「Wesleyan University」カテゴリーアーカイブ

キャッサリン・エイカー：陶芸のレッスン

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最初、日本に着いた時、どんなCIPをすればいいか分からなかった。でも、去年のKCJSの学生が参加した活動のリストを読んで、陶芸のレッスンに興味を持った。日本で教室を探すことは、難しかったが、先生に色々な教室を探していただいた。すぐ、少し恐くかったが、瑞光窯という教室に電話して、見学に行ってみた。瑞光窯は、小さいところだが、壁は、全部棚に覆われて、棚は、全部茶碗やお皿に埋めつくされてりる。瑞光窯の鈴木先生は、いつも関西弁で話すが、親切な方で、工房の中の説明してくださった。それで、鈴木先生とはな先生に、陶芸を教えていただくことにした。

一週間後の、土曜日に、クラスを初めて取った。クラスメートのきくちさんは轆轤（ろくろ）で茶碗の作り方を教えてくれた。私は、高校の時少し陶芸をしたことあったのが、轆轤で物を作ったことがなかったので、本当に大変だった。でも、きくちさんと他の学生さんは、困った時、アドバイスとをくれたり、助けてれて、楽しくなった。他の学生さんは、皆長い間瑞光窯に行っていて、とても上手だ。皆、すばらしい物を作っている。一人は、宮崎のトトロのテーマの茶碗を作った。その日は、五時間陶芸を練習して、とても面白かった。次の火、腕が痛かったが、私は、嬉しかった。

毎週、陶芸教室に行くのは、楽しい。先週は、手作りカップの作り方を習ったり、茶碗を作る練習をしたりした。来週は、何をするかまだ分からない。でも、楽しみにしている。

http://www.zuikou.com/class/index.html

ゴードン・ペティー：バチ・ホリックの太鼓のレッスン

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僕のCIPは太鼓です。バチ・ホリックと言う太鼓グループとレッスンを受けています。子供の時から、僕は色々な楽器を弾いてきたけど、日本に来る前、太鼓をしたことがありませんでした。日本らしい音楽を習いたいから、太鼓はいい選択肢のようでした。

まだレッスンは三回しかないけど、もう大好きになりました。太鼓の先生は黒坂とおっしゃいます。でも最初のクラスで「僕を『くろ 』と呼んでください。」とおっしゃっていました。カジュアルだから僕はちょっとびっくりしました。

クラスでほかのKCJSの学生はいないけど、週によって5人から10人生徒がいます。たいてい日本人ですが、アメリカ人とタイ人もいます。最初、先生の指示がわかるかどうか分からなかったし、全然太鼓をしたことがないし、緊張していました。でも実際は、くろ先生は英語が話せるし、以外の生徒も初心者だし、大丈夫です。

リード・ヒルデブランド：HUB

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今年の四月に、KCJSを申し込み始まった時、プログラムと活動について読んで、すぐに「CIP」に興味を持ちました。日本人の学生と市民と会えて、いっしょに働けて、友達になれる機会です。実は、僕は、おもしろくてクリエイティブな人と知り合いになりたかったのです。始めKCJS「CIP」の活動リストを読んだ後で、特に興味が沸く活動が見つけられませんでした。去年の夏には、ビデオと写真を取る仕事をしましたから、日本に住みながら、その趣味を続けたかったです。だから、ちょっと楽しみではありませんでした。でも、KCJSの「CIP」の発表で、新しい選択肢が発表され、その日、HUBについて知りました。

HUBは僕にとって最高の機会です。去年の夏、非営利団体で仕事をしました。HUBは新しい非営利団体です。たくさんの広報活動の物を速く作らなくてはいけませんが、僕はビデオを作るのが大好きです。僕が作った最初のビデオを見せたら、HUBでは、皆とてもびっくりしていました。皆が楽しんでくれたから、僕はもっと自由に色々なことができるようになりました。秋期が終わる前に、プロみたいな広報のビデオを作りたいです。あまり時間がないけど、楽観しています。時間があったら、このプロジェクトします。HUBの皆といっしょに、すばらしい物を作れると思います。

キム・ハミン：英語ボランティア、バレーボール

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私は色々な活動をしています。まず、１０月から上京中学校で英語ボランティアを始めました。今、英語スピーチ大会の為に練習をしている優秀な二人の学生達を手伝っています。学生が朗読するのを聞きながら、発音とか言い方が間違った時、その問題点を書いておいて、練習が終わってから学生に指摘しています。勿論間違いばかり指摘するのは厳しいので、その前に学生の長所も褒めています。そうすれば学生も自信が付いて、もっと努力するようになると思うのです。この学生達とは英語の指導ばかりしているのではなくて、単なるお喋りをしながら時間を過ごすこともあります。

もう一つ、京都大学のJusticeというバレーボール部にも入っています。このサークルは毎週２回あるいは３回試合を行っています。みんなは自由な時間に来て、バレーボールをしながら楽しくストレスを解消しています。初心者も歓迎し、丁寧にバレーボールの仕方も教えてくれる優しいチームです。このサークルは楽しいことは楽しいのですが、私は実は少し満足してない点があります。普段はあまり他のメンバーと話す機会がないのです。もしかして私が外国人だから私と話さないのかという気もします。私だけ同志社大の学生だし、それに外国人なので、他のメンバーに話し掛けるのは思ったより難しいです。今はその壁を越えるのが目標です。でも私の低い日本語の能力で本当に出来るのでしょうか？

Yejing Gu: Social Dance & Calligraphy

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Luckily, I have two CIPs, Kyoto University’s Amateur Dance Circle and Kyoto University’s Calligraphy Circle, and I love both of them.

I participated in the Kyoto University’s Amateur Dance Circle for the first half of the semester. This Amateur Dance Circle focuses on social dances, which I had no previous experiences of. Although I learned Chinese dance when I was young and I took dance lessons in college, it was difficult for me to remember step sequences in a fairly short time and dance on high heels. Taking the challenge, I practiced at home by learning basic steps on YouTube and I think I did much better later on. The best thing about this Amateur Dance Circle was that it provided a wonderful way to socialize with local Japanese students. While practicing in pairs, I got to know almost every member in the circle. After dancing, I usually stayed for lunch and talked to them about dances, Kyoto University, tourist attractions, and etc. I think lives of Kyoto University’s students are very enjoyable because they have such interesting circles.

It is a pity that during the latter half of the semester, the practice’s time for the Amateur Dance Circle shrank from three hours to only one hour, which is even less than my commute time. Instead, I joined the Kyoto University’s Calligraphy Circle. The practice in the Calligraphy Circle is very flexible, for I can write whatever I want for however long. I learned Chinese calligraphy before, so I was very interested in their differences. One thing I noticed is that Chinese usually write calligraphy on a table while standing or sitting on a chair, whereas Japanese write calligraphy on a low table or on the ground while doing seiza, which is challenging for me. My legs were usually numbed after the practice. But I appreciate that experience because now I can do seiza for much longer. Calligraphy is probably not an ideal CIP because calligraphy requires the person to be quiet, which makes it hard to socialize. However, it’s not a problem for Kyoto University’s Calligraphy Circle, because they have another activity room for meetings. I usually stay in that room before and after the practice. Circle members always took the initiative to talk to me when I came into the room and invited me to join them. Maybe because I am a junior and most of them are freshmen and sophomores, they use the polite speech form to me. I was confused which form I should use until I met a senior who talked to me in the short form. The experience of this kind of Japanese upperclassmen-underclassmen relationship is interesting and useful.

Based on my CIPs’ experiences, my advice for future KCJS students would be, your CIP should be something you are good at, and it should be easy to socialize.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Sandy Lee: Nico Nico Tomato Volunteer + DESA

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This semester I participated in primarily two CIP activities: volunteering at Kyoto University Hospital with the Nico Nico Tomato group which supports hospitalized children by creating crafts and fundraising activities; and I participated in the activities held by Doshisha Exchange Student Association (DESA).

The members of the Nico Nico Tomato group are primarily comprised of thirty to fifty year old women. Because of that composition, I learned a little more about the lives of housewives. Reading from academic text about modern Japanese life styles, I have learned that in Japanese culture, after females get married, they become full time housewives, with the primary role of taking care of the family and raising children. In other words, children in Japan are spoiled with love from mothers. Volunteering with eight to ten female volunteers, I get to see a part of how loved Japanese children may be through the time consuming and heartfelt crafts that these female volunteers design and craft. Each craft takes a lot of time and effort to create, and although the children whose age are young may only appreciate the craft for a minute or two, as part of the crafting team, I can feel the amount of love poured into making the craft. From this volunteer experience, I was able to experience how the life of a housewife might be outside of the family. The female volunteers spent about three days a week volunteering and spend a lot of time together, as if that is their equivalent of a college club. The only difference between this group and an actual college group is the members’ use of formal language. While members uses formal speech and often utilize the Kansai keigo “haru”, the most senior member of the group uses Kansai dialect in her speech. As a study abroad student, I often do not understand what they are speaking of and sometimes do not have interest or any comments on their personal lives. However, they are very interested in the student abroad students and often ask questions regarding other countries.

Joining DESA has definitely been a great experience. DESA has events every week, so I was able to go explore Kyoto or have dinner with some Japanese students along with other students who are on study abroad. I have met some really nice students from Stanford University, and some really friendly Doshisha students. DESA normally offers 500yen discounts to study abroad or exchange students, so it may be a good deal some time. On the other hand, I think it is important to invite the Japanese students to have dinner or lunch once in a while because the more you invite them to events, the more likely it is that they invite you to their hangouts. My most memorable trips have been the Nara Mountain Night Fire trip and Takoyaki party that was held by some members of DESA. Facebook is also really helpful to invite people to events without directly asking them to join in your event. Most members are also willing to respond to you in Japanese if you decide to speak to them in Japanese. I think it is possible to become really good friends with some members of DESA, but because many Doshisha students are away during KCJS Spring semester, and because I have been busy with a lot of summer applications this Spring, I was not able to attend all of the DESA events as of yet. However, I cannot think of any negative aspects to joining the group except for the fact that if it might cost some money every week. Comparing this experience to my volunteer group, DESA members do not question how life is in other countries because I think they are more interested in the individual than the works of other countries because such things can easily be searched online.

 

イェジン・コ：社交ダンスと書道

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私のCIPは京大アマチュアダンスクラブという社交ダンスクラブです。クラブの部員は、ほとんど京都大学の学生で、二十人ぐらいいます。先生も京大の学生で、各練習で二つのダンスを教えます。例えば、ワルツ、タンゴ、クイックステップ、ルンバ、チャチャチャ、サンバなどです。練習は、毎週土曜日十時から十一時までです。みんな大学生からダンスを始めた人ばかりだと聞いたけど、本当にプロみたいです。みんなは、とてもやさしくて、色々なことを教えてもらって、お世話になっています。そして、みんな仲が良くて、一緒に練習の後にご飯を食べに行き、話し合います。

二つ目のCIPは、京都大学書道部です。書道部は百人以上いて、毎週水曜日に活動があって、毎月に一回で講師の先生が教えます。書道部の部室は、紙や墨、書道関係の本、冷蔵庫まであります。みんな自分で自由に書きます。春休みと夏休みには２泊３日程度で合宿に行きます。そして、毎年初夏と秋季の2回の学外展を行っています。みんなは、書道が上手だし、とてもやさしいし、アットホームな雰囲気のサークルです。

サンディー・リー：にこにこトマト

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にこにこトマトは京都大学病院のボランティアグループとして、入院した子供達が喜ぶようにお祝い日のギフトを作ったり、パーティーを計画したり、募金イベントを行ったり、子供達と遊んだり、ニュースレターを作ったり、切り抜き帖を作ったりする。

にこにこトマトは毎週火、水、木曜日に朝十一時から五時半まで病院の四階で活動をする。今学期のボランティアは大体四十代以上のおばちゃん達と大学生で、一日に十人ぐらい病院にボランティアをしに来る。

ボランティアは毎日十二時ごろ一緒に昼御飯を食べて、四時ごろおやつを食べながらお茶を飲む。ボランティアや活動の準備をする部屋は十人にとって小さいから、あたたかくて時々息がしにくいけれども、おばちゃん達はクラフトがすごく上手でとっても親しみやすくて元気な人だ。それに彼らは様々な個人的な話を聞くのが好きで、知識を広げたいと思っているので、近づきやすい人だ。

Sandy Lee: Zainichi Korean Study Group

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The Zainichi Korean Study Group has been working towards showcasing exhibitions regarding Korean Schools in Japan at three different major school festivals in Kyoto.  Students met outside of club time to prepare for the actual exhibitions. Work was separated between students. Some made the handouts, some made the posters, etc. I helped out near the end of the preparation by coloring some of the posters and tracing.

The first exhibition was held at Ritsumeikan University.  I helped set up the room and the exhibition by hanging up posters and arranging the photos exhibition. Afterwards, I was made to wear the traditional hanbok/chagoli dress and stand on the street to pass out flyers to festival attending students. However, I was able to bond with some of the members there who were passing flyers along with me. The next exhibition is at Kyodai and Doshisha afterwards. Similar to Ritsumeikan, I also dressed up in the traditional Korean dress and passed out flyers to passerbyers. The people I bonded the most with are those who were with me passing out flyers. Because I showed up on the last day, I also helped clean up the exhibition. After the cleanup on the last day at Kyodai, we had nabe party. I think it is really important to be able to attend all of the food functions because that is where you can talk with members. At the Doshisha exhibition, I was more able to talk with the staffers because I was able to stay inside the exhibition room more of the time than standing outside passing flyers.

The school festivals have definitely helped me bond with my group much more than attending the bi weekly meetings could have. At the meetings, I did not really recognize anybody and there was little opportunity to talk. Through the festivals  I was able recognize more faces and am surprised that people actually know my name. Hence, showing up at all of the meetings do help you become recognized by the community. Although I did not show up to help out at all of the festival days, I showed up at least once at every location: once at Ritsumeikan, twice at Kyodai, and twice at Doshisha. The more I showed up, the less awkward it had been when I tried to start conversations with people, whether it was commenting or offering food. Spending a lot of time together with the same people helped people become more easy around me. Also, because the festivals are multiple days in a row, being able to see someone in a consecutive amount of time really helped people recognize me. A lot of photos were taken of us during the events and in the preparation. Being able to be in the Facebook albums online I think is a success. Communication wise, the head of the group has really taken a great care of me because she kept sending me updates, called me to invite me to a field trip, and I have also responded to all of them. Sometimes I email her questions and received responses. I think this however depends on how big the club is and how interested they are in opening their group to foreigners. Exchanging contact information with the regular members was also a great step forward for me. One of them even gave me his business card because we talked for a couple of days.

My failure so far is not being able to remember people’s names. I always ask people’s names during the introduction but I can never remember them. Having Facebook helped a little bit, but it is still quite difficult. Most of the time I do not refer to people by their names and it has worked well, except in the cases in which I need to use the “you” pronoun. Everyone knows my name and I feel bad that it turned out this way. But, because I am staying here for a year, I think I will come to know everyone’s names. I definitely look forward to the next gathering or function. Participating in the festivals helped me break the ice, but I think it is your own will to show up, participate, and to reach out that makes the differences.

Angela Lo: Zenryuji Nursery School

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I love children and I enjoy volunteering at kindergartens. Before coming to Japan, I volunteered at American preschools and Hong Kong kindergartens. This CIP at Zenryuji Nursery School certainly widened my horizon.

Routine
I volunteered every Monday from noon till around 1pm. Within this short period of time, children had lunch, brushed their teeth, changed into pajamas, and got ready for naptime; I was amazed by how these events took place smoothly. I was given a free meal and allowed to eat with the children every week. At the beginning, I mostly spent time with the children after lunch and I was treated more as a guest than a volunteer. As I continued taking initiatives in offering help, I was able to get closer to the teachers. After about a month, teachers started assigning me more chores such as distributing the dishes before meals and cleaning the chairs after lunch. I am glad that I took the initiative in starting conversations with the teachers during lunch. Since teachers were very busy at other times, lunch was the perfect time to have short conversations about their teaching experience. I think that getting to know the teachers was one of the learning aspects of this CIP. In addition, it would have been better if I prepared some easy English songs to sing with the children after lunch. As teachers in this nursery school welcomed creative ideas, I could have offered more learning opportunities for the children.

Interacting with children
Since the self-introduction on the first day, children were very accepting of me (perhaps because of my Asian face). Every time I arrived the nursery school, children would start shouting “AH! Angela-san!” and surrounding me. The older children tried “showing off” their English skills by reciting the number sequence or naming all the animals they knew—it was adorable.

While I thought Japanese people tend to maintain personal distance with strangers, I was surprised that some of the children showed their friendliness by holding my hands or attempting to tickle me. These interactions did not happen in my American nor Hong Kong observations. We became friends after my weekly visits. In the first few times, most of them called me “Angela sensei (teacher),” but eventually, everybody called me “Angela-san,” an indication as a friend instead of an authoritative figure.

Combining elective courses with CIP experience
Nursery school was a perfect location to observe and apply what I learned in KCJS elective classes: Families and Work in Post-war Japan (with Professor North) and Exploring Language and Food in Kyoto (with Professor Yotsukura).

Comparing with my experiences in the United States and Hong Kong, I was surprised by how much these Japanese mothers had to prepare for their children. Children in this nursery school had their own labeled handkerchiefs, cups, eating utensils, bed sheets, blankets, etc. Professor North mentioned that, these preparations were viewed as indicators of a mother’s love toward her children and her performance as a “good wife, wise mother.”

Nursery school was also a location to educate children about the Japanese cuisine and dining etiquette. Before and after meals, children had to say thank you (For example, “お父様、お母様、先生いただきます！”); teachers also introduced the dishes served. I learned from Professor Yotsukura that, the “one-soup, three-side dishes, and rice” module was the foundation of Japanese cuisine. Japanese children started learning about this module and the varieties of Japanese food at a young age.