August SHARE

It was wonderful to see so many people at the Class Talent Show, especially all the OB/OG. A special thanks goes to everyone who performed or prepared the snacks, it was a great show. I hope you can all join us for the cleaning & BBQ 7/19 (Saturday) and we’ll see you all for the summer work camps in August and when classes start again in September.
Have a great summer vacation!! --SKLT

　クラス発表会でたくさんの人に、特にOB/OGの人々に会えたことは本当に素晴らしいことでした。演奏・発表してくれた人、お菓子などを準備してくれた人、皆さん有難うございました。とても立派な会でした。7/19（土）の大掃除・ＢＢＱにもみなさん参加して下さい。そして８月の夏のワークキャンプで、また９月にクラスが再開する時にお会いしましょう。
よい夏休みをお過ごし下さい！！　　　　　（サンディ）

July SHARE

This past Saturday (6/21) Workshop Class teacher Tanaka Satoko-sensei initiated a Tanzaku Action & Candle Night at the student center. In addition to a few students, many people from outside the student center community also came to participate in the event. The Candle Night movement started in Japan in 2003 in opposition to the Bush administration's energy policy. The idea is that if everyone turns off their lights for 2 hours and spent quality time with family and friends, the true meaning of a "peaceful life" could be realized. Candle Night was inspired by the Voluntary Blackout in Canada and has since spread many other countries around the world.

In Japan, this year's Candle Night happens to coincide with the upcoming G8 Summit in Toyako, Hokkaido which will be on July 7th. The G8 Summit is a meeting of global leaders from the most powerful countries in the world to discuss global issues. The permanent members in this year's 34th G8 Summit include Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries collectively control 65% of the world's economy and hold a majority of the world's military power. This year they will discuss several issues including debt relief in Africa, climate change and sustainable energy, and others.

The idea of Tanzaku Action is to collect the tanzaku wishes from Japanese citizens to Japanese government leaders participating in the G8 Summit to exercise their responsibility in world policy. It was a very fun and informative evening complete with Nepalese curry made by some friends of Tanaka-sensei from the Shapla Neer non-profit organization. Since my parents were visiting me from the U.S. the idea of spending quality time with family while also saving energy was particularly inspiring. It was a good reminder for me to appreciate what little time we have with our family and friends because it will always seem too short. I thought the event was a wonderful way to bring global issues into our daily lives.


For more information in English go to:
Candle Night -- http://www.candle-night.org/english/
G8 Summit NGO Forum Tanzaku ACTION -- http://www.g8ngoforum.org/english/
G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit -- http://www.g8summit.go.jp/eng/index.html
Shapla Neer -- http://www.shaplaneer.org/english_site/index.html

日本語:
Candle Night -- http://www.candle-night.org/jp/about/
G8 サミット NGO フォラム -- http://www.g8ngoforum.org/
G8 北海道洞爺湖サミット -- http://www.g8summit.go.jp/index.html
Shapla Neer NGO -- http://www.shaplaneer.org/

この前の土曜日（６／２１）ワークショップクラスの田中聡子先生が、短冊アクション＆キャンドルナイトを主催してくれました。数人の学生と、外部からたくさんの人がやってきてそのイベントに参加しました。キャンドルナイトの運動はブッシュ政権のエネルギー政策に反対して、日本では2003年に始まりました。その考えは、もしみんなが２時間電気を消して、家族や友人と充実した時を過ごしたら、本当の意味での“平和な生活”が実現するだろうということです。キャンドルナイトはカナダで自主停電をしたことから始まり、それ以来、世界各国に広がっています。

日本では、今年のキャンドルナイトは７月７日に始まる北海道洞爺湖でのG8サミットとたまたま時を同じくしています。G8サミットは世界主要国のリーダー達が、地球規模の課題を話し合うために集まる会です。今年の第３４回G8サミットのメンバーは、カナダ、フランス、ドイツ、イタリア、日本、ロシア、イギリス、アメリカです。これらの国は世界経済の６５％を支配し、世界の軍事力の大部分を有しています。今年、彼等は開発・アフリカを含む課題や、気候変動、持続燃料やその他いくつかの課題を話すことになっています。短冊アクションのアイデアは、世界的政策の中できちんと責任を果たすようにと日本の国民が願いや期待を短冊に書いて集め、G８サミットに参加する日本政府のリーダー達に送るのです。
とても楽しく有益な夜でした。田中先生の友達（シャプラニールNPOのメンバー）が作ったネパールカレーをいただいてすっかり満足しました。私の両親がアメリカから私を訪ねてきていて、エネルギーをセーブしながらも家族と一緒に豊かな充実した時を過ごせたのは特に素晴らしいものでした。このイベントは私たちの日常生活の中に、地球規模の課題をとりいれる素敵な方法だと思いました。（サンディ）

July Sycamore Tree

Dear Sycamore Family,
Working in a cross-cultural setting or living in a foreign country can be filled with frustrations around language and culture. Even if you have a decent sized vocabulary in a foreign language you still have to now how to use those words in the context of the culture.

I have learned about this a lot lately in the Pop Culture workshop that I lead on Tuesday evenings at the Student Center. In this workshop we discuss various aspects of pop culture and compare our perceptions and actual experience in Japanese and American culture. For the first class I had the students help me to bake chocolate chip cookies and while they were in the oven we talked about the power and meaning of symbols and tradition. I showed them the kanji for love or ai (愛) and then a picture of a heart. I also showed them the kanji for peace/heiwa (平和) and many different symbols of peace like the 'peace sign' and a picture of a dove. We talked about how these symbols are fairly universal and commonly understood across cultures.

Then, I showed them the kanji for home/ie (家) and garden/niwa (庭) and asked them to draw a picture of what these words mean to them while I took the cookies out of the oven. The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies is often a hard one to ignore and all of the other classes paused for a few minutes to see what I was doing. I had the cookies cooling on a dish while the students showed me what they had drawn and described each thing. Almost all of the students had drawn a small house surrounded by a small garden. One girl had drawn children and a small dog playing in the front yard. I noticed that most of their houses had tatami floors and one student had even added a kotatsu table.

While we ate the cookies, I showed them photographs that remind me of home. They included photographs of my family, our house, my apartment in Berkeley and my college friends, and some pictures from Sycamore's Day Camp. I told the students that, in America, the chocolate chip cookie is also often seen as a symbol of home because mothers will bake with their children and the smell is very comforting. So, 'home' can mean many things depending on who you're talking to. It was an interesting conversation and a good beginning to the class.

Now, we're working on a survey to distribute to young people in Japan and in the U.S. on favorite movies, books, music, etc as well their opinions on various topics. The process has taken a lot longer than I originally thought it would but has been an educational one for everyone involved. I've learned that there are some questions that you just can't ask in Japanese directly or that some words are more polite than others. Hopefully, I'll be able to share the completed survey with you soon and you'll help us by completing one and sending it back. More on that soon!

Thinking of home constantly,
SKLT
Global Missions Intern (GMI) and
Assistant to the Director of the Sendai Student/Youth Center in Sendai, Japan