JET alums involved in yoga benefit for Japan quake victims (NY)
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The below article mentions JETAA U.S.A. Country Rep and former JETAANY President Megan Miller-Yoo (Hyogo-ken). And the reporter, Seana Magee (Okayama-ken, Niimi-shi, 1988-90) also happens to be a JET alum.
FEATURE: New Yorkers turn on heat, use yoga to benefit Japan quake victims
By Seana K. Magee
NEW YORK, June 28, Kyodo
Drenched in sweat, Megan Miller Yoo and about a dozen other students were pushing themselves to new limits during a special Sunday yoga session held at a Manhattan studio.
Stretching their muscles and testing their flexibility, they intently followed the instructor moving through 26 prescribed poses at Bikram Yoga Grand Central in a humid, 40 C room.
From the outside it looked like an ordinary 90-minute Bikram class, but it was not.
The hot yoga devotees were part of a so-called donation class specifically designed to raise money to help victims of the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeastern Japan on March 11.
Yoo explained to Kyodo News how taking part in the special class took her practice to a new level, particularly because of her close ties to the country, where she lived for two years.
”One instructor always says, ‘If you breathe through Bikram, you can breathe through anything,’ so I often think of that when I am in a tough situation, and it makes me realize I can get through anything if I just hang in there and don’t give up,” said the 33-year-old former Japan Exchange and Teaching Program participant who taught English in Hyogo Prefecture.
”I think that is the perfect message for the people in the affected regions of Japan.”
Before the March disaster wreaked havoc in her country, Kyoko Katsura, one of the two studio owners, and her business partner were mulling over ways to motivate students. So they hit upon the idea of offering the weekly donation class to highlight various charities. Read More
Ambassador Roos visits Monty Dickson’s school in Rikuzentakata, Iwate
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From this morning’s Frontline Daily newsfeed:
Loose translation:
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Roos visited southern Iwate and Rikuzentakata on June 28 and dropped by Monty Dickson’s school, Yonezaki Elementary, to talk to the fifth grade class and the principal there. He was much beloved by everyone and loved the community much in return. Roos told the kids to come visit America when they grow up. He also met with the mayor and emphasized the strength of US-Japan relations, promising ongoing support for the rebuilding effort. He then observed the American NPO, All Hands Volunteers, who are helping build housing in and around Oofunato.
★ 犠牲米国人ゆかりの学校へ～ルース大使が被災地訪問
ルース駐日大使は28日、東日本大震災で大きな被害を受けた岩手県南部を訪問した。震災の犠牲になった米国人モンティー・ディクソンさん＝当時（26）＝が英語を教えていた陸前高田市の米崎小学校では、ディクソンさんの生前の思い出話に耳を傾け、子どもたちの歓迎を受けるなど、日米の絆を再確認した。米崎小の佐藤圭子校長は、ディクソンさんが震災当日まで授業をしていたことを紹介。「子どもたちに慕われ、教職員も（彼のことを）大好きでした」と昔の写真を見せながら語った。大使は、ディクソンさんの家族が「彼にとって特別な学校、地域社会だった」と話していたと述べ、佐藤校長に謝意を表明。その後、５年生のクラスに立ち寄り「大きくなったら米国に来てほしい」と語りかけ、握手攻めにあった。陸前高田市の戸羽太市長への表敬訪問では「日米の友好関係は非常に深い。力になりたい」と述べ、米国が今後も被災地支援に全力を挙げる考えを伝えた。大使は、被災地家屋の復旧などに当たっている米国のNPO、オールハンズボランティアが活動拠点とする大船渡市も視察。午後には大槌町で小学生とのキャッチボールに応じるなど、１日かけて被災地を巡り、草の根交流に奔走した。（共同）
Japan Times article on Iwate CIR Amanda Krips
Earthquake Tsunami, Japan Local, JETs in the News, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on Japan Times article on Iwate CIR Amanda Krips
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Thanks to Fukui JET Mike Maher-King for forwarding on this Japan Times article about Iwate CIR Amanda Krips.
JET coordinator finds Iwate spirit contagious
MORIOKA, Iwate Pref. — Iwate Prefecture’s coast suffered some of the most severe damage in the March 11 quake and towering tsunami, where more than 4,500 people have been confirmed killed and 2,700 are still missing.
But only about two hours by car inland, Morioka, the prefecture’s capital, was barely damaged by the 9-magnitude temblor. Residents only had to deal with a two-day power outage and a gas and supply shortage that lasted a few weeks, according to Amanda Krips, 24, an American who works for the prefectural government.
“Sometimes it makes it difficult to believe there is a total destruction only two hours away,” said Krips, who is on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program and serves as coordinator of international relations for the prefecture.
Iwate has one of the fewest numbers of JETs. In addition to three coordinators, including Krips, there were 21 assistant language teachers this year. But the tsunami took the life of one of them, Monty Dickson. The 26-year-old from Alaska perished in Rikuzentakata where he taught English to elementary and junior high school students.
As the prefectural advisor for JETs in Iwate, Krips contacted her colleagues soon after the earthquake. Although she had phone numbers and email addresses, checking updates on Facebook was the fastest way to confirm their condition, she said. “Even if they didn’t have access (to the Internet) they could call their parents who would post on the wall.”
In about four days, a worried Krips was able to confirm the safety of all the JETs except Dickson. “He became the only person who we haven’t heard from. So after about a week I figured that it’s probably not going to be good news,” she said. Dickson’s body was found about a month later.
“It was difficult to know that someone I had known in person had died,” Krips said.
She went with her supervisor to Rikuzentakata for the first time when Dickson was found. “That was the first time I saw what happened, the extent of the tragedy. About 6 km from the coast I started to see debris on the riverside. You get into Rikuzentakata and nothing’s there. Basically destroyed. That was really hard to see,” she said.
Dealing with what happened and the radiation scare has been difficult and stressful to many, but Krips said the JETs didn’t panic and reacted in a reasonable manner. A few returned to their home countries for spring break but are back and teaching at their assigned schools, she said.
Many will finish their contract in August and new replacements will arrive. “The situation is fine here; there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll try our best to assure them that they are safe,” said Krips, who has another year in Iwate.
Having spent a year in Kyoto as a college student, Krips, originally from New Jersey, said that although Kyoto was a magical time, she likes Morioka much better, even after the quake.
“People here take a little bit longer to get past their shyness (than people in the Kansai region), but they are nice and genuine, and they’re pretty strong people. That’s what made living here so wonderful.”
Krips observed that people have been stoic about the tragedy. “I haven’t seen anyone curse nature. It happened, so we have to deal with it. I haven’t talked with very many people, but I think a lot of them have the purpose of rebuilding now.
“Everybody is working hard. They have smiles and they don’t complain or anything,” she said.
Krips has done a lot of translation of incoming letters of condolence from other countries sent directly to the prefecture. “I don’t think I can do very much for the reconstruction, but anything I can do to help relations between Iwate and people from other countries that might want to help, I’ll do my best with that,” she said.
Monkey Majik JET alum rocker and Ambassador Fried deliver Canadian beef to Tagajo, Miyagi
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Thanks to JETAA Ottawa President Lisa Malin for sharing this:
Brief English summary of Japanese article below:
Canada’s Ambassador to Japan Jonathan T. Fried delivered a load of Canadian beef to Tagajo City, Miyagi Prefecture along with Maynard Plant (Aomori-ken, 1997-2000) and one other member of Monkey Majik (a four-person Canadian-Japanese band based in Sendai and Tagajo). The beef was served atop locally grown Hitomebore rice to make steeki-don for 1,000 people living in shelters in Tagajo. The Ambassador’s aim was to help residents get their strength back after everything they’ve been through, and it appears to have been the first meat many had enjoyed for quite awhile.
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(Japanese article)
宮城〕
| カナダ牛でステーキ丼 駐日大使ら炊き出し 多賀城
カナダ牛のステーキで元気になってもらおうと、駐日カナダ大使と音楽グループ「ＭＯＮＫＥＹ ＭＡＪＩＫ」のメンバーらが２日、多賀城市内２か所の避難所でステーキ丼の炊き出しを行った。 同グループはカナダ人と日本人の４人組。仙台市を拠点に活動しているが、デビュー前は多賀城市が活動の中心だった。 震災後は各地でボランティア活動を続けながら、カナダ大使館に支援を呼びかけると、４月にはジョナサン・フリード大使が多賀城市に避難物資を届け、今回の支援を約束した。 大使館は「力のつく温かいものを食べてもらいたい」と、県産米「ひとめぼれ」の上にカナダ牛を豪快に盛りつけた １０００食分のステーキ丼を用意。避難所が置かれた市文化センターと市総合体育館では、フリード大使が「お元気ですか」と声をかけながら、被災者にステー キ丼を手渡した。 ２歳の長男とステーキをほおばった同市桜木、無職佐藤深雪さん（３３）は「肉を食べたのは本当に久しぶり。柔らかくておいしかった」と顔をほころばせた。 （2011年6月3日 読売新聞） |
Japan Times: U.S. students invited in memory of JET victims
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Via Japan Times/Kyodo News Service, June 1, 2011:
U.S. students invited in memory of JET victims
Kyodo
Japan will invite 32 U.S. high school students who are studying Japanese to take part in a program in July to study the language and culture in memory of two American teachers killed in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, during a speech at a symposium in Tokyo on Monday, referred to the program intended to nurture people who will serve as a bridge between Japan and the United States in the future.
The program is in commemoration of Taylor Anderson, 24, and Montgomery Dickson, 26, who were taking part in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.
Anderson of Virginia was found dead in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, and Dickson of Alaska was found dead in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture.
According to the government-linked Japan Foundation, the organizer of the program, the 32 students selected from about 250 applicants in the United States will attend Japanese-language lessons, take part in cultural events, including a drum performance and wearing kimono, and have exchanges with high school students in Osaka.
They will stay at the homes of the Osaka high school students during the two-week program. It will run for five years starting this year, the Japan Foundation said.
Japan Times: JET teacher aids school rebuilding
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“My name is Andras Molnar, an English teacher from Yamamoto Town in Japan, a place recently devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. I am trying to raise funds for the reconstruction of the schools in my town, as well as buying school supplies and uniforms for children who lost everything in the tsunami.”
U.S. teacher aids school rebuilding
SENDAI — An American English teacher at a middle school in Miyagi Prefecture has set up funds to solicit donations for rebuilding elementary schools damaged by the tsunami following the March 11 earthquake.
Pennsylvania native Andras Molnar, 25, said that although he is leaving the prefecture’s town of Yamamoto in August when his teaching contract ends, he is “hoping to stay connected” with the town through the fund.
Molnar said he became interested in Japan through “anime” such as “Gundam” and spent a year in the country as a high school student and again while at university. He came to Yamamoto, a coastal town of around 16,000, in August 2009.
He said he got along well with locals through a drum circle and surfing, a hobby of his.
“Everyone is very open, kind and I like them a lot,” he said in Japanese.
After the town was engulfed by the tsunami, he stayed at the junior high school for a week, busily checking the whereabouts of his students and doing what he could at evacuation sites, he said.
He then moved to Tokyo for around one month at the suggestion of his parents and friends.
But after getting email from friends in Yamamoto inquiring about him, he wondered why he was not giving his best when all the people in the town were doing their utmost, he said.
Molnar said it was this that prompted him to return to his apartment in Yamamoto.
“It was really good that I returned,” he said. “I feel encouraged by the children.”
He set up relief funds in Japan and the United States to help rebuild two elementary schools where buildings were devastated by the tsunami, and is soliciting donations through his blog.
Sankei Shimbun article about Taylor Anderson
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Thanks to JETAA Music City President Terry Vo for sharing this an very moving article (in Japanese) written by Yoshihisa Komori about Taylor Anderson. Komori-san went to visit Taylor’s parents for the interview.
Update 05/10/11: Thanks to Jo McCarthy (Shimane-ken, Okuizumo-cho) of the JET Alum Translators/Interpreters group on LinkedIn for providing an English translation.
“The death of a woman who loved Ishinomaki”
by Yoshihisa Komori; translated by Jo McCarthy (Shimane-ken, Okuizumo-cho)
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/world/news/110504/amr11050402570003-n1.htm
I was immediately reminded of the old film “Gone With The Wind.”
This was because the large mansion I arrived at after leaving the extensive lush green woods had white pillars and a porch, which rose elegantly in the traditional style of the southern United States. At the rear of the residence, the green gently sloping gardens extended as far as the James River.
Why, I wondered, would a young American woman who grew up in an environment such as this, be fascinated by the town of Umibe in the Tohoku region of Japan?
This was the house of the parents of Taylor Anderson – the English teacher who was caught in a tsunami in Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture, following the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, and died.
It’s in the quiet hills on the outskirts of Richmond, capital of the state of Virginia.
In the spacious living room Taylor’s father Andy, who manages a real estate company, and her mother Jean, a housewife, (both 53) spoke quietly of their thoughts about their eldest daughter, who was 24 years old.
“Taylor learned Japanese history at elementary and junior high school from the same teacher, and became fascinated by Japan. Her teacher was an American, but they had been brought up in Japan, so also taught our daughter Japanese language and culture. It became our daughter’s dream to live and study in Japan.”
“Taylor liked Japanese anime and the novels of Haruki Murakami,” Andy adds to Jean’s explanation. “She seemed to love the elegance and subtleness of Japanese culture. And also often said she really liked the settled order and politeness, a unique character of Japanese society.”
Soon after graduating university, Taylor applied for and was accepted on the JET Program (a program open to foreign youth), and in the summer of 2008 moved to Ishinomaki. She taught English at 7 elementary schools in Ishinomaki, and the story of how she was loved by her students has even been reported in detail in this newspaper.
On the day of the earthquake, after ensuring that her students had been picked up by their caregivers, Taylor was heading home as usual on her bicycle.
However, Taylor went missing.
Her parents desperately made contact with a number of people in Japan. They heard she had been reported as having been found safe, but were unable to confirm it. Andy decided to go and search for Taylor with her boyfriend James.
On the day of their departure, March 21, about 2 hours before they planned to leave for the airport, they received news from the US Embassy in Tokyo that her body had been positively identified.
“It feels as though Taylor’s death has opened a hole in our hearts. But she would not want that for her parents. She was a person who always looked positively to the future, and made things enjoyable just by being there”.
As the first tears began to fall, Jean told how Taylor had planned to return to the US in August this year to get engaged to James, and to either start postgraduate study or look for Japan related work.
Well then, wouldn’t it have been better if she had ended her time in Japan after 2 years, and returned home last year?
However, Jean promptly replied “No. I visited Ishinomaki myself for about 5 days in spring last year, and was able to understand completely why my daughter wanted to be there long term. She was happy doing what she most wanted to do.”
The Andersons, in collaboration with their daughter’s alma mater St. Catherine’s High School, have started a foundation named the Taylor Anderson Memorial Fund. So far, around $90,000 has been raised.
In accordance with Taylor’s wishes, all proceeds from the fund will be directed toward the restoration of Ishinomaki City’s elementary and junior high schools.
See below for the foundation’s website.
Translated by Jo McCarthy
【朝刊 1面】 ■【あめりかノート】ワシントン駐在編集特別委員・古森義久
■石巻を愛した女性の死
古い映画の「風と共に去りぬ」を一瞬、連想した。緑豊かな広大な林を抜けて着いた大邸宅
にはいかにもアメリカ南部ふうの伝統的な白い円柱とポーチが優雅にそびえていたからだ。邸宅の裏には緑の庭がジェームズ川の岸までなだらかに延びていた。こんな環境で育った若い米国人女性がなぜ日本の東北の海辺町に魅せられたのかと、いぶかった。
東日本大震災の３月１１日、宮城県石巻市で津波に巻き込まれて亡くなった英語教師の
テー ラー・アンダーソンさんの両親が住む家だった。バージニア州の州都リッチモンド郊外の閑静な丘陵である。 不動産会社を経営する父親のアンディさん、専業 主婦の母親のジーンさんはともに５３歳、ゆったりとした居間で２４歳だった長女、テーラーさんへの思いを穏やかに語った。
「テーラーは小中学校で同じ先生から日本の歴史を学び、日本に魅せられたのです。そ
の先生はアメリカ人ですが、日本で育ち、日本の言葉や文化までを娘に教えてくれました。日本に住んで学ぶことが娘の夢となったのです」
ジーンさんのこんな説明にアンディさんがつけ加える。
「テーラーは日本のアニメや村上春
樹の小説が好きでした。日本の文化の優雅さや繊細さを愛したようです。そして一定の秩序や礼節という日本社会の特徴も大好きだとよく話していました」
テーラーさんは大学卒業後すぐに日本のＪＥＴプログラム（外国青年招致事業）に応募して
採用され、２００８年夏に石巻に赴任した。石巻では小中学校計７校で英語を教え、生徒たちに愛されていた様子は本紙でも会田聡記者が詳しく報じた。大震災の日も彼女は生徒たちが保護者に引き取られるのを見届けてから、自転車で自宅へ向かったという。
だがテーラーさんは行方不明になった。両親は米国から必死で日本の多方面に問い合わせ
た。 無事でみつかったという情報も流れたが、確認できなかった。アンディさんはテーラーさんの恋人のジェームズさんと捜索に出かけることを決めた。その出発の 日の３月２１日、空港へ向かう予定の２時間ほど前に東京の米国大使館からテーラーさんの遺体が確認されたという通報があった。
「テーラーの死で私たちの心は穴があいた感じです。でも彼女自身は両親にそんなことは
望まない。彼女は前向きで明るく、ともにいるだけでこちらが楽しくなる子でした」
ジーンさんは初めて涙をにじませ、テーラーさんが今年８月には米国に帰り、ジェームズさ
んと婚約し、大学院か日本関係の職業を目指すことを決めていたのだと告げた。では日本滞在を２年ですませ、昨年帰国してもよかったのではないか。
だがジーンさんは即座に答えた。 「いいえ、私自身、昨年春に石巻を５日ほど訪れ、娘が
なぜそこに長くいたいか体全体で理解できました。自分が最もしたいことをしていた彼女は幸せだったのです」
アンダーソン夫妻は娘の母校セント・キャサリン高校と協力して「テーラー・アンダーソン追
悼基金」という募金を始めた。これまでに９万ドルほどが集まった。基金は故人の遺志を体してすべて石巻市の小中学校の復旧に充てる。同基金のサイトは以下だという。
Memorial ride for Nagano JET alum Kimberly Hull, killed in car accident in Minnesota
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Very sorry to report that Nagano JET alum Kimberly (Audrey) Yeong Sil Hull (25) was recently killed in a car accident. There will be a memorial bike ride for her on Wednesday, April 27. Details on the Facebook page set up in her honor.
Thoughts and prayers for Kimberly’s family and friends.
JET Alum Terry Vo named Arkansas Cherry Blossom Princess
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JET alum and President of Music City JETAA Terry Vo (2007-09, Kumamoto-ken) has been named Arkansas’ Cherry Blossom Princess by the Arkansas State Society in Washington, D.C., and represented the state during the recent 99th National Cherry Blossom Festival, a major annual event in the nation’s capital.
Vo took part in the Cherry Blossom Princess Program, which ran from April 2-9, 2011. The Cherry Blossom Princess Program offers cultural and educational opportunity for young women from across the U.S. and around the world. They are selected by a state society or an embassy based on their leadership, academic achievements, interest in social, civic, community and world affairs. Over 3,000 women have participated in this program since 1948. Princess alumni include Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia and U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The 2011 Cherry Blossom Princess Program included an array of activities and cultural events requiring the princesses to perform a variety of public relations and diplomatic duties during the week. All of the activities lead to the Grand Ball where the crowning of the U.S. Cherry Blossom Queen takes place and a princess will be selected by chance with the spin of the infamous Wheel of Fortune.
Vo was chosen by her princess class as Miss Congeniality at the Cherry Blossom Grand Ball and Sushi Reception.
Terry-san omedetou gozaimashita!
JET alum Canon Purdy’s “Save Miyagi Fund”
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By Jen Wang (Miyagi-ken, Tome-shi, 2008-09), writer for J-music website Purple Sky. She also maintains her own J-pop culture blog, Gaijin Teacher Otaku.
JET alum and tsunami survivor Canon Purdy (Miyagi-ken, Shizugawa-cho, 2008-10) has created the Save Miyagi fund with her family to help the students in Minamisanriku. Currently she is working with the mayor and the BOE to determine where the funds are needed most.
In addition to seeking donations, she is asking both current and former JETs to send her links to fundraisers and other charity events to be promoted on the Save Miyagi site. She is also looking for photos of places before they were destroyed by the tsunami to send to the victims as a way to raise morale and give them something to hold onto.
You can email your links and photos to canon.purdy [at] gmail.com .
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Here’s an April 7 Japan Times article about Marti McElreath (CIR Miyagi-ken, Shichigahama-shi).
JET post best, not ‘pityfest’
American helps, refuses to leave beloved, battered beach locale
Thursday, April 7, 2011
SHICHIGAHAMA, Miyagi Pref. — There is a picture folder in Marti McElreath’s Facebook account that chronicles her time in Shichigahama, a town located on a small peninsula in Miyagi Prefecture less than an hour’s drive from Sendai and where she has been working since last summer under the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.
Her comment on the folder reads: “I have the best JET placement in Japan,” a view McElreath hasn’t changed despite the massive earthquake and tsunami that brutally transformed the once peaceful beach community she has come to love.
“I mean, it’s heartbreaking and hard to see what happened, but people are laughing and kids are playing and life is going on. Even after all that’s happened, I still believe it, I believe that I have the best JET placement in Japan,” she said.
While radiation fears from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have led many foreigners in the region to flee, McElreath, who said the town lies on the cusp of the 80-km evacuation zone recommended by the U.S. government, has remained firm in her conviction to stay and do what she can to help the community.
“I’ve only been here for seven or eight months, but I really do love Shichigahama. The people here have been really amazing to me, and they’ve done so much to help me — I couldn’t imagine just leaving,” said McElreath, 23, from Westborough, Mass.
The earthquake and tsunami that hit the small town of 20,000 claimed 56 lives, and 18 people remain missing. Nearly 1,000 people were still living in the town’s six evacuation centers as of Tuesday, and many houses in the coastal area were swept away or damaged.
The facility McElreath works for, Kokusaimura, or International Village, is being used as a temporary shelter, providing food and a place to sleep for around 300 people, and McElreath spends her days helping out evacuees as the only foreigner among the staff.
According to the International Affairs Division of the Miyagi Prefectural Government, out of the 70 JETs in Miyagi — excluding those in Sendai — 36 have either returned to their homeland or evacuated from the prefecture following the earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster.
A municipal representative from Sendai said out of the 70 JET assistant-language teachers working in the city, 50 remained, and the rest planned to return before schools reopen Monday.
When the magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, McElreath was at her office at Kokusaimura, going about her usual business.
As a coordinator for international relations, McElreath, fluent in Japanese after studying as an exchange student in Kobe during high school and then at Tohoku University during her senior year in college, was responsible for organizing various community events the facility hosted, as well as giving English-language and culture classes to local residents.
Without warning, the earthquake cut off the lifelines at the facility, and while sirens blared out tsunami warnings, people began evacuating to Kokusaimura, which sits on a hill.
McElreath said no one at the facility at that point was aware of the scale of the tsunami that was about to crash into the peninsula. By the time emergency electric generators were able to re-connect television sets, evacuees were confronted with horrific images of the disaster.
“I think it was around that point that we realized that we were going to be here for a while,” she recalled.
Then at around 6 or 7 p.m. a huge explosion shook the facility and its residents as the JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp.’s Sendai oil refinery, located a few kilometers from Shichigahama, went up in flames.
“The entire sky went red, and everyone gathered around the windows and looked outside and it was, like, an inferno,” McElreath said, adding the smoke from the refinery lasted two or three days.
While McElreath was able to notify a prefectural adviser of the JET program of her safety immediately after the earthquake, cell phone reception quickly died.
It was not until the third day after the earthquake that she rode her bicycle 6 or 7 km toward Sendai and her cell phone finally re-connected, allowing her to contact family and friends to let them know she was safe.
McElreath said that as the Fukushima nuclear disaster unfolded, many foreigners she knew in the region, including non-JETs and those from other nations, were contacted by their respective embassies and advised to evacuate.
“There are noticeably less foreigners, there is almost no one left that you can tell by just walking around,” McElreath said, adding she did not feel threatened by the radioactivity leaking in Fukushima.
“I decided that I would rather stay here as long as possible and keep on monitoring the situation,” she said, adding that while her parents are concerned for her safety, they understand her desire to remain and help the community.
While electricity returned about a week after the earthquake, and propane could be used, water remained undrinkable and was only restored Tuesday in some areas of town. McElreath said that while Kokusaimura was well stocked with food and drinking water, evacuees missed taking baths.
Meanwhile, McElreath said Plymouth, Mass., Shichigahama’s sister city, has been making fundraising efforts, already gathering $80,000 to be used in the town’s rebuilding. Teams from as far afield as Turkey have arrived on search and rescue missions, and various volunteers, including many celebrities, make the rounds to Kokusaimura to drop off goods and cheer up the evacuees.
McElreath has recontracted with JET until July 2012, and she is determined to stay and work — if the situation allows her to — for the entire duration.
“I’d like to let everyone know that the people here are positive and we don’t want this to become a pityfest.
“We are doing our best.”
Asahi article about JETAA NY Fundraiser
Article/Journalism, Earthquake Tsunami, Events, JETAA Chapters, JETs in the News, Return on JET-vestment, Translating/Interpreting Comments Off on Asahi article about JETAA NY Fundraiser
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Thanks to Kyushu-based professional translator Joel Dechant for alerting JEtwit to this article in Japanese on Asahi.com about Tuesday night’s JETAA NY Japan Fundraiser. My Japanese reading ability has weakened over the years, but it looks like I’m quoted at the end of the article. I think the other JET alum quoted is Ayelet Fogel (Sendai City, Miyagi-ken) who is in the photo. (And yes, that’s me in the background of the photo wearing my “JETAANY Nihongo wakaru yo!” t-shirt.)
If anyone would like to translate or summarize in English, please post as a comment or e-mail it to jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
English translation below by Lee-Sean Huang, webmaster of JETAANY and JETwit.
〈世界から被災地へ〉第二の故郷「ガンバ！」 元英語教師奔走
2011年4月7日10時25分
日本の高校や中学に派遣された米国の元英語教師が東日本大震災の被災者支援に奔走している。ニューヨークでは５日夜、義援金集めのパーティーがあり、多くの参加者が「第二の故郷」に思いを寄せた。
ニューヨーク州ロングアイランド出身のアイェレット・フォーゲルさん（３１）は「３・１１」の当日、仙台市の自宅にいた。家具が崩れ落ち外に飛び出した。
日本政府が英語指導の助手として招くＪＥＴプログラムで２００３年８月から宮城県に滞在。３年の任期が終わっても宮城に残り、８年間で県内の七つの学校で教えた。現在は仙台育英学園の講師として働く。
最初の２年を過ごした南三陸町や気仙沼市では津波で家を流された友人も少なくない。釣りやサーフィンをし、親友と何度も通った美しい海岸は、がれきの山になった。宮城県石巻市では、ＪＥＴのテイラー・アンダーソンさん（２４）が犠牲になった。
仲間が大変なときに宮城を離れたくはなかったが、家族の懇願もあり先月１８日に帰国。「米国でも出来ることがあるはず」と、義援金集めに走り回る。４月２０日に学校が始まるのに合わせ、仙台に戻る予定だ。
１９８７年に始まったＪＥＴプログラムは、経験者が５万人を超える。
ニューヨークのパーティーには約３００人が駆けつけ、約９０万円が集まった。９０年代に愛知県刈谷市に滞在したスティーブン・ホロウィッツさんによる と、米国各地で同様の動きがある。「私たちはどこにいても心の中では日本人。日本で過ごした日々への恩返しをしたいのです」（ニューヨーク＝田中光）
<International responses to the Tohoku Earthquake>
Former English Teachers support their 2nd hometowns
April 12, 2011, 10:25
Former American English teachers who worked in Japanese junior high and high schools are organizing to support the victims of the recent eastern Japan earthquake. There was a fundraiser party in New York on the evening of April 5, where many participants came out in support of their “second hometowns.”
Ayelet Fogel (31 yrs/old), from New York’s Long Island, was at her home in Sendai City on the day of the “3/11” quake. She ran outside to safety as items in her home came crashing down.
Fogel has lived in Miyagi Prefecture since August 2003 when she was invited by the Japanese government to serve as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) on the JET Programme. After finishing her 3 year term, she remained in Miyagi and taught for 8 years at 7 schools in the prefecture. She is currently employed as an instructor at the Sendai Ikuei Gakuen.
In Minamisanriku Village and Kesennuma City, where Fogel spent her first 2 years in Japan, she has many friends whose houses were washed away by the tsunami. The beautiful coastline where she went fishing and surfing many times in the past with her friends has been turned into a mountain of rubble. JET participant Taylor Anderson, who was based in Miyagi Prefecture’s Ishinomaki City, died in the disaster.
Fogel did not want to leave her friends in Miyagi in a time of distress, but upon the request of her family, she returned to the US on March 18th. “I should be able to do something to help from the US as well,” she thought, and so began to collect donations for the disaster relief effort. She plans to return to Sendai in time for the beginning of the new school year on April 20th.
Founded in 1987, the JET Programme now has over 50,000 alumni.
The fundraiser party in New York attracted about 300 guests and raised over 10,000 dollars (~90,000 yen). According to Steven Horowitz, who lived in Aichi Prefecture’s Kariya City in the 1990s, similar fundraising events are taking place across the United States. “Wherever we are, we are all Japanese in our hearts. We want to do something to give back for the time we spent in Japan,” Horowitz said.
Tanaka Akira, New York
NHK video of JETAA NY Fundraiser
Cultural Outreach, Earthquake Tsunami, Events, Fundraising, JETAA Chapters, JETs in the News, Networking, Roland Kelts, Video Comments Off on NHK video of JETAA NY Fundraiser
Thanks to Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) for sharing the link to this NHK video on Tuesday night’s JETAANY Japan Fundraiser:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/jishin0311/movie/chapter_66.html
Roland Kelts helps launch debut issue of “MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan” with April/May events in NYC
Books, Celebrity, Cultural Outreach, Events, Fundraising, JETs in the News, Notable JET Alums, Roland Kelts, Translating/Interpreting, Writers Comments Off on Roland Kelts helps launch debut issue of “MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan” with April/May events in NYC
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Via Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica and the contributing editor for MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan:
A Letter from A Public Space (Brooklyn-based literary publication):
A Public Space Literary Projects announces the debut issue of MONKEY BUSINESS: New Voices from Japan, with April/May launch events in New York City.
New York City, New York, April 4, 2011—A Public Space (APS) announces publication of the first annual English language edition of Monkey Business: New Voices from Japan (MB), supported by a generous grant from the Nippon Foundation. Three launch programs in New York City in late April and early May will bring together authors, translators and editors from Japan and the US for this first-of-its-kind trans-cultural literary event. Twenty-five percent of all MB sales will go toward the Nippon Foundation/CANPAN Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
Monkey Business is a Tokyo-based Japanese literary magazine founded in 2008 by award-winning translator, scholar, editor and author Motoyuki Shibata. One of Japan’s best known and most highly regarded translators of American fiction, Shibata has won numerous accolades, most recently the 2010 Japan Translation Cultural Prize for his translation of Thomas Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon, and has introduced to Japanese readers works by Paul Auster, Steven Millhauser, Rebecca Brown, Stuart Dybek and Steve Erickson, among others.
Shibata, who was interviewed in the first issue of APS, modeled MB in part on the Brooklyn literary journal. Founded in 2006 by editor Brigid Hughes, A Public Space is devoted to cutting-edge literature—not just from American contributors, but by writers and artists spanning the globe. Each issue presents a portfolio that explores an international literary scene. The debut issue of APS featured a portfolio from Japan, curated and edited by author Roland Kelts (Japanamerica) and MB founder Shibata, and featuring contributions from Haruki Murakami, Yoko Ogawa, Kazushige Abe and others. Issue 1 was praised by readers in the US and Japan and has long been sold out.”
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The Anchorage Daily News has an article reporting that the body of Rikuzentakata JET Montgomery “Monty” Dickson has been found. This is very sad news but also not unexpected at this point. From the article, it sounds like Monty’s family is relieved to finally know.
Thoughts and prayers and lots of warmth to Monty’s family and friends from JETwit and the JET and JET alumni communities. You will be missed by many, including those of us who never had a chance to meet you.
