“There’s no one my age.” Getting Involved You may have the issues of feeling like there is no one else your age. Maybe you feel like everyone in your town is much older than you and everyone has left Nagasaki for Fukuoka. Or perhaps you’re on the older side and feel like everyone is too young! It can be tough, but I assure you, you can find at least someone your age. It can be tough!

“I want to plan ______, but I don’t know where to start.” Getting Involved So maybe the thing you want doesn’t exist. Or perhaps you are just someone who likes to organize events! Well, that is entirely possible too! And you can make it as easy or as complicated as you want it to be. I’ve seen people organize holiday parties, hiking groups, & DnD campaigns. Remember becoming a regular? Cafes are a great place for language exchanges, book clubs, and art groups. A former ALT in Sasebo was interested in writing, but found it hard to focus at home, so she created an art group for people to drop in when they felt like it to work on personal projects. Becoming a regular at izakayas and restaurants also make it easier to host larger events, like holiday parties, bar crawls or goukons (group dates). And again, always ask a sempai. They may be willing to help! So the key points for organizing are making sure you have a location, and the date and time. Everything else can sort of fall into place if you know what you want to do. You might think “Well, no one is going to be interested in my things”, but you never know until you try.

Organizing Events

“I’ve done all the things you’ve said “I’ve done all the things you’ve said. In fact, I’ve already established a killer routine.” Getting Involved (5- mins) Awesome! That means you can help out kohai point them in the right direction in your community! You may even have better tricks and tips than I do. Which is now what I’m going to ask you to do now. I asked you earlier to talk about your hobby and places you like to eat. Now share them with someone here that might find that information of use! *White Board* Writing some info down based on location, and whether it is a sport/event/ etc.

Keeping Things Balanced (Aka too much of a good thing) (I’ll switch the photo later) So now that I’ve told you all the great ways and important reasons to get involved, time to give the other side of things.

Decide how much you’re willing to put in and make it clear. Level of Involvement If you plan on joining a club, please be aware that some require more commitment than others, even outside of schools. If you join something that has tournaments or performances, for example, a regional tournament, or a yosakoi practice. you may be expected to also put in more time, which may leave you with less free time, or time to travel. Establish a schedule. Say how much time you have. Sometimes you do need to really push yourself, but know your limits.

Give yourself some rest So, I’m a fairly involved individual. I think I’ve mentioned, I practice naginata, I do koto, I am an editor of the Nagazasshi, I play volleyball with my kids once a week, and then I do a bunch of other random things on the side, like visit different cafes, and hang out with friends. I am also a huge homebody. I like to just sleep and play video games. I enjoy not having to talk to people constantly. Make sure you give yourself time to breath. You don’t want to make yourself did (which I did last year). Just make sure you have some time yourself to recharge. And if you need to cancel on an event, do it (ahead of time if you can).

Anything you want to know about? Anything that’s unclear? Anything you disagree with or want to add on to? Question Time! Anecdotes.

Thank you!