「KCJS Year」カテゴリーアーカイブ

Carter Yee: Kyoto University Hiking Circle

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For my CIP for the fall semester, I joined one of the other KCJS students, Theo Sternlieb, in entering the Kyoto University Hiking Circle. This circle was intended for students who enjoy the outdoors and spending time in nature. But unfortunately, due to frequent scheduling conflicts including the fall Okayama trip and the typhoon, Theo and I were only able to attend meetings in the club’s box. Nonetheless, it was an exciting time as Japan was in the Rugby World cup. As such, we hung out with the other students and watched them play against South Africa in the semi-finals.

I was happy to join the hiking circle despite not being able to get outside with them at all. It was nice to be able to talk to and enjoy the company of students in a more relaxed environment! Many of the students seemed surprised that we wanted to join their circle. One aspect that I was glad to see was how inclusive the club was in terms of its leadership. Often, I have found that outdoor spaces and activities are permeated by an overwhelming sense of masculinity, so I was happy to see that this was not the case.

Since Kyoto University did not start again until midway through September, and the club does not do many activities in the fall, it was difficult to attend the necessary amount of CIP meetings. We were able to supplement this with outside activities that got us involved in the community, but overall, I was sad that I could not do more with the hiking circle itself. As the start of our semester does not match up when either Doshisha or Kyoto University students start, the number of activities on the calendar that KCJS students can participate in can be somewhat stunted. It is important to realize that there are other opportunities to get involved with the community. I was able to continue rock climbing in Kyoto; an activity that I participated in back at my home university, and even got Theo involved as well. It has been a great experience to meet people at the rock gym. Similarly to the hiking circle, there is also balanced representation among the genders. As it is mostly locals who climb there, we have started to learn some climbing-specific words and phrases in Japanese. There is a very supportive environment where everyone cheers on everyone else. People often shout ”がんば！”, meaning “try your best!” Being able to travel to Okayama on the fall trip also helped me expand my network of friends in Japan! I have been surprised at all of the kindness with which we have been received living and studying in Kyoto.

Benjamin Hofing: Ultimate Frisbee

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For my CIP, I joined various Ultimate Frisbee teams around Kyoto. Since I have been playing Ultimate for years already, this seemed like a good choice for me. I thought it would be much easier to communicate since I already knew plenty of things about the sport. I could not have been more wrong. While it definitely helped that I already knew the jist of what was going on, I sometimes had a tough time understanding what was going on.

Fortunately, everyone was very accommodating. When I couldn’t understand some of what was going on, someone would sit with me and draw the situation out, explaining the necessary vocabulary as we went. In addition, there were a few people who spoke English, who occasionally helped me out when I was struggling really badly.

At first, when I found out there were several people who could speak English, I was nervous that I would become reliant on them: it would be far easier to speak with them in English, and then have them help translate into Japanese, than it would be for me to learn the myriad of vocabulary that would be necessary to explain myself. If this had happened, I don’t think I would have gotten much out of this experience. But it didn’t. Instead, I forced myself to speak Japanese, even when I was talking with the people who could speak English. At first, it was very difficult, but I slowly acclimated. Since I sometimes had practice on both Saturdays and Sundays, it got to a point where I would go whole weekends without speaking English. Thanks to this, I got lots of speaking practice, while having fun at the same time.

Kiara Harding: Ritsumeikan Taiko Circle

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For my CIP, I joined Ritsumeikan University’s taiko circle, Wadaiko Don. Everyone was very welcoming, and though I was only able to be there for a short time because of the end of the taiko season, it was very educational. I had a little bit of taiko experience previously, but not much, so I mostly practiced the basics with the first years. I thought that the club would be a bit strict, but I realized it’s much more of a “do what you need to do” atmosphere. Additionally, the members were very laid back, and were always willing to teach me new things. I primarily attended for the free practices, where everyone just practiced whatever they needed to work on. I learned and practiced a song with a few of the other members with the intention of playing in a small performance, but it was unfortunately cancelled due to the typhoon. After that, the taiko season had eventually come to an end, so I moved on to a new CIP, but I still learned a lot from my time at Wadaiko Don. What initially surprised me was that I didn’t really notice a strict hierarchy among the members like I expected. There still were some elements of hierarchy where the more experienced members taught the younger ones, but everyone participated and practiced equally. Additionally, when I went to the all-club meeting, all of the members participated equally as well.

In terms of cons, I found that inserting myself into conversations could be difficult at times because I tend to be a bit shy, and I wasn’t sure what would make a good topic of conversation. Also, since the KCJS calendar doesn’t really align with the Japanese university calendar, it is a bit hard to join clubs, since I ended up joining in the middle of the year, and towards the end of the taiko season. By the time I joined everyone was pretty much already entrenched in their friendships and practice routines. But despite all of this, everyone was still very kind to me, and overall I had a good experience.

Aiko Johnston: Crafts Circle at Ritsumeikan University

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For my CIP, I joined a crafts club at Ritsumeikan University, a university in Kyoto near Kinkakuji. The club typically met every Friday evening to make crafts together. Usually between two to five other girls would show up, and we’d all work on various crafts.

It was an interesting to see how clubs (which are called ‘circles’) at Japanese universities worked. Ritsumeikan had a school festival, at which my crafts circle sold tons of crafts—hair pins, hair ties, charms, earrings, etc.—and raised over 20,000 yen, which they then use to purchase materials and supplies for crafts. They were surprisingly well-stocked—they had a UV light machine to use for resin projects, a sewing machine, and a few other devices that I was surprised by.

I did enjoy the experience, and enjoyed learning how to make several kinds of crafts. I’ve always been interested in kanzashi, or hair ornaments used in traditional Japanese hairstyles. They’re most often made out of chirimen, a kind of silk crepe, which I always thought was expensive but is actually pretty easy to get your hands on in Japan. I got to make several flowers (marutsumami) at my club, which was very fun, and something I think I’ll continue after going back to the US. It was definitely an interesting experience to see the kinds of crafts that are popular amongst Japanese college students, and how to make them. I was a bit surprised at the quality of the crafts my circle made—a lot of the earrings and charms looked very professional. Crafts clubs like Ritsumeikan’s don’t seem to be very popular or common in the US, but it seems they’re fairly common in Japan.

The members of my club were generally pretty quiet, and it seemed like this club was mostly a way for people to relax at the end of the week by doing crafts. We would chat a bit, but people also tended to focus on whatever craft they were doing. I am also a fairly shy person, so at times I had difficulty starting conversations or trying to engage more with the club.

People were very friendly despite the fact that I joined in the middle of the school year (fall is the second semester in Japan) and didn’t even go to Ritsumeikan. Even if you’re nervous or scared, reaching out and asking questions is always better than staying quiet. People are usually very happy to explain things, and are more welcoming than you might expect. I would also recommend maybe exploring more than one CIP at the start of the semester—I ended up starting my CIP late due to some bad luck, and so didn’t really have enough time to test things out and see what I liked. Also, make sure your CIP is something you enjoy and are interested in! Your CIP is a great opportunity to get more involved in Japanese society and get to know people outside of KCJS.

Angel Yi Fei Ding : Shamisen

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My first time encountering the shamisen was at a taiko performance by a student group named Yamatai on Cornell’s campus. I remember sitting in the massive concert hall and awing at the explosive, yet pure beats accompanied by two Japanese pluck instruments. During the performance, one string on one instrument snapped, but the performer remained calm and continued the notes with the remaining strings.

As music has been a part of my life in many different ways and forms over the past 15 years, I decided to keep it in my life even during my times abroad. Learning a traditional Japanese instrument became a natural option and drawing from my memory regarding that taiko performance I saw over a year ago, that accompanying instrument came to mind. I decided to learn the shamisen. With the recommendations of KCJS teachers, I, along with another KCJS student who wanted to learn the koto, contacted Iwasaki Sensei. My CIP became one of the best highlights of my time in Kyoto.

It is fair to say that Chloe and I walked into the unknown. With the help of our teacher, we called Iwasaki sensei in somewhat broken Japanese and arranged to meet that exact afternoon. I thought we were simply meeting to introduce ourselves, but we jumped into practice, and Tuesdays became our lesson time. In the first two weeks or so, Iwasaki sensei taught me shamisen basics like reading traditional Japanese music notation and learning the basic positions. Coming from over 15 years of violin practice, I was able to catch the basic, basic, fundamentals, and we moved onto pieces.

Iwasaki sensei’s classroom is conducted in a fairly unique style with students of all sorts of backgrounds. Our usual Tuesday group ranges from a 6-year-old pre-elementary girl to 60-year-old grandmas, and we always have so much fun. Since I don’t have other activities planned on Tuesdays, I tend to spend around 3 hours at the studio. We play different pieces, varying in difficulty, and I often have flashbacks of my time back in orchestra when we have multiple shakuhachis 「尺八」( bamboo flute), kotos 「琴」(Japanese harp), and shamisens 「三味線」play all together.

This classroom was also the perfect place to observe Kansai’s hospitality and customs. The students spoke with kansaiben「関西弁」 and used kansai-keigo「関西敬語」 ( which is the best invention) and interacted with each other in a fun way. Sometimes different students would bring omiyage「お土産」 or ogashi「お菓子」, and we would teatime in between the lesson and chat freely.

It has been an amazing time, and I really look forward to our Christmas performance on December 14th. I will cherish the few weeks we have left with the small studio and make the best out of it.

Anthony Villa: Origami and craft circles

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For various reasons, I ended up having two CIPs. The first was an origami club at Kyoto University that I participated in during October until autumn break. There were various origami tutorial magazines and paper provided, but I found some of the tutorials pretty difficult to follow so I ended up finding easier ones online. This was totally fine because most of the others were working on all sorts of cool and complicated looking origami projects that weren’t in the magazines. 

I don’t think I could find the dedication to this craft that I saw in everyone there in American craft clubs. They were always chatting about something or other but they would still be working on these big, modular crafts that couldn’t be finished in one sitting. I think some of them were folding projects they wanted to submit to origami magazines like the ones the brought. That kind of craftsmanship was honestly impressive to see. Despite that, because of the gap from autumn break, scheduling, and because the location kept changing to rooms I wasn’t familiar with, I decided it would be better to look for a different club to join.

I was in a bit of CIP limbo for a bit after autumn break, but I eventually joined a craft circle that another student was a part of. She had also just recently joined it which made it a bit easier to jump into as well. At the club we have been crocheting which is honestly a skill I never thought I’d learn but so far it’s been fun. Receiving verbal instructions in Japanese is challenging but I’ve managed to figure things out with everyone’s help. Some of the members let me use some of their yarn and hooks which was extremely kind (I have since bought my own to practice a bit on my own time). 

I don’t think these clubs were too different than those in America, but there were some differences that stood out. That these clubs were pretty popular was a bit surprising to me; the craft circle was also mostly men, which isn’t what I would have guessed. One thing I couldn’t help but notice was that in both clubs people were talking about anime they had seen recently and games they had played; I don’t hear that all that often as a smalltalk topic in America. 

It looks like there are all sorts of CIPs, so if you look hard enough you’ll find something you enjoy. If the one you pick at first isn’t working out for you for whatever reason, I don’t think there’s any shame in looking for another one. Your time in this program is precious, so you should spend it on activities you’ll enjoy doing, not something you’ll trudge through out of obligation. There shouldn’t be any problems once you find something that works for you; both clubs that I attended had a very friendly, relaxed atmosphere. As someone who couldn’t speak Japanese very well there was always some sort of language barrier, but don’t let that stop you from trying your best to communicate. I found talking to the students was always very rewarding.

Things might be a little awkward at first, but if you make an effort you’ll have invaluable experiences to show for it.

Theodore Sternlieb: Kyoto University Hiking Circle

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I participate in Kyoto University’s Hiking Circle. Although due to weather and field trips, I did not end up getting to go on any of the overnight hikes, I did actively participate in the more mundane events hosted by the circle. Groups of 6 or so would gather in the room which the circle had access to and do anything from make gyoza to watch the Rugby World Cup. Even though it would have been a great opportunity to camp out with the members, I still enjoyed getting to know them over the course of the semester.

Camrick Solorio: Ballroom Dance Circle

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For my CIP, I asked to join Kyoto University’s Amateur Dance (ballroom dance) club and they kindly let me participate. Club activities consisted of weekly or bi-weekly practices at local recreational centers, where we learned a variety of dances from tango to cha-cha. The club members were all extremely kind and accommodating despite the frequent language gap, and it became quickly apparent that the regular club members are really invested in the club—not just in improving their dance skills, but in building community. I did roughly a year of ballroom dance in college prior to joining this club (zero dance experience before that), and with this background the practices being held were challenging but somehow manageable. There were some members with similar skill levels as me, but I would say most are better dancers than I am. Some of the members were even taking private lessons outside of club practice.

I was constantly amazed at how kind everyone was to each other. They treated me as a regular member of the club even though I was only to be there for a semester, and I can’t stress enough how incredibly grateful I am for that. Around mid-November I attended one of their bi-annual Dance Parties (formal venue, ~100 guests, dance time), and even though I couldn’t contribute much to planning the event, they kindly welcomed me as a club member and let me celebrate with them after the event.

Some general advice for interested students: the club members are extremely kind and welcoming towards everyone, and that very much includes study abroad students (they told me it isn’t uncommon for short-term study abroad students to join for a while).  Having seen the intergenerational ties and motivation of the club members, I highly doubt this inclusivity and positivity is something that will change in the near future, so don’t be afraid to take a first step. Lessons might be particularly challenging for newcomers (notably because fall is second semester in Japan), but this is not a steadfast obstacle. You should definitely feel empowered to reach out and try if it’s something you’re interested in. Be sure to reach out for help, practice to have fun, and (very important) show others a smile even if things are difficult!! It makes a big difference.

Some other one-off tips:

  • You can buy cheap dance shoes on Amazon (~$30?). Gentlemen, if you can only get standard or Latin shoes go for the former.
  • Go to the post-practice afterparties.
  • If you’re interested in private lessons in addition to club practice, reach out to the senior members.
  • If you don’t quite understand something, ask! I had a number of times I did something clumsy because I didn’t quite get what was going on.
  • Always say please and thank you (aka お願いします、ありがとうございます、お疲れ様です、失礼します、).

Sophie Burke: Volunteering at Higashi Kujo Children's Soup Kitchen

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For my CIP, I’ve continued volunteering with the Higashi Kujo Children’s Soup Kitchen located at Kyoto Southern Church. When I returned from summer break and stepped into the soup kitchen, I was immediately greeted by some of the other volunteers from last semester who still remembered my name and who I was. That experience alone encapsulates why I have grown to love the community so much.

The organization was founded three years ago by the pastor Baekki Heo, a third generation Korean born Japanese. He and his wife do a fantastic job fostering a community while providing affordable and home-cooked meals to families who need them.

While last semester I helped with a variety of tasks each week, this time around I was pretty much assigned a permanent station of expediting the food and taking it to the customers. The girl who was almost always stationed with me was always so patient with me even though I often make mistakes with the arrangement of the food on the tray. She and all the other volunteers were always patient with me when I didn’t understand something, and would take the time to explain it to me.

Over the course of the semester it has been really great seeing people who were really shy at first gradually become accustomed to joking around with me and not feeling like they have to tiptoe around me. Every week is filled with a plethora of hilarious, informative, and sometimes embarrassing anecdotes as I get to speak with everyone and find out more about their lives. From celebrating the soup kitchen’s third anniversary to getting to speak with the older people in the community and practice my keigo, my time with the Higashi Kujo Children’s Soup Kitchen has truly been one of the highlights of my experience abroad.

 

Kali Routier: Kindergarten Volunteer

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My CIP was at a kindergarten close to Doshisha campus. Every week I would go to the kindergarten and have lunch with the children, after I would usually play with them outside or do other various activities until it was time for them to go home. The staff consisted of 2 teachers, 3 office workers the director and several volunteers like myself. There were 2 classrooms, one with older children that were about 5 or 6 and another classroom, which was my classroom,  with children that were around 4. 

At the kindergarten, I was able to observe how children interact within Japanese society; one interesting thing I noticed was how the children only used short form; there were several times I would use desu and masu form and sometimes they wouldn’t understand. Also, being able to observe lunch was quite fascinating, as there was an effort to have everyone eating the same thing. A sense of unity is created in the sense that everyone is equal to each other, even the teachers. In America it’s quite different; children eat what their families packed for them which usually ends up being different from everyone else. In Japan the kindergarten makes the lunches for the children and the teachers so that everyone can eat the same thing and no one feels excluded or different.

Even though in the beginning I was very nervous, I’m so happy I was able to have this experience and grow from it. I was able to observe children learning their own culture and through the kindergarten I was able to see a part of Japanese society I wouldn’t normally have access to. The number one thing that helped make my CIP successful was that I actively put in the effort to be involved. In the beginning I was a little awkward because I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing. But at times like that the best thing to do is just ask someone if you can help with anything. Also, don’t be afraid to make mistakes and if you don’t understand something just ask. Volunteering at the kindergarten was a unique experience I’m happy I was able to do, it helped me grow and understand Japanese society better as a whole.