Chelsea’s Eye-opening Experience Volunteering in Japan

A returning volunteer from our Children & Education program in Japan has bundles of stories, anecdotes, and photographs to share! Chelsea reflects on her experience in Japan with us after serving as a United Planet volunteer and as a Beta Gamma Sigma Scholarship recipient.

Here’s what Chelsea had to say about her experience volunteering in Japan:

An open mind, an open heart. There’s a method to the madness. The cultural experience in Japan was certainly an eye-opener, especially their curriculum for the kindergartens. The children actually learn so much life skills and have so much playtime that I was equally baffled and exhausted. But it was worth it. The kids were all lovely and the teachers enthusiastic and friendly. They do not ‘teach’ a lot; no sitting at desks, no extensive studying, but they learned how to craft, to sew, to settle disagreements peacefully and essentially manage their relationships with everyone as one big family. They sing and play, and also learn to clean up after themselves and prepare the classroom for the day’s lesson. I was lucky, having joined for 3 weeks in Summer that probably gave the best learning chances; I experienced how they celebrated birthdays (across classrooms!), dodgeball competitions, prepare and eat lunches together, and fortunately participated in a sleepover in the kindergarten because it was their last days before the summer break. Then in that, the kids learned to build a campfire, wash their rice and then cook it, manage the flame and collectively ate as a group. It really opened my eyes more to what I already knew about the country, and I didn’t regret it for one second. My host family was amazing. They were the sweetest, most friendly and caring people. I laughed so much in the three weeks I was with them. This experience taught me how much more I could possibly teach children, and how they could learn more than books. I also experienced making my own Matcha tea in a tea ceremony, dressed up in a yukata and painted my own wind bell, and even went fishing after watching the festival that wished for good catches of fishes! An experience full of learning, laughter, and smiles. Leaving it was a bittersweet moment.

If Chelsea’s volunteering abroad has inspired you, then visit our volunteer abroad programs in Japan for further inspiration!