Acacia Tree Festival

On June 10th and 11th, the international society held a street hockey tournament and flea market during the town Acacia festival. The street hockey tournament was only held on the 10th (Sat.), but the number of participating teams went up to six this year, two more than last year. The teams were: The International Society team; Kosaka Smelting Co. Team; Kazuno City Hall Team; Keyaki Team; and finally a random group of guys from theTown hall got a team together, and called themselves eDekkai Teamf.

We were just as fortunate with the weather as we were last year, which might have been a beet tough on the players; however, it made for a nice dayout for everyone. The crowed cheered wildly for every game.

For the final match, it was Keyaki vs. the International Society. Raymond played really well, and pulled the KIS team to victory. But in the end, it wasnft about the score, and everyone went home with a smile on their face.

As for the Flea Market, it was conducted on both days at the Kokusai Hiroba. Items sold ranged from a complete home stereo to dishes and cloths;everyone was very generous with their donations. People shopped while the hockey tournament went on, and many dropped by on Sunday while taking a break from the festival. Both days were wildly successful, and some people were even heard to have complained that things were being sold too cheaply! In the end, we raised 52, 172 Yen, which was donated to Mongolian relief effort. Special thanks go out to everyone who helped make the event a success, including the 4 other groups who joined us for the fea market, and donated a percentage of their sales to charity.

M.Y

We also recieved a comment from Mr. Tsuruga, from Kazuno city hall, who has participated in the Hockey Tournament for two years running.

This year we sent two teams from the Kazuno city hall. Last year we ended up in last place (that was my first time), so we thought we would come back for some revenge. At the end of the day, however, both of our teams ended up losing all of their games. I suppose we were all a bit out of shape, but it was also frustrating when the ball (tennis ball) would bounce erratically; in the end, we ended up kicking the ball instead of trying to use our sticksc it was that kind of day.

When I first heard we were going to play hockey, I had imagined a really dangerous sport, but itfs not at all. Even a complete beginner can enjoy the game. Even though we didnft win, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The weather was good, and the court was set up nicely; I thought it was a really good tournament. Ifd like to have a chance to practice some more before next yearfs tournament. See you next year!