Once a month I participate with a local volunteer group to read picture books to Japanese children.  The volunteer group is called "Glocal" (Global + Local) and its purpose is to connect international students to the local community.  We read picture books at a beautiful community center in the middle of a nearby park to promote interaction and language learning between cultures.  Japanese parents bring their kids to listen to stories in Chinese, English, Japanese and any other language that's spoken by one of the volunteers.  At first I was skeptical that such a simple idea and project could make a difference or be popular but the crowd of parents and kids quickly proved me wrong.   The kids love the attention and have no problem picking up the different vocabulary words that we teach in various languages.  The whole afternoon is a riot and it's a lot of fun to interact with families who recognize the value of cultural and linguistic exchange.


It's also very helpful for practicing my Japanese as many of the books we read are in simple and basic Hiragana.  Today, one of the books I read was about baby kittens rolling down the back of the Mama cat.  The whole book only contained two words in Japanese: "rolling" and "meow" - perfect for my level!  It's also fun experimenting with group dynamics in Japanese like asking simple questions (What is this? Is this a cat?), making comments (This cat is so cute!) and motivating engagement by copying my Japanese teacher's instructions (Say it with me, repeat etc.).  Having conversations with young children is also entertaining because they don't let politeness get in the way of telling me that they don't understand what I'm trying to say.



Finally, I've come to understand that the way the Japanese organize any event is different.  It seems like "fun" can only be had if it's organized, planned and scheduled.  I've seen this on campus in terms of clubs and groups, on short trips and on volunteer activities like today.  It's very common to receive an itinerary which is followed precisely - there are no deviations, improvisations or tardiness.  There's also lots of applause and clapping - but more on that later.

Showing off our calligraphy - my teacher made me work on the character that means "togetherness" because I am the only fellow that is married

I meant to write about finishing up the summer Japanese program but that occurred while I was moving house and blogging fell by the wayside.  One of the many benefits of going abroad with an organization like Rotary is that they create personalized events and programs just for the Peace Fellows.  One such program was the intensive Japanese class that we participated in during the month of August.  Though the class was very little reading or writing and mostly just "survival" spoken Japanese, it is helping me out now not only just getting around but also staying afloat in the university's language class.  The class also provided extracurricular programs like flower arranging, drumming, lectures and calligraphy.

Learning how to make and serve tea correctly

During our final class, our teacher dressed us in summer kimonos and taught us how to do a tea ceremony.  We also showed off the calligraphy we had done during one of our classes. We continued to practice our speeches in preparation for the afternoon closing ceremony during which we would perform the tea ceremony for Rotarians and present our memorized essays.  I talked about my family and Sean - not exactly riveting but it was all I could manage given my limited vocabulary.  Others talked about their hobbies or their hometowns.  We were all very happy to get it over with as everything was very formal and just made us more nervous.

It was really fun to wear the yukatta/summer kimono and slippers!

What was most interesting was the emphasis (at times it seemed like obsession) that our Japanese teachers put on absolute perfection.  We rehearsed our two minute speeches over and over again - for hours.  We practiced one by one with the teachers and they helped us with our pronunciation, breathing and flow.  We worked on our posture, voice, eye contact and volume along with absolute memorization - we weren't allowed to have a cheat sheet.  The adage "practice makes perfect" took on an entirely new meaning.  Let's just say that we all slept a lot better when it was all over and the cold celebratory beers never tasted so good.  Kanpai!

All of the yukattas laid out ready for putting on

Madeleine from Australia

Shook from Malaysia and Rashmi from India

Sean arrived the same week that graduate school began and life has been a blur of getting his paperwork in order, starting class, applying for jobs/internships and organizing our apartment.  I have a list of experiences that I'd like to write up as blog posts which will make for some therapeutic and fun writing as well as a nice change of pace from research papers and presentations.  But in the meantime, here's a brief glance at some of the things we've been up to:

Graduate school - I'm taking the minimum course load this term (ICU runs on a quarter system) because I'm a bit nervous about getting back into academia and also because I'm taking Japanese.  The three classes are: Peace and Conflict Studies I, Ideas on Peace and Research Design and Methodology.  Each class meets once a week for three hours and requires a lot of reading and writing outside of class.

Japanese class - I'm the only one of the fellows who decided to keep going with beginner Japanese because the time commitment is fairly intense. I have Japanese class three times a week in the mornings for about four hours each time.  The class focuses on reading and writing with some speaking and I spend hours outside of class trying to write the characters correctly.  The homework load for this class is very rigorous and there is some kind of assessment each time we meet.

Teaching - I was accepted to work as an English instructor at a nearby university.  On Thursdays, I teach four classes (90 minutes) in a row.  I also have one or two private students that I meet with for about an hour once a week.

Writing Support Desk - I was hired to be one of the fifteen writing support tutors at the library.  We offer help to undergraduates writing papers and essays.  This term, since I'm new, I am just going through orientation and doing several observations but I like the job so far.

Virtual Student Foreign Service - One of the opportunities I'm most excited about this year is working as a virtual intern for the State Department.  I'm working directly with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and am helping with digital storytelling of the Fulbright program.

Volunteering - The Mitaka (suburb of where we live in Tokyo) community has done an incredible job of reaching out to foreigners and making them feel at home here.  They also are very successful at connecting international students and residents with local volunteer opportunities.  I'm involved with an organization called "Glocal" (Global + Local) and MISHOP (Mitaka International Society for Hospitality).  These groups set up volunteering events, social mixers and small trips for locals and expats to get to know each other.

Rotary - One of the benefits of being on a Rotary fellowship is the amazing support and connection that the organization offers. I have a local host counselor Rotarian here that helps me out with many things in daily life, takes me to Rotary meetings and meets me at networking events.  It has been very special to have my own Rotary family here in Japan.

Friends - It's also been a huge advantage to be in the fellowship program because I've become close with my cohort of nine other fellows.  We hang out together and I've gotten to know them quite well. There are also some fellows from previous years who are still around and have given valuable advice.  Sean quickly joined some ultimate frisbee groups and has met some male spouses of other fellows to hang out with.


So far, my biggest challenge has been time management and also getting used to having an intense schedule with early mornings and late nights.  I'm trying to remember how to de-stress and have started jogging around campus and also going to yoga.  It has been a huge help to have Sean here as emotional support and as soon as he finds some work we'll be on our way.

Thanks for following our journey and more coming soon!

Most of Saturday was spent at a fancy hotel at our official Rotary orientation to the Peace Fellows program.  This consisted of many speeches given by past district governors, current district governor and future district governors which were interesting but made twice as long as everything had to be translated into English.  We also heard speeches from our ICU center director, coordinator and two program alumni.  The guest of honor was past Rotary International president (2012-2013), Mr. Sakuji Tanaka.

After three hours of formal ceremony, we were more than ready for dinner which was buffet style and included plenty of drinks and toasting.  We had a chance to mingle and catch up with not only our host counselors but all of the other Rotarians and dignitaries attending as well.  Once again, this exchange was made slightly awkward by the fact that I can barely speak any Japanese and the Rotarians were embarrassed about their English ability and hardly said anything either.  The drinking only improved this a little bit and I now have a pocket full of unknown and unintelligible business cards.



During the networking time, the fellows were asked to give a short speech with our host counselors.  I adore my counselor and am very thankful that he can speak English so we can communicate.  While we were up in front he said during his speech, "Sarah is quite tall and I am very short but her hope in the future is big and my heart is big too so we are a good pair."  Once again, I was grateful to my Japanese class for hammering a classic and formal speech into our memories as I've had to give it again and again.

While I was shaking hands, bowing and toasting like mad, Sean was somewhere in Mackinaw City with the rest of The Labor Day Boys, as some of the locals have dubbed them over the years.  Five more days until he'll be saying "Kanpai/Cheers" with me in Tokyo.

One more week until Sean arrives!  I've been pestering him with constant Skype calls and peppering him with questions about his fun time in Holland so I can live vicariously through him until he gets here.  Unless he's telling a story with a beer in hand, Sean is not exactly a huge talker so our Skype calls consist of me trying to get every descriptive detail that I can out of him with him usually responding with one word answers.  It's maddening and I'm quite sure that he knows it drives me nuts.