~ Article & photos from President Richard Wilding, JETAA Queensland ~
March: Griffith University Gold Coast Careers Fair
Members of JETAA and CLAIR spent a busy day introducing the JET Programme to students at the Gold Coast campus of Griffith University. The Japanese language department there is a continual source of fantastic JET participants, so it was great to have the opportunity to spread the word. Thanks to Tomohiro Koike of CLAIR, Sydney, for making the trip up to the Gold Coast to help us out.
May: Members Dinner and Riverside Picnic
Our autumn dinner at Bishamon gave a chance for members to meet the new committee while sharing some great sukiyaki and shabu shabu. We followed this up with a family-friendly picnic at Rocks Riverside Park by the Brisbane River. This year again, some of the new JET participants joined us for both events.
August: Trivia Afternoon
I had the chance This year’s trivia event was at a new venue in West End: The Catchment Brewing Co.. We spent the afternoon in a room filled with retro charm, sampling craft beers and fingerfood, while enjoying testing our wits against our formidable quizmasters, Keith and Ken Parker. A bog thank you to CLAIR for providing a challenging round of questions on the history of JET Programme to mark the 30th anniversary!
September: National Federation of Australia-Japan Societies Conference
I had the chance in early September to attend the AJS annual conference in Cairns as a guest of both the National Federation and CLAIR. The Saturday session of the proceedings focused on community groups with a panel on sister city relationships and presentations from schools and James Cook University. The general trend in the educational discussions was a demonstration of the continuing popularity of Japanese language and culture studies in the region.
I had the opportunity to present aspects of the life and work of a JET in Japan and was overwhelmed by the huge interest in the programme from teachers who attended the conference. Connections were made and we are planning school visits by our alumni living in Cairns. We were also entertained by demonstrations of kendo, taiko drumming and the soran dance by local high school students. I also had the great honour to represent all the Australian JETAA chapters in accepting an award celebrating the work that we do in promoting Australia-Japan relations in the community.
