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- News -
■February 11, 2010
The Olympic Flame arrives at B.C. Place in Vancouver just before the official Opening Ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
Photo of the Olympic Flame just before the official Opening Ceremonies for the
2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games taken by Vancouver resident Yukiko Iwauchi.
バンクーバー在住の岩内佑希子さんが撮った開会式前夜の聖火リレーの写真。
■January, 2010
 The
UBC School of Music launched PRIMA this month by opening its doors to
international music students to a preparation program called PRIMA.
PRIMA stands for Pacific Rim Institute of Music, a full-time, 16 - 20-week,
non-credit program in which international students develop their musical and
artistic skills as well as improve their academic and intercultural
communication skills in English.
There are three areas of study: students take music classes at the School of
Music; academic and cultural preparation courses through the Intercultural
Advancement Program (ICAP); and English classes (if necessary) at the English
Language Institute.
PRIMA includes weekly private music lessons plus a combination of large ensemble
and chamber music for instrumentalists, or large ensemble (chorus) and diction
classes for voice students. The exact mix of these elements varies over the
calendar year and depend on the student's own area of musical talent and
interests.
For academic preparation, PRIMA students take classes in the Intercultural
Communication Advancement Program (ICAP), provided by UBC Continuing Studies.
ICAP has been operating without the PRIMA music stream for over 3 years and
prepares students for the academic and cultural demands of studying in English
in an international university setting. The program helps students improve their
intercultural communication, academic and critical thinking skills for success
at a North American university.
The third element comes into play if students require English courses before
they begin PRIMA, and in this case, they have the opportunity to take classes
(for an additional fee) at the UBC English Language Institute (ELI). The ELI has
over 30 years of experience in ESL instruction and a world-wide reputation for
excellence.
Program Coordinator John van Deursen was pleased to welcome the first PRIMA
students to UBC campus in January.
"It's an exciting time for all of us because we have been developing this
program for 2 years, and I am looking forward to guiding these young students
over the next year or so."
PRIMA was a conception of Professor Jesse Read who saw the need to provide
additional training for foreign students, not only to prepare them for English
levels at UBC, but also get them more familiar with the kind of one-on-one
private instruction that they will experience once they have begun their full
time music studies.
Van Deursen explains: "There is large cultural difference when taking music
classes here in North America, and most foreign students just arriving here are
focusing on their language
preparation. Where music is concerned, there is much more to it and with PRIMA,
these young students are mentored in a way that allows them to not only study
language, but also begin to participate in private music lessons and other music
classes together with current UBC students. It is a great way for them to become
acclimatized culturally. They learn what is expected before it counts for credit
and that way, if they are accepted into the School of
Music and later take courses for their degree, there is no wasted energy in just
trying to decipher what the teacher is talking about."
"There is a big advantage to being able to keep practicing and getting the
encouragement and guidance from your private lesson instructor in the weeks and
months leading up to your audition for UBC."
For more information about PRIMA, please contact the Canadian Education
Alliance:
Tel: (03) 3224-0946
e-mail: cea@gol.com
■December 7, 2009
VANOC names eight honorary mayors for Olympic and Paralympic Villages at
2010 Winter Games
Canadian athletes and officials to welcome the world's best competitors to their
home away from home
Vancouver, BC - Eight Canadians have been named volunteer honorary mayors to
welcome athletes from around the world to their home away from home at the
athletes' villages in Whistler and Vancouver during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic
and Paralympic Winter Games.
The honorary mayors - two per village per Games - will be the face of British
Columbia and Canada at the brand-new athletes' villages. As leading models of
sustainability in North America, the villages will house more than 6,500
athletes and team officials arriving in 2010, as well as be the workplace for an
estimated 5,500 workforce members. The mayors will officially open the villages
in February and March, officially welcome all national teams and dignitaries,
including heads of state and members of the Olympic Family, as well as join
athletes at informal social gatherings in the village living room in Vancouver
and around the nightly bonfire in Whistler.
"Each of the men and women named today as village mayors for the 2010 Winter
Games will add an inspirational presence in these homes away from home for the
athletes and officials who will start competing here in less than 70 days. They
were selected based on their background in sport, their dedication to community
and their unwavering support for the 2010 Winter Games and the Olympic and
Paralympic Movements," explained John Furlong, Chief Executive Officer of the
Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
(VANOC).
"These mayors understand the thrills, as well as the pressures, of competing on
the world stage - many of them have competed and won medals at past Olympic and
Paralympic Games," continued Furlong. "They know the importance of creating a
warm, inviting and stress-free environment where the world's best winter
athletes can successfully focus on fulfilling their dreams and enjoy the
camaraderie of fellow Olympians and Paralympians in one of the friendliest
countries in the world."
Olympic mayoral duties at the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver in
February 2010 will be shared by:
- Rick Hansen: As Canada's Man in Motion, this Richmond, BC, resident
raised $26 million while completing an around-the-world journey to
highlight the potential of people with disabilities, participated at the
Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games in the wheelchair exhibition, won six
Paralympic medals between 1980 and 1984 and shared the Lou Marsh Award
as Canada's outstanding athlete of the year.
- Tricia Smith: An Olympic silver medallist and seven-time world
championship medal winner in rowing, the resident of Vancouver, BC, is
also vice president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and a lawyer for
the Court of Arbitration in Sport. She was Canada's chef de mission at
the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil.
Their counterparts in Whistler during the Olympic Winter Games will be:
- Anna Fraser Sproule: A former freestyle aerial skier, she competed
at the Calgary 1988 Olympic Winter Games and was the 1986 World Cup
title winner. A broadcast colour commentator for freestyle skiing, which
included covering three Olympic Winter Games, she now resides in
Whistler, BC, and was a board member of the Vancouver 2010 bid
corporation.
- Alan Kristmanson: A member of the Canadian national men's basketball
team from 1987 to 1992, the resident of Whistler, BC, competed at the
Seoul 1988 Olympic Games where Canada placed sixth. He is currently golf
director at the Whistler Golf Club.
Paralympic mayoral duties at the Olympic and Paralympic Village Vancouver in
March 2010 will be shared by:
- Dr. Douglas Clement: An internationally recognized sports medicine
clinician and researcher, the Vancouver, BC, resident is professor
emeritus at the University of British Columbia where he has taught and
practiced sports medicine for over 20 years. He is also a member of the
Order of Canada and will share mayoral duties with his wife, Diane.
- Diane Clement: In 1956, Clement competed for Canada as a sprinter at
the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia and won a bronze medal two
years later at the Commonwealth Games. She is a bestselling cookbook
author and was a board member of the Vancouver 2010 bid corporation.
Their counterparts in Whistler during the Paralympic Winter Games will be:
- Marni Abbott-Peter: A four-time Paralympian, the British Columbian,
who currently resides in Germany, won three gold and one silver, as well
as three world championships in wheelchair basketball. She also acted as
Team Canada's flag-bearer at the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games and is a
certified coach now in her sport.
- Patrick Anderson: A three-time Paralympian, also in wheelchair
basketball, the resident of Vancouver won silver in Beijing in 2008, as
well as gold at the 2004 Games in Athens, 2000 Games in Sydney and the
2006 world championships. The jazz musician is also a national team
athlete representative for the National Wheelchair Basketball
Association.
"It's a great honour to be chosen to represent Canada as a village mayor at
the 2010 Winter Games," said Hansen. "As a competitor at past Games, I know how
important it is for the athletes and officials - our guests - to have a
welcoming place to stay while competing. It's our role as village mayors to make
sure the thousands of athletes who will be here will indeed feel this is a real
home away from home for them where they can be inspired to reach their dreams in
2010."
Both athletes' villages during the Games will be on par in population and
services offered with a small Canadian village or town. They will also represent
a microcosm of the world's many cultures, languages and experiences and be a
safe and relaxing place where lifelong friendships are made.
The villages, which are both located near competition venues and the heart of
the city and resort, will each offer a café, village store, banking, post
office, tourism information office, and village living room where athletes can
work out, relax in the games centre and listen to live music in the lounge or
watch the Games live on TV.
They will also house 24-hour polyclinics where athletes can receive primary and
emergency medicine and trauma care, a full range of therapy services, dentistry,
nutrition, and optometry services among others. Multi-faith centres are also
available with separate rooms for formal religious services and ceremonies, as
well as individual meditation and counselling. All services are provided by
VANOC's workforce, both paid and volunteer.
About VANOC
VANOC is responsible for the planning, organizing, financing and staging of the
XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. The 2010
Olympic Winter Games will be staged in Vancouver and Whistler from February 12
to 28, 2010. Vancouver and Whistler will host the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games
from March 12 to 21, 2010. Visit
www.vancouver2010.com.
- Archives -
■October 17, 2008
 James
Yellowlees Ph.D., of the Secretariat of the Canadian Alumni Association in Japan
(left), with Inuit artist supreme Bill Nasogaluak at the unveiling of the 2.5
meter tall inukshuk that was created by Bill and presented by Kansai Canada
Business Association to the citizens of Osaka. The inukshuk is very visibly
situated in the new Watanabebashi Station that is part of the new Nanoshima
subway line. The interior of the station is made of British Columbia cedar wood.
CAAJ was a supporter of the creation of this important new bond between the
people of Canada and Japan.
■ CAAJ's First Anniversary Party!
Thank you for
participating in the CAAJ’s First Anniversary Party. We hope that everyone had a
wonderful time networking and exchanging information at the reception. Please
see photos
of the reception.
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