MIA NEWS 176ed., Jan. (4)Miyakonojo International Association

Miyakonojo International Association
6-21 Himegi-cho, Miyakonojo-shi,
Miyazaki-ken, Japan 885-8555
TEL 0986-23-2295
FAX 0986-23-3223
http://miyakonojo-mia.com
E-mail mia@btvm.ne.jp

Greetings from the Chairman
Happy New Year everyone!
up to 12 people participating in each class, we’ve reI would like to offer you all my sinceived a great deal of positive feedback from those
cerest thanks for your continued
who participated, after having enjoyed being able tosupport throughout last year.
make home-made cuisine or traditional sweets with
Last year, as with the year prior,
our CIRs, as well as having an opportunity to enjoy adue to efforts to prevent thelevel of international exchange with them. Thank you to
spread of the novel coronavirus,
all of our participants, and especially to our CIRs.
the association’s Trivia Night was
At the same time, we are looking forward to holding
cancelled, and “World Festa in
our Community Safety workshop around early March,
Miyakonojo”, scheduled for theto provide safety and security for our international resiMIA Chairman
16th of this month, has unfortu- Mr. Hironori Kodama dents. Once the content of this workshop has been denately been cancelled as well.
cided, we will provide you all with further details.
Amidst these difficult conditions, our regular Japanese Unfortunately, the WHO have reported another “Virus ofPractice Sessions, whilst put on hold while facilities Concern”, the Omicron variant, forcing us to remain
were closed over May and June, have been regularly vigilant. It is under these difficult conditions that we atheld every Friday and every second Sunday since being the Miyakonojo International Association, while dilire-opened.
gently and steadfastly upholding our COVID manageThe needs of our international students attending ment protocols for the safety of our members, remain
these sessions are many and varied; it is thanks to the optimistic for the future and continue to work hard.
assistance of our many wonderful volunteers that we As we look to the future, we shall continue to endeavcan support their Japanese Language studies. I would our more than ever to bring fulfillment through our prolike to offer my profound thanks to all of our volunteer jects, and seek to provide peace of mind for our interteachers.
national residents through support programs and theAdditionally, throughout December, our three Coordina- proactive enlightenment of our local population.
tors of International Relations (CIRs) held International I look forward to everyone’s continued support for, andCooking Classes (AKA Cooking Adventures) in the City cooperation with, the Miyakonojo International AssociCentre Kitchen, located in the Mallmall City Centre Ex- ation.
change Plaza. While the event was small in scale with

Framing the Past, Picturing the Future - Rebecca Devoto (Miyakonojo ALT from USA!)
Hello! My name is Rebecca and I
Miyakonojo, many of the experiences I’d hoped for as ahave been living in Miyakonojo forteacher in the United States have come to life. I am
three months working for JET as
integrating my professional training, teaching philosoan ALT (Assistant Languagephy, and equity-oriented material into my own lessons.
Teacher). Originally, I am fromEven more importantly, I’m learning new teaching techCalifornia. I attended college atniques from Japanese teachers and educators.
the University of California, Santa
Although most of my time is spent teaching, I have lots
Cruz (UCSC), which is a beautifulof other interests that I am excited to expand upon incampus located on the coast in
Miyakonojo. During the beginning of the COVID-19 panNorthern California. Here I discovdemic, I decided to turn my passion for photography
ered my passion for teaching as I
into a more serious hobby. I enrolled in some photogbegan mentoring and tutoring
raphy classes online and was quickly drawn to photostudents.
journalism. Specifically, I created a portfolio of work
My career as an educator began
documenting many social movements in the United
in 2015 at an elementary school. This school focused States. One of the most exciting gatherings that I docuon social emotional learning, which is the belief that mented was a march that took place on the Golden
learning takes place through social interactions. My Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California.
experiences at this school shaped the way I view teach- My experience walking across the Golden Gate Bridge
ing and learning. I made my way back to UCSC to earn inspired me to travel across my own country, as I’vemy Master’s Degree in education and have been work- spent most of my life within the state of California. Thising with students ever since. I taught at many different past spring, with my camera bag at my side, I hopped
schools throughout Northern California, working with into my Honda Fit and drove through 34 different
students of all ages and backgrounds. Now that I live in states in one month. I drove over 16,000 kilometers on

MIA NEWS 176ed., Jan. (5)this journey! One of my favorite stops was Chicago, Illi- Albuquerque even hosts the world’s largest annual hotnois. Chicago has arguably the prettiest skyline in air balloon festival. Throughout this cross-country jourAmerica. The Chicago River runs through the city and ney, I saw numerous historical landmarks, ate a lot ofconnects to Lake Michigan. You can take a boat tour to tasty foods, and visited friends and family.
learn about the city’s history and architecture as well I am incredibly excited to improve my skills in teachingas get a great view of the cityscape from Lake Michi- and photography, but also I hope to learn Japanese. Igan. A less traveled part of the country that I loved was am currently taking Japanese lessons at the communiBangor, Maine, which is located in the northeast. Maine ty center. Additionally, I am very interested in learning
is a beautiful mountainous state with lots of areas to how to cook Japanese food! I love food, and one of myhike and enjoy nature. In the winter, they get around favorite things about living in Japan is being immersed
177 centimeters of snow! Bangor, Maine is also the in completely new cuisine. I am genuinely grateful for
hometown of horror writer Stephen King. In the south- the welcome and reception I have received in my move
east, I really liked Savannah, Georgia. The architecture to Miyakonojo and can’t wait to spend more time exin Savannah is quite beautiful with a lot of wrought iron ploring the city.
fencing which gives the city a cinematic feel. The city
itself is quite small, but has a rich history that dates
back before America was even a country. Because ofthis, it is believed that there are many spirits in Savannah. Including one that has made appearances at thebar in “The Olde Pink House” restaurant.
In the southwest, I enjoyed Albuquerque, New Mexico.
New Mexico has a lot of creative individuals and because of this, there is a huge art scene in this state.
Photos taken during Rebecca’s trip.
There are also several different Native American tribes
Left: Chicago’s “Cloud Gate”. Right: Stephen King’s
in the area, so a lot of art is created by Native Amerihome in Bangor, Maine.
cans and inspired by their culture. New Mexico isknown for their UFO museum and hot-air balloon rides.
General Information
Bonchi de Travel: ~Gochūmon ha Ikagadesuka?~ (How Australia!”, “I want to try eating ____ in Mongolia”, or “I
about Australia/China/Mongolia?)
want to go and see/do ____ in China”, we want to hear
The following is a notice from the Internationalisation about it all!
Promotion Department.
●Is there anything else on offer at this event?
Miyakonojo’s three CIRs, hailing from Australia, Mongo- For all of our participants, there will be small gifts,
lia & China, want to hear from YOU! Submitted stories hand-made by our local CIRs!
will be shared regularly with everyone, and you can In addition, for those who submit particularly popular
vote on your favourite!
episodes that receive a large number of votes, there●What kind of event is this? What’s it all about?
might just be an extra special gift from the country you
Our three CIRs from Australia, Mongolia & China want submitted the episode about…?!
to hear about your experiences with their home coun- ● Can we chat with the CIRs themselves?
tries. The episodes you share with us will be regularly While the event is runposted for everyone to see, and we’ll be collecting ning, our CIRs will regvotes on everyone’s favourite!
ularly make themEpisode Submission & Voting: Jan. 14th (Fri) – Feb 9th selves available in the(Wed)
Lobby. Maybe while●
Where is Bonchi de Travel happening?
you have a chat toCity Hall’s 1st Floor Lobby!
them, an idea of what
●What should we write about?
you’d like to write
For those who have been to any of our CIRs home might come to mind…?
countries, we’d love to hear about your experiences, In any case, we lookthoughts, or recommendations! For those who haven’t forward to seeing you
had a chance to visit these countries, we’d love to hear at City Hall’s First Floor
about all the things you want to do if you have the Lobby for the event!
chance to go! For example, “I’d love to go to ____ inMovies info

C-Plaza Cine-port (Tel: 0986-24-2571)

17-9 Nakamachi, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Map-Code (GPS): 117 488 540*55●Eternals (Japanese Dub)
●Rogo no Shikin ga Arimasen (Japanese)●Mamorarenakatta Monotachi he (Japanese)●007: No Time To Die (Japanese Sub)
●Masquerade Night (Japanese)*The 1st of every month is ¥1,100 for everyone.
*Every Wednesday is ‘Ladies’ Day’, all ladies ¥1,100.
*The cinema is closed every Tuesday.
*For session times visit: http://movie.walkerplus.com/th286/
schedule.html (Japanese)