Jun 2008 Newsletter: Yumi's Monthly Note
Hello, everyone,I got back from Amsterdam during the Golden Week, the week-long spring holiday in Japan (April 29 through May 5). As soon as I unpacked my suitcase, I put myself into "activity mode." On May 10th, we set up a webcam connection between Tokyo and Seoul for our webcam activity. This time the MIZY Center, operated by the Korean National Commissions for UNESCO, shot and edited a video to introduce our activities. The very well done video brought the recorded voices of Korean children, their parents, our facilitators, and the MIZY staff members. You can feel the excitement of the children through the video. Actually, some Korean children reported that they had negative images of Japan before attending our webcam activity. However, the Korean staff captured the interesting moments on video: all Korean kids attending the webcam activity, including those children who had negative feelings toward Japan, had so much fun with their Japanese teammates by playing webcam games together. The video also shows some similarities and differences between Korean and Japanese cultures. We posted the video on our blog, so please check it out. After the activity, Korean facilitators in Seoul left their feedback on our multilingual community site supported by Language Grid: "I had a heartfelt connection by participating in the webcam activity." We deeply appreciate Microsoft Corp., awarding us grants to successfully get through our webcam activity this time.
One week after the webcam activity, our new term of the 2008/2009
academic year started at Mie University. Fifteen college students
signed up for our facilitator training sessions; most of them were
energetic freshmen. We also held Pangaea Activity on the same day.
It had been two months since we had the last activity in Mie, so that
some kids were too excited to stay focused. Yet, they got into their
tasks and created masterpieces, using Viscuit, soon after being engaged
in activities. To make Pangaea Playing Cards, kids chose a sandy beach
as their favorite place to play. Because the campus of Mie University is
adjacent to the ocean, we grabbed the camera and headed off to the beach.
And then, we took some lovely pictures of the kids playing with sand
(e.g. making domes with sand). I am sure that the Mie activity site
will stay active through the rest of the year. Our next facilitator
training sessions are coming up this June in Tokyo. It will be the great
opportunity for those who already completed the training sessions to
brush up their skills. We are looking forward to your participation.
I'd like to present Mr. Andrew Bullen, the director of Media Guild, as the Pangaea Ring writer this month. The stylish office where he works is located near the Central Station in Amsterdam. Andrew is very chic and influential. During our initial meeting, he instantly and thoroughly understood our project concepts and plans. Since then, he has inspired us in many ways. In fact, he was the person who motivated us to form our activity field in Amsterdam.
See you next month!
Yumi
I'd like to present Mr. Andrew Bullen, the director of Media Guild, as the Pangaea Ring writer this month. The stylish office where he works is located near the Central Station in Amsterdam. Andrew is very chic and influential. During our initial meeting, he instantly and thoroughly understood our project concepts and plans. Since then, he has inspired us in many ways. In fact, he was the person who motivated us to form our activity field in Amsterdam.
See you next month!
Yumi
Posted by: kumakinoko | 3. Newsletter
