After entered WISH in September, there had been quite a lot of events that I participated in, and I would have say working as a supporter with sempai in Toumonsai was the most memorable. It was my first time working in a shop, and at the beginning I was too shy to talk to strangers, or to grab people’s attention by saying “hashimaki” out loud, not to mention explaining what hashimaki is. However, seeing sempais working so hard, even after getting sour throats, I got the courage to call out “Hashimaki”. I think it was a huge step for me, and breaking a barrier that I never did before. I wasn’t apt at what I was doing, but sempais were very gentle and helped me out. During Toumonsai, around 20 WISH residents participated. We divided into different small group and take turn to rotate, some people made hashimaki, some who sold hashimaki, and some were in charge of money. Hashimaki is actually not a very common food in Kantou area of Japan, so some customers did not know what it is and we have to explain to them, that hashimaki is a kind of Kansai snack, that is okonomiyaki wrapped around on chopsticks which make it easier to eat. This unfamiliarity provoked customer’s curiosity, and I think this is one of the reason that encourages people to buy hashimaki. At last, we put our effort together, and sold out all the hashimaki we could make. We went to yakiniku party after selling hashimaki, yakiniku was really tasty, and I think it’s more delicious than usual because we worked hard all day selling hashimaki. Working as a supporter in the Toumonsai event had been a wonderful experience, and if there is another chance like this in the future, I would love to attend again.
（School of International Liberal Studies, N.Z)
