MusicFesta in McDonald’s Nara 17th March

Hello!
We had our MusicFesta in McDonald’s Nara today.
(14:00-17:00)

This time six musicians performed their music
in McDonald’s Nara which is just a few minutes walk
from Kintetsu Nara station.

Our six guests this time were
竹ちなみ/Take Chinami、ヤマダショウタ/Yamada Shouta
すみれ/Sumire、下ノ園清尊/Shimonosono Kiyotaka
ハス美/Hasumi、オガワマサト/Ogawa Masato

We all had a good time listening to their
wonderful songs and music.

Thank you very much to our guests today
for sharing your music.

We are holding MusicFesta in McDonald’s Nara
on the 3rd Sunday every month.

Everyone is welcome!

September's English club is on 16th in #4 of the 5th floor

Hello everyone!!

This month's English club is on 16th Sep.

Guest for this time is Mr.Sebastien Gion from North France.

He is working for the American company, and good at English. He also loves electric rock.

This time, he'll come to Japan with Mr. Laurent.

Maybe we should ask him "How did you learn English?". He must be a very good respondent.

Dete & Time： Tuesday, 16th September 18:45-20:45

Place： #4 on 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Charge： Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

Come and join us. We are waiting for you.

Report For August's English Club

Hi there!!

We had a great time in this month's English club.

Thank you so much for all who joined and supported us.

OK. This month, we welcomed Ms Anita Rgucka-Kwasnik and Mr Jude Fleming from Ireland.

As usual, I'm going to tell you some funny and interesting momments.

First, take a look at this.

Seriously!? You two had been planning to marry on Mt. Fuji?

I thought it really unique. Though weather wasn't perfect, it must be a beautiful memory.

Later, Ms Anita told us about Ireland.

Topic of Gaelic was interesting.

Gaelic is a official language in Ireland.

Though English is used in most of the places, Irish government is giving high priority to protect Gaelic.

But why is that language still there?

According to them, it is because when English came to colonize Ireland from its east part, thanks to the harsh envirnment of its west part, people came to the west part turned back to the east part. It means, if the west part of Ireland were idal place to live, they may have chosen to colonize there and Gaelic had been dissappeared in today.

Besides, all pictures on the white board were written by themselves.

Seeing them talking, I was wondering that if I were in their place, can I explain my country this much.

Sadly, for now, my answer is 'no'. I should try harder.

Anyway, next English club is on...

I'll tell you later.

August's English club is on 25th in #4 of the 5th floor

Hi there!

How are you guys doing?

We have a English club this month.

This month, we'll welcome Ms Anita Rgucka-Kwasnik and Mr Jude Fleming from Ireland.

Ms Anita Rgucka-Kwasnik is an IT Consultant in Poland. One of her hobby is to travel and to scout. She visited a lot of country without travel agency. According to her, she had already visited all continents!! She likes talking to local people. And this time, she'll come to Japan to attend International Scout Jamboree 2015 and planing to stay about 2-3 weeks. 

Mr Jude Fleming is currently working as a painter decorator and general builder. He also likes travelling and scouting. This time, he'll come to Japan with her not only for scouting but also for travelling.

Do you like to meet them? Come and join us!!

・Date & Time: Tuesday, August 25th, 18:45-20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: #4 on 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report for June's EU English Club

Hi there!

In this month's English club, Ms Antje Töpfer joined us as a guest.

We had a good time together. Thank you so much for all who joined and supported us

The guest, Ms Antje Töpfer, is a puppet show artist. What do you expect when you heard someone says "puppet"? I imagine sonething like "Sesami Street" or "Bunraku". So I was expecting her puppets, not exactly the same, but more or less, similar to those.

What? Is this the puppet? Goes without saying, this was not what I expected to see.

She told us she does a lot of things with the puppets.

Things like this,

or this.

I think these days, most of the puppet shows are childrens' or traditional arts. However, this one doesn't looks like childrens' nor traditionals'. It looks more like a modern arts than those. Well, it sounds so art 

Anyway, next English club is on...

I'll tell you later.

June's English club is on 10th in #4 on 5th Floor

Hi there!!

We'll have an English club this month.

This time, we'll welcome German artist in Villa Kamogawa, Ms Antje Töpfer.

She is a puppet show artist.

She is determining the ways to apply Japanese origami to her shows.

Sounds cool!!!

・Date: Wednesday, June 10th, 18:45-20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: #4 on 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Please come and join us. You won't regret!

Report for May's EU English Club

Hi there!

We had an English club this month.

Thank you so much for all who joined us.

This month's guest was Mr. Antoine Michel who graduated École Polytechnique, one of Grandes Écoles.

I had never heard of "Grandes Écoles", but accourding to him, it is a special school for growing elites, and École Polytechnique is the oldest.

Alright. Let's talk about an interesting episode.

Even now, I know why is it, I wonder "Why soething like this happens in the school for growing elites of Science and Technology?"

The school was built by Napoleon for making an officer of technology and therefore, it is still ran by Ministry of Defence. And therefore,

their uniform is something like this. Guessing from this uniform and military exercise, the scool's old traditions are still there without vanishing.

And I felt it so interesting♪

After the presentation was, as usual, introducing and Q&A time.

Since his speciality was clean energy, there were so many questions related to the subject. I think these days, many Japanese people are really interested in this subject because of the accident. There are a lot of problems in this region and we cannot solve it easily however, I believe by letting everyone know these problem and made them think about it, solution can be found.

Anyway, next English club is...

I'll tell you more about it later.

May's English club is on 13th in #4 on 5th Floor

Hi there!

We have English club this month. Come and join us!

This month, we'll welcome Mr Antoine Michel. He is a researcher of environmental energy from École polytechnique(Institution of higher education for traning elite of science and technology. The oldest Grandes Écoles).

This time, he'll tell us about the institution called Grandes Écoles, and Paris. Sounds interesting!!

・Date: Wednesday, May 13th, 18:45-20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: #4 on 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report for April's EU English Club

Hi there!

We had a great English club this month. Thank you for all who had joined us.

Well, this month, Mr.Vincent Prevot, who is studying Robotics in NAIST, told us about robots in today and robots in the future.

This time, our meeting format was Q&A structure. Questions was from various topics: nuclear plant, car producing etc. People had so many things to ask and the time passed like a wind. I wished we had a little more time.

First of all, there are a plenty of region in robotics. Which region he's studying?

Right.

Next, about car with automatic driving function.

Some of the airplanes or trains with this function have already existed. However, the car with such function is not yet existed in today's world. So, what if the dream of making such car came true? Well, without doubt, it will no longer be prohibited to drink alcoholic drink before driving. Haha Moreover, we can read books and take asleep while driving the car. Sounds interesting!!

Last one. When one of the participants asked him, "If you could have anything you like, what kind of robot would you like to have?".

He answered...

He don't need the robot itself!?

It was so funny.

Anyway, next month, we have English club is on...

I'll tell you more later.

April's English club is on 8th in Audio-vidual Room, 5th Floor

Dreaming A Future In A Japanese Robot Society

Hi there!

I'll inform you in details about this month's English club.

This month, we'll welcome Mr Vincent Prevot, who is studying Robotics in NAIST.

The reason why he came Japan is very unique.

One day, he watched a documentary about Japanese robot society. It attracted him enough to made him come to Japan impulsively.

・Date: Wednesday, April 8th, 18:45-20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: Audio-vidual Room, 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report for March's EU English Club

Hi there!!

As usual, we had English club this month.

Thank you so much for all who joined and supported us.

This month, we welcomed the same guest as the last month, Ms Brigitte Ando.

Though guest was the same as the last month's English club, the topic she told us was different. This month, instead of telling us how she felt travelling the outside of the France, she introduced France to us from her original and unique perspective. She told us "What French people do" and "what are so unique about French people" compared to other countries with some quizes.

The first quiz was so difficult. She asked us "Where is France?". How the quetion can be so difficult to answer? Find out from the video below.

What!? It surprised me a lot. No explanation was made in the video, but she told us why it is after the video was cut. Saying it simply, France has oversea departments and territories(which is called DOM-TOM) in other parts of the world, and goes without saying, it belongs to France. See here for clearer explanations.

Another great momment. She asked us "Where is the center of the france?"

Her sense of humour is wonderful!! I really loved that.

She told us so many interesting things of France like how french people chose names (according to her, there are books of names and their former users, and people choose names of their children from it) or this one.

Generally speaking, I think we could spent a really good time thanks to the quizes she made. It made it easier for people to join the conversation.

Anyway, the next English club is on...

I'll tell you more later

March's English Club is on 12th in #1 on 5th floor

Get closer to the french culture through Brigitte's eyes !

Hi there!

This month, we'll welcome Ms.Brigitte Ando again as the guest

Last month, she entertained us a lot with her humor and interesting story tellings.

This month, she will tell us more about her experiences of travelling and French culture.

Let's have fun!!

・Date: Thursday, March 12th, 18:45〜20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: Room 4, 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report for February's English club

Hi there!!

This month's English club was brilliant!!

Thank you so much for all who joined us!

The first guest was Mr.Jorge Aigla.

He is an amazing person who is a medical doctor, a Karateist, and a poet.

The second guest was Ms.Brigitte Ando.

She is currently living in Nara with her Japanese husband and her 2 children. Also, she joined Soiree DE Nara last month.

2月の英語クラブ(1)

The first speaker was Mr.Jorge Aigla.

2月の英語クラブ(2)

Though I cannot tell weather it is becaouse he is a poet or not, he was so good at telling peole stories. From the very biginning, he attracted people with an interesting story. He told us that when he came Japan 27 years ago, he entered a shop. And 27 years later, he came to visit Japan again and found the store is still there. This is not so special thing in Japan. But as he said, for who living in America, where most shops close only in a few years, it was so interesting. 

It seems he has been interested in Japanese culture for a while. Then, why is that? Why he started to take an interest in Japan?

Answer is "Karate-Do". The region he was living was not a safe place. So, to take care of himself, he started Karate-Do. Getting to know Karate-Do, he gradually shifted his interest to Do itself. And eventually, he took an interest in Japanese culture.

2月の英語クラブ(3)

He also likes Japanese literatures such as Nastume Souseki or Mastuo Bashou

The next speaker was Ms.Brigitte Ando. She told us humorously about the differences between Japanese culture and French culture. It was so enteraining

2月の英語クラブ(5)

This part was the best part for me. However, there were so many other parts I loved. For example, in France, people need to chose either black or white. But, in Japan, they can also chose black and white.

Anyway, this month's English club was so fun thanks to the humorous and friendly guests. I cannot wait to see next oneThe next English club is on...

Thursday, March 12th

I'll tell you more later.

Mr.Jorge Aigla was born on 1954 in Mexico city. He got MD(Medical Doctor) at University of California. Since then, working as a medical examiner, teaching anatomy and physiology at City College and St. Mary's University, he practiced Karate-Do and got 8th degree black belt. He is now a member of ATMA (American Teachers Association of the Martial Arts). As a poet, he published "First Lie/Primera Mentira", "Subliminary", "The Cycle of Learning/EI Ciclo de Aprendizaje" etc.

Ms.Brigitte Ando is from Lyon in France. She learned English at University of Lyon. She is now working for institutions such as Japan-France Association. Since last year, she lives in Nara with her husband and her 2 children. Also, she joined Soiree DE Nara last month.

February's English Club is on 12th in #1 on 5th floor

Hi there!

This month, we have English club on February 12th.

Let's have a good time together

This time, we'll welcome  guests, Mr.Jorge Aigla and Ms.Brigitte Ando.

Mr.Jorge Aigla was born on 1954 in Mexico city. He got MD(Medical Doctor) at University of California. Since then, working as a medical examiner, teaching anatomy and physiology at City College and St. Mary's University, he practiced Karate-Do and got 8th degree black belt. He is now a member of ATMA (American Teachers Association of the Martial Arts). As a poet, he published "First Lie/Primera Mentira", "Subliminary", "The Cycle of Learning/EI Ciclo de Aprendizaje" etc.

Ms.Brigitte Ando is from Lyon in France. She learned English at University of Lyon. She is now working for institutions like Japan-France Association. Since last year, she lives in Nara with her husband and her 2 children. Also, she joined Soiree DE Nara last month.

・Date: Thursday, February 12th, 18:45〜20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: Room 1, 6th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report for January's English club

Hi there!

The very first English club this year was held on January 14th.

Thank you so much for all who had joined and supported us.

This month, we welcomed the guest from UK. Her name is Hannah Bayley.

She is currently analysing Japanese supernatural Horror movie and its American remake in Keele University.

This time, we had a chance to hear her talks about her discoveries.

She told us a lot about her discoveries. What I was the most attracted in her presentation was an idea of "music translation". This idea means that when you remake a movie of abroad, you need to translate not only the script but also the background musics. Saying more precisely, the way of producing "fear" should be different between original and its remake.

Cultural difference seems to be leading to the different direction. Wow! She told us that Japanese way of producing fear has so much in common with the old Japanese culture. According to her, the one of the trends of Japanese way of producing is "blunks and pausings", and which is really similar to "Ma" in Kabuki. She showed us an example of a scene in Japanese movie, "Juon", and its Hollywood remake, "The Grudge". As she said, in Japanese version, there were a lot of blunks and pausings. However, in its Hollywood remake, score was much more dense and many of the blunks had been cut.

After that was a Q&A time.

She was so friendly and entertaining.

Anyway, the next English club is on...

I'll tell you in details later HERE.

The first EU English club this year is in #1 on 6th floor

The First Guest for EU English Club This Year Is A Researcher of Film Music and Sound Effect

Hi there!

Happy new year

For the first English club of this year, we'll welcome the guest from Middle England. Her name is Hannah Bayley. She's currently doing some researches about sound effect and music of films in Keele University in Staffordshire.

Since October 2014, getting fellowship from AHRC, she is doing her researches in 日文研(International Research Center for Japanese Studies). Her research theme is focused on Japanese horror movies and their American remakes. For instance, she compared the sound of 2 movies which made "Macbeth" by Shakespeare in to a movie. One of them is by Orson Welles and the other is by Akira Kurosawa. She also compared music and sound effect of Japanese movie, "Juon", with its Hollywood remake, "The Grudge".

She is also a talented musician. She Learned violin and piano, and played an organ in the church.

(With Keele Philharmonic Orchestra)

Don't miss this chance!!

Date: Wednesday, January 14th 18:45-20:45

Place: Room1, 6th floor of Seibu Kouminkan(soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. Here!!)

Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

Report of December's EU English club

Hi there!!

EU English club this month was a lot of fun. Thank you so much for sho joined and supported us.

This time, we welcomed a stage & costume designer, Ms.Dorothee Curio from Berlin. She let us see the backstage of her creative activities. Using an example of an Opera, she told us from where she gets inspiration and how does she give shapes to the stages or costumes.

Interesting thing is, she didn't use any kind of order made things to get & form her idea. For example, she made an stage of an opera by processing a photo of a building using "Photoshop". Using the software, she turned that building upside down and added many elements to shape the set. Though it is an famous software for image procesing, the finished product looked so charactoristic and beautiful.

After the talk was a time for introduction & question.

I don't know weather it is because her talk was interesting or the mood she has was very friendly, I felt everyone was enjoying the conversation than usual.

Mr.Patrick Saint, who was joined us as a guest before, joined us again this time. Superisingly, he has published an kindle book about cooking!! Moreover, he will opens a show of his painting in Osaka. Please check them out if you feel curious about it!!!

And, because it was the last English club this year, we went a cafe together with the guests, she and her boyfriend, and had a friendly chat.

Next English club is on next year's...

January 14th, Wednesday

I'll tell you more about it later.

December's EU English club is on 3rd in #1 on 6th floor

Guest for EU English club in 12/3

is a set & costume designer from Germany

Hi there,

Information for the next English club!!!

Once again, we will wecome the guest from Germany. Her name is Dorothee Curio. She's currently working as a free stage set & costume designer in Berlin. She builds a connection between the real world and images in her heart. Her works of art can be seen in various theatres of Germany. She's now working on a project called "Kyoto Street View Project", in the way she made a picture book of Namie-machi in Fukushima using "Google Street View" in 2011.

See more about her (here!!)

Day

Wednesday, December 3rd 18:45-20:45

Charge

Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

Place

Room 1, 6th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)

Report of November's EU English club

Hi!!

November's English was lovely. We had a really great time!!! Thank you so much for everyone who joined or supported us

This time we welcomed the guest from Berlin. He's name is Sven Pfeiffer He was very friendly and told us a lot about an event he will participate, a book he involved, and the place he's currently living in.

In his presentation, he told us about some effective uses of wind in ancient houses, and the trend of Japanese architecture. The houses' photo he showed us was really strange and beautiful. Then, he told us about the architectures he involved. He believes in the potentials of old style of building. Which means, on the one hand he has present technique, and on the other hand he has ancient technique, then he mixed them together to built something new.

Now in Kyoto, he's determining another idea of building. The famous construction method called "systems building". The world he invited us seemed so curious and comfortable. Looks weird, but in fact, it is really effective and beautiful. "Beauty" is something so vague and uncatchable. It sometimes shows up in the place nobody expects and it sometimes runs away from the place which had been desired. Even the person with a keen sense can be fails to catch the "beauty". So, it was interesting how most of them looked so nice.

Anyway, the next English club will be held in

Wednesday, December 3rd

I'll tell you more about it later.

November's EU English club is on 12th in #3 on 5th floor

Guest for EU English club in 11/12 is an architect in Berlin

Information for the next English club in 11/12.

This time, we will welcome an architect from Berlin who determining the potential of Japanese style of building. His name is Sven Pfeiffer. Don't miss it!! (See more about him here!!)

・Date: October 12th, Wednesday 18:45-20:45

・Charge: Member 1000 yen, Non-member 1500 yen (No appointments necessary), Europeans & Native English speakers will be invited (free of charge)

・Place: Room 3, 5th Floor of Nara Seibu Kominkan: Soon from the south exit of Kintestu Gakuenmae St. (Here!!)