Summer 2003 Newsletter

Important Stuff
Letter from the Editor
Adios from the President
Sayonara from the Interactive Guy
Hellos from the New Crew
Upcoming Events
Tidbits Corner
Exclusive Interview (with Toby Weymiller)
This month's articles
Every Situation Is Different (ESID) Comic

IMPORTANT STUFF

1) The submission deadline for the Fall Issue is September 30, 2003. This is your chance to record down that amazing adventure you recently had! newsletter@outdoorsig.com

2) IF YOU HAVE NOT RENEWED YOUR 500yen MEMBERSHIP YOU WILL BE DELETED FROM THE OUTDOORSIG REGISTRY. You can sign up on-line (www.outdoorsig.com/howtojoin.htm)or pay at any of the Tokyo or Prefectural Orientations.

3) Want to see your adventure published? Had a fantastic outdoor adventure and want to share it? Just heard someone say the most amazing thing that should be quoted? Well then, just submit it to OutdoorSIG's Newsletter. We are accepting short articles on your outdoor adventure and memorable quotes. Photos are also highly welcomed.

4) SnowJapan.com is holding an Essay Contest for OutdoorSIG members. They want to give you prizes for writing down your favorite snow sports activities in Japan. The deadline for the Essay Contest is also September 30, 2003.

Letter from the Editor

To all of the JET OutdoorSIGers who are leaving, good-bye and good luck in your future ventures. To all of the newbies, welcome to OutdoorSIG! I hope you will enjoy reading about all of your fellow OutdoorSIGers' great outdoor adventures. Don't be shy in sharing your own as well. This newsletter is only possible if everyone contributes. To all you renewers, welcome back! Hope your summer vacations were relaxing and not too humid. So will you all be sharing your adventures with us?

Now, this issue is filled with some awesome articles, including some great oldies about the upcoming Sado Earth Celebration. Also included are the farewells from the outgoing OutdoorSIG national council and self-intros from the incoming crew. As for the interview, the founder of OutdoorSIG has submitted to an interview. Now we can discover why and how OutdoorSIG first came into existence. So be sure to check out the interview.

As stated above, this issue contains good-byes and hellos, including one from me. All I can say is it has been a pleasure putting together this newsletter for you all this past year. I hope you have all enjoyed reading it every season.
Speaking of the newsletter inbox, the submission deadline for the Fall issue is September 30, 2003 So do share your summer adventures or whatnot. Also, Don't forget to join in on the Essay Contest being held by SnowJapan.com. For more details check out the official OutdoorSIG competition page

Thank you again for making the newsletter possible!

Donna Chow

Adios From the Prez

Dear OutdoorSIGers,

Having finally climbed Mt. FUJI the time has come for me to hang up my hat and pass the reigns to the next President. I am happy to say that OutdoorSIG will be in good hands next year with Sara Russell and Dave LeRose. Dave in Iwate will be staying on as the all important Event Coordinator and Treasurer. Meanwhile Sara in Hyogo will be stepping up from Webmaster to President. I am also happy that Kim in Kansai will be taking over for Dane as the new Interactive Manager and Tim in Saitama has volunteered to run the Powdatopia event and help out with conferences in Tokyo. What this means is that OutdoorSIG will truly be a nationwide organization. We are still looking for people to get involved in planning new events. More importantly we need a webmaster and administration person. Furthermore if you are planning on going to the Sado Island Earth Festival August 22 to the 24th and want some information on where and what to do please contact Dave at events@outdoorsig.com asap (I highly recommend this trip, go to our Sado trip page for more info).

I wish to thank everyone who has taken the time to participate and help out with OutdoorSIG this year. Special thanks to MIKE, DANE, and DONNA for all their hard work on the national crew, you will be missed. I hope you continue to stay involved in the Outdoors in Japan. I myself will be leaving Japan for the near future in order to receive my lump sum tax refund from the Japanese government. However, I hope to be back here soon. I also want to thank our members who take the time and effort to send in articles for this newsletter and who publicize outdoor and Japan related info on our outdoorsig@yahoogroups.com listbot. This is really important, because the national crew cannot possibly know what is going on in every ken in Japan. By the way, I want to warn our members to restrict their replies and complaints to the original sender whenever possible so as to not bother other members with useless e-mail. Furthermore IF YOU HAVE NOT RENEWED YOUR 500yen MEMBERSHIP YOU WILL BE DELETED FROM THE OUTDOORSIG REGISTRY You can sign up on-line or pay at any of the Tokyo or Prefectural Orientations. We need your support to keep growing and funding new events all around Japan.

See you DOING IT OUTDOORS!

John Marshall

Ex-OutdoorSIG President

Sayonara from the Interactive Guy

Greetings all,

It's been a good hoot working with Outdoor SIG this last year, and getttin out and rockin around with the group. All I can say is, "We've come a long way baby!" This year OSIG has seen great developments and a great national staff. Thanks to all of you, it has been a real pleasure.My last contribution to Outdoor SIG, for now, is the members list database. This list is now up on the group homepage: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/outdoorsig/ All members can log on and find people in their area so everyone can have a chance to get out and about without breaking the bank.You can, I believe, also log on and fill in your favorite activities, or delete yourself from the list if you don't want your email address to be accessible to other members.

Taking over for the Interactive position is Kim Vlach, everyone say Hi. I have the utmost confidence in Kim and I am sure she will bring great things to Outdoor SIG. Also, since she is working down in Saga, Kyushu, she can help to round out the vastly top heavy National Events, (almost everything happening in Northern Japan). Ganbatte Kim!

All those of you who are staying on for another year, have a great time and I hope you stay active with this group. To those leaving, good luck with all your future endeavors. To everyone, thanks for being a part of this group! It was a blast meeting some of you at the outings, and good fun emailing back and forth with others. I give my best to all of you. This is Interactive Dane signing off.

Go well,

Dane Sjoblom

Hellos from the New Crew

From the Prez

I am a 24 year old from Sydney, Australia. As a kid I lived in Malaysia, and the Australian countryside, where I spent my time kayaking, playing canoe polo, skiing, and hiking.

My family is my younger sister, who is a university student, my mother, a Primary School teacher librarian, and my father, a Primary school principal. I spent my childhood listening to my parents say "Never become a teacher." So what do I do? I become a JET!

Although I had visions of doing an architecture degree, in the end I completed a BA (Media and Communications) with a major in Japanese. My Communications degree was largely based in the area of Digital and Web based design. For that reason last year on my first meeting with the rest of the Osig crew, while hiking on Sado Island, by default I became the web-mistress. (www.outdoorsig.com)

I'm pretty laid back, and I am willing to try pretty much anything once. I love art, skiing, reading, hiking and anything else that gets the adrenaline running. But I really love traveling and think it's always interesting and worthwhile to get to know another culture. I have traveled throughout Europe and Asia, both with my family, and alone. I'm in Japan for the 4th time in my life but this time is longer then any of the others-about to start my third year in the countryside. I'm living in Muraoka, Hyogo-ken. It is a little town with only 5000 people, terraced rice paddies and vast tree covered mountains. The best ski fields in Hyogo are in the hills above my house, so if you want to join me in the winter, there is a spare futon with your name on it.

As the new President I firstly want to thank last year's crew for the amazing work they have done so far. Best wishes for those that are heading onwards from Japan, but don't forget us here! Remember that OSIG is only as good as its members make it, so this is your chance to get involved! Hope to see you at the OSIG events, especially at the SADO EARTHFEST coming up in August. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about this or anything else.

Sara Russell
pres@outdoorsig.com

From the Events/Treasurer

Hey all,

This is Dave up in Iwate Prefecture. I'm your National Events Co-ordinator and Treasurer for OutdoorSIG. I'm presently going into my second year as Events Guy and starting my third year on the JET Programme.

My outdoor interests include mountain biking (although there are a huge lack of trails nearby), hiking, camping and snowboarding. I also play basketball. Back in Canada (B.C.) I golfed and went skydiving a few times as well. Being in Iwate, I think if a person weren't into the outdoors they may go completely loopy.

So, let's to enjoy being the outdoors together. Or something like that. I hope to see you out at some OutdoorSIG events. Remember, if you have any event ideas, please send us an email.

See you outdoors,

Iwate Dave
events@outdoorsig.com

Upcoming Events

Well it's time again for your seasonal OutdoorSIG Events Update. First off, we would like to congratulate all of those people who made the Pre-season Fuji-san climb in June. Otsukaresama deshita!!!

Here we go...

ANNUAL OUTDOORSIG EVENTS

AUGUST

Coming up in August is the Sado Island Earth Festival. You can go on the hikes put together by the Events Co-ordinator(s) and/or you can kick back, relax and enjoy music from around the world, including Japan's world renowned KODO taiko drummers. For those leaving Japan this summer, this could be your last chance to see some amazing music and scenery and of course, to party with some great people. Check out all the info on Earth Celebration thru the KODO website

SEPTEMBER

If you have any events that you would like to plan, please send an email to events@outdoorsig.com

OCTOBER

Be part of an OutdoorSIG team in the Niseko Adventure Race. Go hardcore on the Health and Sports Day!!!....form a team (mixed sex) and partake in the 10km raft-20km Mt bike-10km run in some of the most spectacular scenery in Japan...nestled under Hokkaido's Fuji-san ...Mt.Yotei. Check out info on group that organizes the triathalon...the Niseko Adventure Centre

NON-OUTDOORSIG ANNUAL EVENTS

AUGUST

FUJI ROCK FEST Held at Naeba ski resort in Nagano....every year....camp and party for three days straight. From the website:www.fujirockfestival.com (there is an English version too!).

BICYCLE for EVERYONE'S EARTH (BEE) ECOSIG trip (from Aug thru Oct) A multi-week trip for the eco-conscious and super genki!...travelling the entire length of Japan by bike to raise environmental awareness. The BEE Ride across Japan started in 1997 when a group of three ALTs rode their bicycles from Wakkanai, northern Hokkaido to Kagoshima, in southern Kyushu. The subsequent BEE Rides were equally successful. This year, get in on the Bicycle for Everyone's Earth.....no matter how small your contribution to the ride it would be much welcome. Check out their website at:www.beejapan.org

Keep your eyes peeled on the OutdoorSIG discussion list for various events happening on or near Fuji-san this summer. If you missed the pre-season climb in June, you can make the climb this summer! Don't forget, it will still be chilly at the summit in August!

See you outdoors,

Iwate Dave (the Events Guy)
events@outdoorsig.com

Tidbits Corner

"He isn't climbing, he's levitating up!"
An OutdoorSIG'er declared after John Marshall passed everyone up for the third time in a row during this season's Fuji Pre-season climb.

Exclusive Interview (with Toby Weymiller)

Whenever anyone thinks of OutdoorSIG, they think of the great outdoors in Japan, regardless of what part of Japan. But have you ever wondered how it got to be this way? In fact, have you ever wondered how OutdoorSIG ever came about? I was told it was because of the efforts of one man. But this interview clarified that myth. More importantly, after conducting this interview, I felt inspired by my uncertain future, rather than frighten, Thank you Toby!!! Read on to discover the origins of OutdoorSIG for yourself and get inspired along the way. Click Here for the Interview with Toby Weymiller

This Month's Articles

A Golden Time in Gassan - Rachael Murphy (June 2003)
Let's Iwate-san Challenge! - Donna Chow (June 2003)
Here Comes the Sun - Peter Goodman (July 2003)
Mt. Fuji, Here I Come! - Donna Chow (July 2003)
Scuba SIG Okinawa Trip 2003 Info
Sado Earth Day Celebration 2001-Outdoor Japan
Unforgettable-Sado Earth Festival 2002 - Dan Jones (2002)
Sado Island Hiking - Sara Russell (2002)

EVERY SITUATION IS DIFFERENT (ESID)

A selection from Earth Jonathan Bennett`s comics at: www.angelfire.com/comics/esid/

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