International Friendship Festa 2008

International Friendship Festa 2008

We are all friends. The earth is the one and only.

Under the words “Let’s be acquainted with foreign people living in our neighborhoods”, The International Friendship Festival 2008 was held at Noda City Hall, on 19th of October. There were more than 200 peoples visited, joined and enjoyed the various interesting events.

☆At 11:00, the opening ceremony was started with;

Greetings by three gentlemen, Mr. Matsumura, the president of NIA,
Mr. Nemoto, the Mayor of Noda City, and Mr. Miyauchi, the superintendent of education.

☆At 11:30,

Exhibition Booths of Various Foreign Countries opened.
China, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Argentina, Brazil, Romania,

At the every exhibition booths, they displayed their own various folk pieces, scenic photographs, native costumes, simple native languages, and so on.
They were all worth looking at, trying, and tasting. At the Chinese booth you could also enjoy free trials of the seal engravings.

English Speeches by pupils of elementary and junior high schools in Noda City.

The 6th grade-pupils from Hokubu Elementary School spoke about their own school lives in English and they sang English song of “Do Re Mi”. It was cute.

The students from Nanbu Junior High School made wonderful English speeches in good pronunciation about their dreams for the future.

Japanese Speeches by learners in Japanese Language Class of NIA.
Vietnam, Philippine, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma).

When I was adjusting the rail fare at a JR station, the station officer said to me, “Where did you come from?” I replied, “I came from Vietnam." He made a humorous speech about his experiences in Japan in good Japanese.

She is from Myanmar, and she spoke in fluent Japanese how she was naughty in her girlhood back in Burma.

☆At 12:30,

Trying-on Kimono
Experiencing a part of Japanese Culture?

So colorful are Japanese traditional bridal finery and long-sleeved kimono.

Trying-on Ethnic Costumes;Ao Dai(Vietnamese dress), Chinese dress, Thai dress, and Korean dress

Many visitors had and enjoyed their own photographs taken on-site wearing their favorite costumes.

The coffee bar was also opened for the visitors.

People could enjoy and taste various countries’ snacks, cookies, and refreshments.

Attractions

Kendo (swordplay) by boys and girls from the kendo federation

The young swordsmen performed beautiful patterns of sword fighting.

“Almighties” of the music band

Their witty and humorous music and small talk produced lively atmospheres in the hall.

Folk Dancing from Thailand

A little Thai dancer performed cute and beautifully as well as her mother together.

Folk Dancing from Philippine

It was fascinating as though even the flowers would be dancing together with the beautiful Filipinas.

Korean songs in the choir by the students of
Korean Language Classes of NIA

Clear singing voices of ladies abounded in the hall, which, somehow, made us feel so calm and happy.

A lady from Brazil was singing Japanese Enka!

How could she manage to sing of that profound Japanese feelings?

Now, everybody, let’s dance together for the finale!

We were most happy to have had more than 200 peoples enjoying the intercultural communication in the Festival 2008.

☆At 15:00, the closing.

TANABATA DANCING PARADE

Participated in the 57th Noda Tanabata Dancing Parade
from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening of Aug.2

Members of NIA including foreign exchange students of our home stay program enjoyed dancing in the parade wearing yukata (simple summer kimono). Many people from Kikkoman Co., from City Hall, various women organization, and other citizens were dancing and paraded the main street of the town in yukata.


Everybody was enjoying dancing in Noda samba rhythm.


Guest students with their host families


They look like real father and daughters; but
two girls are from China.


A student from Bangladesh wearing yukata and holding a traditional hand-carry lantern


Along the street, there were many night stalls and booths, and colorful paper decorations for tanabata festival standing tall all the way.

WELCOME PARTY

NIA'S OVERNIGHT HOMESTAY PROGRAM
The Welcome Party was held
on Aug. 2nd(Sat.), 11:00p.m. thru 1:00p.m.
at NPO Support Center.

Noda International Association carried out the overnight home stay program this year too, for foreign exchange students who are studying at universities or colleges in Chiba Prefecture to stay 2 days (8/2&8/3) in ordinary Japanese families here in Noda city, so that they could experience the real Japanese family lives.

Prior to the program, NIA invited 20 exchange students and 18 host families to the welcome party where they all introduced themselves and were acquainted each other. The exchange students were from various countries, such as China, Taiwan, Korea, U.S.A. India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and so on.



All the attendees are gathered at the welcome party.



greetings by:
Mr. Matumura, President of NIA
Mr. Nemoto, Mayor of Noda City
Mr. Miyauchi, Chairman of Noda Educational Board



the first meeting with leis?



with their host families





It's always nice to have something to eat.
good taste?



chatting, chatting, ... no problems in communication?
We know it's going to be present home stay!!

We'd like to experience Japanese culture and custom,
and maybe go around the city with the host family.
This will be our precious memory in Japan!!

We enjoyed Thai ethnic dance and its traditional music.

We enjoyed Thai ethnic dance and
its traditional music.

When : June 28th (Sat.) 1:30 ～ 4:00 p.m.
Where : at NPO Support Center in Central Public Hall
Total 16 people including 4 children attended the party.

Introduction of the instructor
Ms. Somsee Mochida was the instructor of the Thai dancing.
She is from Thailand and now is living in Noda City with her husband and their son, a high school student.



The ethnic dances in Thailand show some different features depending on which area of the country it was originated from, northern, central, or southernpart of Thailand.
Ms. Somsee Mochida was born and grown up in the city of Chiang Mai located in northern part of Thailand. She had learned the dance since a little girl under the influence of her father who was a clergyman.
She gave the detailed explanations about Thai traditional music showing lots of photographs, pictures and posters.



There were thankful comments from the attendees such as;
I have been to Vietnam and it made me interest in Asian countries.
And now I’d like to know lots more about Thailand.
My uncle is married to a Thai and lives there, so I have opportunities to visit them in Thailand.
My son is married in Thailand and their child sometimes come to Japan to visit us.


There was a little girl attended the meeting with her mother from Thailand.
She is a second grade pupil in Nambu elementary school.

There were some voices requesting Thai language class.

FIELD ACTIVITY

FIELD ACTIVITY AT SHIMIZU PARK

Japanese language school had the field activity on June 2.
The members of the Monday Class gathered at Shimizu Park being popular as a natural relaxation park in Noda city.　15 people of students from Taiwan, Thailand, France, and Japanese staff joined and enjoyed the activity.



They enjoyed walking around in the park, watching the fresh green leaves, trees, and beautiful flowers, and, of course, chatting Japanese language they had learned.♪



After having delightful lunch outside, we all enjoyed playing games.
All games were played in Japanese language only.
It turned out a good exercise to learn the practical Japanese
and a lot of new words.



So happy today!!
We could talk together about various matters which we couldn’t do when we were in the class room.