Post by mytoothbrush on May 29, 2015 16:17:52 GMT 9
Hi wonderful CIRs!
Is there anybody else who's working at a Municipal Office?
I think our work is different from the one at a prefectural office and maybe every one of us is involved in different and particular activities.
For example, in my case, these are the activities I have to deal with at work.
- Translations of official diplomatic letters, documents and guidelines for foreign residents issued by the Municipal Office staff, pamphlets and flyers (especially related to sports facilities and arts exhibitions) and other official and unofficial communications between the Municipal Office staff and organizations or people who live abroad.
→ Doing translations is one of my favourite activities because, even if the translation may be difficult, you can learn a lot of things and vocabulary and at the same time you can do your job at your seat without any kind of pressure.
- Interpreting in case of international guests visiting the city for sports events or cultural activities involving children and foreign students from other countries (for example, we have an annual under-12 international soccer tournament with teams coming from different countries, training camps organized for international sports teams coming to train with local teams, cultural events involving boy-scouts, foreign students exchanges and so on).
→ These activities would be really nice if not for my low interpreting skills. =(
- Being part of the city delegation visiting sister cities and act as an interpreter for the participants.
→ This was actually fun and not as troublesome as I though at the beginning, because there was also a Japanese professional interpreter who did almost all the work and I just supported her at some particular moments when she couldn't double herself to translate for another group of people.
- Supporting foreign residents who need to submit or request documents at the Municipal Office by offering them a counseling service or going with them to the various divisions counters and translate for them.
→ This is one of my favourite activities even if it does not often happen to have English speaking foreigners coming to ask things. However, I think this is the most self-gratifying work (helping other people makes you somehow feels good, isn't it?) and you can learn a lot about city hall procedures and services while translating (indeed while translating I always trouble the city office staff by asking them further questions out of my curiosity too... ahahah!).
- Going out for 出前講座 to explain my country culture to the city elders.
→ I don't dislike this, but I always have the tendency to try to make them understand that foreigners are normal human beings with some weird customs and not aliens born as they were made with a cookies cutter.
- Helping with the organization of events by the loc→al international associations.
→ This is actually my less favourite part of the job because some times I cannot really agree with the way they want to promote local internationalization, plus I am not good with giving cooking classes and I don't like to expose myself too much, especially when I have to appear among lots of local elders who often "harrass" me asking me to become their hulemdo because they want to learn about my country... ahahah!
- Writing a monthly journal in English for the foreign residents to inform them with news about the city, Japanese culture curiosities and upcoming events in the city area.
- Sometimes I help my colleagues with cultural events if I can!
→ This is fun and usually I can enjoy the event for free! Ahahah!
Is there anybody else who's working at a Municipal Office?
I think our work is different from the one at a prefectural office and maybe every one of us is involved in different and particular activities.
For example, in my case, these are the activities I have to deal with at work.
- Translations of official diplomatic letters, documents and guidelines for foreign residents issued by the Municipal Office staff, pamphlets and flyers (especially related to sports facilities and arts exhibitions) and other official and unofficial communications between the Municipal Office staff and organizations or people who live abroad.
→ Doing translations is one of my favourite activities because, even if the translation may be difficult, you can learn a lot of things and vocabulary and at the same time you can do your job at your seat without any kind of pressure.
- Interpreting in case of international guests visiting the city for sports events or cultural activities involving children and foreign students from other countries (for example, we have an annual under-12 international soccer tournament with teams coming from different countries, training camps organized for international sports teams coming to train with local teams, cultural events involving boy-scouts, foreign students exchanges and so on).
→ These activities would be really nice if not for my low interpreting skills. =(
- Being part of the city delegation visiting sister cities and act as an interpreter for the participants.
→ This was actually fun and not as troublesome as I though at the beginning, because there was also a Japanese professional interpreter who did almost all the work and I just supported her at some particular moments when she couldn't double herself to translate for another group of people.
- Supporting foreign residents who need to submit or request documents at the Municipal Office by offering them a counseling service or going with them to the various divisions counters and translate for them.
→ This is one of my favourite activities even if it does not often happen to have English speaking foreigners coming to ask things. However, I think this is the most self-gratifying work (helping other people makes you somehow feels good, isn't it?) and you can learn a lot about city hall procedures and services while translating (indeed while translating I always trouble the city office staff by asking them further questions out of my curiosity too... ahahah!).
- Going out for 出前講座 to explain my country culture to the city elders.
→ I don't dislike this, but I always have the tendency to try to make them understand that foreigners are normal human beings with some weird customs and not aliens born as they were made with a cookies cutter.
- Helping with the organization of events by the loc→al international associations.
→ This is actually my less favourite part of the job because some times I cannot really agree with the way they want to promote local internationalization, plus I am not good with giving cooking classes and I don't like to expose myself too much, especially when I have to appear among lots of local elders who often "harrass" me asking me to become their hulemdo because they want to learn about my country... ahahah!
- Writing a monthly journal in English for the foreign residents to inform them with news about the city, Japanese culture curiosities and upcoming events in the city area.
- Sometimes I help my colleagues with cultural events if I can!
→ This is fun and usually I can enjoy the event for free! Ahahah!
