Program Contents		Cultural Patners Ken Zen Dojo New York University Kendo Club Taiko Masara Carl Urasenke Chanoyu Center Sohenryu Tea Ceremony Sunrise Mart Yasu Seto JCCA-AMERICA New York Taiko Aiko-kai Yoshiko Gonaii JETAA NY EJC Sponsors Sunrise Mart Japan National Tourist Organization
We introduce Japanese culture by conducting "Explore Japanese Culture! An Afterschool Program" originally planned by NY de Volunteer, as one of the after school programs provided by New York City. The goal of this program is to provide young children in NY with opportunities to cultivate a sense of "Global Citizenship" by coming into contact with a different culture and its values. This program will satisfy the educational needs of New York City which is notable for its diversity education (education about a variety of people).        New York City is known as a melting pot of races and cultures. However, children in the inner city area, where many of the residents are low-income families, are surrounded only by people with similar backgrounds, and have only limited opportunity to gain cross cultural experience during their development process. Cross cultural experience is very important for the growth of a child since it helps him or her be receptive and respectful of cultural differences.  Programs will be held at Washington heights. It may take 30 minutes to an hour to get there, and it might be inconvenient for volunteers. However, it is the distance that may be the reason for limited cultural exchange opportunities for children, and therefore all the more the reason for volunteers to visit those locations.  We need 10-15 volunteers each week to ensure the success of this program. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated. Let's enjoy this volunteer opportunity together surrounded by childrens' smiles! Thank you.
Details of Volunteer Activity
Volunteers will introduce Japanese culture and lifestyle to about 30 American children ages 6-13 years old in eight sessions.  Each session will be held once a week, for two hours in the early evening on Friday.  Contents include Japanese language, Japanese games (Origami, Su-doku, and Iro-oni), Japanese food, Japanese martial arts, Tea Ceremony, and Japanese dance. The content of the program will be designed by NYdV staff. Volunteers' activity in this program also includes preparation, assisting the program's execution, and playing an active role in the program as an expert on Japanese culture.   You may please participate in this program as: Assistant volunteer - willing to introduce Japanese culture to American children, and able to attend two sessions or more out of eight sessions.  (English is needed for conversation during the program, but an advanced level of English is not necessary. No special skills related to Japanese culture are needed.) or Volunteer as a Japanese culture specialist If you have talent as a Japanese culture specialist in the following areas; -know Kendo and can demonstrate it to children. - can make sushi (Temaki-sushi), and explain how to make it in English. - know Japanese calligraphy (Shodo) - can do Japanese traditional dance (Bon-odori), and explain and teach how to dance in English. - can dress children in Japanese summer kimono (Yukata). - can sing Japanese songs and/or play Japanese music during the programs. etc.
Please contribute materials to the Explore Japanese Culture program! We need Origami paper and brushes for Japanese calligraphy (shodo), cups and tea for tea ceremony, hand fans (uchiwa), etc. If you have any of the materials above and don't need them, could you donate them to us?  Your contribution will be highly appreciated. Thank you. NY de Volunteer 601 West 110th Street #10K5 New York, NY 10025 USA

Example of the Schedule:

Schedule
2:30pm	Assembly, Preparation
3:30pm	Beginning of the program
5:30pm	Ending of the program, review of the program, liaison
6:30pm	Closing

The schedule will vary by the location.

TBA

Alums Help NY de Volunteer with New
"Explore Japanese Culture"
After School Program

By Marc Carroll (Gifu-ken, 2001-03)

Think globally, act locally. Perhaps this may be a slogan for environmental movements, but it's also certainly relevant to what we can do in our everyday lives.

rt In this same spirit, Noriko Hino, founder and Executive Director of NY de Volunteer, is hosting yet another impressive program called Explore Japanese Culture! An After School Program. New York City's premier Japanese community service organization started this educational initiative in 2007 in partnership with the Parks and Recreation Department's After School Program, and it will sweep through four NYC boroughs through the spring. Its goal is to cultivate a sense of "global citizenship" in students, some as young as six, and to encourage exploration beyond their immediate neighborhoods. This may seem like a lofty goal, but the program accomplishes it by introducing Japanese cultural arts such as kendo, calligraphy, origami, and tea ceremony.

At the end of the eight-week Brooklyn session, Noriko invited me along with Adren Hart (Nagano-ken, 1998-2000), another fellow JETnydvphoto.jpg alum, to meet and speak with the students in the program they were running at St. John's Recreation Center in Brooklyn. Adren and I were more than happy to volunteer, since, like most of the students, we are Caribbean and African-American. Noriko had many Japanese volunteers in attendance as well but recognized the real advantage of students seeing someone like themselves who has benefited from experiences abroad.

When we arrived at the center in late November, something familiar was in the air. The session began with Noriko approaching the front of the room and dropping the signal. What happened next broke space and time, and there I was warped back into the shogakkou classrooms of inaka Gifu-ken. The appointed class kaicho commands, "Kiritsu! Rei!" To my amazement, all of the students stood, then bowed in unison. Impressive. Next was a very enthusiastic call and response introduction between the students and the 15 or so Japanese volunteers. At the same time it was somewhat of a sad occasion since this was the last week that students and volunteers would meet. Relationships were forged over these short few weeks, yet the kids were anticipating another week that would not happen.

We wasted no time and dove right into the current session's activity, a massive origami project led by an expert origami artist. The students were given step-by-step instructions to create their own origami. Lastly, they wrote their names on their creations, but in yet another twist, most were impressively able to write their names in katakanacfrom memory! The final step was to combine each origami into what looked like soccer ball-sized object out of Katamari Damacy.

Next, Adren and I were to speak and it was clear that we could ride the wave of student excitement. Funny, when planning we first thought, "YATTA! Finally, a captive audience who will sincerely listen to our stories as cultural ambassadors in Japan!!" That shortly then became, "Ehcer..but chotto matte. So we're explaining GLOBAL citizenship? We're going to stand in front of almost 40 hyper six-to-ten year olds and in 20 minutes orate on this broad topic with little direction. How are we supposed toc" Oh yeah. We're JET alums, we've done this a thousand times before, and it was time to dust off the ol' ALT noodle for a little improv.

To whet their appetites, we started with stories of exotic cuisine, biking in the rain and the requisite cultural misunderstandings that we all have had. To maintain momentum and attention, we jumped into a short, simple exercise. Keeping in mind that we had to make this personal, we wanted to illustrate just how small our world is. So, we had them all take off their right shoes and hold them above their heads; just long enough for some quizzical looks and correct ripeness of foot-funk in the air. We told everyone to look at the labels inside the shoes and tell in what countries they were manufactured. A sea of hands flew up and answers were Spain, Bulgaria, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. Not one was made in the USA. "Back on with your shoes; our noses have suffered long enough," I exclaimed.

To continue the exercise, Adren and I tasked them with searching for other items in their own homes and finding out where they were made. We explained that their shoes, like many other things, might have once been a product of the USA. But now, everything from our food, to our toys, to our ideas comes from many places. Similarly, we also exchange our food, toys and ideas with other countries. The world is shrinking and it is important to understand and cooperate with people different than themselves.

The questions and answers that followed demonstrated that we really captured their interest, and they were very curious about our time abroad. Ironically, these were much like the questions we were asked during our time in Japan. Where did we sleep? What did we eat? The most insightful came from one of the youngest, "Did you miss home?"

Noriko's goal for the program was not specifically to promote Japan, but to address an increasingly pertinent need to bridge both cultural and social gaps. As former JETs, even if we're not sharing our experiences in Japan, we still have much to offer hungry young minds. Get involved in your community in some way. If you are interested in NYdV, it is hosting three more eight-week sessions in Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.