Eisa Dance 2006

I came across this video clip on Yourube.


To the current participants, this is the image that you are expected to do after joining Eisa Dance class in next month. After the practice, you will finally dance at the festival of Urasoe City like this. Wonderful and exciting, isn't it?

To the participants in 07tpm, this should be a good reminder of your performance.
Click here to see the post in this blog titled "27. They are DANCERS too!".

104. Farell parties

As a recent tradition (maybe... because it seems to have started just last year), there are two farewell parties when a training course finishes.
One planned/offerred by the participants in other courses, and the other by the finishing participants.

The first one was on April 20 (Fri.) at OIC recreation room.
No staffs attended...except for two, Fumiyo and nana, to make a performance.

The second one was on April 25 (Wed.) at a restaurant nearby. Just after the final presentation, everyone (even instructors!) seemed relaxed.

37. Bon Voyage.... hopefully see you again!

All participants in the group left Okinawa for their home.

The quickest one (Minda san to the Philippines) might take 2 hours flight, and the longest one (not sure if it is Nervious san to Zambia? Daniella san to Brazil?) might take more than 30 hours flight to reach home.
But anyway, I guess they are home by now.

Well, I should confess that each departure gives me pain of parting. I know I should feel happy for the participants and their family, but I always feel very sad.
Anyway, the life is made like this: we meet, learn together, then part with good memories.
Remember our motto "Once we met, we are like siblings". See you again.

36. You are full-fledged, everyone!

The closing ceremony of the training course "Theory and Practice on Multimedia for Public Enlightenment and Dissemination" was offerred today.

35. You did a great job, really!

The presentation of Final Production was held on yesterday.
Nervious san (Zambia) was assigned to the MC.





Each participant had 10 minutes to present his/her production, and the time-keeper had to work faithfully :P

1. Victor san (Dominican Republic)


You should listen to your friend's presentation, Carlos!

2.Jose san (Honduras)




3.Carlos san (Colombia) This time, he is serious...




Mr. Maekawa was also serious to make encouraging comment to each participant.

4.Daniella san (Brazil)




5.Guo san (China)
Not only the technical skill, he has made a big prgress in English.

6.Sayed san (Egypt)

He showed another possiblity with Director. We were all impressed!

7.Luis san (Mexico)
He got over through the hard time to lose most of his products accidentally.

8. Minda san (Philippines)
She should have been the one who had struggled with the production most.

Victor san (Dominican Rep.) made a warm comment to Minda san. Thanks.

9.Goeff san (Papua New Guinea)
He, as well as Minda san, had a hard time of production.


10.Nervious san (Zambia)
Last, but not at least, our MC's turn.

After all presentation, Nishimura san, the Course Leader, made overall commment.

Then, Kaneshiro san, the Training Coordinator, followed to make comment. He said he was deeply impressed the products by his participants, which made everyone feel the sense of accomplishment!

33. Believe it or not.

There are three typhoons on the weather chart of Japan. According to the Meteorological Agency, it is for the first time in twelve years.

One of them, #8 called Saomai (sounds like a boy's name in Pacific region...?), is approaching to Okinawa area.

I is raining slantingly outside.

32. The Poster of the Year

The posters produced by the participants were judged by our officers. This morning, the poster by Carlos san, Colombia, was certified for producing the excellent poster.

The photo on the right shows Carlos at the moment of being announced
In his speech, he thanks to his excellent models; Daniella and Jose.


Certificate






All the posters are now being exhibited at the entrance of Dining Hall.
You can view all the posters at the article #9 on this blog.

Congratulations go to everyone in the group for their efforts!

31. Formative Evaluation with Prof. Suzuki

After only 3-day-development, the MTEC participants had the presentation of their proto type to our special lecturer Prof. K. Suzuki of Kumamoto University.

Prof. Suzuki paid careful attention to each presentation, then asked several questions and gave meaningful suggestions.
I hope each participant got inspired by Prof. Suzuki to develop better production!

29. Final Stage

The participants of MTEC (Theory and Practice on Public Enlightenment Using Multimedia Course 2006) have been working on their final subject; Final Production.

They are using Adobe Director as an authoring tool.After the design phase, now they are making a proto type to present on coming Friday for the Formative Evaluation.
If you remember your time of the Final Production, please leave your comment to cheer them up!!

28. Our memorable umbrella!

The MTEC staffs have been hearing the stories during the observation tour last week, such that it had kept raining through the schedule, and that there were so many busy people in Tokyo. They tell us many stories, but they never fail to admire Kaneshiro san.

Kaneshiro san is our training coordinator, aka Brandy san. I will take other opportunity to write about him, but I must tell his efforts made the observation tour safe and successful. He held up his umbrella high when the group was walking in the crowd, lest participants missed him.

This week, the participants started thinking to appreciate Kaneshiro san's great job, then an idea came about. An umbrella was brought, and each participant put his/her message on it to express the gratitude, as you can see.

It should have been a surprise to Kaneshiro san when a small ceremory started after the class yesterday. On behalf of the group, Daniella san made a speech and presented the umbrella to Kaneshiro san.

Here are Kaneshiro san and all tpm06 participants!
We are all lucky and happy to have you as our coordinator!

27. They are DANCERS too!

Our participants come to Okinawa, Japan, to learn technology. But at the same time, they are expected to be a bridge between Okinawa and their respective countries. The Homestay and/or Home Visit program is one of good opportunities for that, and here is another one. Our participants at this time of the year (July) are previledged to learn and perform one of the traditional dances of Okinawa, "Eisa".

Urasoe City, where OIC is, hosted the 29th Tedako Festival on 23rd of July. OIC participants danced Eisa there.

From MTEC, five participants (Daniella san from Brazil, Minda san from Philippines, Nervious san from Zambia, Jose san from Honduras and Victor san from Dominican Republic) signed up. They practiced it for nine times.


As the last practice, they had a rehearsal on OIC soccer field. It was pity that MTEC participants had missed one practice due to the observation tour. But don't they look great?


Wow!
They really look fantastic, don't they? I hope they cherish this experience and memory.

By the way, more details about "Eisa", click here to wikipedia.
Big thanks go to Mio for her wonderful photo work.

26. Typhoon #5

Don't misunderstand this blog is Meteorological one :P

Sorry, everyone. According to the weather chart, you are having another rainy day, aren't you?

I found the typhoon #5(Kaemi) on the chart. I hope it will not approach here, expecially on coming weekends.

25. Tokyo! Tokyo!

According to the schedule, our participants moved from Osaka to Tokyo today, then visited NHK (Japan's Public Broadcast Organization).
Unfortunately, the weatherchart today shows very pitiful forecast.

Is it raining there??
In Okinawa, we have a beautiful weather with blue sky, but miss you so much.

Anyway, apart from your training, I know each of you has special plans in Tokyo such as shopping, visiting Asakusa, or meeting your friends. Have a nice stay in Tokyo.

24. How is Osaka?

Today in the morning, the MTEC participants, their Coordinator, and Course Leader left Okinawa for mainland Japan.
First, they flew to Osaka. They are staying at Osaka International Center (OSIC) to visit two organizations in Osaka and Kyoto.
Secondly, they move to Tokyo. They will stay at Tokyo International Center (TIC) to visit three organizations before coming back to Okinawa on Friday.

I hope they will have a nice stay there!

23. Before you leave for mainland Japan...

We got to know there was another typhoon (#4 Bilis) approaching to Okinawa area, even before the privious one was still nearby. Fortunately, it did not hit here either.

Now, the interest of our participants goes to "Observation Tour to Mainland Japan"! The are supposed to leave here on Monday morning. We heartily wish no typhoon floows them next week. (In this mornng, Mr. Kaneshiro, the training coordinator, asked Minda san from the Philippines, and Geoff san from Papua New Guinea not to produce any during the tour...)

Instructors never forget the training, even when the participants are so excited with the idea of travelling :P
Today's topic is "Introduction to Media Utilization (Case Study)" with Uramoto san.
Group discussion, then individual practice to describe the Logical Framework. Obviously, it is impossible to descrive all in a few hours, but we hope it became a good opportunity.

Then.....now, I hope you all have a fruitful and enjoyable tour! Bon Voyage!!

22. They are active on typhoon day!

The typhoon did not hit Okinawa Island!
Some of the participants missed their very first encounter with it :P.
And some others were happy with the miss, because they had a plan of Home Visit.

The participants here are proposed to join Homestay or Home Visit programs. Homestay means staying one or two days with the host family, while Home Visit means coming back to the dormitory in the same day.

July 8th(Sat.) Minda (Philippines) san, Nervious (Zambia) san, and Sayed (Egypt) san joined the program. They were invited together.

July 9th(Sun.) was Daniella (Brazil) san's turn.








I hope they all had an unforgetable moment.

21 A Typhoon on a weekend

It was recordmaking hot yesterday, and the sky was very beautiful. The temperature rose to 35.0C yesterday afternoon in Naha, one of our neighbouring cities. And the temperature is regarded the third highest since 1927, when the weather observation started in Okinawa.

But in fact, a typhoon "Ewiniar" has been approaching here. The sky is like this now. It will be closest to Okinawa from tomorrow night through the day after, which means weekend. If she (he?) proceeds as forecasted, our weekend will be spoilt.


Weather chart by Yahoo! Japan tells it will pass near our island on Sunday afternoon.

(quated from http://typhoon.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/typhoon/typhe.html)

20. Observation Tour

MTEC participants had one day obervation on Okinawa Island. They visited IT Education Center and Industrial Technical Training Education Center in Okinawa Prefectural General Education Center.

The Center has been functioning as the training center for the teachers in Okinawa Prefecture.

Firstly, at IT Education Center, they had an overview of the center, then were introduced to web-based learning sytems developed by the teacher trainees there.

All participants were exposed to the ways of training teachers on IT, developing sharable educational materials, etc.