Hiroshima City International House Festival 2010:
Broadening International Exchange,
Expressing Our Gratitude with "Arigato" |
On November 7 (Sun), 2010, the Hiroshima City International House Festival
2010 was held at Hiroshima City International House. The aim of this event
is to promote further interaction between international students, and other
foreigners living in Hiroshima, and Hiroshima citizens, and at the same
time provide the students with an opportunity for social participation.
This is one of International House's biggest events.
Following on from last year, the festival this year was again held at
the same time as the Kojin Ebisu festival and the Thanksgiving festival of the vocational aid center, Hiroshima
Minami Jyusanjyo. The event, with its strong international flavor, attracted
around 2,600 visitors (approximately 250 international students, 150 foreigners,
and 2,200 Hiroshima citizens). With its lively atmosphere, the event was
a very enjoyable day for all participants. Organizers: Hiroshima City International
House, Hiroshima Region International Student Organization Support and
Exchange Council, Kojin District Council of Social Welfare.
This year marks the tenth time that the festival has been held, and the
international students and International House decided to make the theme
of the festival, "Arigato – Our Gratitude", to communicate through the festival their feelings
of gratitude to all who have supported them to date. Following on from
last year, a planning committee made up of international students staying
at International House was established to ensure that their intentions
were incorporated into the festival. They held many meetings to prepare
the event, discussing programs, participation, publicity, and preparation
work. As a result, there was a more balanced allocation of time for each
of the different events than last year, and a fuller festival program.
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Having fun at the food stalls |
At 10am, the opening ceremony was held at the Exchange Lounge on the first
floor. After a speech by Ms. Yoko Nishimura, Director of International
House, students from various countries took turns communicating the word
"Thank you", which was the theme of the festival, in their own
language, and finally the citizens participating in the ceremony said the
Japanese word for thank you, "Arigato". This was followed by a performance by Buccina, a citizens' fanfare
group, for a rousing start to the 2010 Hiroshima City International House
Festival.
In the area outside International House was the annual "National
Specialty Cuisine World |
Food Stalls Event". Fourteen organizations from ten countries set up stalls, and served up a variety of cuisines from their home countries (pho from Vietnam, kebabs from Iran, pork buns and gyoza rice balls from China, and puri, fried bread, from Nepal, etc). This year, in addition to the south bicycle
parking area, food tents were also set up on the north side facing Ozu
Dori road, providing a lively atmosphere for the citizens and others on
the street.
This year once again we switched from plastic containers to paper containers
as an environmental measure, and also made efforts to reduce the amount
of waste.
In the morning, the Japanese Speech Competition was held in the hall
on the second floor. There were six participants, including students who
regularly take Japanese classes at International House, international students
living in International House and other foreign residents. The participants
gave speeches on the topic of "Gratitude", the theme of this
year's festival, and spoke about their feelings of gratitude and the people
for whom they feel thankful.
In the first half of the afternoon, in the seminar room on the second
floor, international students gave presentations about their home countries
in an event entitled "WORLD EXPLORER". This was an opportunity
for citizens to talk directly with international students and Coordinators
for International Relations about countries that they are interested in,
and all the sections set up for the nineteen countries and one region were
bustling with people. At the end of the "WORLD EXPLORER" event,
the international students in each of the sections dressed up in the distinctive
national dress of their respective countries, and gathered on the stage
to hold a national costume fashion show, which was hugely popular with
the audience.
Later in the afternoon, a mini-event presented by nine groups of international
students from five countries included a demonstration of the Chinese acrobatics
known as Diabolo, and a dance from Iran. There was also an instrumental
performance by the international students at Elizabeth University of Music
Graduate School. There was also a wheelchair dance performance by the Wheelchair
Dance Club in Hiroshima.
In the Exchange Lounge on the first floor, there was a display of origami
by the student from Bulgaria who is the Chairperson of the Hiroshima City
International House Festival Planning Committee. There was also a "eco-dinosaur"
display, which was held as part of the environmental |
activities run by Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, with the support
of Ms. Yumiko Kamei, the representative of Santara, the modeling group
that has created dinosaur objects that can be used as garbage containers.
This was an opportunity not only for the international students but also
for citizens to learn about the importance of REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR
and RECYCLE, and gain an understanding of our Foundation's stance on environmental
issues.
At the closing ceremony, the students gathered in the hall on the second
floor to sing "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands",
and citizens also joined in for the finale. |
International students talking at the closing ceremony |
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(Hiroshima City International House)
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