Volunteering at Flavours of the World

By Chiharu

The Flavours of the World was held at the Fort St. John Cultural Centre on Saturday, October 4th. This festival is the fundraiser for Central Cchool in Fort St. John. We had rainy weather, but around 350 people came and enjoyed this festival. Most of the ESL students also came and were having fun together. They served a lot of food from different countries: Russia, Italy, Vietnam, Britain, Japan and so on.

Proudly, Yu Ihara, who is a good piano player and one of my classmates, played piano at the ceremony. Unfortunately, I missed his playing, but everybody enjoyed his performance, and he got a lot of applause.

As for me, I was involved in the festival as a volunteer. Three or two weeks before the festival, one of my teachers, Pamela, asked me, “If you are interested in volunteering, would you like to work at the festival?” When I heard the offer, I was afraid of joining as a volunteer because I don’t have enough English ability, especially speaking. In addition, I’m not brave. But I’m interested in volunteer work, so I decided to dare to try.

My volunteer work was serving drinks at the café with Viviana, who is also one of the ESL students, Pamela, Diana, who is Pamela’s daughter, and some Canadians. First of all, Viviana taught me how to make each drink. We had at least 15 kinds of drinks, so it was difficult to memorize all of their names and how to make them. However, she gave me explicit instructions, so I wasn’t confused during my work. After the ceremony, a lot of people came and bought some drinks. There was nothing we could do but make drinks. It was a hard time but it was really a good experience for me. At the end of the festival, we could eat the leftovers. Even if it was leftovers, the taste was awesome! I like Japanese food anyway.

At this festival, I really enjoyed working, eating, and helping. If there is another opportunity to volunteer, I’m sure I’ll join in it and enjoy being a volunteer. And also, if you could have an opportunity to do something which can help people, I recommend joining in and having some experience.