MIA NEWS 177ed., Mar. (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

Bonjour from Mauritius! (Former CIR Dalin Hamilton)
Dear MIA Members,
Bonjour!
It’s been a while. It’s Dalin Hamilton. I was an Australia
Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) in Miyakonojo from July 2014 to July 2016. I was called Hamichan, which may bring back faint memories….
Since leaving Miyakonojo with tears, I’ve been working
as a federal public servant in Australia’s capital, Canberra. Following a stint with the Department of HomeAffairs, I moved to the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade. My first posting as a diplomat is to Mauritius. I’m seconded to the Indian Ocean Rim Association, which is headquartered in Mauritius. The Japanese Embassy here treats me very well, for which I’m
deeply grateful.
Mauritius is a small
island developing
state (SIDS) in theIndian Ocean. It lies
off the eastern coastof Africa, with thenearest country –Madagascar – a twohour flight away. This
creates a strong
Mauritius, located just to the east ofsense of isolation.
Madagascar off the African coast.
Recently, for example, a relatively
strong typhoon came close to the island for the firsttime in a few years. During the storm, I couldn’t help
but feel there wouldn’t be anyone to quickly help.
Needless to say I was relieved when the damage wasrelatively minor.
Mauritius has theimage as a resort
tourist destination.
This is absolutelyaccurate. The sandy
beaches, coral andcrystal-clear blue
water is stunning. Ihad the great experience of swimmingwith dolphins, anexperience I will never forget. Like mostisland countries,
there is Mauritiantime and everything
moves at a leisurely
pace.

Looking back at history, Mauritius was an uninhabitedisland, without an aboriginal people. The vast majorityof the population descend from slaves or indentured
servants, brought here from Africa or South Asia. Given
this history, there is a public holiday celebrating theabolition of slavery each February. As I was here, I
went to the International Slave Route Monument.
There, I felt this should never be allowed to happen
again and vowed to do what I could to fight modernslavery.
A recent event in the Mauritius-Japan relationship was
the MV Wakashio oil spill in 2020, which covered thesurrounding areas in oil. While the boat was sailing under a Panamanian flag, it is owned by and managed by
Japanese firms, who vowed to restore the natural habitat. Thanks to Japan’s amazing response, it has been
restored. I swam in the clear ocean and viewed the coral recently.
At the end of April I will return to Australia. I’ve enjoyed
my experience in Mauritius. Given Australia is closer toJapan than Mauritius, I hope to be able to return to Japan and Miyakonojo before the end of the year.
Adieu!

The International Slave Route Monument

MIA NEWS 177ed., Mar. (5)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

Aussie Bites! (Parma & Pot, by George Goonan)
While it’s certainly more of an Italiandish, Australians have made the parma& pot a staple pub meal nationwide!
Consisting of a chicken parmigiana (parma), typicallyserved with chips and salad, alongside a pot (standard
285ml half-pint glass) of beer, you’d be hard pressed tofind a pub that can’t do a parma and pot. There’s evenspecialty stores popping up here and there that ONLY
do parma and pot! As a fairly cheap meal, they’re great
to tuck in to after a hard day’s work.

General Information◇ Articles For MIA NewsAre you interested in writing a short article about international exchange or cooperation for MIA News? Somepossible topics include travel journals, introductions toyour home country, experiences staying with a hostfamily, and activities with an international exchange orcooperation group. Articles should be about a pagelong and include a couple of relevant pictures. If you’d
like to write more than that, please consult with MIA. If
you’d like to write anonymously, that can be taken intoconsideration.
We are also looking for people interested in sharing
their Australian experiences. Whether it’s a rare location you found or some fascinating people you interacted with, we want to share your story with all of our MIA
members!
Please contact us if you are interested!

Movies info

◇ The Community Safety Workshop Has BeenDelayed
In the February edition of the monthly Miyakonojo PRmagazine, we listed a notice regarding our Community
Safety Workshop, which was planned to be held on
March 13th (Sunday) at the Okimizu Community Center, and would explore traffic rules and regulations, garbage disposal, and much more, all in a relaxed setting
using easy Japanese. Unfortunately, due to the continued spread of the novel coronavirus, this workshop has
been delayed until May or later, depending on the prevailing situation at the time. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our prospective participants.
We will provide further specifics once information isavailable.

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

17-9 Nakamachi, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Map-Code (GPS): 117 488 540*55●Patriotic Girls — Red Samurai Road (Japanese)●Usogui (Japanese)●West Side Story (Japanese Sub)
●What To Do With The Dead Kaiju? (Japanese)●Noise (Japanese)●Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie (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)