Rosemary's visit to Minoh, July 2016

Minoh Visit report from Rosemary, Management Committee Chair.  She has returned from two weeks in Japan in July. She spent a few days in Minoh.

“Visits included a 6am trip with my homestay host to Banpaku Kinen Koen, the former Expo 70 site near Minoh, for their lotus festival. I was one of the lucky 300 to drink sake through the stem of a lotus leaf. You sit down and they place the stem in your mouth and pour a little sake into the leaf. After you have drunk it, they shorten the stem so it’s clean for the next person. I was surprised to learn that in Japan you can’t drink any alcohol and drive.

“It was wonderful to see crowds at the former expo site which was of special interest to me when I was a child. My parents took me to see the short film This is New Zealand made by the National Film Unit for the New Zealand pavilion at expo. It was digitised in 2007 and in 2014 DVDs made available. I've just bought one and was delighted to see the full film again. You can see the intro at http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/this-is-new-zealand-1970.

“Kawashima-San, from the Hutt Club in Minoh, and I visited the Assumption Catholic Girls School in Minoh. We read The Taniwha of Wellington Harbour kamishibai in English and Nihongo to a group of six-year-olds and gave the school their own copy. Former student Miho Maeda joined us for the visit. We gave the school material from Sacred Heart College which welcomes fee-paying international students.

“My visit included a service at Koinonia Christ Church (where I was invited to speak and brought greetings from Hope Centre in Lower Hutt), a welcome party by the Hutt Club, a visit to the Asahi Brewery, and meetings with MAFGA, Mayor Kurata and the group translating Lower Hutt - The Garden City into Nihongo.

“I spent a day in Sakai with my 2009 trip homestay host. She is teaching calligraphy to children and I enjoyed watching their class.

“Most of the remainder of my visit was with Minoh House calligraphy tutor Akiko Crowther, fellow student Karyn and her husband Jeremy. We did some sightseeing in Tottori and Kyoto, including the famous Gion Festival, and some calligraphy-related visits.
“The trip was fantastic. I coped well with the heat - up to 34 degrees but dry heat. Thank goodness for air cons. Thanks to Akiko and my hosts in Minoh for all they did to make the visit so enjoyable.
Doomo arigatou gozaimasu.

NZ Women's Development Seminar, Yoshinkan Hutt Kendo Club, April 2016

This report is to thank the Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trustfor the generous donation towards the NZ Women’s Development Seminar held April 31 - May 1st 2016 in Naenae,  Lower Hutt.

L to R: Kodama Makoto Sensei, Hayama Aboutaleb

The woman on the left is Kodama Makoto Sensei who is a Kendo Champion in her age division in the Tokyo region of Japan.  The woman on the right is Hayama Aboutaleb who has represented Australia at the World Kendo Champs five times.  The primary teacher of our Women’s Development Seminar was Kodama Sensei and Hayami Sensei came across from Adelaide to take part and help out.

NZ Women's Development Seminar, April 2016

We had 20 women from 13 – 57 years of age attend this two day seminar.  The aim was to bring women together to learn from a high level female Sensei so as to encourage their journey in this martial art.  As Kendo (like most martial arts) is male dominated, having a space for girls and women to interact was most special. It was also a chance to bring a burst of Japanese culture to Naenae for this weekend.

Kendo

The funding helped to subsidise the cost of Kodama Sensei's airfare to New Zealand. This enabled us to guarantee that a high level female Sensei could visit Hutt City and also, to make the charge for the whole weekend including accommodation, food and airport transfers $115 per person. 

This made the seminar very cheap and affordable, especially as many women travelled from out of town for this seminar and many are mums and students.  It also allowed a cultural event to take place in the Hutt Region and we were very lucky to have Miho Maeda visiting and a representative of the Trust, Amber Walters, who were able to attend and present some shiai awards on Day One.

You will see in the photos that we had lectures as well as active learning.

Lectures during the seminar

As a teacher of Yoshinkan Kendo Club- Hutt and also together with Akiyo Yamaguchi, as Women’s Kendo Development Officers, we want you to know how valuable one of the grants in 2016 was. 

Thank you again for your support.

Sue Lytollis -Yoshinkan Kendo Club

Zen Garden project for Brown Owl Kindergarten, Hutt Valley

Brown Owl Kindergarten were recipients of a $500 grant from Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust in March 2015 to help create a $1500 Zen garden.

They write: “Our newly completed Zen garden developed in consultation with one of our families is located in a previous "dead" area of our centre. We had a number of guiding principles that were key in the drafting of our outdoor development plan.  Celebrating cultural diversity and providing a place of solace and peace in our children's often highly stressed lives was crucial to this plan.

It is now an area enriched with subtly trickling water, smoothly rounded pebbles, larger stones of colour that change when touched by the water and young plants.
The children have been enjoying their exploration of this area, making observations and enjoying the sensory pleasures of the space.  When one of the teachers was calling the children in for Mat time at the end of the day, a child piped up whilst sitting in the Zen garden and said  “I’m just busy sitting here thinking” which shows they are already using the area as we intended.
In the future, we plan to sit alongside each other learning about Japan – the country and the culture from which this has been inspired.”

Leaving on a JET plane for Lower Hutt's sister city in Minoh, Japan

L to R: Hannah Van Vliet, Malcolm Pimentel, Mayor Ray Wallace, Martin Wabnitz, April Sului, Thomas Palmer

Five young people from Lower Hutt will soon be heading to Minoh,  Japan to teach English on the JET (Japan Exchange Teaching) programme. Minoh in Osaka has been Lower Hutt’s Sister City for 21 years.

The new JETs: Hannah Van Vliet, Malcolm Pimentel, Martin Wabnitz, April Sului, Thomas Palmer, all met with Mayor Wallace to talk about their exciting opportunity to travel to Minoh, immerse themselves in Japanese culture, represent Lower Hutt and teach English as Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) in Primary and Junior High Schools for a minimum of one year.  

Tour of Hutt Minoh House in Normandale

To apply for the JET programme, applicants must have completed a university degree in any subject before going through a rigorous international application process.

It has taken about nine months since applying to be finally selected.  The JET programme is supported by the Embassy of Japan in Wellington who coordinate all the NZ applications.  The final decision was made by the Japanese Council of Local And International Relations (CLAIR) in Tokyo, who recently advised the successful applicants of their new city for the next year.  

Thomas has already had some experience mentoring and tutoring students at university so assisting in classes will not be totally new to him. Malcolm is multilingual and has completed a degree in Teaching English as a Second Language. Hannah has completed an honours degree in Japanese language and Martin has also studied Japanese so they have a head start on their colleagues who are learning the basics of Japanese language and culture prior to leaving at the end of the month. Only April has been to Japan before as she has a sister already on the JET programme.

Talking about the importance of the sister city relationship with Mayor Ray Wallace.

Mayor Wallace was pleased to meet these young Ambassadors who will not only teach English in Minoh schools but will interact with locals promoting their home town and strengthening the Lower Hutt-Minoh Sister City relationship.  

Four of the new JETs taking part in the monthly Skype session with citizens of Minoh and Lower Hutt.

Minoh City Mayor Kurata is thrilled to receive so many young people from Lower Hutt to live and teach in Minoh for the first time in over ten years, since a similar programme finished in 2006.  The new JETs will also be very involved with the Hutt Friendship Club, based in Minoh,  who Skype with their counterparts in Lower Hutt each month to discuss topics of mutual  interest.  It will be great to see local faces in Minoh and hear about their experiences. It is just another example of the growing intercultural engagement and continued internationalisation between our sister cities.

If you would like to find out more about the JET programme, see www.nz.emb-japan.go.jp/culture_education/JET.html 

And if you would like to find out more about Lower Hutt's sister city Minoh, you're in the right place! 

Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme (MINTEX) 2016

Lower Hutt and Minoh City celebrated the 20th Anniversary of their Sister City relationship in October 2015.  During these celebrations Mayor Wallace and Mayor Kurata signed an agreement to formalise the establishment of the Hutt-Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme (MINTEX). The purpose of this exchange was to provide an opportunity for local teachers to experience educational similarities and differences between the school systems; to embrace the culture and lifestyles in each country and to foster a deeper intercultural understanding and active global citizenship and engagement between the Sister Cities. 

Hutt City Council and Minoh City Office have worked together to establish this exchange.

Two Lower Hutt teachers will travel to Minoh in October 2016 for two weeks to co-teach English and New Zealand Culture in selected schools.  To ensure they learn about the Japanese lifestyle and culture, they will be home hosted during their stay.  They will also reciprocate the hospitality when two teachers come to Lower Hutt in 2017 on the return exchange. 

Managed by Linda Goss-Wallace, Projects Manager at Hutt City Council, the MINTEX working group is pleased to announce the two delegates selected to participate in the inaugural Hutt to Minoh Teacher Exchange Programme are: Ardis O’Connor and Michelle Gibson.

 Ardis O’Connor & Michelle Gibson

Ardis teaches at Raphael House Rudolph Steiner School in Lower Hutt.

He has been teaching since 1999 and is married with three grown children. Ardis enjoys astronomy, history, music, arts and the great outdoors in Lower Hutt especially mountain biking and kayaking. 

In 1994-1996 Ardis was a JET Assistant English Teacher at the three Junior High Schools in Nihon Matsu, Fukushima and speaks some Japanese.

Michelle is an Early Childhood Teacher who has been teaching for 11 years and based in Lower Hutt. She is married to Michael and mother of 17 year old identical twin boys and very passionate about teaching children. She has always had an interest in travelling but has never been to Japan. She enjoys outdoor activities, music, dance and rugby.

Ardis and Michelle will be fundraising for their exchange this year and hosting the Minoh teachers in 2017, so please support them and have some fun as well.  Details of fundraising activities will be posted on this website.