Spring Recruiting

When I say "recruiting"what comes to your mind?

Maybe the recruiting of players for a sports team. The players work extra hard to be seen by the recruiter who chooses them and calls them out. Maybe you think of sorority or fraternity recruitment, where the Greek organization holds events and interested members come. Well, we have just finished the height of our recruiting season for Tokyo BEST club at Chuo University.

Recruiting for clubs ("Circles" as they are called here), is nothing like anything I have ever experienced before. There are 2 days where the new freshman come for advising meetings, welcoming ceremonies,  and scheduling and during those brief moments on campus all the different circles prey on the freshman promoting their club by handing our fliers, laughing, walking and talking, playing their instruments, and trying not to disappear in the crowd of other circles!! There are probably about 100 clubs all handing out fliers, chatting, and chasing after frightened freshman telling them about their club! Each club is almost begging each freshman to join their circle!

Crowds of freshman and club representatives!
This wasn't even the most crowded time!
The goofy guy waving became a friend and was representing a sports circle. 

Lacrosse bros and American Football players prowl, tap dancers flash bright smiles and dance, accapella groups try to raise their voice above the mayhem. The kicker for Tokyo BEST is that we are foreigners and we speak English! This makes us stand out in a unique way!

I started by saying "Goodmorning!" and handing the freshmen a flier. The different reactions I got were amusing. Some girls giggled uncertainly, looked at their friends and kept walking, some guys did a double take, some responded right away with a  peppy "Good morning" but kept walking and others turned, engaged in conversation and some of those friends are still coming to BEST club events! 

Elsa and Yuka were a great recruiting team!
Yuka was, of course, able to explain BEST club in Japanese, which I can't do! 

Big gang hung out at our house after recruiting! We were exhausted!

It seems like it would be fruitless and that the startled new students with their wide eyes and awkward smiles would just throw away the stack of fliers that they had somehow accumulated in the first 23 minutes of being on campus, but they don't! Amazingly I met freshman after freshman who came to our English Lunch Table, or our BBQ (pictured below), or Friday discussion, who say that they came because they got a flier during the mayhem of those recruiting days! How Amazing!

We had over 58 freshman and about 100 people at our welcome BBQ! The cloudy day didn't keep people away! 

And the dust has hardly settled!! We still have new people coming to our weekly events! Please keep praying for BEST club freshman! In the next few weeks we will see who stays and becomes a committed member of our community! May 13th- 14th we will have a "Welcome Camp" to welcome new freshman, officially, to BEST club!