Japanese Film Festival 2012

Japanese Film Festival Poster

March 2012 Update

Hi folks,

JETAA-SI has started the year with our annual AGM which was kindly hosted by Janet at her house. At this meeting a new committee was elected and a range of events were planned for the year. We hope to make up for last year, which was largely interrupted by earthquakes, by having an active and positive year representing JETAA South Island. Our 2012 committee is as follows:

President - Helen Clark, Treasurer - Jess Tisch, Secretary - Lorna Biddington, Social Events Co-ordinators - Melissa Monehan & Kate McDougall, Jetache Editor – Janet Sirisomphone, Website Editor – Matt Thomas, General Member - Pascale Battrick.

If anyone else is keen to join the committee as a General Member, you are most welcome. Please email Helen (jp.helen@gmail.com) for more information. We look forward to hearing from you.

All the best from the new committee. Ganbaro!

RYUKYU-OKINAWA TRADITIONAL PERFORMING ARTS TOUR OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC

Japan Foundation Event: Saturday 12 November 2011, 7pm

RYUKYU-OKINAWA TRADITIONAL PERFORMING ARTS TOUR OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC – CHIMU

Aurora Performing Arts Centre at Burnside High School starting at 7.00 pm.

Performance of dance and song from Okinawa and a great chance to experience Okinawan culture.

The Consular Office of JAPAN are looking for 3 volunteers who would be available on Friday 11 November from 1.00 – 6.00 pm and on Saturday 12 November from 9.00 am – 12.00 noon and following the performance from 9.00 – 11.00 pm. In total this would be 10 hours. 1 person is to help the sound technicians and 2 to help the lighting technicians from the Aurora Centre and also from the group from Okinawa. It would be ideal if the helpers can understand Japanese.

Of course they would be welcome to stay and see the performance too.

While we are unable to pay an hourly rate, we would be able to give each person a token payment in appreciation.

If anyone is available to do this, please contact Helen Clark, JETAASI President at jp.helen@gmail.com

Photobucket Pictures!

Just a quick post to let you know all the pictures from the past few years are available at our photobucket site –

http://s438.photobucket.com/albums/qq107/jetaasi/ Look for the links at the side with all our events!

June 2011 Update

The past 3 months have been busy and stressful for all of us living within the Earthquake zone – the continuing aftershocks, a city being rebuilt and life is just not back to normal yet. However, JETAA South Island is still going, in a limited capacity! Emma and Maria have stepped down this year as Co-presidents, and we are happy to announce that Helen Clark has stepped up to take on the Acting President position.

She will be supported by Kate McDougall as Vice-president, Lorna Biddington as Secretary, Matthew Thomas as Treausrer, Melissa Monehan as Social Events Coordinator, Janet Sirisomphone as Jetache Editor, Emma Derrick as Website Editor and Pascale Battrick as a General Member.

If anyone else is interested in joining the committee as a General Member, you are most welcome! Please email Helen (jp.helen@gmail.com) and she will contact you with more information.

The Japanese Consular Office are located in a temporary location as their building is Red-stickered in the Red Zone of the CBD. Their office is in  the Marlowe Room, Heartland Hotel Cotswold, 88 – 96 Papanui Road.

If anyone has any ideas about events they might like to see in 2011, please let us know – remember, the events are for ALL South Island members, you don’t have to be in Christchurch!

Ja ne,
JETAASI

Post-JET career survey for NZ ex-JETs

Dear JETAA New Zealand members,

This is a reminder. Tokyo has requested that a post-JET career survey be conducted for all NZ ex-JETs. The purpose of the survey is to improve and promote the JET programme. The results will be sent to Japan.

Below is the link for the survey. Deadline for submissions is 5pm, 29th of March 2011, next Tuesday.

It is a short one-page survey and won’t take much of your time to complete. Here is the link for the survey:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CFC3LY2 Please contact me if you have any issues or questions regarding the survey.

Thank you for your time.

Simon Shimizu-Metcalfe Japan Information and Cultural Centre Embassy of Japan japan.cul@eoj.org.nz

5toSurvive, international AJET fundraiser for Japan EQ/Tsunami- anyone keen? Read below

Good morning

My name is Avalyn Beare. I am the National AJET Council Block 5 Rep and Cultural and Activities Liaison from Fukui-ken. As I am sure you know, AJET has been working full steam to organise and inform all JETs and JET alumni of fundraising activities and events in aid of the Earthquake and Tsunami relief.

We have a new event planned on April 10th, which will be international. If you have any spare time or space, please help up promote this event. I have included the press release and full event invitation below, but if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me here or at contactus@5tosurvive.org.

Also, I am putting together a page on the AJET website www.ajet.net and our facebook page about international fundraising events to get involved in. Please feel free to send me any of your planned events, and I will add them to the list so that we can reach out to as many people as possible.

Thank you,

–
Avalyn Beare
2010-2011 National AJET
Block 5 Representative
http://ajet.net

AJET Peer Support Group – 8pm to 7am every day – 050-5534-5566
An anonymous listening and referral service, by JETs for JETs

Become a fan of National AJET on Facebook!

—– PRESS RELEASE —–

We are organising an international event that everyone can get involved in.
Through promotion in the press, word of mouth and social networks this event will reach people from all walks of life, willing to help in this time of crisis. If you have any opportunity to promote the event, please do. The more people that can be reached, the more we can raise. After all, this event is in aid of those left with nothing, to support them in rebuilding their lives.
You can contact us at contactus@5tosurvive.org for questions or further information.

For further explanation of the event, please see http://5tosurvive.org/.
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=206986965979888
Or AJET page: http://ajet.net/lang/en/2011/03/21/what-is-5tosurvive/

A Japanese translation will be uploaded to both the 5toSurvive and AJET website in the next few days.

Organiser/event planner: Tom Cole, 23 from Cheshire, England. Working for Peppy Kids Club in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Contact: contactus@5tosurvive.org.

In association with: National AJET (AJET), JetWit, JETAA and Smile Kids Japan.

Outline:
Name: 5toSurvive: Running for Japan
Date and time: April 10th, 3.11pm.

Brief Explanation:
An International 5km walk/run in aid of he Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief. Current organised events will be happening in Ishikawa, Toyama, UK, America and Canada. We are looking to organise more events in more locations across the world through further promotion.
The proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross.

—– EVENT INVITATION —–

As someone who lives in Japan, I have been both shocked at the destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami, and amazed at how people are coming together to help those in need. Watching these events unfold, I’ve had one continuous thought on my mind, ‘How can I help?’. And when I sat down to think about what I could do, I turned to what I know best: running.

As a keen runner from a young age, I have entered many races and seen what charity runs can do. Each year the London marathon raises millions for charities, and now its our turn to make a difference for Japan.

So…here’s your chance. On Sunday, April 10th, at 3:11pm I am challenging myself to run 5toSurvive — 5kms to benefit earthquake/tsunami relief — and I’m asking all of you to join me. This is an event created for everyone, no matter who or where you are, to join forces and help.

If you’re a serious runner then go for it, if you’re not then have fun! Invite some friends, put on a costume, and walk the distance with a bucket for donations along the way. The great thing is you can decide the details of your event, but you’ll be doing it with others from around the world.

The idea is to run or walk 5km and raise money by doing it. Trust me, this really is where you can make a difference. There are 47 prefectures in Japan. If one person can raise 10,000 yen per prefecture, it will be 470,000 yen. Imagine what a group of 5 or 10 of you can do! (And now imagine runs in New York, London, Toronto, LA and you see what we are going to achieve!)

It’s easy to raise money — just join the 5toSurvive team on justgiving.com and your friends and family can easily donate to GlobalGiving’s earthquake relief efforts. Here’s how you get started in a few easy steps:

 

STEP 1: Go to www.justgiving.com and click ‘Get Started.’ and ‘Make Your Page.’ Choose ‘Personal Challenge’ and follow the directions. Now go to https://www.justgiving.com/teams/5tosurvive/ and click ‘Join Team.’ (Down at the bottom where it lists the team members). Select the page that you just made and join the team!

STEP 2: Create your 5km course. (There’s a number of websites you can use for this, I would recommend mapmyrun.com).

STEP 3: Plan your event — Big or small, its up to you. Feel free to run on your own. Or find people to run with you: a few friends or your local AJET group, running club, or college’s Japanese Culture Association. (To add an extra element of fun, plan to wear costumes!)

STEP 4: Raise awareness and tell people to sponsor you through your justgiving.com page so you can track your progress.

STEP 5: Go out and do it!

If you have any questions or are having trouble getting your 5km together, please contact contactus@5tosurvive.org.

I’m urging you to do what you can to raise donations and awareness! There really is no quick fix, and rebuilding the region will take years. By joining 5toSurvive and running or walking what is probably less than your everyday commute to work, you can be a part of a worldwide effort to remember the victims of the tsunami and give the people still struggling in the face of such devastation a helping hand. If running isn’t your thing or you want to do more then follow in mine and others footsteps, I’d encourage you to organise something by yourself or with your friends!

Thanks! And I’ll see you on the starting line.

- Tom

Brought to you by Mr. Tom Cole, AJET, Smile Kids Japan, JetWit and JETAA.