English Christmas Activity 2018 with International Students and Neighbors!

Spearheading events with your international friends in your university is a great opportunity for brainstorming and sharing bright ideas to bring happiness to others! We started off the event with a game called "Blow the Balloons" wherein the participants have to find their strategies for their balloons to be blown off or to be blown away as higher as possible without using their hands (only mouth). The following game was done by asking the participants to pronounce the words of saying "Hello" in other country's languages as this is counted for the team's scores. They also need to answer few questions from these respective countries to gain points. The last game was intended to let the participants transfer the candies/snacks from one box to their team's respective boxes and whoever team got the most number of goodies would gain the highest score.

 We also had an interesting activity which what we called "Thanksgiving Plate", and we asked each and every participant to pick from the pre-cut photos/images which they're thankful for. We were all amazed and mesmerized with each and everyone's response which yielded from sharing our diversified perspectives to sharing friendly moments, happiness, and joy.

Finally, after tallying all the scores from the previous games, we announced all the winners and gather together for the final picture taking moment. :)

Volunteering For SIGGRAPH 2018 Tokyo Conference

Getting involved to something related to your research is a fun-filled experience mixed with meeting new folks across the globe sharing the passion for computer graphics and animation! Volunteering paved the way for us SIGGRAPH volunteers to help out the conference operate smoothly for attendees, presenters, contributors, visitors, and many more. Student volunteers from all parts of the world were also invited to showcase their research studies to the conference (including mine) to receive feedback and also share our respective research focuses to a wide audience.

At the end of the workweek, we had a grand celebration for a successful conference and all of us volunteers got the chance to receive amazing prizes and rewards! So what are you waiting for? If you're a student with a passion and drive for computer graphics/animation, this is something you'd give a try! Come and join the future SIGGRAPH Volunteer Programs!

English Christmas Camp with Ritsumeikan SYB Volunteers

It's really exciting to participate in a Christmas Camp especially with the help of our university friends from Ritsumeikan University. Lots of activities were held in the English Camp - Christmas Edition. We exchanged gifts with the kids including the Japanese volunteer organizers and our co-volunteers from different universities such as Osaka University, Kobe University, Kansai University, Kyoto University, and many more. We also got the chance to wear Santa Claus costumes as part of the relay games wherein the kids have to take their presents from the Santa Claus's bags and transfer to their respective team's collection boxes.  We also did some Christmas cards to our parents as a form of our love and appreciation which will be sent to the parents afterwards. We also had the opportunity to dance together with the staff and kids which obviously added to the success of the whole camp. 

Special thanks to Ms. Shizuka, Mr. Fikri, Ms. Kat, Mr. Yuuki, and Mr. Haruki...

English Water Camp With Tohoku Kids (東北キッズと英語ウォーターキャンプ)

This is one of our very remarkable moments sharing the happiness, love and care with the kids from Tohoku area. We participated in one of the camps spearheaded by a Japanese organization which aims to provide happiness, smile and hope to the kids who were affected and are still traumatized by Tohoku disaster happened way back year 2011. At first, the kids were totally silent and shy, but the activities we have incorporated in the camp helped them overcome their fear of water. We did play water gun activities from which kids had to hit the paper target. We also enjoyed playing water balloons with them which boosted their self-confidence and self-esteem. As a result, the kids turned into cheerful and active individuals after the camp.

この活動は、東北地方の子供達に幸せと愛、援助を提供した記憶に残る活動の一つです。 私たちは、2011年東北の震災で影響を受けた子どもたちに幸せと笑顔、希望を提供することを目的としたキャンプに参加しました。最初は子供たちあまり話そうとしませんでしたが、私たちが企画したゲームのおかげで水への恐怖を克服してくれたようでした。内容としては、紙で作られた的に水鉄砲で水をとばすというものです。また、他の活動を通して子供たちの自信と自尊心を高め、そして、私たちは子供たちに元気を与えることができたのではないかと考えています。

Volunteering For Osaka Earthquake Victims (大阪地震被災者支援ボランティア)

This is one of the challenging yet rewarding experience for us as volunteers. This volunteering activity was held a few weeks after the Osaka Earthquake disaster happened last June 18th, 2018. Lots of residents from Osaka region were affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake and these households suffered from the absence of power/electricity. We joined a bunch of Japanese folks who joined the Takatsuki City Volunteer Center which helped the victims cleaning up some of their damaged furniture, renovating destroyed roofs, and many more. This showcased the camaraderie of Japanese people with international people altogether.

このボランティア活動はとてもやりがいのあるものの一つでした。 今回のボランティア活動は、2018年6月18日に大阪地震災害が発生した数週間後に開催されました。大阪圏の住民の大部分は、マグニチュード6.1の震災の影響を受けており、電力/電力不足に悩まされていたため、高槻市ボランティアセンターのボランティアに参加し、傷ついた家具を掃除したり、屋根を改装するなど様々な活動を行いました。 この活動を通して、日本人と外国人の絆を深めることができたと感じています。