Meetup: Summertime Picnic! And Saying Goodbye…

Posted by Jayme Tsutsuse. Click here to visit our Meetup group and find out how you can join our future events!

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At the JET Program Tokyo Orientation last summer, we were all told to get involved in our communities as much as possible. It seemed like good advice, so I jotted it down in my list of goals, expecting this promise to somehow become less vague once I settled in.

I’m not sure how I envisioned it would happen. Obviously there wouldn’t be a community, gathered with open arms, ready welcoming me in when I arrived. Fair enough. But really, what were we supposed to do?

A friend suggested that I check out Meetup.com, and I was surprised to see how popular it was in Kansai (not nearly as expansive as New York or London, but still!). Every weekend, I’d join events in Osaka or Kyoto, and I never failed to fall deep into conversations with new friends about our backgrounds, where we came from, how it affects who we are today and where we want to go in the future.

I loved listening to their stories. And the more I came across these stories, the more I thought about how great it would be to create a space for them, a community premised on sharing these parts of ourselves.

I started CCK with that vision in mind. I imagined that it could grow to be an all-inclusive place where anyone and everyone fits the mold. I hoped to plan fun events, but I wanted the focus to always be on the people who came.

It’s been incredible to see CCK grow. Today, I can happily say that it is the exact community that I longed for when I arrived. And now that it exists, I am leaving it with a heavy heart but so many beautiful memories.

Yesterday, for my last CCK event, we had a picnic at the Kamogawa river. Despite the typhoon and rain earlier in the week, the weather was absolutely beautiful. As always, the food was plentiful, and of course, all my favorite people were there.

It goes without saying that CCK was only possible because of the people who showed up to each event, helping me to welcome new members into our community, and because of the “first timers” who gave CCK a chance. Next month, I will return to America, knowing that I am leaving CCK in great hands and that there will always be a community in Japan, gathered with open arms, ready to welcome me back.