Happy New Year and Welcome!

MTEC new participants were welcomed by a traditional event of mainland Japan, Mochitsuki (rice cake pounding).
Blessed by a warm and good weather, all participants had a great time.

Two MTEC participants were on the local paper on January 14, namely, Mr. Evan of 10Kumadai (or 10isd) from Fiji and Ms. Kolisi of 10iecb from Samoa were in the photo.

Any influence on the training??

This morning, I felt wind chilly.
It could be because of Typhoon #14 Chaba.
The weather chart is like this:


I hope there is no influence on the training courses.

Typhoon #7 Kompasu

A typhoon, a tropical cyclone, is approaching Okinawa now. It is called Kompasu.

Because of this, there is no class after 10:00am.
10:00am??
Yes, classes in MTEC start at 9:30am, so it means the session today was just 30min.
Well, I, personally find no meaning to have class for 30 min.

No class never means the participants can go out.
They have to be locked in the dormitory. Though they can move between the dormitory and the welfare building, other activities are banned. Sorry...

Bus tour to the North

Bus tour was arranged for our participants. It was to Okinawa Memorial Park, or Ocean Expo Park.
All participants joined the program.


(I will paste some photos taken by MTEC participants)

Dinner out, everyone!

To celebrate the end of January... or whatever, "Dinner Out" was held.
Kumadai participants (M1 and M2), 09IEC(B) participants and MTEC staffs went to "Daikon no Hana", where we had dinner about a year ago.

Mochitsuki - Rice cake pnding 2010

I found this video data on P drive. Thanks to the reporter... Sorry I don't know who took this video. But I'm sure someone in MTEC.

2009 International Festival

Thanks for waiting!
Here is the collection of performance at the 2009 International Festival.
The video was prepared by Chiho san. Thanks for your time and efforts!

Program
1. Asia (Costume show, Bamboo dance, and Bhutanese dance)
2. Africa (Costume show, Drama, and Cameroonian dance)
3. Latin America (Costume show and Dances)
4. Pacific (Costume show and Dances)

Now, it's show time!!!!!!!!!

1. Asia part 1 (Costmume show part 1 and Bamboo ance)


Asia part 2 (Costmume show part 2)


Asia part 3 (Bhutanese Dance)

2. Africa part 1 (Costume show)


Africa part 2 (Drama and Cameroonian Dance)


3. Latin America (Costume show and Dance)


4. Pacific (Costume show and Dance)

MTEC gathering

Well, should we call it "party", not "gathering"??
Whatever.
The three new courses are here with MTEC, why don't we offer an occasion like this?
We went to "RIO" in downtown Naha last night.
I hope everyone got to know each other, especially with those in other courses.

Who is asking "When is the next occation?" :)

Touching a Japanese culture

Cultural intoruduction has been made to our trainees. Here are Elba (El Salbador) and Luis san in a computer course with their calligraphy "Nihon" meaning Japan.

Not a masquerade :)

Look at them - Davis (Panama-left) and Nong (Thailand-right).

They are wearing a mask, but this doesn't mean that they are going to a masquerade :)
(Should be better if they are...)

As the preparation for the Influenza A (H1N1), everyone in OIC started to wear a mask from this morning. So far (if we trust as reported), there have been three patients, two participants and one staff. Because of this, each of us is considered as "a carrier" of its virus, therefore, we wear this NOT TO INFECT others.

I just wonder why it spreads on the place like Okinawa, such hot and humid place. If it is like this, the situation would be ..... when it gets cooler and drier.

Eisa 2009

Sorry everyone, I just upload photos taken by Fumiyo san.
I will place Youtube and some notes later in the middle of August.

Shooting Practice by MTEC Instructors

Please check out this!


There will be a solar eclipse observed in Japan next week.
MTEC is planning to shoot video and photos. Prior to this, we had practice of it.
Can you guess where in OIC is it?

Eisa Class 2009

First of all, just watch the video...


As I wrote in the article "Eisa Dance 2006", the dance class has been conducted since last week. There are five dancers from MTEC: Tati, Lesly, Obed, Lawrence, and Deni. Oh, I should not forget Chiho as a dancer, and Fumiyo as the coordinator.
I cannot believe it (the video above) was their only second practice.
Here are some photos from the class.

Taken on July 1 (First lesson)

Taken on July 6 (Second lesson)

Taken on July 6 (Second lesson)


All photos and video were taken by Fumiyo san. Thanks!

Take Good Care, otherwise.....

Well, we have encouraged our participants to go to gym for physical exercise & fitness. Now at the sight of this, we may need to add one phrase "Take good care when you play".
Musopole Sakayi Musango (Sakayi san) got injured in the gym when he was playing basketball last night.
At this very moment, he is undergoing an exam at orthopedics. He is accomppanied by his fellow classmate Stanley and our caring med-coordinator Michie san. I hope he will recover sooner, and join every activity he wants to join.

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!".

At the gate of ...

In the second part of my lecture on blogging, I'm showing how to upload a photo to blog. As a sample here, I use this photo.

This is OIC where all of are staying.

Rainy season set in...

The Japan Meteorological Agency announced that Okinawa area has set in the rainy season since May 18.

It is the period from early summer to summer, when the country experiences a continuous spell of rainy weather. It is said that the phenomenon is peculiar to East Asia.
In regular years, Okinawa set in this at the beginning of May, but later in this year.

The weather chart above was obained here!

"Culture of Africa through Health Education"

An International symposium titled "Culture of Africa through Health Education" was held at Meio University located in Nago City.
The participants of IEC(B)2008 were requested to conduct a workshop there.

Due to the day (Saturday), some participants could not join, but they did assisted the others in preparation. Apart from IEC(B) participants, three of Kumadai participants and other two joined us.

Unfortunately, it was rainy all day. But thanks to the training coordinator Miyagi san, the participants had a nice tour because they could stop at a beer factory in Nago city on the way to Meio University.

Upon arriving, we were welcomed and introduced to the audience.

Workshop 1: West Africa (Namibia and Niger)

Workshop 2: East Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya)

After the session, we made a photo with the kites we prepared.

We would like to appreciate you for your cooperation and the wonderful workshops.

Congratulations, Namibia!

March 21 is the independent day of Namibia.
In MTEC now, we have Suzie from there.

Congratulations for all in Namibia!
In OIC, like the other national days, the flag of the country was shown. The day was Saturday, so it was placed at the entrance of the dining hall, or Shokudo. MTEC is very happy because this blog can tell about the day with the photo with the person from the country.

Additional Inf.
Suzie contributed to MTEC Newsletter Vol.2. Click here to have a view. In case you need to type user-id and password, just let MTEC staff know, but actually they are the codes you've been using to log-in to your action plan.

Touching Japanese culture... calligraphy

As a welfare activity, participants can experience some of Japanese / Okinawan culture. These are 'masterpieces' from the calligraphy class.

Oops! There are two from MTEC!!!

<-Ritah(Uganda)
and Grace(Kenya)->
Good job!
By the way, do you remember what you wrote?? :)