Teaching Expo

The English Teachers in Japan (ETJ) association is holding an ELT expo in Osaka aimed at helping working teachers share and develop new ideas for the classroom.

The event is on October 31st in Osaka (see below for exact location) and there will be plenty of speakers, opportunities to share ideas and techniques, attend workshops and chances to see teaching products from top publishers.

The expo focuses on English education for all ages and situati-ons and everyone is welcome.
“Any teacher knows, you need lots of fresh ideas to keep students on their toes. This event gives us a chance to come together as Kansai and to see what's new to Japan for 2005,” says Katherine Mackay, the Kobe group's publicity officer.

The expos are now a regular feature of ETJ's many activities. There will be expos in nine cities around Japan between October 2004 and January 2005. Capitalising on last year's success, the organisers are expecting this year's event to be even better.
To find out more about ETJ, check the URLs below.
Talking of this year's expo, Katherine Mackay reminds us, “What's more it's Halloween — be ready for some fun!”

ELT Expo
Osakafu Shigaku Kyouiku Bunka Kaikan, 6-20, Amijima-cho, Miyakojima-ku, Osaka
Date: Oct. 31st (Sunday) • Time: 9am-6pm
Cost: ¥500 for ETJ, JALT and TALE members, and ¥1000 for non members. You pay at the door, but you can pre-register through ETJ's website (URL below) to avoid queues on the day.
• URL: http://www.eltnews.com/ETJ/
Osaka Contact: Kaj Schwermer
Tel: 06-6776-6303 • Email: yuppies@zap.att.ne.jp

Select and Elect

So, as it turns out, there's some sort of election in the United States this year. For ex-pat citizens inclined to commit their choice of the lesser of the evils to paper and swing their suffrage muscle from across the Pacific, OverseasVote2004.com offers some handy tips on how to register for that oh-so-handy absentee ballot. Best, however, to put down this issue of KS and get online now, though — registration and postmarking dates vary wildly from state to state, and deadlines for most are either days away or happening extremely soon.
Want to get more even involved? Republicans Abroad Japan and Democrats Abroad Japan are both accepting new members and offering a litany of events (from barbecue dinners to benefit rock concerts) in the days leading up to Election Day on November 2nd. Remember: if you don't vote, you don't get to complain later...

Republicans Abroad Japan: www.rajapan.org
Democrats Abroad Japan: www.demsjapan.jp

Power Flowers

A Japanese technology company is working on plans to get your houseplants singing.

Talking to flowers has long been known as a therapy for both the speaker and the plants. Devotees claim plants thrive on certain sounds and you feel better for whispering gently at leaves and petals.

But you have to wonder at plans to wire your daffodils for sound. Tokyo-based Let's Co. has knocked up a fiendishly clever electronic coil called Ka-on to sit in the base of a flowerpot and transmit sound waves up the stem of the plant to be emitted audibly from the leaves and petals.

A spokesman for the company explains, “The plant is happy listening to music ... Gerberas and sunflowers work especially well as speakers. Flower speakers are kinder on the ears than regular speakers and suited for the elderly.”

For those who really find gadgetry abrasive, plans for a microphone-fitted version of the technology mean that your telephone could soon be superseded by the aspidistra. You will be able to talk into your flowers instead of your telephone handset. But what about bugs?

As improbable as the technology might be, the prices are quite realistic, ranging from around ¥5,000 to ¥50,000 and the company has already received thousands of orders through its website.
Presumably, with the rapid miniaturisation of technology exciting variations are possible. How long before we see a buttonhole carnation wired to an iPod?

If you know of any newsworthy events in the Kansai or Japan, if you are about to dive naked into a vat of hungry piranhas for a bet, be sure to let us know. mailbox@kansaiscene.com