At Nico Tomato, we usually gather around a table and make holiday cards for the children.\u00a0 I wish that there had been more opportunities to interact directly with the children, but it\u2019s also interesting to talk with the other volunteers and listen to their thoughts and opinions.\u00a0 One day the subject of giongo and gitaigo came up in the volunteer\u2019s conversation.\u00a0 They asked us whether there was an English equivalent for chiinsuru, as \u201cchiin\u201d is the sound that the microwave makes when it is done heating up the food.\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting how there are so many commonly used giongo and gitaigo in Japanese, whereas onomatopoeia isn\u2019t as often used in spoken English.\u00a0 For example, in Japanese the act of tired being can be described with several different expressions such as, hetoheto, guttari, and kutakuta.\u00a0 Depending on which one you chose, a slightly different nuance will be conveyed.\u00a0 However, giongo and gitaigo can sometimes contribute to the language barrier.\u00a0 Students typically learn several of the most commonly used ones but there\u2019s a whole world of giongo and gitaigo that isn\u2019t taught in the average Japanese class.\u00a0 Because of this, giongo and gitaigo sometimes have the effect of confusing a non-native speaker.\u00a0 It can also be harder for non-native speakers to conceptualize the various giongo and gitaigo and use them in the correct situations, as they haven\u2019t grown up learning them like a native speaker.<\/p>\n
In October we helped out with the Halloween party.\u00a0 The children had fun dressing up, and there were several racks of costumes and shelves of accessories for them to choose from.\u00a0 After they took pictures, everyone went on a mini parade down the corridor with orange balloons.\u00a0 It reminded me of the Halloween parades that we had in preschool and kindergarten.\u00a0 I was a bit surprised at the number of Halloween decorations and events in Japan, as I thought it wasn\u2019t really observed here.\u00a0 It seems that it\u2019s been growing in popularity over years, but still isn\u2019t a widely celebrated holiday.\u00a0 Costumes and pumpkin flavored snacks are associated with Halloween, but the traditions of trick-or-treating and carving pumpkins haven\u2019t appeared to have been carried over to Japan.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s interesting to see how foreign holidays are adapted in Japan.<\/p>\n
Volunteering at Nico Tomato has been a great experience.\u00a0 The other volunteers are all very friendly and they really made the effort to welcome us into the group.\u00a0 The volunteers work very hard to plan events and make the children\u2019s stay at the hospital more enjoyable. I\u2019m glad that I was able to join Nico Tomato and participate in their activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At Nico Tomato, we usually gather around a table and make holiday cards for the children.\u00a0 I wish that there h … \u7d9a\u304d\u3092\u8aad\u3080