TIME wishes all a good summer!

TIME held its 2008 annual meeting April 29^th in Tottori City. This featured reports on its 2007 activities plus plans for the coming year. 2008 marks TIME’s 20^th anniversary as a volunteer organization. President Kazuko Cates reconfirmed TIME’s goal to continue promoting inter- national understanding in Tottori.

After its annual meeting, TIME held an Earth Day 2008 Seminar. This began with an introduction to Earth Day, to environmental issues and action through the story “The Hummingbird’s Tears”. Next was a 4-part workshop including eco-art (by local ALTs), a kamishibai story on global warming, videos and a discussion of environmental issues in Tottori. Last came an Earth Day pledge, an “Earth Day Cake” and eco-commitments by participants.

On January 19, TIME joined with Tottori University’s Peace Studies students to host a showing of the film “Uri Hakkyo” (Our School). This unique video documented the lives of students in a North Korean school in Hokkaido, Japan.

Amnesty International is an inter- national human rights group that works for the release of prisoners of conscience. There are 5,400 groups in Japan. Tottori’s own Amnesty International Group was formed in 1989. Please join us!

Anyong haseyo! I’m a Tottori Prefecture staff member who was posted to Korea 2 months ago. I work in Chunchon, the famous city in the Korean TV drama Winter Sonata. Tottori and Kangwon have been sister prefectures for 13 years. I met a Korean student planning to go to university in Japan. It turned out he’d visited Tottori 10 years ago on an elementary school exchange and did a homestay with a local Tottori family. Small world!

I’m a Tori-Dai graduate working as a teacher on the island of Ilo-Ilo in the Philippines with Japan’s Peace Corps. I visit high schools every day and am learning a lot about this country, and about myself, too.

From 2005 to 2007, I spent 2 years in rural Guatemala as a swimming instructor. Guatemala suffered 36 years of civil war until 1996 but is now a peaceful nation famous for coffee, music and smiles. It took me a while to learn Spanish but I made many great friends there.

TIME held its spring used goods bazaar for foreign students on April 13 in Koyama. Thanks to all our volunteers and to the generous local residents who donated goods!

Tottori University’s International Friendship Association (IFA) held its annual spring Welcome Party for new foreign students on April 20. This featured Japanese food, a relay race and a fun Korean game.

The American Field Service (AFS) is a world-wide high school student exchange program. In 2008, 233 AFS students from 40 different countries came to Japan. Three of these will stay in Tottori for 1 year.

In Dubai, parents traditionally arrange the marriage of their children. However, men can also ask parents for the hand of a girl they like while women often look forward to the annual Arab poetry contests and men’s dance festivals to see and be seen by eligible men.

Come and join our TIME Olympic Seminar to learn more about the Olympic Games and to discuss the 2008 Beijing Olympics with TIME members from around the world.

Date:        August 3 (Sun) 2 - 4 pm

Place:       Kenmin Bunka Kaikan

Contact:   Tel/Fax: (0857) 28-5385

TIME  MEMBERSHIP

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  Membership = ¥3000 per year.

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