August 2005 Volume 11 Issue 1

JETAABC Newsletter Volume 11 Number 1 — August 2005

In This Issue: • Okonomiyaki!

• Travel, JETAA Style • Matcha Latte Roundup • Movie Review: ‘Nobody Knows’

JETAABC Newsletter • 1

Editor’s Message Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. OK, seems to be working... finally. Welcome to the incredibly-tardy first issue of the JETAABC newsle�er for 2005. I’m your new host, Greg Joughin. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

You’ll likely have noticed that this—the first issue of 2005— is abysmally late. That’s almostl entirely my fault. If it had come out in April or May, I could perhaps have blamed all the paperwork, bureaucracy, and scrambling around that has to go on in the background for you to receive this li�le rag. But as it is, it’s mostly just me.

This issue represents a big gamble on my part. It’s been put together with a desktop publishing and design package that I’ve never used before (InDesign), so the learning curve has been rather steep, and in no way am I ge�ing the most out of the features and functionality of the thing. I’d like to think this issue doesn’t completely suck, but I’m also sure future issues will improve, too. Hope you like it.

This year, I’d hoped to put out six issues of the newsle�er.

Last year’s editors, Christine Rowlands and Jennifer Tomomitsu, managed to publish four good issues; somewhat foolishly, I thought that I could maybe go a bit further. It might theoretically be possible, but time is running short.

Another thing I thought I’d do was to increase the number of pages per issue, and increase the use of colour on those pages. However, that obviously takes more money. No ma�er (I thought); I’ll just ask for a larger budget. We’d be printing more pages more o�en, but I figured as long as the per-page cost didn’t rise that much, it would be defensible, and we’d be off to the races. Boy, was I wrong.

Not only are we not ge�ing the increase in fundage I’d hoped for (although, it must be said, not exactly expecting, either), we’re actually receiving less money in total than we received last year. Ouch. That smarts.

So, with a reduced budget and an increasingly-wired membership, I’ve decided to try to cut costs on our paper edition by printing only in black and white, while at the same time trying to encourage the use of our PDF electronic version, which is always in gloriouc full colour. The PDF version can be found on our web forum, at h�p://www.bc.jetaa.ca/bb/.

Please let me know what you think about this strategy, about the newsle�er itself, or about your opinions on whether or not JETAABC should be soliciting paid advertising to help defray costs!

Until next time, g.

On the Cover: ‘Ready, JET, Go!’, JETAABC’s second-year dragon boat team, heads to a Rec A finish at the Alcan Dragonboat Festival, June 15.

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2005 JETAABC Board of Directors President Angie Oshika president@bc.jetaa.ca Secretary Joseph Luk secretary@bc.jetaa.ca Treasurer Ala Ji treasurer@bc.jetaa.ca Senior Advisor Ma� Fedoruk ???@bc.jetaa.ca Membership Coordinator Bobby Taylor membership@bc.jetaa.ca Prep Seminar / Social Coordinator Christine Gergich social@bc.jetaa.ca Cultural Events Coordinator Erica Moizumi cultural@bc.jetaa.ca Career & Personal Development Coordinator Christiaan Bernard career@bc.jetaa.ca External Liaison Coordinator Lindsay Marsh external@bc.jetaa.ca Volunteer Coordinator Linda Takahashi volunteer@bc.jetaa.ca Newsle�er Editor Greg Joughin newsle�er@bc.jetaa.ca Next Meeting: Thursday, August 11th, at APEGBC in Burnaby. All members (this means you!) are welcome to a�end. Please RSVP to Angie Oshika (president@bc.jetaa.ca) on or before Tuesday, August 9th.

Upcoming Events JETAABC DINE OUT AND CHAT JETAABC Dine Out and Chat will resume in September!

When: Friday, September 9, 2005 at 6:30 pm Where: Afghan Horseman, 455 W Broadway (at Cambie; see map below). Phone 604-873-5923 Why: Because it is a chance to share JET experiences or simply to meet new people while enjoying great** food! All are welcome; bring your friends!

Events are typically held on the first Friday of every month, but in September that would fall at the beginning of the Labour Day long weekend, so it will be postponed one week. For an up-to-date schedule of future events, check out www.h�p://bc.jetaa.ca.

If you have discovered a fantastic restaurant and would like to share it with people, feel free to contact

Get Involved with JETAABC! There are many things JETAABC does throughout the year to give assistance to new and returning JETs, and to provide fun and value to its members. But nothing can get done without the involvement of you, our membership!

Here are some ways you can help out: 1. Write an article for the newsle�er about pre�y much anything. Contact the Newsle�er Editor Greg Joughin at newsle�er@bc.jetaa.ca for more information.

2. Be a speaker or help with behind the scenes work at the annual Prep Seminar, held in mid-June. Contact Preparation Seminar and Social Coordinator Christine Gergich at social@bc.jetaa.ca for more information.

3. Help organize social events throughout the year. Contact Preparation Seminar and Social Coordinator Christine Gergich at cgergich@yahoo.com if you have any ideas.

4. Help organize cultural events throughout the year.

cgergich@yahoo.com and help organize a Dine Out evening, or please post your review on the JETAABC bulletin board at h�p://bc.jetaa.ca/bb/viewtopic.php?t=449 Thanks! **(Note we can’t actually guarantee great food.)

Infuse Tea Tasting Event Following on the success of last year’s event, we will be holding another tea tasting event on Saturday, September 10, at Infuze Tea House, 870 West Cordova Street. The event will run from 7pm (sharp) until about 9:30-ish. More details will be posted on the forum.

2005 Japanese Language Proficiency Test The 2005 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Nihongo Noryoku Shiken 日本語能力試験) will held on Sunday, December 4 at the Douglas College New Westminster Campus. The application period is from September 6 (Tuesday) till September 26 (Monday), 2005. Since applications are forwarded and processed in Japan, late applications cannot be processed. Details: h�p://www. douglas.bc.ca/cie/project/jlpt/jlpt.html JETRO Business Japanese Proficiency Test The 12th Annual JETRO Business Japanese Proficiency Test (h�p://www.jetro.go.jp/en/jetrotest) will be held at Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre campus (h�p://www. cic.sfu.ca/japanese) on Sunday November 11. (Application period: August 10 - September 28.)

Contact the Cultural Programs Coordinator Erika Moizumi at cultural@bc.jetaa.ca to help out.

5. Be a part of the Career Seminar, usually held in the early fall. We always need speakers, and people to help coordinate speakers, plus people to help set up and tear down the event location. Contact the Career and Personal Development Coordinator Christiaan Bernard at career@bc. jetaa.ca for more information.

6. Join one of the JETAABC Dragon Boat teams (‘Ready JET Go!’ or ‘JET-Ai’). Both teams are always looking for new members. Whether you want to paddle, steer or just manage the team. Contact Jane Leung or Hiromi Mikasa at readyjetgo2004@yahoo.ca to join.

7. Be a member of the Board of Directors. Go to the AGM in January 2006 to run for a position.

If you have any questions regarding these or other volunteering opportunities, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator Linda Takahashi at volunteer@bc.jetaa.ca.

JETAABC Newsletter • 3

お

Let’s Make...

Okonomiyaki

好み焼き！

Okonomiyaki is one of those Japanese foods it seems most foreigners never hear about (let alone taste) before se�ing foot in Japan, but very quickly ends up becoming a treat you can’t do without. Sadly, it seems only a few restaurants in the Lower Mainland serve okonomiyaki—and even among those that do, it’s tough to find good okonomiyaki. What’s an ex-JET to do, now that the local neighbourhood shop is an ocean away? Why, make it yourself, of course...

Making okonomiyaki isn’t too tricky. It does involve a number of ingredients to be collected, and it does take a li�le prep time, but it’s pre�y easy to avoid screwing it up. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients: • Okonomiyaki mix • egg • hakusai (Taiwanese cabbage), shredded • meat (e.g. thinly sliced pork, or prawns) • shoga (ginger), pre-packaged • negi (green onions), thinly-sliced • mustard • mayonnaise • okonomi sauce • ao-nori (dried seaweed flakes) • katsuo-bushi (fish flakes) The egg, mustard and mayonnaise you can get anywhere. All the rest of the ingredients are a li�le harder to come by, but not too bad. The brands shown here were all purchased at T&T. Let’s Get Cooking! 1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the okonomiyaki mix, water, and egg, according to the instructions on the mix package. Like you would for pancakes, stir

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everything enough to get rid of lumps, but don’t mix it for too long. 2. Add the ginger, the shredded hakusai, and the green onion. How much of each? “Enough,” says my wife.

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3 3. Once the frying pan is hot enough, pour or spoon out approximately half of the mix. Spread the mix out a bit, but not too much! 4. This is the time to add the meat (pork, above, for delicious buta-tama) or shrimp. Or ika, if you’re so inclined. 5. When the bo�om side is a nice golden brown, flip it over. The meat will now be on the bo�om, and start to cook. 6. As the meat is cooking, you can start to add the

6 final garnishes. Start by adding the okonomi sauce and the mustard. Mix them up a bit, then... 7. ...add the mayonnaise and ao-nori. 8. A�er the meat is cooked and the bo�om is nicely browned, remove the frying pan from the heat.

Just before serving (and of course while it’s still hot), top the whole works with some katsuo-bushi—the dancing fish flakes. 9. If you’re lucky or good, you can also make—or

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9 have someone make for you—some yakisoba to go along with your okonomiyaki, and you can share half of each with a friend.

The Moment of Truth: Tasting! If you have a li�le foresight—like I clearly didn’t— you’ll pick up some Kirin or Sapporo beer at the liquor store, or some o-cha at T&T prior to si�ing down to eat. If you followed the recipe correctly, you should be enjoying a li�le taste of the Japan you remember, right in the comfort of your own (Canadian) home.

いただきま∼す！

TRAVEL, JETAA STYLE

by Joseph Luk

Remember the Tatami Timeshare? The idea was to connect JETs through a reciprocal network of trust, so that when travelling through Japan you could always find a friend.

When I arrived in Montréal for a sixweek research stint at McGill University, I didn’t know anyone in the city, so I Googled up the local JETAA Montréal chapter to say hello. Serendipitously, they’d been planning an “onsen” trip for the next weekend, and invited me along.

Now, you might be thinking, “Onsen? In Eastern Canada?”—and your geothermal skepticism is entirely justified. The Polar Bear Club is more of a thermal stresstest for your body, taking you from roasting wood-fired saunas to the icy St. Lawrence river in ten seconds flat. But it was a thoroughly northern-European experience, popular with fashionable Quebecois twentysomethings who like to hang out half-naked in the minus 10 degree air. JETAA Montréal also invited their Japanese friends, and through the steam rising from the Jacuzzis you could hear French, English, and Japanese all mixed up like fries, gravy, and cheese curds -- a mélange that’s perfectly normal.

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So of course when I then heard that the hard-rockin’ Japanese band Shonen Knife was coming to town, I invited my new friends from the trip... word spread, and before long we had a heckuva party, and for a moment I forgot that I had just come alone from 5000 km away, a stranger to the city of Montréal, and the culture of Québec.

With over 45 chapters around the world, you’re likely to find a JET Alumni connection wherever you go. Our shared link with Japan forms a base for building relationships and discovering more about the lives and culture of fellow alumni, wherever they are in the world.

Of course, there’s no official policy on whether visitors are entitled to JETAA benefits, but making friends is the best part anyway. And if you’re moving for good, you can always become an official member of the local chapter.

CLAIR maintains a list of JETAA chapters on its home page, but probably the best way to connect is just to do a quick Internet search of the chapter in the area of your interest. It’s one of the nice unexpected benefits of being on the JET Programme.

MATCHA LATTE ROUNDUP

by Linda Takahashi

I first encountered this strange combination of matcha and milk while living in Japan for two years. I became a huge fan of Starbucks’ Green Tea Cream Frappuccino Blended Beverage.

Until the huge North American rollout this summer, this drink was only regularly available in parts of Asia and Australia— and, if you were lucky, at a few select locations in the Lower Mainland on a trial basis. At home in my Japanese apartment, my favourite was Thé Au Lait “Vert” which was available at the tea shop L’Épicier Co (locations Japan-wide). I even liked MUJI’s version of 抹茶ミルク(matcha miruku) powder. This powered milk version was the most economical (for my matcha addiction) and I added more than the recommended amount of powder to hot milk rather than hot water.

So, you can imagine my surprise and delight upon returning to Vancouver to discover the existence of green tea matcha la�es in Canada. Honestly, I didn’t think this bi�er green liquid would appeal to much of anyone outside Japan, let alone in coffee-obsessed North America.

Found on the Internet...

My first taste of this matcha and milk combination was at Blenz Coffee (Library Square 345 Robson Street) as an Iced Matcha La�e. They also offer a hot version (Matcha La�e) as well as a blended ice version (MatchaChillo). With three versions to choose from and many locations in downtown Vancouver, it is a convenient place to get your matcha drink fix. As well, liquid sugar and honey are available to sweeten the drink for those who might like it a li�le less bi�er.

Ingredients • 1 cup non-fat dried milk • 3/4 quarts hot water • 1/4-1/3 cup sugar (do a taste test) • 1 tbsp matcha powder • splash of half & half to thicken it

Since then, I’ve tried the Green Tea (Matcha) La�e at Sea�le’s Best Coffee (2706 Granville Street). This is described as a “Lightly sweetened Matcha green tea with hints of melon and tropical fruits, steamed with milk”. It was here that I found my least favourite version of all the places. I am not sure how and why fruit needs to be combined with something that already has a lot of flavour on its own. This is tea la�e made by Tazo is also available at Choices Market (1202 Richards Street).

“Here’s a recipe for a matcha latte that you can make at home.

Method Put all the ingredients in a jug and blend it.

I used a stick blender (cappucino frother) but you can use a normal blender. I tried just stirring it, but that doesn’t quite blend the matcha powder completely. The blender does the trick.

I made it hot but if I wanted it cold, I’d add When I asked the barista if the drink actually contained matcha powder, she some vanilla or green tea ice cream.” didn’t seem to know the difference between that and green tea leaves. She seemed to want to convince me that they were somehow the same. Although, I Enjoy! am no expert in the intricate differences of green tea leaves and powdered tea, I would almost venture to say that comparing the two is like comparing hot dogs and steak (okay, so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration—but not by all that much).

I think that by far the best place in Vancouver to enjoy a Matcha Green Tea La�e is at Infuze Teahouse (870 W.Cordova St. and at 1114 Denman Street). At Infuse, the matcha powder is combined with hot water using a special handmade bamboo tea whisk, or chasen (茶せん)and tea bowl, or chawan (茶わん) for each individual drink (This is as opposed to a pre-made mix or ready-made liquid that may be found at the coffee shops).

I myself have been able to complete a “Frequentea Card” for Infuze Matcha and have managed to get two free drinks in the process. Now, my goal is to finish my second card in half the time…

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MOVIE REVIEW

‘Nobody Knows’ (Daremo Shiranai) Reviewed by Christine Gergich

It is rare to come upon a film that is as captivating and appealing as the tragic story spun in Nobody Knows, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. With minimal dialogue, Kore-eda draws you into the story of four abandoned children le� to fend for themselves in an apartment in a Tokyo suburb.

This documentary-like film was inspired by the true story of the abandonment of four children under the age of 12 by their unmarried mother. The incident occurred in 1988 and was dubbed “the affair of the four abandoned children of Nishi-Sugamo” by the Japanese media. The siblings survived on their own for six months without being discovered and with no adult care.

This fascinating story centres on the 12-year-old brother, Akira (played by Yûya Yagira—winner of the Best Actor award at Cannes) and his role as the caregiver and pseudoparent a�er the departure of their mother (played by Japanese tarento You, in her first film role). He struggles

News from the consulate...

by Steve Chevalier

• “Prepped, packed and extremely excited.” That was the consensus from the new JET participants who recently le� for Japan. Of the 319 Canadian accepted onto the JET Programme, this year, the majority of the 95 participants (91 ALTs and 4 CIRs) departed from Vancouver on July 23 and 30. They will join another 459 Canadians already in the mid-summer heat of Japan, bringing the total number of Canadian participants to 778. Canada has the third largest number of participants behind the U.S. and the U.K. • On behalf of the Consulate and the new participants, I would like to thank all of the JETAABC members who helped us with recruitment, interviews and pre-departure preparations. Your continued efforts are much appreciated.

• 2006-2007 will mark the 20th anniversary of the JET Programme. Since its inception in 1987, it has become one of the world’s largest personal exchange projects with nearly 6,000 participants from 44 countries. We will begin recruiting in September 2005. Application forms and an information session schedule will be available on-line in late September at www.vancouver.ca.emb-japan.go.jp or by contacting the Consulate at 604-684-5868, ext. 415.

• A�er a two-year stint, Mr. Kuroe, the Consul in charge of the JET Programme, will leave the Vancouver Consulate

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to feed and care for his family—even organizing the household budget. He eventually loses hope for his mother’s return and, frustrated, gives into the desires and dreams of any Japanese boy to be accepted by his friends, play video games and to be part of a baseball team.

People who have lived in Japan will be drawn back to daily life in this country due to the sounds and surroundings in this film; to the daily chimes, cicadas in the summer, small apaato with washing machines on the balcony and much of the story involves the all-important neighbourhood konbini.

This film resonated with me, even though it is a fictional depiction of how these children survived.

The story is ultimately tragic, but still manages to capture delightful moments of happiness you can only hope these children were able to experience. Still, this film does portray many of the social problems such as prejudice against single mothers and their children and bullying that still exist in Japanese society today. Kore-eda has created a film definitely worth seeing. in mid-August. He will be working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo. Ms. Nagao will come from the Calgary office to replace him.

• On March 4, the Ambassador of Japan joined Canada Post in Vancouver to unveil a new 50-cent stamp to commemorate Canada’s participation in the 2005 World Exposition, Aichi, Japan. The Expo mascots, Morizo (Forest Grandfather) and Kiccoro (Forest Child) also flew in from Japan to take part in the celebration.

• Based on the theme “Nature’s Wisdom,” Expo 2005 explores the sub-themes of “Nature’s Matrix,” “The Art of Life” and “Development of Eco-Communities.” The event, which began March 25, will run until September 25, 2005.

Further information about Expo 2005 is available at www. expo2005.or.jp.

• The Government of Japan has launched the ‘Yokoso!

Visit Japan Campaign’ to a�ract overseas visitors. The website (www.japanwelcomesyou.com) is a great place to start for anyone traveling to Japan. The site includes information and tips for planning your trip, things to do and accommodation.