CAPEDS presents Sudan Café in Tsukuba vol.2 – What we found in “Real” Sudan-
The Alien Times has received the following information from CAPEDS.
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CAPEDS presents Sudan Café in Tsukuba vol.2
- What we found in "Real" Sudan-
What does come up with you,. when you hear the word "Sudan"?
Civil war? Terrorism? Yes, they exactly exist. However, will they ever shape the whole "Sudan"?
The non-profit organization Committee for Assisting and Promoting Education of the Disabled in Sudan(CAPEDS) is a organization aimed to promote and to assist education for the disabled in Sudan. We are now taking actions for promotion and assistance of information education and promotion of blind soccer in Khartoum, Sudan.
(To see more details : please look at http://capeds.org）
In October 2009, 2 of our student staffs went to Khartoum to know the conditions of our running project and to deepen exchange with our counterpart in Sudan. Can you imagine what did they find in Sudan?
Please join us to feel "Real Sudan" by the story of our staffs with hibiscus tea and Sudanese snacks.
The details are below.
Date: Dec 2nd, 2009(Wed) 18:30-20:40
Place : Class room 301, 3A building, Tsukuba University
(5 min by foot from the bus stop "Daigaku-Chuo")
Fee: Free
How to join: Please e-mail to info.tsukuba[at]capeds.org with the name and number of the participants. Please fill the title with "Participation of the event".
Walk-in participants are also welcomed.
If you have any questions, please send e-mail to info.tsukuba[at]capeds.org
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City Chat Cafe – Let’s meet at LALA Garden
Message from City Chat Cafe:
City Chat Cafe is a place where International and Japanese people living in Tsukuba can come together and meet. There is no charge for entry and no reservation is needed.
・Bilingual students can help the communication
・University of Tsukuba covers the expenses
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Are you curious about the Japanese lifestyle?
Would you like to meet Japanese families and make friends?
City Chat Cafe is a place where international and Japanese people living in Tsukuba can come together and meet. Come and speak Japanese or English.
You are very welcome to join. Everyone is welcome: children, families, individuals. There is no charge for entry and no reservation is needed. Just come!
The First City Chat Cafe Meeting
Date & Time: Sunday, August 31st, 2008; 14:00 - 16:00
Place: LALA Garden 1st floor, LALA Club
To learn more about City Chat Cafe, please see our website.
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Dormitory Festival “Yadokari-sai” will take place
The University of Tsukuba's dormitory festival "Yadokari-sai" will take place on this Friday and Saturday evening at Hirasuna dormitory's parking lot. The festival is organized by new students who enrolled this April. They welcome all people not only students but also residents around the university. Many food booths, parades, fire works, yukata (Japanese cotton robe) beauty contest etc. Have fun!
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Free Japanese Classes in Tsukuba
(I have been asked to add some points for clarification, so I am reposting this message. Please read the following carefully if you are thinking of applying for these classes.)
International students and researchers and their families are eligible for free Japanese classes taught by undergraduate and graduate students who are majoring in Japanese language education at the University of Tsukuba. The lessons are offered so that the graduate students can practice their teaching skills. The classes are videotaped and people observe the lessons from the other side of a one-way mirror. (These classes are not associated with the regular Japanese classes offered by the International Student Center at the university.)
Students should be able to read and write hiragana and katakana. If you are not familiar with these Japanese alphabets, they will send you a list so that you can learn them before the classes begin.
Students are divided into two classes according to the results of a placement test. J1 meets on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and J2 meets on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Students must agree to attend all classes.
The classes run from Monday, April 23 to Wednesday May 30. There are three 40 minute periods per day and students must attend all three classes. Period 1 is from 3:30pm to 4:10pm, period 2 is from 4:15pm to 4:55pm, and period 3 is from 5pm to 5:40pm. The content of the classes includes basic vocabulary, elementary grammar, everyday conversation, and cultural activities. Classes are held at the University of Tsukuba and the tuition is free. There are no classes during Golden Week (April 30 to May 4).
If you want to apply, send an email with your name, sex, nationality, native language, occupation, address, phone number, and email address to jissyu_yaru2007[AT]yahoo.co.jp by April 7, 2007. It is not possible to enroll in the classes after this date. The number of participants is limited, so it may not be possible for all applicants to participate in the course.
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Glorious Weather For Sports Day and University Festival 2008
1964 was a pivotal year in post-war Japanese history. With the inauguration of the first SHINKANSEN bullet train, the introduction of the first color TVs, and most importantly, the hosting of the Olympic Games, it was a year which now symbolizes Japan's economic recovery and marks its return to the forefront of the international scene after a two decade period of frenzied rebuilding following the total devastation of WWII.
In 1966, the Japanese government designated October 10th as Taiiku no Hi (Sports Day) to commemorate the Games. If you are wondering why October was selected as a day to remember the Summer Olympics, you are not alone. The fact is, however, that in 1966, the Opening Ceremonies were held on the 10th of October! The wise decision to hold the Tokyo Summer Games in Autumn was made in deference to Japans cruelly humid summer weather (why wasn't the same change made for Beijing?).
Since the year 2000, as part of the HAPPY MONDAY MOVEMENT (having national holidays on Monday to make a 3-day weekend), Taiiku No Hi has been moved to the second Monday of October, giving us a nice break in what is probably Japan's best season weather-wise.
Over the Sports Day weekend you are likely to hear signal fireworks (aizu no hanabi) announcing that school and university sports festivals (UNDO KAI) are being held. For the Japanese, these events are MAJOR markers of the passage of years. It is common for grandparents to come from afar to be present, and in Tsukuba, parents often go out in the middle of the night to stake out a good place to put down their plastic sheet for the next morning's festivities. You can get a glimpse of what goes on at an UNDOKAI on YouTube.
If you turned on the TV this morning, you might have seen some of Japan's Olympic medalists giving workshops for schoolchildren and also scenes of little Aiko (the daughter of the Crown Prince and Princess) running (victoriously, of course) in her first Sports Festival.
Many Tsukubans set aside time every year during the second weekend in October to attend Tsukuba University's three day Culture Festival. All of those who do have their own favorite attractions. For me, there is the music, especially the jazz cafe and the Andean Folk Music Troupe. This year, with the blessing of truly glorious weather, not a soul could have left disappointed. With a wide range of cheap and delicious foods, live music in all genres, arcade games, scientific displays, and technological exhibitions all served up with youthful enthusiasm, for me the GAKUEN-SAI is the true TSUKUBA FESTIVAL (Tsukuba Matsuri).
As I have written before, one noticeable thing for many graduates of foreign universities is the lack of any political or INTELLECTUAL presence in the Tsukuba University festival. In recent years, however, environmental awareness has started to be felt with several booths selling organic produce or showing data from research on GREENER LIVING. Still walking the length of the campus this weekend, I felt pessimistic about recent calls to lower the voting age in Japan to 18.
For LOTS OF INTERESTING DETAILS ON THE TOKYO OLYMPICS SEE THIS PAGE and THIS ONE. (You should read more about this event!)
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