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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
February 2, 2008
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| January 8, 2008 |
In Pictures – Photo Tour VI of Life Onboard |
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Christmas Around the World
While Christmas is always a special time of year for most, it was especially enjoyable this year for those onboard Peace Boat. The day was spent sailing through the sunny Pacific, a novelty for those used to a white Christmas. Because of the diverse make up of those onboard, many events were held that reflected the different traditions and meanings associated with Christmas around the world. Santa, in the form of one white-bearded participant, dusted off his red suit and visited every cabin onboard delivering chocolate and warm wishes while those blessed with angelic voices came together to sing classic Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. |
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Sailing into the New Year
As Peace Boat glided towards Papua New Guinea, the last port of call before returning to Japan, participants said goodbye to 2007 and eagerly welcomed 2008. In addition to the usual New Year’s Eve revelry, many participants rose early the following day to join a range of traditional Japanese New Year events including kite flying, opening a sake barrel, tea ceremony and mochitsuki (rice cake pounding). Here Voyage Director Inoue Nao pounds sticky rice the traditional way to make rice cakes which were then served onboard. |
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Peace Boat’s Anti-Whaling Protests Heard in Sydney, Australia
“We’d Rather Watch Whales Than Eat Them!” shouts one of the posters held by Korean scholars who joined Peace Boat’s press conference in Sydney to protest whaling carried out by Japanese ships which continue to hunt for whales in the Southern Ocean under the guise of “scientific research.” Peace Boat is demanding that Japan end its scientific whaling programme, and Voyage Director, Inoue Nao who stands here (far right) with guest educator Steven Ross (far left) and the Korean scholars, told journalists that, ‘the fact our Government is killing whales in the name of so-called scientific research is very hard for us to accept and believe.’ |
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GET Speech Competition
Months of hard work paid off for over 100 students of Peace Boat’s Global English and Espanol Training (GET) program who challenged their language, communication and public speaking skills by taking part in the GET speech competition. Students, either individually or in small groups, presented a two-minute speech to a large audience in either Spanish or English. Awards were given for the Most Creative, Most Humorous, and Most Moving speeches. Judges said they weren’t looking for perfect pronunciation and grammar, but rather the ability to communicate, which reflects the GET program’s philosophy. Pictured: Kamiyama Miki gives a moving speech entitled “How to Know the World,” in which she spoke of her experience on Peace Boat and how she has learnt that connecting with people through talking is one of the most important ways you can understand the world. |
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Something to Celebrate – Global University Graduation
Global University students gave themselves a very big pat on the back after graduating from their intense onboard program. Their accredited courses involved three units: Japan’s involvement in World War II, issues facing Palestine, and revolutionary Latin America. Their course work consisted of working closely with guest educators onboard and joining exposure programmes in port where they gained firsthand experience of the issues they studied. |
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Discussing Discrimination
Peace Boat dedicated three days to holding events related to discrimination. A range of issues were addressed, such as the high profile case of the “No Foreigners” policy of onsen (public baths) in Otaru, northern Japan; discrimination surrounding diseases such as leprosy, and the new counter-terrorism measure implemented by the Japanese government in which foreigners entering Japan are subjected to fingerprinting and photographing in an attempt to “prevent acts of terrorism.” Organizer of this event, volunteer GET teacher Pania Lincoln commented that ‘I wanted to raise awareness of the violation of one of our basic human rights – the right to privacy. It’s my personal opinion that the submitting of biometric data won’t do any good and it is one step closer to an Orwellian society. I feel that if these Japanese participants onboard were subjected to the same immigration policy in the countries we visited, then their experience would have been different, in a negative sense.’ Pictured are volunteer staff posing as immigration officers and visitors to Japan to bring to life what non-Japanese visitors and residents will be subjected to when entering the country. |
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