Author: Kate Neath, Issue: June 2007, Topic: Education, Mind the Gap, News, Newsletters, Students

Hi Everyone! June brings the rainy season (Tsuyu) here in Japan, so remember to take your umbrella with you! This is actually the last month of 1st trimester before the summer holidays in July/August! Kate

Field Trips

Soon it will be summer holidays!!! Have you decided what to do? Why not apply for one of the ISC Field Trips in July! I went on the Sado Island trip a few years ago, and had a great time! We stayed in a lovely big hotel with onsen and rotemburo, and ate lots of yummy Japanese food and experienced Japanese cultural shows and arts and crafts. The only problem is that the trips are so popular, so there is a lottery to select students at random for the trip. Good luck!! If you miss out, why not try the field trips for Nara and Kyoto in November!

Field Trips for International Students:

Two courses : 1. Minami (south) Tohoku, 2. Sado Island & Niigata

Date: 4-6 July

Limits: 40 students each

Application (lottery): from 6-14 June

This information is also available on the ISC's bulletin board. Please check it for details!

Home Stay Programs

Home Stay Program (not only Tsukuba students) "Hatsukaichi Peace Touu in Hiroshima"

Date: 27-31 July

Limits: 20 students

Application: must arrive by post by 16 June

Application forms are available in ISC, so please go and pick one up and apply! Home stay programs are great if you have free time in the summer holidays and want to see a different part of Japan.

Join Tsukuba Students Mailing List

We have a mailing list specific for international students of Tsukuba University!

To join, register at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tsukubastudent/

Everyone is encouraged to join this mailing list so that we can tell each other what¡¯s going on in Tsukuba University, we can organise parties, give advice and answer questions, send reminders about exams, etc.

Rainy Season (Tsuyu)

The period from June to July is the rainy season in Japan. The pedestrian/bicycle path in Tsukuba University is very slippery during the rainy season, and many students ride their bicycles while holding an umbrella (and sometimes while also talking on their keitai!), which leads to many minor accidents around Campus. So please take care!

Measles Virus

This is an important message about Measles for students as well as international students with children here in Tsukuba. You may have seen the news that the Measles virus has been spreading around Universities in Tokyo. In Japan, children are vaccinated against Measles, but teenagers were not given a booster injection to prevent infection with the Measles virus as an adult.

This has lead to the latest spread of Measles among students at Universities in Tokyo. The Measles virus has similar symptoms to the flu, including high fever, coughing, runny nose, followed by a red rash that spreads over the body. These symptoms do not develop until 10 days after infection, so if you start feeling sick and a red rash develops, go immediately to the hospital to have an examination. The Measles is very serious in children and especially serious in adults, and can lead to pneumonia or death, so it is important that you go to see a Doctor if you have these symptoms.

If you (or your children) weren't vaccinated in your country, or you can't remember, please go to see a Doctor to have a check-up. The Doctor will do a blood test to check for antibodies, which will indicate if you have been vaccinated or not. The Doctor will give you a vaccination if required.

If you need more information, please go and ask at the International Student Center (Ryugakusei- center). Stay safe!

Sumo coming to Tsuchiura

Oozumou(professional sumo) is coming to Tsuchiura in October!! The tournament will be held on October 13, Saturday at the Kasumigaura Bunka Taiiku Kaikan (20 minute drive from Tsukuba).

Here is the application form: http://oguogu.jp/~oozumo/yoyaku.pdf

For more details, check out article in Tsukublog: http://blog.alientimes.org/2007/05/professional-sumo-coming-to-ibaraki/

Shiritori Shashin

Shiritori is a Japanese word game where players challenge each other by saying a word that begins with the final kana of the last word. And much like the game, Shiritori Shashin is an exploration on how to build up a narrative through associative storytelling using photographs. The series takes a different turn as each artist answers with a new image that builds up into a new idea. To play shiritori, you only need to use your creativity, the same thing you need to read Shiritori Shashin. There is no right or wrong, and the story only stops when your imagination does!

This June, Ida Pettersson; a visiting art photographer from Sweden, Sachiko Terada, Haruka Ono, and Kaori Tamura; art and design students from University of Tsukuba will mount a 10-day show that explores the playful wonder of this game through photographs.

Where: At the University Hall (Daigaku kaikan), June 4-12, 2007 from 9AM- 5PM.

There will also be a photography workshop on June 9 (Sat) at 2PM, and a gallery talk with some of the artists on June 13 (Wed) at 3PM. A light snack will be served during the gallery talk. At the Daigaku Kaikan.

FREE ADMISSION, please feel free to bring your friends.

For more information, e-mail ida.pettersson@gmail.com or log on to http://www.idapettersson.com/

Tsukublog

Did you know Tsukuba has it's own blog in English? It is updated daily with the latest info by Tsukuba residents. Check it out!

http://blog.alientimes.org/

YOUGAKUSEI COMICS by Herb Fondevilla

http://yougakusei.blogspot.com/

Views from the Shokudou

What do you miss about home?

Everyone gets homesick at some stage while living in Japan. I often miss my family and Australia, especially the beach! But I really agree with the comic above, we couldn¡¯t survive here without our network of friends. Let¡¯s see what students around Tsukuba Uni miss about their country, and how they survive living away from home.

Ivan Oshchepkov, 2nd year masters, System and Information Engineering

Definitely here I miss about pelmeni. Pelmeni is a simple russian dish. They are prepared from the pastry and forcemeat. It is necessary to make a small ball of forcemeat and to turn it in small disk of the pastry, then boil for 5-7 minutes in water. Actually in some families it is russian tradition to make pelemeni. When I was in my country we¡¡made it and all members of our family were involved in such process of making pelemeni. It was so nice time of my childhood!!! Of course I also miss about members of my family and my friends.

Mircea Marin, Romania, Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Information Sciences of Engineering

I enjoy many things in Japan, where I have spent more than 5 years. I miss sometimes the cheerful evenings with friends in some pubs while drinking a beer, chatting, or enjoying some social event. Social life in Japan is quite different from what I got used to in Europe.

Raquel Lopido-Sese, Philippines, Specialist in Humanities and International Services

I miss basking in my independence and career in the Philippines. Being a veterinarian back home I pretty much handled all my business with clients (humans and animals) on my own. My flair with science were all put to temporary halt when I got married and went to Japan to join my husband who is taking a PhD program in Astrophysics. Now I have to settle to doing what I can do well without engaging in Japanese conversation ¨C teach English. Thanks to my new found friends (who are also Filipinos), they somehow make the change seem lighter than it really is.

Comments, Questions, or Information?

Please email to Kate Neath at: mindthegaptsukuba[a]yahoo.co.jp We will try to include them in the next issue!

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