Tsukuba has two major festival each year, the International Fair in May, and the "Matsuri Tsukuba" on the first weekend in September (this year Sept 7-8). The fall event centers around a major parade on Saturday evening along Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen in the center of town between Nishi Odori and Higashi Odori. A number of spectacular "Nebuta" floats will be paraded along the route first towards the west and then back along the other side of the road to the East and back again. The "Nebuta" floats are brought out after it has gotten dark so that the internal lights glow brightly. Basically made of thin strips of wood covered with colorful paper, lights inside the floats shine through to make a spectacular impression.
In order to get a good view, you should try to pick out a spot fairly early, around 5 pm or so. A number of interesting groups proceed along the parade route as a preliminary to the unveiling of the Nebuta floats at dusk. Along the bicycle path between the Expo Center and Takezono Park, numerous vendors sell the typical carnival items, and so you can even get your dinner before the main event.
We will introduce and demonstrate some traditional Japanese games this month. We are going to do Origami (the art of folding paper into various figures), Ayatori ("cat's cradle") and so on. We will all do self-introductions as well. If you can come, please contact the following contact people as soon as possible.
| Date: | September 9 (Mon) |
| Time: | 10:30 - 12:00 |
| Place: | Onogawa Public Hall (Japanese-style room) |
| Cost: | Free |
| Contact: | Ms.Takasaki (55-2717 ) izmt@hotmail.com
|
Tsukuba International School begins its 11th year of operation this fall, continuing in the facilities offered by Shuei High School since 1996. TIS is off to a good beginning this year with 14 students enrolled and 2 or 3 more likely to join. The lower elementary teacher, Brian Hartman, is returning this year, and for the upper elementary students, TIS is trying a new pattern, with two part-time teachers sharing the teaching load. Jackie Hieb will be concentrating on the language arts and social studies, while Jonie Clave will handle math and science.
If you are interested in checking out the possibilities of putting your child in TIS, or if you can contribute to the school in someway through volunteer work (such as helping with the lunch hour or helping individual children who need special attention, etc.) please contact the school at 47-0330.
While shopping for imported food items has gotten easier over the last few years, it is still rather limited and expatriates often cannot find items they would like to buy. The Foreign Buyer's Club makes getting many of these hard-to-find items as simply as filling out a form of what you want and sending in the money.
Every year, FBC helps international schools by designating an order week twice a year and giving a 5% rebate to the school for all orders during that week that indicate they are to be applied to that particular school. In other words, in order to benefit Tsukuba International School, all you have to do is write Tsukuba International School on the form. This fall's order week is from the 16th to the 22nd of September, and so all orders placed that week that indicate TIS on them will be added up and 5% of that total will be sent to the school as a donation.
As an extra bonus, this year FBC is offering free shipping for all orders over \3000 placed during this school benefit order week that designate Tsukuba International School on the form. This year, a new "Britshop" featuring foods from Britain has been added. General Store orders must be sent in by mid-night Friday, the 20th, but the Corner Store orders can get in as late as 3 pm on Saturday. Thus, you can order anything in their catalogs and have them delivered to your doorstep with no shipping costs, but that applies only to orders done during this week. Likewise, for small orders, you can get free shipping by adding your order to the main school order.
As of last year, FBC began making it even easier to benefit the school by adding a bonus of 2% rebate to the school for orders anytime outside of those 2 special order periods. Again, it doesn't cost anything extra and by simply adding on the words "Tsukuba International School", the school gets some extra (and badly needed) funds. Catalogs are available at the school or at the Tsukuba Christian Center. For more information, call Tim at 55-1907.
Beginning in April, TIS has been sponsoring English lectures open to the public on a variety of topics. The last lecture, in June, featured Japanese astronaut, Mamoru Mohri, who described his experiences in space. The next lecture will be Saturday, September 28 at 10:30 am and will feature Mr. Yuichi Takayanagi, a well-known science commentator on NHK. The venue will be the same as the first lecture, the Oho Kominkan (Public Hall) near the shopping district north of Tsukuba University (just south of where Nishi Odori intersects with Higashi Odori.
Takayanagi san will be speaking from his wealth of experience in interviewing English-speaking people for Japanese TV programs. He says that for him English was at first simply a tool with which to elicit information from English-speaking people, but he later began to discover that it became a means by which he could express himself in ways that would not happen in Japanese. He plans to give numerous illustrations of interview experiences, including ones that he learned from because they didn't go well. He says that it took him a long time to realize that he was not likely to get a good response with just a general question such as, "Could you give me your opinion about that?" or a general request such as, "Please explain about that." Instead, he discovered that an important prerequisite for eliciting an interesting response was to make the question or request more specific, such as "Please tell us how you would explain this to a child in 3 minutes," and "What is it that got you interested in this subject?"
While this principle would apply to any language, Takayanagi san will describe how he discovered and developed that concept through the use of English. English is a language that does not lend itself to the type of ambiguity common in Japanese, and so he found that his immersion in the English-speaking world forced him to clarify his thoughts and determine what he really needed to know and how to ask for that information.
The Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) welcomes you to 2 presentations:
Deaf and hard-of-hearing students are entering regular mainstream schools and mainstream society. A knowledge of Sign Language may aid teachers and hearing students in communicating with these students and for creating a more friendly environment for them. Three teachers, who are neither specialists in Deaf Education nor experts at Sign Language, will demonstrate some strategies for introducing Sign Language into the classroom.
Who is welcome?
Some have been under the impression that attendees of these presentations must have a teacher's license or be actively teaching in a formal institution. This is a misunderstanding. Anyone who has interest in the topics is most welcome. If you are interested in language learning and teaching, if your child is currently in the educational system, if you have a deaf person in your family, you are welcome.
| Date: | September 15 (Sun) |
| Time: | 13:30 - 17:00 |
| Place: | Tsuchiura Ulara Building - Kennan Shougai-Gakushuu Center (5F of Ito Yokado) (in front of Tsuchiura Station and the bus stops) |
| Cost: | Members Free, One-day Members \500 |
More than 2 months have passed since the FIFA Soccer World Cup Championship finished. Many people enjoyed watching the games on TV or at the stadiums. It was the Brazilian team that won the World Cup! For this month's Coffee Hour, Ms. Juliana Eli Watanabe will talk about the country whose team excited the world and us.
Beginning in 1500, the first Europeans, Portuguese sailors, arrived in the region now called Brazil. After their arrival, many historical events occurred across time including colonization, independence, the imperial period, and finally a shift to a republic. Brazilian culture has been influenced by African, European and Asian cultures. One of the most famous Brazilian dishes, feijoada, a bean dish boiled with pork, was cooked and eaten by Africans who were brought to Brazil to work as slaves.
Brazil is 23 times the size of Japan. The beauty of its nature, such as the Amazon River, the Pamtanal marsh, and Iguacu falls, attracts and excites us all.
Ms. Watanabe, our speaker, is a Nisei from Guatapara, San Paulo. She is a student of the Graduate School, University of Tsukuba, majoring in Area Studies (Latin America). "My grandparents lived in Tsukuba before their emigration to Brazil, so Tsukuba is my second hometown," she said. She will introduce Brazil, her native country, to us.
| Date: | September 25 (Wed) |
| Time: | 14:00 - 16:00 |
| Place: | Tsukuba Information Center 3F |
| Guest | Ms. Juliana Eli Watanabe |
September 14 (Sat) 10:00-16:00, September 15 (Sun) 10:00-15:00
Students of the Ikebana Class - Tsukuba International Exchange Room - will be displaying their works of art on the 2nd floor of the Tsukuba Information Center (next to Nova Hall). There will be many interesting arrangements by the students who come from around the world.
September 15(Sun) 10:00-14:00
Chanoyu Class will be also offering free green tea and sweets service. Why not come along and enjoy a little taste of Japanese culture?
For more information, please contact: 52-6789 (10:00-17:00)
The Tsukuba Information Center is currently enrolling students in its Japanese Language Classes. The classes will focus on the functional aspects of the language. You can hear and learn vivid Japanese.
The city of Tsukuba holds its grand fireworks display on Saturday, Sept. 21 in the fields between highways 408 and 125, north of the city center. The best way to approach the site is to continue along the road that is the natural extension of Nishi Odori as it intersects with Higashi Odori until you come to the fields on the left. The entrance to the parking lot is clearly marked. Free busses will also be leaving from both the Oho branch office (near the junction of Nishi and Higashi Odoris) and the Tsukuba branch office (the old Tsukuba Town hall near the base of Mt. Tsukuba) at 5 pm. and leaving on the return at 8:30 pm.
The display isn't as big as the Tsuchiura fireworks show coming up in October, but it is still quite impressive. In case of rain or strong winds, the event is to be rescheduled for the following night.
If you are only going to see one fireworks event, however, the annual Tsuchiura Fireworks coming up on Oct. 5 is definitely the one to go for. It is one of the biggest in the country and fireworks artists use this event to try out new designs. You need to go early, as it is very crowded. A great way to go is to park facing Tsukuba along Tsuchiura-Gakuen sen (the outer lanes of which are okay for parking from the afternoon only) near the route 6 overpass. It is only a few minutes walk from there to the fields between the overpass and the river, where most people watch it from, and then it is comparatively easy to get out and on your way back. Don't expect to be able to do that if you wait until an hour or so before dark to go. If you must go later, the best way is just to go by bicycle. If you have a car that is big enough to put your bicycle in, then you can drive part way, find a parking spot on some back road and bike from there.
An English language interdenominational worship service is held once a month normally on the fourth Sunday of every month at 2 pm. at the Tsukuba Gakuen Church near Daiei. The September service will be on the 22nd and will be followed by an informal fellowship time at the Tsukuba Christian Center next door. The Japanese language congregation meets every Sunday morning at 10:30, and the service is translated into English over earphones. There is also a Bible Study in English every Wednesday evening at 8:30 in the Christian Center. For more information or help with transportation, call Tim Boyle at 55-1907.
The Tsukuba Catholic Church has an English mass at 8:00 am every Sunday and the Japanese masses on Saturday night (6 pm) and Sunday morning (10 am) are accompanied by an summary of the message in English. There is also a Spanish mass on the 3rd Sundays at 3 pm. On the last Sunday of the month, there is a coffee social after the English mass. For information, call the church at 36-1723. The Tsuchiura Catholic Church offers an English mass on the last Sunday of each month at 3 pm (tel. 21-1501). There is also a Portuguese mass on the 3rd Saturday at 7 pm.
The Tsukuba Baptist Church offers an English language Bible study before the Japanese service every Sunday from 10 to 11 am. It is located in Inarimae just east of Nishi Odori on the street closest to the meteorological observation tower. Tel. 58-0655.
The Megumi Church in Tsuchiura (489-1 Kami Takatsu) also offers English translation of their 10:30 Japanese service over earphones. An English Bible class is held every Sunday morning at 9:00. There is also an International Fellowship group that holds a monthly pot luck dinner usually on the third Saturday. For information on that, call Melissa Ishio at 38-1374. For more information, call the church at 22-2244 or e-mail LDN03144@niftyserve.or.jp (Also see their Tsuchiura Megumi Church Web Page at http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp/ro/tmc/index.html).
The Tokyo International Church, Tsukuba Branch in Amakubo 3-3-5 (across from Tsukuba Univ.) offers a 10:30-noon Chinese (Mandarin) service interpreted into both English and Japanese. There is also an English language Bible study every Sunday evening at 7 pm. For information, call Rev. Huang at 52-6820.
The International Christian Assembly meets every Sunday at their church just off of Tsuchiura-Gakuen Sen east of Tsukuba (just behind the restaurant with the dragon on the roof) from 10 am for Bible Study and 10:30 for worship. On Easter Sunday, they will have their 5th Anniversary celebration with a dinner and drama following the service. For more information, call Tony Shreffler at 57-9006.
The Nozomi Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tsuchiura (23-27 Komatsu 3-chome) also offers programs in English, including a worship service Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm and a Bible class on Sunday mornings at 9:30. English Bible information courses are available any time. For more information, call Glen Hieb at 0298-21-3578.
The Tsuchiura Christian Church offers an English message translated into Japanese every Sunday morning at 10:30 am. For information, contact Paul Axton at 56-2167.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Tsukuba ward is located at Sakura 2 chome 35-2. Services are translated into English over headphones. The Sacrament Meeting begins at 10 am followed by Sunday School at 11:10 and Priesthood and Relief Society at 12:00. A Gospel Doctrine class in English is also offered. For more information, contact 57-9795.
The Jewish Community of Japan, invites anyone of the Jewish faith in the Tsukuba area to feel welcome at any of their programs in Tokyo. Sabbath services each Friday at 6:30 pm followed by Sabbath dinner; Kosher Kitchen, Saturday morning, 9:30 am. Contact 3-8-8 Hiroo, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150; tel. 03-3400-2559, fax. 03-3400-1827.
You can now view articles from back issues of the Alien Times online at www.alientimes.org. Many thanks to Shaney Crawford for her efforts in setting up a site and getting back issues installed. It will take some time to get the older issues set up - particularly those for which only hard copies still exist, but we hope to get everything on line in the next few months. There is also an index by subject matter to help you find things.
The ancient Greeks believed that time flowed from the unseen future behind them to the past laid out in front of them.
You can experience this when you travel on a train with your back to the direction of travel. You can see anything out towards the back of the train, or in line with you, but nothing 'behind you' towards the front of the train. The landscape nearby you see in some detail, while the things further away become less distinct, though retaining their basic shape. You may not remember everything you did a decade ago as clearly as you remember yesterday, but you recall the rough outline, the general shades of light and dark.
You cannot see behind you into the future, though you can guess a little what might come next. If you have been passing through a town, you might expect to see more town; if the mountains are closing in around you, you might anticipate a tunnel, though you would not be able to tell for sure until it went dark. It sometimes seems easy to anticipate the future with reasonable certainty (night will follow day, dogs chase sticks, children grow up not down) - though you can never be certain what will happen in detail. The future mugs you from behind every time.
So what would it be like to have the benefit of foresight? Imagine that on this train you meet someone with a different perspective - say some alien from another dimension comes along and sits down right opposite you. What does the alien see? Your alien is entirely looking ahead, calmly surveying the plains and prospects of the future. In a kind of mirror image of what you see, the alien perceives the about-to-happen things nearby in some detail, and the things further away in broader but vaguer outline. It might be the same kind of landscape, but reversed in time.
How wonderful it must be to see the future unfold - if only one could relate this future to what had already happened! For, just as you see only the past while guessing the future, this time-mirrored alien sees only the future and has to guess the past. As it travels, the view of the distant future gradually improves and eventually resolves itself into a vivid but all too disposable present - its memory is lost as soon as the present instant is past.The alien cannot remember anything, even an instant after it has happened - its past is as inaccessible to it as your future is to you. It is no more sure of what came before the tunnel than you are of what will come after it. Perhaps the future-sighted alien is as phlegmatic about its foreknowledge of the future as it is unfussed about the loss of its past.
In fact, the alien's future-gazing experience of life would be just like our own experience if the train were to go into reverse.
If you were to imagine playing your life backwards, then your memory at any point would contain foreknowledge of things to come. That is, at any instant in time, your mind would have stored information about events still to be played.
As you travelled back into your unfolding past, you would look forward to your youth with certainty - but forget your adulthood. You would experience effects with the knowledge of the causes to come, but by the time you reached the causes, you would have forgotten their effects. So, an alien with foreknowledge would not seem to be gaining anything, simply by facing forward.
The trick would have to be if we could see both ways - a certain species of alien with eyes in the back of its head could see everything ahead and behind.
But this vision makes us realise that our train must be travelling though a fixed landscape of events, following a track of fate already laid out for us. In this case it would hardly matter which way we faced, as the destination must be the same.
If we find that prospect too unpalatable, we have to imagine instead that as our train of events moves forward, the track and the very ground underneath it are not already in place, but are rolled out right in front of it as it goes along.
But then there would be no landscape of the future ahead for any forward-looking alien to see. So after all, we might be content with our worldview of hindsight: to sit with our backs to the future may be as good a way to go as any.
Stephen Marshall
stephen@cyberspace.co.jp
Meetings every Wednesday night at Hot Stuff from 9pm. Future walks and information at eve.bk.tsukuba.ac.jp/twmc. Please contact Tadashi Takemori at takemori@eve.bk.tsukuba.ac.jp.
Join the Ibaraki Hash House Harriers, the international drinking club with a running problem. Meet at the Frontier Bar at 12:30pm on Sunday September 29th. Check our homepage at ibarakih3.infoseek.ne.jp and leave a message on the BBS.
