Harvest Festival 第17回 国際交流ふれあい農園収穫祭

On September 4th, I had the opportunity to go to the 17th annual International Harvest Festival in Fukuchiyama. The Seika Global Network, an international exchange organization in Seika, organized a trip and kindly asked me to come. And of course I’m not going to say no to a festival. The festival was packed to the brim with kids, international residents, and people looking to learn and interact in an open environment.

9月4日に精華町を拠点に活動する国際交流団体せいかグローバルネットの皆さんと京都府福知山市で開催の「第17回国際交流ふれあい農園収穫祭」に行かせてもらった。この祭では、子どもや外国人住民とふれあいたい人などで混み合っていた。


The event started off with Nagashi-somen, where you have to catch somen noodles as they flow down a bamboo gutter. It was a lot of fun battling for the noodles with the kids next to me, but thankfully there was more than enough for everybody to have some.

この祭は流しそうめんから始まった。竹製のといを使って素麺を流し、箸で捕まえてめんつゆ等に付けて食べる。隣の子どもさんとちょっとバトルしたけど､結局皆が十分食べられた。

Next up was the mochi-making; a traditional Japanese activity that everyone, from the Japanese kids to the international visitors had a chance to try. Basically, you use a large wooden hammer, and smash rice in a wooden bowl, while a partner keeps the rice together and wet. I wasn’t exactly the most skilled mochi-maker, and I may have nearly hit a few people on the back swing, but it was still a lot of fun. Plus, we got to eat the mochi we helped make afterwards!

次は餅つきで、子どもさんから外国人までさせてもらった。私は、杵が周りの人に当りそうなほどちょっと危なくて下手だったけど、本当に楽しかった。そして、作ったもちを食べられたから、最高だった！

During all of this there were dances, games, and farming activities like sweet potato picking that everybody got involved in. I was really impressed with how outgoing many of the kids were at the festival, and I was often invited by them to take part in the games or activities. It was also a great chance for international residents to meet and greet, and I had the chance to speak with a group of girls from China, a woman from Argentina, and a guy from Ohio in the states!

祭で踊りやゲームや芋堀もあって、皆が参加していた。そして、祭にいた子どもは本当に外交的でよく僕をゲームなどに誘ってくれたので､びっくりした。そして､外国人住民とも話せたから､本当にいいイベントだった。私は中国人の女の子達やアルゼンチンからきた女の人、そしてアメリカのオハイオ州出身の男性などと話せた。



The festival finished off with a BBQ, and performances ranging from flamenco dancing to Japanese Taiko. Unfortunately our group had to leave before the fireworks, but it was still a great day. If you have any interest in getting involved with the Seika Global Network and their events and activities, check out the link below.

最後にバーベキューがあって、フラメンコと太鼓の演奏もあった。残念ながら、花火の前に帰らなければならなかったけど､本当に最高な日だった。もし、せいかグローバルネットに興味があったら、是非リンクを見てください。

What’s going on in Seika town?

For September this month, the harvest moon is bringing out the festive nature in people
～精華町のイベント～
秋月のおかげで祭り気分がでていますよ

37th annual Seika Town Sports Fest,
September 12th (Sun), 9:00~, Higashihikari Elementary School Grounds
All the districts of Seika-town compete against each other in a winner gets all battle for supremacy. Who will pull their enemies into the dirt in the tug of war? Will someone drop the baton at the crucial moment? It’s a huge event, with teams from all the Seika town districts competing.

第３７回町民体育大会
９月１２日(日)、９：００～、町立東光小学校グラウンド　
精華町民はお互いに体育大会で競争します！綱引き、玉入れ、なかよしリレーもあって、本間にすごい事ですよ。

Lunar Art Exhibit
September 18th(Sat) - 26th(Sun), 10:00 - 17:00 WHERE: Keihanna Memorial Park, Suikeien すいけいえん水景園 WHAT: Designed in conjunction with “A Night with the Moon,” the Lunar art exhibit showcases a deep sense of love towards the Autumn Harvest moon. Based on the common theme of “The Moon,” this exhibit displays a wide variety of art gathered from all over Japan.
月のアート展
９月１８日(土）―９月２６日(日）、１０:００－１７:００、けいはんな記念公園、水景園。
中秋の名月を愛でるイベント「観月の夕べ」にあわせて開催する公募展。「月」をテーマに、様々なジャンルのアート作品が全国から集まります。

A Night with the Moon
September 23rd (Thurs, holiday) 18:00 - 21:00 (In case of rain, event moved to 24th(Fri) WHERE: Keihanna Memorial Park, Suikeien すいけいえん水景園 WHAT: An event held to enjoy watching the Harvest moon in a Japanese park. The event features a live musical concert, an art show, stargazing, and traditional dango treats. Entrance is free, and it is sure to be a great time, so bring the family out for some fun!
観月の夕べ
９月２３日(祝・木）、けいはんな記念公園、水景園。
日本庭園で中秋の名月を楽しむイベント。水上舞台での演奏会や月のアート展、天体観測、お月見団子の販売など、イベントも盛りだくさん。

What’s Kai doing?
Well, for this month, I’ll be heading over to help out at the Sports festival as a lifter of heavy things, my favorite job. I’ll also be in attendance at the “A Night with the Moon” event, mostly just eating the snacks they have promised.
カイは何をしていますか？
今月、私は町民体大会でボランティアとして参加します。そして観月の夕べにも行くが、そこでお月見団子を食べるつもりです

You have any questions, let me know~

Weightlifting in Japan

A barbell, a rare sight in Japan

   So my supervisors made the silly decision of saying “Write about your hobbies sometime.” While other people have nice cultural hobbies like Photography or tea ceremony, I personally am a big fan of weightlifting. For a little over a year now, it has been a solid part of my life, and I’m hoping to continue here in Japan.



   As you can imagine, telling Japanese people that my hobby is weightlifting is kind of like telling them that I flew down from Mars on an elephant. Weightlifting is about as popular here as Keirin bike racing is back in the States. (P.S. Keirin is awesome, look it up) Japanese are huge into running and biking and other endurance sports, but the idea of a bench press or a squat rack or even weights over 100 lbs are foreign to many Japanese gyms.



   There’s nothing wrong with this, and I have just as much respect for a person who can run a marathon as someone who bench presses 400 pounds. However, due partially to the fact that I am terrible at running, weightlifting just fits with me. It is a sport that is very tangible, in that it is quite clear that you have gotten stronger when you can lift, say, 50 or 100 lbs more than you could before. Similarly, whether you fail or succeed, the results are yours alone, which means that you are in complete control of your own successes and failures.



   Now I’m still new to lifting and relatively weak, but hopefully by sticking to a good plan I’ll be flipping cars before too long. I’ll post some more about my training up later, but if anybody out there reading wants to learn more, just let me know.



 どうしてか分からないが､担当者に自分の趣味に書かせてもらいました。他の国際交流員は茶道やフォトグラフィなど面白い趣味があるが､僕はウエイトトレーニングが好きなのです。一年半前から､ウエイトトレーニングは僕の人生の重要な部分を占めてきました。そして日本でまた練習を続けたいと思います。


 実はウエイトトレーニングは日本であまり人気じゃないですね。むしろ、ジョギングやサイクリングの方が人気ですね。40キロより重いウエットは日本のジムにあまりみないですね.


 それは別にいいよ。200キロベンチプレスが出来る人かマラソンが走れる人、どっちもすごいとおもいます。でもな、ウエイトトレーニングは本当に僕と合っていると思います。分かりやすいスポーツですよ。前よりもっと20キロか40キロを持ち上げられると、もっと強くなったという意味です。そして､相手などいないので、失敗したら､自分のせいです。一方成功したら､自分気力と筋力のおかげだけです。


 たった一年間半しかしていないので､まだまだ新米で弱いですが、これから頑張ります！

I'm vaguely famous!

Look who showed up in the Kyoto Newspaper! The picture's not that bad either (better than any of my ID pictures at least.)
Here’s a translation for those who struggle with Japanese.



“Seika Town’s New Coordinator for International Relations, American Kai Wiesner-Hanks”
=Seika Town Minami Ina Yazuma
From a young age, Kai loved Japanese food and had a strong interest in Japan, studying Japanese history in college. He also studied abroad in Tokyo, and was a member of the Taiko and Judo clubs. Having just graduated in May of this year, believing that this could be a chance to improve his Japanese, he applied to be a coordinator for international relations.
He says that Seika town and Tokyo are very different, and that Seika is a much greener place. There are also many children in town who often call out and talk to him in town. He hopes to teach these children some American games to held spread internationalization. Because he likes to cook, he also wants to try and teach Japanese people some recipes they may not know.”

Well, that is pretty much what I said. The cooking will be interesting to see how it goes, but as long as I can teach Japanese people to make a burrito sometime, I’ll be happy.

Give ballet a chance

This past Sunday myself and another member of the planning and coordinating division had the opportunity to attend Mami Ballet Land’s 25th anniversary celebration performance at the Keshena Plaza right here in Seika town.

Now, before you say, “But Kai, I really can’t see you being interested in dance,” you should know I’ve been involved in swing dancing over the years but I’ve never much been one for real dance and the tights that come with it.


I have to say though; I was really impressed. Even though the girls (and three boys) were young, they were all incredibly talented. Before a crowd of roughly 1000 people, dancers as young as five went up and did a great job (The five year olds had a Teddy Bear themed dance that was quite possibly the cutest thing in the universe.) The older students were fantastic as well, including two girls who performed solo pieces. Guest star Laura Morera, a principal in the Royal Ballet, was there to finish off the performance. It was really cool to see how something from a different culture (ballet) can become such an engrained part of Japanese life. I probably won't be joining myself (me in tights would not be good for anyone,) but I was still really impressed with their show and hope to see some more in the future.


今週の日曜日に、僕と一人の同僚は精華町のけいはんなプラザに麻美バレエランドの２５周年公演を見に行きました。僕はずっと前からスイングダンシングというダンスしていたが、本格的なダンスはあまり経験ありません。

しかし､この公演は本当に凄かったです。出た女の子(と男の子三人）は若かったが、１０００人もの観客を前に本間に良く出来ました。年上の生徒も本当よく出来ました。(五歳の子のテディーベアダンスは本当に宇宙一可愛い事だと思います。）特に二人はソロピースまで出来ました。そして､ゲストで英国ロイヤルバレエ団がフィナーレとして出ました。バレエのような異文化のことはだんだん日本のことにもなってきていますよね。本当に凄い公演だって、絶対将来にまた見に行きたいです。

http://www.mami-balletland.jp/

The New CIR in Seika Japan

So apparently in order to celebrate the opening of this blog, the clouds disappeared today, so you can see the Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka without too much trouble. Of course the sun being out also means it is approximately nine thousand degrees and my pale skin turns Kentucky fried in a manner of seconds　(Japanese summers are not for the faint of heart), but it is still amazing to look out and see so much of Japan’s history just a stone’s throw away.



Oh, by the way, name is Kai and starting last week Wednesday I took over as the Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) for Seika town, a town of over 36,000 people just south of Kyoto and north of Nara. The title implies much more power than I actually have (assistant/ helper to the planning division would be a more apt title), but I still get to do a variety of things to help promote internationalism in the town. This can run the gambit from writing the Town’s English newsletter to translating documents for the foreign residents of the town, and even helping out at events. I may even get the chance to plan and event if I can manage my schedule out right.



However, despite what I may say, I’m not the main focus of this blog. Rather, this blog is about the place that I have the good fortune of being able to work, Seika Town. Located about 15 minutes north of Nara City, an hour east of Osaka City, and just 30 minutes south of Kyoto City, Seika is basically smack dab in the middle of traditional Japanese Culture. After having lived in Tokyo for a year, it is nice to see a more traditional side of Japanese life, and the idyllic scenery (Japan is by far the greenest country I have ever seen. Well, except for Greenland) and wonderful people make me think that I’ll be very happy working here.



Speaking of the people, I will say this about Seika; there are an astounding amount of children here, and I hope that I will get the chance to interact with these kids and teach them something about my home and American culture. They certainly seem receptive to me and I’ve already played hide and go seek with a few of them when I should have probably been working. Of course, there’s more than just kids here, and the adults I’ve met so far have been great in teaching me all about Seika Town and Japan. In particular, the folks here seem very excited to teach me the Kansai dialect. It’s great to feel so welcome, even though the difference in dialect can sometimes make me feel as if all of my Japanese study was for nothing.



Even though I’ve only been here in Seika Town for a little while, I’m already excited for the coming years. And for it to stop being so hot.





このブログの公開をお祝いする為に晴れたみたいですね。本当に奈良と京都も、そして大阪までも見えるかもしれません。凄いですね。しかし､晴れているというとめっちゃ暑いというわけですね。私の白い皮膚は十秒後フライドチキンのようになってしまうと思います。でもまだ､この所は本当に凄いですね。

ところで､私はウィズナー・ハンクス・カイと申します。先週の水曜日から精華町役場で国際交流員として働くことになりました。簡単にいうと、私の仕事は国際化を進めることです。これから私は「いちご」という外国人の向けのニュースレターを書いたり翻訳したりイベントで手伝ったり、本当に色々な事をします。そして時間があったら､自分のやりたいイベントも企画できるかもしれません。
でも、このブログのテーマは私ではないですね。このブログのテーマは精華町よ！奈良と京都と大阪の間中にあって、本当に日本の文化を感じられると思います。私は一年間東京に住んでいましたが、日本の伝統的なところを見ることが出来るのを本当に喜んでいます。景色もきれいだし、人たちも優しいし､精華町で働くのを楽しみしています。

人たちといえば､精華町では子供さんが本当に多いですね。この子供にも自分の文化を教える機会があるのは喜んでいます。もちろん、大人の方も優しいです。もう精華町の人たちにたくさん教えてもらいました。

たった一週間だけでしたが､もう精華町にこんなに感動したので､この二年間を本当に楽しみます。

光陰矢のごとし Time Flies

Time sure does fly by quickly! This month marks two years of me living and working here in Seika Town as the Coordinator for International Relations. This is also my final entry into this blog as two years is the length of my job contract. When I think back over my time in Seika it is hard to believe that two years could fly by so fast, but at the same time I have experienced so much, and met so many people that its hard to believe that its only been two years.

One of my favorite parts of my job here has been going out into the community and interacting with people of all walks of life. For example, I think that from my visits to all five elementary schools in Seika I know every single young child living in Seika. Also, my visits to the Kashinokien Day Service Center gave me a great chance to meet and talk with some of Seika’s more experienced citizens. Then of course all of the people I was able to meet at all of the international exchange events and festivals that I have taken part in. Everyone in Seika has been so kind to me in my time here and because of the warmth of the people here I have been able to have many amazing experiences.

My only other experience living in Japan was during a year of university in Tokyo. Tokyo is a fun and exciting place, but I am very happy to be able to have had the opportunity to live in a more traditional town like Seika where the people are friendly, the air and water are clean, and I was able to experience things like rice planting/harvesting, the Igomori Festival, and my favorite of all; eating school lunches with the kids at elementary schools.

I honestly had no idea what to expect before I came to Seika, but my time here has allowed me to meet interesting people, and take part in experiences I would not have been able to imagine before coming here. But of course my job wasn’t all about what I could learn, rather what I was able to contribute to Seika. So I truly hope that in my time writing the newsletter column, teaching at schools, giving presentations in the community, and helping out at various festivals that I was able to have an effect on the lives of Seika’s residents. I would be happy if something I did or said changed people’s impressions of Americans and foreigners for the better, broke down a long held stereotype, or helped to aid international understanding. My biggest hope is that I was able to encourage the younger children to think of the world beyond Japan, and hopefully to inspire some of them to learn more about foreign cultures, peoples and languages.

I want to thank all the people who have been reading this blog and for helping to make my time here a wonderful and rewarding experience. I know that no matter where I end up in life I will always consider Seika as a second home.

　時間がたつのは何て早いのでしょう！精華町で国際交流員として働くのが今月でちょうど２年となりました。そして、仕事の契約は２年間ですので、今月のコラムは最後となります。私が精華町に暮している時を振り返ると、２年間がそんなに早く過ぎ去るとは信じられませんが、一方で色々なことを体験し、多くの優しい人々と出会ったので、もう２年たったのかあと言う感じがします。

　精華町のコミュニティで様々な住民の方とふれあうことは仕事の業務の中で一番好きな役割でした。例えば、町内５小学校全ての学校訪問のおかげで、精華町の小学生は全員知っていると思います。また、かしのき苑への訪問では、お年寄りの方と出会え、素晴らしい話し合う機会がありました。そして、たくさんの国際交流イベントと祭りなどで多くの人々と出会うこともできました。精華町に暮していた間に、みなさまが非常に親切で、心の温く接してくださったおかげで、大変素晴らしい経験になりました。

　日本に住む経験の中では大学の時、東京に一年住んだことがあります。東京は面白くて、楽しいところですが、精華町では人々が優しくて、空気と水がきれいで、田植えと収穫を体験でき、いごもり祭りを見られ、小学生と一緒に給食を食べることができ、これらの伝統的で文化がある精華町に住むことができて、大変嬉しく思っています。

　精華町に来る前は、どんなことをするのか、正直全く知りませんでしたが、ここでは予想できないことを体験しましたし、面白い人と出会うことが実現しました。しかし、私の仕事は、自分自身が何かを学ぶことだけではなく、むしろ精華町に貢献することですので、このコラムを書いたり、学校を訪問したり、地域の講座に行ったり、祭りに参加する時間の中で、精華町民のみなさまの暮らしの中で何か影響を与えることができたらと思っていました。私の発信や行動によって、アメリカ人や外国人の印象を変えたり、ステレオタイプを打破したり、国際理解を深めたり、することができたのでしたら嬉しいです。子どもたちの世界観を広げて、将来に外国の文化や人類や言語などに興味を持ってもらえることは私の一番希の望していることです。

このコラムを読んでくださったみなさま、そして全ての方々に、大変素晴らしくて、価値のある経験をさせていただいたことを感謝しています。私の人生の旅は、どこまで歩んでも、第２の故郷は精華町であると思います。