17 July 2009

Japanese Skits and Anime Entertainment Over the Weekend

July 2009 IPC Intensive Japanese Language and Culture Event

By Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

Hands-on workshop at the tea ceremony

The second Japanese Language and Culture Intensive Weekend for 2009 was held at IPC on Saturday, 4th July and Sunday, 5th July. The participants were 34 Kiwi high school students, plus several of their teachers, who came from around New Zealand: from Marlborough, Christchurch, and Dunedin in the South Island, and from Taranaki, Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington in the North Island, with more participants from the South Island this time.

On Saturday morning, the Intensive Weekend began with a welcome to IPC Campus by the IPC President himself, Prof. Wayne Edwards. The participants were then divided into 6 small groups for Japanese language classes, taught by IPC lecturers who are native Japanese speakers. This was followed by a lunch break with Japanese foods such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki and fish katsu on the menu.

After lunch, the participants took part in Japanese cultural activities - tea ceremony, and kendo, and also a new activity: IPC Star. For the IPC Star activity, the participants in each group had to work together and create a skit (in Japanese) to be performed in front of the judges the next afternoon. As well as thinking up a storyline for the skit, each group also had to create the costumes and stage props using the recyclable materials provided.

In the afternoon, another brand new game was also introduced. It was a giant snakes and ladders game. For each round, 3 groups played on the board. Each group was represented by one of its members wearing a tall coloured hat. A giant dice was thrown to detemine the move of the group's "counter." Depending on where the counter landed, the group would get either a bonus move forward or backward, or an instruction to drink a pitcher of green tea or to eat strange food such as wasabi, wasabi-flavoured beans, Asian-styled pickled mango slices, and pickled plums.

Eating mysterious Asian foods as one of the penalties in the snakes and ladders game

In the evening, an IPC Students' Concert entertained the crowds. Featured in the concert was the music performance by the brothers Kotaku and Koetsu Iha. They played traditional songs from Okinawa on a guitar and a traditional instrument from the same region. Another noteworthy performance was given by a group of female Japanese students who performed a Tahitian dance, accompanied by the rhythmical beat of taiko drums, played by the IPC Taiko Drum Team.

The next morning, the participants started the day with a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs. After that, another session of Japanese language classes followed up on the lessons learnt the day before.

On this second day of the Intensive Weekend, after the classes another series of cultural activities took place and students also had time for rehearsing their skit. The cultural activities this time were shodo (calligraphy), onigiri making, origami, and an anime session. In the new anime session activity, the participants could watch an anime item or read a manga, and then draw any characters from the anime or manga on the whiteboard.

Finally, the skits the groups had prepared over the 2 days were staged in front of the judges. This was part of the farewell gathering and the parents coming to pick up their children could watch as well. The judges were Students Association President, Gregory Ng, lecturer, Chitose Kawata, and staff member, Rebecca McIntyre. Each group was judged on their usage of Japanese language, creativity in making their costumes and props, and how well the group worked together as a team.

It turned out that all the groups performed very well and this gave the judges a hard time choosing a winner. One interesting skit told about the happenings around a park bench and the way different people come and go. Another skit had a very funny story about Super IPC coming to the rescue in a Japan vs. New Zealand war. In the end, a 'Ninja vs. Samurai' skit, which was inspired by a Playstation game, won the competition. The winning group took home IPC printed hoodies as their prizes.

One of the participants, Kymberley Kolo-Hokai from Manurewa High School, exclaimed "おもしろいです (=exciting)！Awesome!" and Camille Louise Acter-Shaw from Awatapu College commented, "I had a great time, thanks so much."

Closing the Intensive Weekend, IPC Senior Student Support Advisor Hiro Tsumakura farewelled the students and each participant received an Intensive Weekend Certificate of Completion. The next Intensive Weekend will be held in September. Call 0800 FOR IPC (367472) or email us now for more information.

Preparation for Kendo

All are having fun with the giant snakes and ladders game

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