new words that I would never have known otherwise, such as gakufu (sheet music) and ensoukai ni noru (to appear in a concert, lit. “ride”). But more importantly, I learned that people will always be there to help me or explain things to me when I need it, so I should not worry and struggle through the music director’s instructions alone. Since they were there for me, I want to be there for them, and I plan to continue participating through next semester and doing what I can for the Gasshoudan.

In order to succeed in your CIP, do not hold back. Even if you are shy or not confident in your language skills, it never hurts to put yourself out there and try to make friends. There may be someone who is outgoing and interested in Western culture who befriends you first, but that is not always the case. So start talking with people, and of course, always do your best, because when your peers see you working hard, they will appreciate your presence and accept you as one of the group. Do not be afraid to ask questions, and most importantly: just have fun!

Officially, I joined a photography circle at Doshisha for my CIP. I went in not knowing what to expect, and I’m coming out of it not really knowing what happened. I did not really do anything special to become a member, other than express interest in photography and in joining their circle. I noticed many things – namely, that not all circles are as serious as they are made out to be, and the theme of a non-sports-circle may have little or nothing to do with its members’ interests.

These were actually my two preconceived notions on circles – first that, as a circle, there would be a hierarchical order to the club members and that the club bonded them as friends; second, that, as a group branded with “Photo Club”, the members would be interested in photography.

Well, in my case, neither ended up being true.

This particular circle is pretty nebulous, a problem that prevented me from feeling like a full-fledged member of the club. The club only set out to have regular meetings because I had come into the club asking about meetings. So, they decided to meet every week on Fridays.

I thought this was exciting at first – I’m in a circle and we get together every week, great! They were excited, too! However, our “schedule” quickly devolved into members ignoring other members to get out of having to meet. While I never neglected to contact the members, after a while, I started hoping they would just ignore my contact – it was tiresome to go through excuses instead of just having it put directly: we don’t want to meet with you.

The times we did meet for dinner, our language barrier was a huge issue. It was hard to socialize in such a stiff setting. We were friends under very contrived circumstances. Even my one go-to topic, photography, was not successful in soliciting get-to-know-you small talk.

I did make one friend, though, and she seemed to be the only one who legitimately enjoyed photography! With her, language was almost a non-issue, because she had spent time studying English in America. I am happy to be a year-long student so we can hang out more next semester.

Actually, after having made this friend, my weekly CIP event became inviting her out on Friday nights for dinner, along with KCJS friends + other Japanese friends.

フィルム写真をとることは私が一番興味があることだから、写真のサークルに入りたかったのです。私のCIPは同志社大学の「フォトクラブ」です。「フォトクラブ」のBOXに暗室があります。だから、フィルムの現像やプリントもできます。

サークルにはもう入っていますが、私はまだ他の部員と一緒に暗室で作業はしていません。毎週金曜日、「フォトクラブ」の部員の三人と一緒に出かけています。たいてい、晩ご飯を食べに行きます。楽しいけど、これからは暗室をもっと使いたいです。

部長と二人だけで会った時、今度「フォトクラブ」の部員全員のミーティングがあると言いました。たぶん、このミーティングは新入生歓迎パーティだと思います。そこで、「フォトクラブ」のみなさんとクラブに入っている他の留学生にも会うことができるでしょう。とても楽しみです。

私は「京大合唱団」でCIPをしています。先月私はクラスメートのアダム・ロバーツさんと一緒に京都大学の合唱団（がっしょうだん、コーラス）の人に連絡してから、メンバーになりました。その合唱団は京大のキャンパスの「BOX」というすごく古くて大きい建物で練習します。女声の練習は一週に二回で、男声のは週に三回です。その上、それぞれの練習は二時間以上なので、ちょっと時間がかかりますが、楽しいです。

合唱団が練習している歌は日本語やハンガリー語で書いてありますので、時々発音が難しいと思います。しかし、歌がきれいなので、私はかまいません。京大合唱団には約８０人もメンバーがいるから、ちょっと人数が多いです。でも、私と同じ声域（せいいき）のアルトの女性たちはとても親切で、よく私を助けてくれるから、安心できます。

私たちのコンサートが１２月４日にあります。よかったらぜひ見に来て下さい！