Sadhbh Dee
School of Social Politics and Economics
Photo by ICC
I love going to random ICC events to make friends, and this event was no different. I spotted the poster on my way to lunch and thought that a K-pop dance workshop would be fun and a great way to meet people with similar interests. When I first walked in, I was a bit nervous since I went alone, however the staff were really friendly, and I was seated in a group with Japanese and foreigner students. My Japanese isn’t perfect because I don’t have many chances to speak it, however in our group we spoke in Japanese and I felt proud that I was able to speak in Japanese and the later on I was told by a Japanese student that she was surprised foreign students could speak Japanese so fluently, and that she was too scared to make friends with foreigners out of fear of a translation barrier.
About the dance workshop itself, the instructor was really funny and contagiously happy. The first dance APT. by ROSÉ and Bruno Mars was a group favorite. The dance was easy to do and memorize, however I have been a dancer for 20 years so I might be biased. The separated group practice was a great way for us to interact with each other.
The moment I talked to the most people was the group photo weirdly enough! I was laughing and joking with all the people around me about how sweaty we were and joking about how gross we must look. After the event I stayed in contact with the people in my group and we recently all went to a K-pop event.
If I had to give you any advice about the ICC events is to just do it. It’s okay if you have to go alone, I promise you will leave with more friends than you went in with. Also speak in Japanese, you don’t have to rely on your English. Many Japanese students who go to these events love hearing you speak Japanese and are probably just as nervous to speak English so it’s good to show that you can understand and speak Japanese.
Photo by ICC
