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| Newsletter
No.77 |
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September 2005
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Visit to England, Takeshi Sasaki and Mirhat Alykulov
Yokohama National University
Winners of ESUJ University Debating Competition 2004
As recipients of the ESUJ University Debating Competition's
1st prize of two tickets to England for FY2005, we feel
we were given a multitude of experiences that money can't
buy. Although we have visited various places for international
debate competitions, this was the first trip to England
for both of us. We elected to spend all our time in London.
Rather than busying ourselves visiting all the major tourist
spots in the city, we preferred to pound the pavements
from dawn to dusk, observing the people and the city.
Evenings, we ate at local ethnic restaurants and went
to pubs for a drink, trying to act just like Londoners.
Even more than we had heard, London is a place where people
from many countries gather to live, so naturally there
are many ethnic restaurants, but we found the people working
in them are not necessarily from the same country as the
type of restaurant, to a much greater degree than elsewhere.
For example, in an Indian restaurant we liked, the waitress
was Polish.
As for the cityscape, historical buildings sit comfortably
side-by-side with modern buildings, and it doesn't seem
at all strange. It is often said you never tire of something
in good taste, but we felt this to be especially true
here. Britons seem to value their history and culture,
to the degree that local people said if a person were
to slip back in time 150 years in London, he or she would
not be lost. Other than that, like past winning teams,
we too visited Dartmouth House. We took tea with James
Probert, who came to Japan last year for the competition,
as well other members of the ESU staff and were shown
around the building. Our talk over tea was mainly about
debate in England and Asia, and we could sense the passion
of the ESU staff members. At Mirhat's suggestion, we presented
them shochu liquor for a gift, which they expressed pleasure
at receiving. Finally, while they were showing us around
and we were ooh-ing and aah-ing at the beauty of Dartmouth
House, we asked the market value of the building and were
blown away by the huge figure. In a way we could never
have imagined, this prize gave us a very special experience.
We are very grateful to ESUJ and its supporters for providing
us with this wonderful opportunity.
--Who's going to win the trip to the UK this year? Once
again, we are anticipating a fierce battle for the prize!
Don't miss it.
ESUJ University Debating Competition 2005: October
9(Sunday) and 10 (Monday, a national holiday)
Lecture by the Thai Ambassador
ESUJ's very popular Ambassador's Lecture Series took place
at the Japan National Press Club on Wednesday, September
7, with about 50 participants. The speaker was H.E. Mr.
Suvidhya Simaskul,, the Ambassador of Thailand to Japan.
With the Prime Minister of Thailand having visited Japan
the only week before to agree in principle on all major
elements of FTA with P.M. Koizumi, relations between Thailand
and Japan can be expected to become even deeper than before.
Ambassador Suvidhya talked about the similarities between
the two countries and the history of their close relationship
from several viewpoints. First, he mentioned that shyness
and a reluctance to speak foreign languages are character
traits of both nations. Next, he gave a fascinating explanation
of the two countries' languages: unlike kanji-based languages
centered in Northern Asia (including Japanese), whose
pronunciation differs from country to country, languages
belonging to the Sanskrit-based family of languages of
Southern Asia (including Thai) have similar pronunciation,
even if the writing is different. He enumerated numerous
historical ties between the two countries, including the
arrival in Ayutthaya of Yamada Nagamasa and many other
Ronin from Japan during the Edo era, bringing prosperity
to the Nihonjinmachi. He also mentioned the contribution
of Yasui Tetsu to the education of women, and the use
of Thai rice to make Awamori sake, leaving the audience
impressed with his breadth of knowledge and charmed by
this most interesting talk.
Amazing English Hunt 2005 (Bikkuri Eigo)
An activity co-sponsored by ESUJ and eigoTown.com, Amazing
English Hunt aims to find strange English expressions
lurking in Japan. Now is the time to submit your entry.
The contest will end the last day of November. Offering
prizes worth \100,000! Visit our website!
Coming Events!
English Club Time: 18:30-20:30
Tue. 20 September @. Room B 11th floor ,Nikkei
Tokyo Main Bldg
"Saudi Arabia and Islamic Culture" by Mr. Bukhary
Essam,
Tue. 18 October @ Room G405, Tokyo International
Forum
"Asian Youth Orchestra" by Mr. Richard Pontzious,
Maestro
Wed., 5 October, Debate Seminar in Kansai 18:30-
at Osaka Pref. Univ.
Sat., 8 October, Seminar for Adult Debater 18:00-
@ Olympic Center,
Haiku in English Part II by Ms. Emiko Miyashita
Fri. 28 October, 18:30-20:00 @9th floor, Japan
Press Club
Enjoy Horse Racing! Fri. 4 November, @Tokyo City
Keiba
ESUJ Christmas Party!! Wed. 21 December, @FCCJ
The next Newsletter will be published in late October/early
November.
For the latest information, visit our website at www.esuj.gr.jp |
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For
further informaiton contact!
E-MAIL:esuj@esuj.gr.jp
Fujikage-Building
9th Floor, Motoakasaka 1-1-5
MInato-ku, Tokyo 107-0051
TEL: 03-3423-0970 FAX: 03-3423-0971
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