Vol.１6
September 2017

Contents
Halloween Party
2017

1

August: International 1
Month Events
Saijo’s ALT & CIR
Introduction

23

Vietnam Folk Tales

3Final Date with Anna

4

Events &Announcements

4

Ａ: Purchase the participation card to take part!
①～⑥（Sales at reception for 200円）（Sat）① Trick or Treat?! <2：00～3：30pm>

2:00-5:00pm
Participation Card Sale 1:00pm
Saijo Shopping
Arcade② Game Corner <2：00～3：30pm>③ Face Painting Corner <2：00～3：30pm>④ Mummy Game <2：00～3：30pm>⑤ Costume Parade <3:50~4:20pm> Gather at 3:45pm!
Don your costumes and gather at “Reception”! Everyone will parade to the giant
Jack-o-lantern together! Prizes will be awarded to the best costumes!
⑥ Costume Prize Ceremony <4:20～4:50pm>
B: Participate without participation card （③～⑥）※Children below 4th grade must be
accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Request for Artwork Collecting Halloween
Volunteer Staff Wanted!
Won’t you join our staff?
【Time】11：00～6:00pm【Duties】Manage day’s events【Target Staff】100 People!
Please contact the Saijo International Exchange Association!

Poster Designs and Illustrations【Submissions】〒793-8601
164 Akeyashiki, Saijo City
SIEA Office (City Hall Central Office Regional
Promotion Division 3F)【Collection Deadline】October 20 (Fri.)※As a general rule, the original artwork will not be
returned. Organizers reserve the right to use submissions in promotional activities.

Organizers: Saijo Shotengai Machitsukuri Kyougikai, SIEAInternational Relations Saijo
is a quarterly newsletter
published in Japanese, English, and Vietnamese by theSaijo International Exchange Association (SIEA).
We welcome your comments,
questions and submissions.

Recent EventsInternationalMonth
During “Meet theWorld in Saijo thisAugust,” we held
exhibitions, homecoming reports,and a lecture by the new CIR. We introduced the food, clothing, and lifestyles ofmany cultures. Even those who haven’t gone abroad could get a taste of overseas!

Saijo International Exchange Association 164 Akeyashiki, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture 〒793-8601
TEL(0897)52-1206 FAX(0897)52-1230 E-mail: kokusai@saijo-city.jp URL: http://www.saijo-iea.jp

2International Relations Saijo

ＡＬＴ＆ＣＩＲ Ｉｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎ
1 Why did you want to work in Japan?
○
2 What do you want to do while living in Japan?
○
3 What do you want to talk about with locals?
○
4 What surprised you when you arrived in Saijo?
○
5 What is your favorite Japanese food?
○

6 What is your favorite Japanese word or phrase?
○
7 In what aspect of Japanese culture are you interested?
○
8 What is your previous experience in Japan, if any?
○
9 What food must visitors try in your hometown?
○
10○
What should people see in your hometown?

1 Growing up in Hong Kong, I liked Japanese pop○
culture as a child. For me, Japan was like a home I
2 I want to make hanabi! ○3 I
had never been to. ○4want to learn Saijo-ben with the locals! ○ I was surprised that Saijo is famous for its water.
5 Oya-ko Don ○6 「これは何と言いますか。」 ○7 The○
8 I travelled througheating and drinking culture! ○out Japan for 3 weeks as a backpacker. Also, I
stayed in Narita for a night!

Megan Hammersley
Glasgow, Scotland
10 Kelvingrove Museum○

9 Haggis! But, it's not○for everyone! It's a mixture of meat, vegetables and herbs
cooked inside a
sheep's stomach.

1 I have always loved studying Japanese, and○2 I want to climb Mt. Ishizuchi!
teaching is fun. ○3 The benefits of internationalization ○4 It is very○
5 Anything matcha flavored! ○6 「頑張れ！」○7hot! ○
8Daily life ○ 8 years ago, I studied abroad in Kanazawa, but only for 2 weeks.

Kaleigh Fleming
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
10 Halifax Waterfront○

9 Every Canadi○
an is probably going to say poutine,but poutine. It’s the best!

ＡＬＴ: Assistant Language Teacher
ＣＩＲ: Coordinator for International Relations

Dominic Chan
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
10 Calgary Stampede○Festival

9 Beaver Tails○Pastry1 When I was a child, my best friends were Japanese. Ev○
er since then, I've loved Japanese culture and always
2 Sapporo’s Snow Festival!
wanted to live here and teach! ○3 Iyo-Ben! I
I also want to try different seasonal foods. ○4 I knew
don't understand it yet, so it'd be great to learn!! ○Saijo would be hot in summer, but it was still shocking to
5 Negiyaki with soba noodles mixed
feel the intense heat! ○6 「大 変」、「カ ケ ゴ エ」、onomatopoeia
7in!! Yummy! ○○8 I visited Kyoto for 2 weeks last
Takarazuka Theatre ○year. I did a home stay for a few days, but the rest of thetime, I was alone. It was scary at first, but Japan is so safeand friendly that I loved it. I couldn't wait to come back!

Anna Blythe
Seattle, Washington, USA
9 Smoked○
SalmonBurger
10 Pike Place Market○

1 I think Japan has a lot to offer, both here and the rest of○2 I really want to learn Japanese! And I want
the world. ○3 Books! Always books. And I wantto learn how to surf. ○to know where the best places to go and eat are! I want to4know what locals enjoy and what their aspirations are. ○5 Ramen! And
There are so many beautiful mountains! ○6 「少しずつ」○
7 Asian horror films!
vending machine coffee ○Also, I have encountered the best stories in Japanesebooks, films, and video games. I think Japan has a richstory-telling culture, and I hope to delve deeper into that
8 This is my first time in Japan!
culture (in Japanese). ○Saijo International Exchange Association 164 Akeyashiki, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture 〒793-8601
TEL(0897)52-1206 FAX(0897)52-1230 E-mail: kokusai@saijo-city.jp URL: http://www.saijo-iea.jp

3International Relations Saijo
1 I hope to convey how the people of Japan preserve nature and○2 “Cyclingculture to Vietnam and the rest of the world. ○34 The “Uchinuki”
Shimanami” events ○ Our dreams for the future ○5 Tako-yaki ○6 「初心忘れるべからず」
water is cold and delicious! ○7 Sumo Wrestling ○8 In 2004, I was an exchange student at○
Waseda University for a year. In 2009, I enrolled in Bunkyo University’s Graduate School for 3 years to pursue my master’s degree.

Nguyen Bui Anh Thy
Binh Duong Province, Vietnam（ＣＩＲ）
10 Orchards○and Song Be
Pottery

9 Everything with rice noodles!
○“Vietnam Folk Tales I want to share with the people of Saijo!”“Cuoi and the Banyan Tree on the Moon”
The “Otsukimi (Moon viewing)” Festival is coming soon! The Festival is on August 15 of the lunar calendar.
This year it falls on October 4. In Japan, people eat rice cakes called “Tsukimi Dango” and enjoy the beauty of thefull moon. In Vietnam, family members get together, eat sweet cakes and enjoy the full moon.
Look at the dark part of the full moon. What do you think it looks like? Japanese people see a rabbit pounding
steamed rice into cake on the moon. We Vietnamese see a man named Cuoi sitting under a banyan tree. I would
like to tell you the reason why we see Cuoi and the banyan tree through a Vietnamese folk tale!
＊＊＊Long ago, there was a man named “Cuoi” working as a woodcutter. Cuoi met a tiger in the forest one day. Hekilled the tiger, but another tiger suddenly appeared. As quickly as he could, Cuoi climbed up a tree.
The second tiger took some leaves and fed them to the dead tiger. To Cuoi’s surprise, the dead tiger came backto life. Understanding that the tree’s leaves had magical powers, he waited until the tigers left. Cuoi uprooted
the tree to bring it home.
On the way home, Cuoi noticed a dead man lying on the road. Cuoi fed some leaves to the dead man. The man
opened his eyes and came back to life. Cuoi told him about the tree, and once he saw it, the man said, “This is amagic tree! Give it clean water! If it is watered with dirty water, something bad will happen!”
Cuoi replanted the tree by his house and took very good care of it. He used the leaves of the tree to cure sickpeople or bring them back to life if they died.
One day, he rescued a dead dog floating on the river, and from then on, the dog followed him around.
Another day, an old man’s beautiful daughter had just drowned in the river. The old man desperately asked for
Cuoi’s help. Of course, Cuoi could revive the man’s daughter with the leaves. Grateful for saving her life, thedaughter asked her father for his permission to marry Cuoi. Her father accepted, and they were happily married.
Then, the couple and the dog lived a peaceful and happy life.
One unfortunate day, some thieves came to their house when Cuoi was at work, and they killed his wife. Thethieves heard about how Cuoi could bring the dead back to life, so they ripped out her intestines and threw themaway. When Cuoi came home, he found his wife dead. He hurried to give her the leaves, but she would not comeback to life without her intestines. His dog saw how depressed his owner was, so he offered to give his intestines
to Cuoi’s wife. Cuoi was very grateful to the dog and was able to revive his wife.
However, from that day, Cuoi’s wife changed a lot. No sooner had she heard something than she forgot it. Since
the tree was very special, he always reminded his wife to water it with clean water. However, one day, whenCuoi was out, his wife watered the tree with laundry water. The tree swayed from side toside vigorously and began to uproot itself. Just then, Cuoi was coming home. He quickly
grabbed the roots and tried to pull the tree back to earth, but the tree continued to float
up into sky. Eventually, the tree pulled Cuoi to the moon where he and the tree live tothis day. Years and decades have passed, but Cuoi still looks at the Earth wondering how
to get home!
＊＊＊

I hope that I could convey a story of human love and the friendship between a man andhis dog. Now, whenever you look up to the moon, can you see the shadow of the banyan
tree with a man named Cuoi sitting below?

Saijo International Exchange Association 164 Akeyashiki, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture 〒793-8601
TEL(0897)52-1206 FAX(0897)52-1230 E-mail: kokusai@saijo-city.jp URL: http://www.saijo-iea.jp

4International Relations Saijo

Final Date with Anna

make Saijo an easy place to live. I feel incredibly“Congratulations, you`ve beencling in a typhoon, being told I have a small face moreplaced in Saijo, Eheem!”times than I can count, the lack of insulation in build-lucky, but I’ve had downsides too (who doesn’t?): cy-ings. All in all, my experience has been overwhelming-“Umm, what?” This was my 1st

ly positive, and I am torn by feelings of wanting to go

thought when my father read me
my JET Programme acceptance letter over the phone
in 2014. I was pretty sure there wasn’t a prefecture
called “Eheem”, but my knowledge of Japan’s prefectures isn’t the best. After confirming it was pronounced “E-hee-me”, my 2nd thought was, “Where?”Now, I don’t know where to start reminiscing on mySaijo memories – I have too many. The silhouettes ofthe mountains forming my daily backdrop. Sakurahome and wishing I could stay here forever.
I am sorry to leave but excited to move onto the nextstage of my life. I now work for a travel agency specializing in trips to Japan. I am happy I can use thelanguage skills and experiences I have gained, and I
hope to educate the British public about how wonderful a country Japan is to visit. I will try my best to put
Shikoku and Saijo on the map!

Anna Tattersall

blooming at Bujo Park. Summer barbecues on thebanks of the Kamogawa. Watching students try theirbest at sports days and culture festivals. The anticipation surrounding Saijo Matsuri and the eerie silence
that follows. Being greeted on the streets by students,
acquaintances and people I’m sure I’ve never met.
Learning yosakoi and dancing with Saijo Saisaika.
Running Ehime Marathon. I sometimes wonder how
different these years would have been if I’d beenplaced somewhere else. The people and environment

Public Language Courses

Events & Announcements【Place】 Saijo Public Welfare Center【Eligibility】 Saijo citizens and SIEA members who canattend at least 70% of the course【Cost】 Ordinary 6,000円 （Members 5,000円）●Vietnamese (20 Classes Total・Twice a Month)【Time】 November ~ July 2018
Tuesdays※Check HP
19:00~20:30●English (15 Classes each・Twice a Month) for details！☟【Time】 November ~ June 2018
○Beginner
Tuesday○Intermediate
Tuesday○Advanced
Thursday【Application Period】 October~

10:00~11:30
19:00~20:30
19:00~20:30

JICA Shikoku Volunteer Recruitment①Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers/ Youth Volunteers forNikkei Communities ②Senior Overseas Volunteers/ Senior Volunteers for Nikkei Communities
Eligibility：①Born between Nov. 2, 1977 and April 1, 1998
②Born between Nov. 2, 1947 and Nov. 1, 1977①②Both require Japanese citizenship
Recruitment Period Sept. 29, 2017 (Fri.) ~ Nov. 1 (Wed.)
Contact the Japan International Cooperation Agency
JICA Shikoku for details. ℡：087-821-8824

Saijo Industry Fair

SIEA will host the “World Café”
at the Industry Fair once again. Under JICA’s leadership, wewill introduce different cultures and games at the café.

★☆Spring Roll Cooking Volunteer Recruitment★☆
【Time】Nov. 5 (Sun.) 10:00~ Shoku no Souzoukan (15 people)★☆Saijo Industry Fair Volunteer Recruitment☆★
【Time】Nov. 11 (Sat.) ~ Nov. 12 (Sun.)
Possible to adjust time (Morning and afternoon shifts)【Place】Saijo Agricultural High School【Details on Activities】●Tent (1F)…Vietnamese Spring Roll Sale
●Classroom (2F)…“World Café” staff (serve tea and snacks),
game corner staff, ethnic clothing fitting room staff, etc.
【Target Staff】20 People (Shift System)
EditorNotes

Only a month has passed since I arrived in Saijo, but I’m
surprised by how many cultural exchange events occur
here! I hope to share information as a member of theSaijo NEWS staff. (ア）International Relations Saijo Staff
Read in fullYuki Teraoka （寺）color！
Miho Ishimura (石）
Diana Marie Linton (ダ） (English Translation)
Nguyen Bui Anh Thy (ア）SaijoSaijo International
International Exchange
Exchange Association
Association 164
164 Akeyashiki,
Akeyashiki, Saijo
Saijo City,
City, Ehime
Ehime Prefecture
Prefecture 〒793-8601〒793-8601
TEL(0897)52-1206 FAX(0897)52-1230 E-mail: kokusai@saijo-city.jp URL: http://www.saijo-iea.jp