The News Letter Japan Exchange Teaching Alumni Association of British Columbia
Vol 4, No. 3
May, 1998
Sumo Comes To Vancouver And So Will Many Alumni From Out Of Town.
Saturday, June 6th is Alumni Night at the Great Canadian Sumo
Basho. Ail the big name Sumo wres
tlers are going to be here. Are you excited? I know that Jason Hicks is.
He's been working hard over the last
year to get over 100 people to go in a group. He's been more than successful. See the events planned later in this issue about our special Sumo Weekend events.
In This issue Oops! Did you forget?
1
Sumo Comes To Vancouver
1
JETAAGets Legal Hiking Stories
2 2
Editor's Notes
2
From GLAIR
3
Powell Street Festival
3
The BIG Book of Sumo Vancouver Island Report
3 4
Members' Announcements
4
Calender of Events (for Fridge)
5
Mokuyokai Membership Drive Hiking Shots
6 6
'Book Review
7
Stonebridge Press Offer
7
Oops! Did You Forget? Our Name The Newsletter Con-
Stonebridge Press' fine collection of
test is stil l on. We didn't
received any contributions from you, our valued readers. Boy was 1 disap
Roger Boisvert Seminar. Mokuyokai Brown Bag
Akebono's Slippers Maximizing Yourself
How does this Canada Goose have anything to do with the Alumni?(see inside for answer)
8 9
Public Education Sumo Events Announcements
9 10
Preparation Seminar'98
10
pointed too. I was expecting tons of faxes or email but absolutely nothing. Well now it's time to up the ante.
Stonebridge Press has kindly offered our prize for this contest. The person who provides us with the winning
books on Japan. They'll be sent to
you at no charge (unless Revenue Canada decides to charge you GST which we have no control on). So come on, send in your ideas for a name. No idea is too wacky. We will make our decision at the Steering
Committee meeting on Thursday,
July 2nd and you will find the win
name for our fine newsletter will be
ner's name in the masthead of the
allowed to choose 3 books from
July issue.
JETAABC Contact Info Postal Mailing Address;
Qets Legal
At the steering committee meeting
JETAABC Bentall Centre PO Box 48121
on Thursday, May 7th we inked our signatures to a document that
V7X1N8
Vancouver, BC
leads to the ultimate goal of becom
ing a legally registered society in the province of British Columbia. Perren Stern, our treasurer and aspiring law
Web Site Address:
www.ww-ink.com/jetaabc Email Address:
yer has spent many hours labouring
jetaabc@get-info.net
over the legalese as well as the design and other things that were needed. He's now quite intimately
Editor's Tel: 604-662-7579 Editor's Fax: 604-662-7591 Editor's Email:
aware of what his future legal secre taries will have to endure.
pauld@ww-ink.com
i managed to get my first issue as editor to press and in the mail with out gaining too many more gray hairs. From some of the comments I
received I'd say 1 must have been successful in presenting a nice newsletter. Hope this doesn't sound too much like I'm tooting my own
horn. Afterall, without the contribu tions from the writers the last news
letter would have been smaller and
What resulted was almost the long
full of less news. Of course, since 1
est steering committee meeting on record, we finished at almost 10pml
wonderful stories from everyone.... I
Our official name will be the JET Alumni Association of British Columbia. At the next steering com
rested in my laurels expecting more March 15 to walk the course around
Burnaby Lake. Our efforts were
mittee meeting we hope to sign the
rewarded with an inexplicable abey ance in the rain, a warming of the
last document to make us fully legal.
breeze, and even a few sunny
With a valid constitution in place and
breaks! Along the way, we enjoyed the pleasant scenery and bountiful
legal status we now are in a position to lend some credibility to our whole group.
waterfowl of the Lake, including
close-up views of dozens of ducks and geese during lunch.
Pleasant Ramble
To top it all off. after we finished the
Around Burnaby
trail and were safely back in our cars, It started to rain again!
Lake Clearly, God is a hiker. Despite early rains, threatening clouds and a cool wind, 11 hardy souls gathered on This Month's Contributors: Jason Hicks
Bowen Island
Beautiful Yet Again
received almost nothing. I really hate to see editors having to beg for stories. I'm not the kind of editor that
will beg. You will also notice I tend to expect you to send in stories without being asked. Do you remember how I told you last month about the Fukuoka-ken AJET newsletter, and it's
32+ pages? Weil most of the articles for that newsletter were submitted
with hardly a peep of begging from me. I just wonder if I couldn't impose on you the same. Please send me your stories, your ads, your notes, your jokes, your pictures and more. The more we make this your news letter with the things you want to see
in it, the more you're going to iook forward to seeing it. Also, the more
It's been two years since the hiking
I'm going to want to prepare it and
group last visited Bowen Island to sample its hiking trails, which meant
send it out.
it was time for us to return. A large
By the way, special thanks this
group of 23 people, including 2
month to our press and fold team
American JET Alumni from Seattle
(who shall remain anonymous). I printed this issue in Victoria and our special Victoria team assembled and
and a guest from Saskatchewan,
Dieter Forst
turned out for the event, which we
Ellen Clague
like to think is a testimony to the pos
mailed this issue. 0-tuskaresama-
Paul Donovan
itive power of word-of-mouthl! We had perfect weather for the hike, namely cool cloudy conditions during the uphill portion of the hike, which
deshita.
Stonebridge Press
Boleyn Relova Thanks to all contributors
Next Issue Deadline:
Thursday, July 2nd, 1998 Please submit materials by email
or on disk (TEXT format please) if at all possible. Photos and graph
then cleared into a fine sunny day
during our lunch-break at a fine pan oramic viewpoint! Before taking the return ferry, we made the obligatory post hike stop at a local pub for beer and nachos, which seemed a great
way to end a great day!
ics are welcome and encouraged.
Page 2
JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
This newsletter produced by:
Web Words Ink Services 504-1010 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1P5 Tel: 604-662-7579 Fax: 604-662-7591
Email: info@ww-ink.com
Web Design/Computer Trainlng/DTP
PrcHMi
A copy of JET Streams and JETAA Directory have been sent
Ttie
Stireel
he Powell Street Festival is now
Trecruiting volunteers!
out to those JETAA members who
have requested to receive them from
CLAIR. I'm looking at changing the
publications dates of JET Streams to
A celebration of Japanese Canadian art, history and culture, the festival is now In it's 22nd year and is Vancou
programme. The prospective publica-
ver's longest running festival. As a grass roots festival, we depend on
tion dates are to be May and
the support of hundreds of
December. The next issueof JET Streams will however still be in June
for committed, reliable and trustwor
fit in better with JETs leaving the
which would mean this calendar year
it is published 3 times. If people want to contact the JETAA community internationally this is one of the best
opportunities to put the latest news into print.Over 8,000 copies of this
volunteers. Right now we are looking thy individuals who would like to become part of the planning and preparation for this annual tradition. This year's festival is Saturday, August 1 and Sunday, August 2. Vol unteer involvement begins in May.
newsletter are produced 6,000 for
For more details, visit the website of
present JETAA & over 2,000 for leav ing JETs this year. For this publica
last
year's
festival
at
tion to be improved and be more useful for all people involved please
www.shinnova.com/powellstfestival. Of course, if you get involved you could be the person to update it
send me any articles or photographs
(English/Japanese!)
you would like to be included. News of what you have done in your
chapter, are going to do ... Anything at all please send It by 15th May.
Volunteer Committee: Volunteers
Thanks very much, Gillian
other volunteers.
who are interested in organizing
1tS8
Publicity: in English and Japanese (your choice or work with a Japanese person) Food booth organizer: liaising with the various groups that do the festi val "yatai" Information booth coordinator.
Also, if you are part of a community group, you can sell Powell Street Festival raffle tickets and earn a
commission for your group. In the two days approaching the fes tival and the day after, we will need help with loading trucks, setting up tents and booths etc.
Of course there are tons of helpers needed all over for the festival week end too.
Please do not hesitate to call Tracy
(JET Alumni and new festival coordinator) at 739-9388 or fax: 7324417. E-mail: miyano@direct.ca
(nihongo de doozo) if you are inter ested in volunteering or just want to know more about the festival.
Poster Distribution.
*AI1 volunteers receive coupons to
Send to: Gillian Nixon
CLAIR, Shin Kasumigaseki BIdg. 19F 3-3-2, Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0013 Fax: 03-3591-5350
Program making (desktop publishing in English and Japanese!) Lottery committee: prize gathering, ticket numbering party, distribution
get free yummy festival food. Thanks
Tracy
Tel: 03-3591-5968 :t|>':
Ymm Own Onpy nff
mm
The BIO Book OfSumo Only^ (plu%$2
Paul OanQ^an te Order Information:
Make your cheque payable to: Web Words ink Services Price includes GST.
This book talks about the role
of the foreign wrestlers in the ancient sport of Japan. The author, Mina Hall, was here in Vancouver in April to talk with
Mail your order and cheque to: 504-1010 Howe Street
Tel: 604-662-7579 Fax: 604-662-7591
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1P5
Email: jetaabc(gget-info.net
Paul Donovan
us.
JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
Page 3
Member
5th Annual
Announcements Vancouver
This column is devoted to those mem bers with non-commercial announce
island JET
ments to be made to the membership.
Dan Keen, JET alumni 92-94, is
Mixer New JET'S & Alumni
Sunday, May 24 (1:00pm -4:00pm)
pleased to announce that he will be moving to Jerusalem, Israel, in July of this year. Dan may be contacted before July at (604) 301-1617, and after Canada Day at <daniel_keen@hotmail.com> or at the following address: Daniel Keen c/o Livne
N
Rekanati Street 10
Centre for Graduate Students
University of Victoria
7th Floor Apartment 26 Ramat Aviv 3 Israel
Daniel would be pleased to host JETAA members who find them
After spending the better part of April traveling through Japan (all
RSVP: Glen Allen
selves in the Middle East, and wel
(250)381-1067
comes all suggested contacts! Sha lom to Ogenki-de!
or
<cantec@jdmicro.com>
the way from north-easterrÂť Hokkaido
to Kyushu), I find myself realizing just
Dan is also looking for someone who would be interested in purchasing the contents of his sunny basement suite. A computer and vehicle are
how involved I still am in the JET
also for sale.
program, despite having returned to
Highlights include:
Canada almost six years ago. While
in Japan. I not only visited my former
Full suite furnishings, including
home of Tanno-cho, Hokkaido, but I
couch, kitchen set, TV + VCR etc.
also visited the schools and offices of
etc.
six
Well cared for Pentium100/16MB
Canadian
friends
who
are
currently working as ALTs and CIRs
RAM computer plus printer
in various parts of the country. I was 1988 Ford Taurus(Dan's baby...)
able to get up to speed on the living/working conditions of current
The suite in which Dan is living is
JETs, and to shamelessly put plugs
located at 45th & Main, with excel
in for our own alumni association should these friends decide to
lent bus connections, street parking, affordable rent, and only minutes walk from Langara and Oakridge
eventually "retire" back to the west
coast. Everyone was glad to hear of the growing interest in alumni events, and most promised to look us up when they return home.
Although
this
year's
Vancouver
Island JET Reunion Dinner will have
taken place by the time this newsletter is printed, there may be
some merit in putting in one final ad for the Island JET Mixer later this
month.
Any alumni interested in
attending a social gathering to meet the 1998 JET participants from Vancouver Island, please contact
me at your earliest convenience. Hope to see some of you there!
Page 4
JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
mall. It will be vacant once he
leaves, and could provide an ideal situation for one or a couple of students/working people, who could move in lock stock and barrel on July 1!
Put this calender up on vourfridge to help remember ourAiumm events steering Committee Members President
Events Calender
- Stacey Rolofs (h) 299-3608
"ÂŁve/yone is we/come to attend all events of JETAABC and/'or Mokuyokai regardless of membership status, except where indicated."
Past President
Sunday, May 24, 1998 - Monthly Hike - Sea Kayaking at Deep Cove.
Secretary - Ellen Clague
Space Limitecl, Meeting Place; Parking Lot behind YWCA on Burrard Street. Contact Jason 876-4339 (See Page 6)
Sunday, May 24, 1990 - 6th Annual Vancouver Island JET Mixer for New JET'S. Contact Glen 250-381-1067 (See Page 4)
Monday, May 25, 1998 - Business Luncheon with Roger Boisvert. Contact Paul Donovan 662-7579(See Page 8)
Late May, 1998 - Sumo Round Table Discussion.(See Page 10) Contact Jason 687-3259.
- Jason Hicks
Treasurer
- Perren Stern
Membership - Liz Stephen Newsletter
Saturday & Sunday, May 30/31, 1998 - Pre-Departure Orientation for New JET'S. Location TBA. Volunteers Needed. Contact Boleyn 522-8761 (See Page 10)
Thursday, June 4 1998 7-9 pm - Steering Committee Meeting, Robson
- Paul Donovan (w)662-7579 Members-at-Large - Sue Wong - Jim Ivanoff
College. 541 Seymour Street. Contact Stacey 299-3608.
Saturday, June 6, 1998 - JETAABC SUMO WEEKEND. Details TBA. Con tact Jason 876-4339(See Page 10)
Vancouver Island Rep. - Glen Allen (h) 250-381-1067
Wednesday, June 17, 1998 - Japanese Computing Seminar for new JET's
Consulate Representative
& Alumni. S15, Robson St. Contact Paul Donovan 662-7579.
Thursday, June 18, 1998 - Japanese Computing Seminar for Alumni &
-Mr. T. Ida
new JET's. $15. Robson St. Contact Paul Donovan 662-7579.
Sunday, June 21, 1998 (note date change) - Monthly Hike - Joffre Lake, Meeting Place: Parking Lot behind YWCA on Burrard Street. Contact Jason 876-4339(See Page 5)
JETAABC Contact Info Postal Mailing Address:
Friday, June 26, 1998 - Mokuyokai Brown Bag Lunch Speaker - Chris
JETAABC
Hansen, Canadian Commercial Consul to Osaka. Contact Paul Donovan 662-
Bentall Centre
7579.(See Page 8)
PO Box 48121
Saturday, June 27, 1998 - Beach Volleyball. East Concession Stand Spanish Banks Beach. If rain, meet at beach and we'll go to an indoor event.
Vancouver, BC V7X 1N8
Contact Paul Donovan 662-7579.
Thursday, July 2, 1998 - Steering Committee Meeting. Robson College, 541 Seymour Street. Contact Stacey 299-3608,
vww.ww-ink.com/jetaabc
Sunday, July 19, 1998 - Monthly Hike -Destination to be announced. Meeting Place: Parking Lot behind YWCA on Burrard Street. Contact Jason 876-4339(See Page 6)
Email Address:
jetaabc(gget-info.net Editor's Tel:
Thursday, August 6, 1998 - Steering Committee Meeting, Robson College, 541 Seymour Street. Contact Stacey 299-3608.
604-662-7579 Editor's Fax:
Sunday, August 23, 1998 - Monthly Hike -Destination to be announced. Meeting Place: Parking Lot behind YWCA on Burrard Street. Contact Jason 876-4339(See Page 6)
604-662-7591
Editor's Email:
pauld@ww-ink.com
Thursday, Setptember 3, 1998 - Steering Committee Meeting, Robson College. 541 Seymour Street, Contact Stacey 299-3608.
Web Site Address:
Next Deadline
July 2nd, 1998 JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
Page 5
lot Join the Mokuyokal Society for the first time and you get 50% off. This Is a special offier for all JET Alumni. Now is your chance to join an extremely interesting group, with many fun and exciting events and activities.
The Vancouver Mqkuygkai Society
50% OFF
$25 1st year only
® Monthly Hikfng Group
m
# Monthly Brown Bag Lunch Business Seminar ^ Monthly Donwakai % Other Events too
Go<oA UP-PUl
■ >1-
New Hiking Group Participation Policy ^effective March, 1998)
Group Maximum - 20 No more than 2 guests per
member(maximum of 5 guests) (effective April, 1998) $2 will be charged as a participation fee for each event (effective January 1998) Also we are making a $1 voluntary contribution to the Trans Canada Trail.
Hews F»tureJHike„Oates May 24 - Kayaking June 14 - Joffre Lake
July 19-TBA August 23 - TBA Special Hike Captains for the summer are wanted for extra hikes. Please
volunteer to Jason or Emi today. Please Mark Your Calenders
Hike Captains: Jason & Emi Tel: 876-4339
Page6
JET AiumnI Assodation of'SritlsK tblumBiF
Book Review by Paul Donovan
Whether you are heading to Tokyo for pleasure or business, you will want to pack this 'un-travel' guide, Little Adventures In Tokyo: 39 Thrills for the Urban Explorer by Rick Kennedy. This is not the
typical, bulky travel guide written by
^hired researchers and filled with ^^etails such as exchange rates, post office locations, and which local mal adies to avoid.
Rick Kennedy lived in Tokyo for 20
years and offers 39 different locaBRIDGE PRESS
Little Adventures
25% OFF
in Tokyo Rick Kennedy
fi y SrMNOh sinsTSjrj Aniv fsyjixi.
Books Stone Bridge Press is offering
a special discount to all JETAABC members of 25%. • Books • Trinkets • and more
all about Japan. tions and trips that are great for both the novice traveller and the sea
soned business traveller. Complete with maps and guides.
The writing style is also perky and light. He tells you how to get there as
i-
well as some of the background of
Check out their web site for more items and information.
If you don't have access to the internet, write to Stone Bridge Press directly for their cata
the place. Divided into Old Tokyo, Tokyo Bizzaro, Kamakura, The
logue and be sure to mark on your order form that you are a
Greatest Place... and more.
member of JETAABC.
Rick Kennedy has also written Good
Tokyo Restaurants and Home
Stone Bridge Press
Sweet Tokyo.
P.O. Box 8208
Berkley. CA 94707 USA
ISBN 1-880656-34-5
SRP US$12.95
1-800-947-7271
April, 1998
www.stonebridge.com
Available through Stone Bridge
Press, publishers of quality books about Japan. JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
Page 7
Mokuyokai Society, JETRO and the Technical University of BC are pleased to host a one-time seminar on: "E-Commerce and the Internet in
Japan: Strategies for Success"
Akebono's
Slippers by Paul Donovan
On April 17th author Mina
Presented by Canadian Roger Boisvert, President of Global Online, the founder of the first government authorized, commercial Internet Provider in Japan, and founder of the only privately held licensed International Telecommu nication Carrier in Japan.
Date: Cost: Location:
Monday, May 25th, 1998 11:30am to 1;30pm $20 (includes GST and Hot Buffet Lunch) Hornby Conference Centre
3F. 595 Hornby Street. Vancouver RSVP Required:
Paul Donovan
e-mail: pauld@ww-ink.com
Fax: 604-662-7591 Voice Mail: 604-662-7579
'Ay Mokuyokai
Hall came to town
to tell us about
these large men of Sumo, and espe
cially about how the foreign wrestlers are not just in the sport but are actu ally doing very well. A dozen people came to this event. With her book available for purchase (see ad on page 3) they were able to et them autographed too.
JEIRO TechBC
Vancouver
The Vancouver Mokuyokai Society
PrÂŤenR Brown Bag Mina starteTto'give her 'high schooT'
Friday,June 26,1998 Noon - 1:15pm
Guest Speaker: Christian Hansen,Canadian Commer cial Consulate to Osaka
Topic: Opportunities in Kansai Japan $3 Fee ($5 for non-members)
speech about 'what is sumo' but quickly realized that the group there that day were avid sumo fans. That's when she pulled out her video. Sure there were the usual explanations about the salt and power water and the timing and the stomping. She also had some behind the scenes shots of
the big guys laughing and talking. Even a scene of Konishiki chowing down.
Have you ever seen a sumo wrestler dancing and doing karaoke? How about Takanohana doing that? Mina had it all.
Location: To Be
RSVP to Paul Donovan
She pulled out of her bag the piece de
Announced
662-7579 Fax: 662-7591
resistance, Akebonos slippers! They were huge!
Email: pauld@ww-ink.com
Page 8
JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
A huge thanks to Mina and her mom for the extra effort they made to come to Vancouver that day to talk with us.
Msufimtiiiii Yotiirself rrQJ3.Ql^<^ l3a?'
l^li^
On Thursday evening, March 15th about 20 people gathered for a motivational discussion by Ann Baker on the topic of "How to Maximize Ourselves to Greater Capacities."
support network wh ere one can feel comfortable
The discussion by Miss Baker was both interesting and informative and focussed on the key points neces sary to effect positive change in our
in discussing both the positive and negative experiences they have had. It is also very help ful to try to associate with people that inspire you within your social or peer groups. In conclu
lives.
sion there are many
The first or starting point to maximiz ing ourselves, she said, involves get ting unstuck by analyzing what it will take to make the changes that we want. She said we often have to re-
examine our most basic assumptions about ourselves and how we view
the world and flip them upside down to get a better perspective on where we are coming from and where we are going. The second point which I thought was very important was to try and focus on the positives in our daily lives and not get caught up in the negatives. The newspaper and TV news is full of negativity which makes it easy to dwell on all the negatives.
things we can do to maximize ourselves but
there is no magic pill and changes are often small, come slowly and must be made in a gradual
Fortunately, suburbs such
as Surrey and Maple Ridge are showing growth in ESL classes. John advised us
fashion.
that if you are thinking of
Pulilte liu^Uon
brushing up on your Japa nese skills in order to be
F^pj3rte.c};^iPliWi
able to teach it, there is still
On April 23rd, we had the privi
a market out there for you. However, Mandarin Chinese
Ann emphasized to try and follow the
lege of having Barb Onstad and John Kibblewhite speak about the BC Public Education System. They were able to give us a lot of insight on how to get on the TOC list, how to actively pursue getting in the system and most importantly, they gave us direct contact names
80/20 rule where if 80% of what hap
and phone numbers for employment
who attended were able to use Barb
pens every day is good and 20% is
opportunities.
and John's tips and are now working
bad or negative then by focusing on the good 80% we can always push past that bad 20% and move on to new challenges. Knowing yourself was also discussed in terms of self exploration through asking the right questions about ourselves. This process can be quite difficult but in the end it is quite
Barb Onstad, from the Vancouver School Board stressed the fact on
in the rat race of everyday living. One has to take time out or make time for
teachers and it Is now in decline.
richer and more balanced life.
The final point of the discussion which Miss Baker mentioned was the
needs of those present. Hopefully, by next year's Education Round Table, we'll be applauding on partic ipant's success.
adult-school and special needs
A department head with a Rich mond High School, John Kibblewhite shared with us a surprising statistic: the ESL population in Rich mond has grown 60 times over a 14 year period. Richmond has already reached its peak in hiring ESL
themselves in order to live a fuller,
able to focus more on individual
to lead our Education Round Table.
teachers.
between work and private life. Many people I know fail to recognize this because they are just too caught up
as teachers. This year, we were
need for alternative education
enlist the help of others including teachers, psychologists and counse-
importance of maintaining a balance
Round Table Discussion was a total
success because many of those
Thank you Barb and John for taking time out from your busy schedules
teachers such as night school,
Miss Baker also talked about the
This year, we had 20% of last year's attendance. Last year's Education
how important it is to be flexible. "Be ready to teach outside your declared major or minor," she encouraged. This is a sure way into getting more permanent work. Barb also informed us of the growing
worthwhile. Sometimes one needs to
iours to assist in this process.
is the 2nd language in public schools that is gaining popularity.
ESL Population in Richmond 1982
172
1996
10,218
importance of developing a good JET Alumni Association of British Columbia
Page 9
Sumo
Evening Date & Time: Late May Contact Jason at 604-687259 after the 21st of May for
Saturday, June 6th
Meet at the Legends Bar in the St. Regis Hotel on
information
Dunsmuir Street
(at Seymour)
$2 Participation Fee
■ -:£
right after the Basho is Discussion Will Be
over. Food and drink and
I
good comraderie are the order of the evening. All
Held At: Robson College
are invited, even those
Hi Seymour Street
that don't go to the Basho r^ormation and RSVP to
Plan to arrive about 8pm
Boieyn - 522-8761
at the bar.
1
Volunteer Meeting Tuesday, May 26th, 1998 6-8 pm Robson College on Seymour Street(Next to BCIT)
Preparation Seminar Dates Saturday, May 30, 1998 & Sunday, May 31, 1998 For More information and to Volunteer Contact Boieyn at 522-8761 Fax 522-2937 Page 10
JET Alumni Association of British Columbia