Hello, all! We’ve started our free alumni Japanese classes last week. We meet every Monday night in downtown Winnipeg. More importantly, these classes are only available to alumni only and it does require some basic knowledge of the Japanese language. These classes are for a limited time only.
Consequently, if you would like to attend, let us know!
We held our first meeting of the new year at Chosabi’s in Winnipeg. We have a couple of events coming up in the next couple of months: namely, we are planning to have a Japan panel at next month’s Winterfest (a.k.a. Ai-kon Lite), and a March screening of a documentary commemorating the Great Tohoku Earthquake. If you are a JET alumni who would like to get involved, please let us know!
Afterward, via Skype, JETAA Prairies members talked to a JET alumni in Saskatchewan and would like to contribute to JETAA. One of the challenges for JETAA Prairies is to connect and work with JET alumni living in Saskatchewan. However, the distance and transportation costs are always a barrier. As a result, JETAA Prairies don’t have an enough presence in Saskatchewan. Hopefully, we can slowly change this in the upcoming future.
Lastly, after we concluded our Skype teleconference, we went through this bin of old JET Prairies materials. Most materials looked like they are mostly from the early 2000s. Then we found this disc that said “JET Video”. Our curiosities peaked. What was this? We popped it into a player. We were not disappointed.
It looked like an informational, yet casual, video of JET Program life, particularly in the southern island of Kyushu. The fashion was definitely early 90s and in one of the scenes, there was a timestamp of “1993”. All of us were in awe. The best way to describe the video: combine JET informational content with the aesthetic of 90s skateboard videos done in 8mm.
There were nice sceneries of Fukuoka and a shot of an ice hockey game. There were also some strange scenes in the video. The most hilarious part was when a JET participant and her Japanese friend were talking about their art exhibit. The JET participant tried to explain the theme of their art but couldn’t explain very clearly. Her Japanese friend also made an attempt….and said the art being “something sexual”. Then for some reason, the editor of the video decided to loop that sound clip three more times.
All of us were so enamoured by this video that we decided to reach out to one of the hosts. Hopefully, we can get the complete story (or a sequel). This video made our night, at least, made my night. To all of our JET senpais: WE SALUTE YOU!
Firstly, Happy New Year to all our alumni! We hope that you all had a lovely holiday! 明けましておめでとうございます！今年もよろしくお願いします！
Secondly, our first meeting of the new year is on January 17th at Chosabi, 2696 Pembina Highway at 7pm. This January is an exception since our committee usually meets on the second Thursday evening of every month. If you want to attend, let us know via email or Facebook.
We had a small gathering of JET alumni at Cho Ichi Ramen on Pembina. The members enjoyed great ramen and we even had a small debate on which we preferred more: Vietnamese pho or Japanese ramen. Afterward, we went to one of the JET alumni’s home and we feasted on Christmas cake.
As the evening progressed, we discussed about upcoming events for 2019. To sum it up: we have more events coming your way, so stay tuned! Lastly, ramen and cake really do make a good combination (especially during winter).
Teams participate at the inaugural JETAA Prairies Japan Trivia Night, December 1st, Garbonzo’s Pizza Pub, University of Winnipeg AnX
We held our inaugural Japan Trivia Night at Garbonzo’s Pizza Pub in the University of Winnipeg AnX. A total of three teams participated. It was a nice mix of Japanese nationals, university students, and JET alumni. Topics spanned from anime to history to sports to pop culture. The level of difficulty ranged from easy to hard as time went on. But most importantly, the number one goal of holding Japan Trivia Night is fun.
If you are wondering how we formatted the quiz, we broke the trivia into two halves with each half containing 20 questions. Firstly, the questions were grouped into groups of 5 questions (hence 4 groups in total) and the groups increase in difficulty as you go from the first group to the fourth group. For example, Group 1 are worth 100 points, Group 2 are worth 200, and so on. Secondly, all questions require one answer except for every fifth question where they require two answers and doubling the points to close the group. As a result, trivia can be bring out the roller coaster of emotions because you could gain points back if you know how to answer the questions which are worth double. Below are a sample of a team’s answer sheets.
Answer sheets from one of the teams. Could you decipher that questions asked?
To sum the event up, it was a huge success. We will definitely be holding another Japan Trivia Night sometime in the near future. A big thank you to all participants. See you next time!
JETAA Prairies will hold a Ramen + Cake Night on Thursday, December 13th, 2018 at 6:30pm at Cho Ichi Ramen, Winnipeg.
Do you miss having a bowl of hot ramen to warm you up? Do you miss having Christmas cake as well? Do you miss mingling with likeminded people who understand what Japan is all about? Behold! We will have Ramen + Christmas Cake Night! on December 13th, 6:30pm at Cho Ichi Ramen, 1151 Pembina Highway. Cake will be held at a yet to-be-determined location. For JETAA Prairie members. Please RSVP by December 5th, 2018 either through our Facebook Events page or RSVP directly to rsvp@jetaaprairies.ca
JET Programme applications are due this Friday, November 16th, 2018. Now hurry before the sun sets!
This is just friendly reminder that the 2018 JET applications will be due this Friday, November 16th, 2018. If you need the link, please go to http://jetprogramme.ca/apply
Also due this Friday are the RSVPs for our first JETAA Prairies Japan Trivia/Networking Night. If you are going, please rsvp to rsvp@jetaaprairies.ca
JETAA Prairies Japan Trivia and Networking Night; Saturday, December 1st, 2018; Start time: 6pm; at Garbonzo’s University of Winnipeg.
We will have our first ever Japan Trivia and Networking Night! We will hold it at Garbonzo’s Pizza Pub University of Winnipeg AnX at 2-471 Portage Avenue. This event is open to all who are interested and not just JET alumni. Teams/tables will answer the questions. We will create the teams depending on the number of people attending. The questions will come from a variety of topics including Japanese history, pop culture, sports, and current events.
If you (and your friends) would like to participate, please send an RSVP with your name and number of guests to rsvp(at)jetaaprairies.ca.
JETAA Prairies alumni giving a presentation on the JET Programme at the University of Winnipeg, October 3rd, 2018.
We held our info sessions over the past three days at three different locations. On October 1st, we held an info session at the University of Manitoba to about 13 attendees. The next day, we held an info session at Canadian Mennonite University where one person came all the way from Brandon. We held the last one on Wednesday, October 3rd, at the University of Winnipeg. 21 interested people showed up.
Please read this carefully to see if you’re eligible before you apply. Also, please get familiar with the application process. The application deadline is November 16th, 2018. It’s better to start sooner rather than later (especially with getting those reference letters).
Good luck to everyone! 頑張れ！ A big thank you to the venues who hosted and to all the alumni who presented. お疲れ様！ (“Good job” in Japanese).
2018 JET Programme Info Sessions for the University of Manitoba, Canadian Mennonite University, and the University of Winnipeg
Are you person who loves Japanese culture? Do you consider yourself as a “Japanophile”? If you want to join the JET Programme or know of someone, please come to our info sessions:
Oct 1st, 2018 @ University of Manitoba, 12:00-13:00, Rm 474 UMSU
Oct 2nd, 2018 @ Canadian Mennonite University, 12:00-13:00, Conference Room A0
Oct 3rd, 2018 @ University of Winnipeg, 12:30-13:30, Rm 1C16A
Do you know the samurai in the poster? If you do, please write your answer in the comment section below!
