~ Photos and Articles by JETAAWA ~
kaiWA
In around 2007, JETAAWA was looking for a way to maintain its activities on a regular basis, rather than simply holding key events every few months. Of course, all being volunteers, we needed to make sure the idea was not prohibitively labour-intensive.
We also wanted to make sure that we were catering to the interests of our ex-JET members in preserving their links to the real, living Japan. The best way to do that, we thought, was to devise an event that attracted Japanese residents of WA, through discussions with whom our members could get their Japan ‘fix’.
Of course, that meant the event needed to be able to offer something to those Japanese residents too!
The solution was 会WA (kaiWA), a casual language and cultural exchange event that has been held every fortnight since.
The venue is an inner-city pub, which is convenient and attractive for both ex-JET professionals working in the city, and local Japanese people.
We bring a lot of business to the venue, so room hire is free. We ‘charge’ a $2 donation for entry, which we then use to buy snacks for everyone from the bar.
Being open to the public, kaiWA is also a great way to promote the JET Programme itself (and related events) to potential applicants – as well as to Japanese visitors who are then proactive in making contact with and supporting current JETs when they return to their homes in Japan. It’s win-win!
See https://www.facebook.com/kaiWAJETAAWA
World of Food – Japan Festival
In November 2013, JETAAWA was fortunate enough to be invited by the Perth Consulate-General to participate in the ‘World of Food Festival’, an event organised by the consular bodies of various countries in Perth.
While the Consulate itself prepared yaki-soba, JETAAWA catered to the thirsty masses by selling かき氷 (kaki-gori), or shaved ice, a staple of any Japanese summer festival.
The idea proved a great fundraiser for JETAAWA, so in February 2014 we repeated it at the first Japan Festival in Perth’s Forrest Place. We sourced high-quality syrups and a number of ice crushers, and again took advantage of the Perth summer to sell around 1,000 serves of kaki-gori, including our own recipe for a green-tea speciality!
We were also able to use our stall to promote our activities and the JET Programme in general, via word of mouth, flyers and a specially prepared video presentation.
