The Seika Town Festival! せいか祭り！

Looking back through my predecessors’ stuff, it seems like the Seika festival is doomed to rain every year, or at least somewhat crummy weather. However this year bucked the trend, as visitors were treated to a beautiful fall day. Nearly 35,000 people came out to celebrate the event, which was filled with good food, lots of music performances, and fun games for kids.

前任者たちが残したファイルを見ていて、せいか祭りは毎年雨や悪い天気になる悪い運命があるそうでした。でも、今年のせいか祭りは傾向を抵抗し、参加者は凄くいい天気に恵まれました。３4,０００人の参加者がせいか祭りに来て、美味しい食べ物、音楽の演奏、楽しいゲームもありました。

Seika Global Network ran a booth again this year, where kids had got the chance to play a fun little quiz game with the questions ranging from geography, to animals, food, and even some about Christmas. The kids would pull a question from the mystery box, and if they could answer it correctly, they got a heart shaped balloon! Of course we gave them plenty of tries to get it right, and the parents may have helped out a little, but it was still great to see the kids learn something new about other countries. Of course there were quite a few funny answers, as one little boy said with absolute certainty that Santa rides a goat, and could not be persuaded otherwise.

せいかグローバルネットは今年もブースを出して、子供達に楽しいクイズゲームをさせました。クイズの質問では地理、動物、食べ物、クリスマスまで、色々な話題に及びました。子供はボックスから質問の一つを取り出して、それを答えたらハート型の風船をもらいました。もちろん何回答えさせたが､あと親にも手伝ってもらったが、子ども達が外国についてなんか習ったと思います。面白い答えもいっぱいあって、一人の小さな男の子は確実に「サンタさんは八木を乗るよ！」と答えて、他の答えに説得されませんでした。

On hand to help at the booth were volunteers from Seika Global Network, several Chinese students studying abroad in Seika and the surrounding area, and a few volunteers from a local High School who really helped out. I also got the chance to make some holiday cookies to hand out to special kids who answered the questions all by themselves. Although I woke up at 5 the morning of in order to finish them, they actually turned out to be a good idea since the balloons were so popular that we ran out early and had to start giving out the cookies instead! 

せいかグローバルネットのブースでせいかグローバルネットのボランティアと精華町周りに留学している中国人と近所にある高校の学生に手伝ってもらいました。そして、私は祭りの為にクッキーと作って､一人で答えられた子供にあげました。そして、風船が凄く人気で早くなくなったので、子供にクッキーをあげることになって、全部のクッキーを終わる為に当日５五時に起きたけど、助かりました。

Going out to events like this, I’m reminded how many kids Seika seems to have. The Keihanna Commemorative Park was filled with families who had come out to enjoy the day together, and there were more kids than you could shake a stick at. It was also great to run into kids from the schools I had visited, who remembered me and kept coming back to play and talk about all kind of things. I like to think they came to see me and not just to get a balloon, but it was still nice either way. With all the kids around, I really feel like Seika still has a lot of room to grow. I’ve heard stories about how much the town has changed since the first CIR came here over 16 years ago (he apparently had to do a host stay, since there were no apartments available.) Already in the four months I’ve been here, a small apartment complex was built next door, and a handful of shops open up around town, in particular a ramen shop, which I visit far too much. I have no idea how much the town will grow in the rest of my time here, but it’s going to be fun finding out.

こういうイベントに行くと、精華町は本当に子供が多いと気付きます。けいはんな記念公園で子ども達が大人より多く見えました。そして、私は訪問に行った学校の生徒達とまた会った、覚えてくれたから嬉しいです。その子ども達が風船のためじゃなくて、私と会うためにせいかグローバルネットのブースに来たと考えたいけど、どっちでもいいです。子供たちに囲まれると、精華町は本当に若い町で、まだ成長出来ると感じます。第一目の国際交流員は１６年前に来たときから、精華町はもう完全に変わったと聞きました。私は来た時からの四ヶ月に、隣に小さいマンションが建って、少数の店も開店しました。私は働く二年間で精華町がどう変わるかちょっと分かりませんが、楽しみしています。