How I joined:
I'm not sure if I mentioned this but back when I came to Japan in September I joined the Figure skating club. I lived in the dorm back then and one of the RMs knew someone in the figure skating club so it was much easier for me to get into contact and then join the club. However I only went to one practice to meet them at Shiga Prefectural Arena and the rest of the October practices I either couldn't go because I had class in the morning and I wouldn't make it in time for class or too late at around midnight where I'd have no way back to the dorm. =_= the struggle of 終点is real. In Kyoto the ice rink is seasonal so it didn't open till November where I was finally able to join the practices!
In universities there's what you called both "cirlces" and "clubs", and clubs are usually more serious with their practice whilst circles are much more relaxed and it's all recreational. Someone I know joined the Aikido club and that's pretty intense but figure skating is more of an individual sport and focused more on individuals. So we only had around 3 practices a month.
Because I came in September it would mean that in Japan whilst it would be my first semester, it would be their second. Therefore they wouldn't have the clubs and circles fair to get new members to join them.
Club Practice:
In our club practice, there's a club coach who goes around giving help and advice. It was so awkward at my first practice because I barely spoke Japanese for 2-3 months and the fact that most of them are from Kansai it doesn't help that I don't understand Kansai dialect very well. Yikes.
Our practices in Kyoto begin at 6:30am-8:30am early af right? double yikes lol I don't know how but I managed to wake up early enough and get there. Although I was 10 mins late everytime. It happens when you live in the middle of the forest in the mountains. We usually did crossovers and mohawks before moving onto edge practice. LOL My edges suck so you can imagine what that's like for me when most in the club are pretty good and a few even compete at competitions with Japan's top skaters such as Mihara Mai, Kazuki Tomono etc.
Ritsumeikan has a fairly small number of members in the club compared to Doshisha, Kyodai and Osaka. However, to my surprise I wasn't the only foreigner in the club, there were 2 others and one was an exchange student like I am but he came in April meaning that he would be leaving after second semester ends. Rip my only English speaking friend in the club isn't here anymore.
コメント