Japanese Class - Nihon Sanpo Vol.2

 

Dionne and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas weekend and were able to stay warm with the power outages and the freezing temperatures. If you or someone you know is still without power, we hope you are able to find somewhere to stay warm and recharge. 

Michael was hard at work these past couple of weeks since our last in-person class and has put together the next volume of Nihon Sanpo for us to keep practicing and learning more about the Japanese language and culture. 

Click here or on the link below to read volume 2 of Nihon Sanpo and peruse the live links in the PDF document! 

https://bit.ly/3jCsMZS

Happy holidays!

Good afternoon! Kon'nichiwa gozaimasu! 

It's the last day of Semester 1 and we are heading into Winter Break! We hope that you all have a wonderful and safe holiday break with your friends and families near and far. 

Here are just a few reminders as we near the end of 2022! 

1 - Fundraising page

Don't forget that each traveler has a fundraising page that was created by EF automatically when you enrolled. This can be accessed through your EF traveler website and is a perfect way for family members to contribute to your tour for the holidays. Click on the link to our Linktree below to read our blog with instructions on how to access your fundraising page. 

2 - Payments 

If you are on the manual payment plan, please check the date of your next payment. You can find information about your payment plan on your online account or by calling EF's Traveler Support Team at 800-665-5364 to avoid any late charges to your account. 

3 - Language & Culture class

In an email earlier this week, I sent out the remaining dates for our language and culture classes. Unfortunately, I had marked the wrong date for our January class. Please see the updated dates below. 

• Monday, January 9, 2023
• Monday, February 13, 2023
• Monday, March 13, 2023
• Monday, April 10, 2023

We meet on the second Monday of each month until April and we will resume in the fall when the 2023-2024 school year begins. If you have any questions, please let us know! 

4 - Tea Ceremony

Dionne and I (we will be going with Milla and Sydney as well) have registered for the 1:00 pm demo session for the Chanoyu Tea Ceremony at Washington & Lee University on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (January 16, 2023). Roanoke County Schools will be out that day due to the holiday and it would be a great opportunity to learn about the Japanese Tea Ceremony. You do have to register in advance for the demo and if your plans change for the day, you can cancel so that others may attend. I have contacted the professor organizing the demo and it is a FREE demo open to the general public. 

Register here https://www.Calendly.com/mwlu/tea_mlk23, and each 30 minutes session is limited to 20 participants! 

​5 - Paint Night 

​Please make a note of our next Paint Night event. I will send out a Sign Up Genius at the start of February for those who want to help on the night of the event and/or donate snacks, etc. again. 

 Thursday, 2023 March 16

 5:00 pm 

​ Vinton Library meeting rooms

6 - Travel is BETTER with FRIENDS

​Lastly, to make this short (probably too late!) do you have a friend who hasn't enrolled on our trip but wants to go? Share our tour enrollment page with them ​at www.eftours.com/2539731HF​ or our Linktree for more information. Travel is much better with friends, and now may be a good time for them to enroll in our tour! ​

​​

​PHEW! That was longer than I intended, but I didn't want to leave anything out! ​

HAVE A SAFE AND ​HAPPY HOLIDAYS! 

Cherry Bell Damasco-Farrington

Dionne Nichols

(540) 521-1168

vintonworldtrekkers@gmail.com

F​ollow us on our social media accounts! ​​

​https://linktr.ee/vintonworldtrekkers​​

Tea Ceremony at Washington & Lee university on MKL, Jr Day 2023

 

Planning ahead into 2023 and Kelly Melissa Prim has shared that Washington and Lee has a Japanese Tea Society. They are holding a tea ceremony event on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Roanoke County Schools will be closed so it would be a great opportunity to go together as a group!

Please see the attached flyer for the event and if you are interested, please know that registration is required for the event at this Calendly link: https://www.Calendly.com/mwlu/tea_mlk23, and each 30 minutes session is limited to 20 participants! 

As of today (Tuesday, December 13, 2022) the following time slots have the following available spots. 

1:00 pm - 13 spots left

1:45 pm - 15 spots left

2:30 pm - 17 spots left

Remember to reserve your spots soon! If you decide to go, Dionne and I are planning to go to the 1:00 pm slot and have lunch beforehand. If you'd like to tag along with us, send us a message and let us know! 

Click here to follow us https://linktr.ee/vintonworldtrekkers on our socials!

Japanese Language & Culture Class - Lesson 1 & 2

Lesson 1 - November 14, 2022 

Lesson 1 Presentation

Lesson 2 - December 12, 2022

Lesson 2 Presentation

We're in our second lesson of the year as we prepare for our Japan 2024 trip! It's not too late to join us and begin learning. Michael has prepared lessons meticulously for us so that we know more about Japan's history, language, customs, and culture in general. 

Mark your calendars for our next sessions! 

All classes are held at the William Byrd High School library on the second Monday of every month at 5:00 pm until April 2023: 

• Monday, January 9, 2023 
• Monday, February 13, 2023 
• Monday, March 13, 2023 
• Monday, April 10, 2023

Send us a message if you have any questions! Visit our Linktree https://linktr.ee/vintonworldtrekkers to follow us on social or read our blog! 

Japanese Language Class & Other reminders 2022.12.12

 

Happy Monday! 

We are entering the final week before Winter Break for Roanoke County Schools and I believe Botetourt County Schools will also begin their Winter Break next week! Are you ready for the holidays? Below are just a few reminders as we head into the holidays... 

1 - Japanese Language & Culture Class

We have our class THIS EVENING. Please note that the WBHS Library has moved into its new location. It is now directly down the hallway across from the Main Gym, which is about halfway through the main hallway. I will attempt to record the class this time for those unable to attend. 

 Monday, Dec. 12th

 5:00 pm 

 WBHS Library

2 - Fundraising Page

A few weeks ago, I sent out a reminder regarding your personal Fundraising Page. EF automatically creates a fundraising page for each traveler when they enroll on the tour. This can be accessed through your EF traveler website and is a perfect way for family members to contribute to your tour for the holidays. Click on the link to our Linktree below to read our blog with instructions on how to access your fundraising page.

3 - Travel is BETTER with FRIENDS:

Most importantly, do you have a friend who hasn’t yet enrolled on our trip but wants to go? Share our tour enrollment page with them: www.eftours.com/2539731HF. Travel is much better with friends, and now may be a good time for them to enroll on tour! 

4 - PAINT NIGHT

Mark your calendars for our next paint night. We will begin ticket sales in February so please keep an eye out for it. If you do NOT want to participate in this fundraiser, please let me know. We will attempt another raffle as well for this paint night. The last raffle was quite successful and gave us additional funds. 

 Thursday, 2023 March 16

 5:00 pm 

 TBD (will most likely be at the Vinton Library once again)

If we don't see you before the winter break, we hope you have a wonderful holiday and we'll see you in the new year!

All the best and happy holidays,

Cherry Bell 
Dionne 
(540) 521-1168
vintonworldtrekkers@gmail.com

Follow us on our social media accounts! 
https://linktr.ee/vintonworldtrekkers

Reminders for during Winter Break!

​

Hello and happy Hump Day! 

Happy holidays! I hope you’re looking forward to some time off.

I’m so excited to be traveling with you in 2024 to Japan and wanted to send a few reminders of things to start thinking about:

​

​1. ​Passports: EF will need information about all travelers’ passports about 4 months before our tour to book everything. If you haven’t already applied for your passport, this is a great time to do it when you have some extra days off of school! Start the application process, here. 

• If you already have your passport, you can feel free to enter your passport information on your traveler site. 

​2. ​Fundraising Page: In case you didn’t know, EF automatically creates a fundraising page for each traveler when they enroll on the tour. This can be accessed through your EF traveler website and is a perfect way for family members to contribute to your tour for the holidays. Click on the link to our linktree below to read our blog with instructions on how to access your fundraising page. ​​

​

3. ​Payments: Please check that you are on top of your payments. You can find information about your payment plan, on your online account or by calling EF’s Traveler Support Team at 800-665-5364.  

​4. ​Travel Necessities: Don’t have a suitcase? Heard about packing cubes and want to try them out? Why not ask for something you’ll need on your trip for the holidays! Some ideas of things that you might need or want for our trip:

• A neck pillow to get a good night’s sleep on the plane
• A suitcase to pack all of your souvenirs i​n
• ​ Comfortable walking shoes to explore everything
• ​A fun passport holder to keep your passport safe and secure
• A travel adapter for all of your electronics. 

​5. ​Travel is BETTER with FRIENDS: Most importantly, do you have a friend who hasn’t yet enrolled on our trip but wants to go? Share our tour enrollment page with them:​ ​www.eftours.com/2539731HF. Travel is much better with friends, and now may be a good time for them to enroll on tour! 

​​

I hope these are some helpful reminders and I hope that you and your family have a happy winter break!

All the best,

​​Cherry Bell Damasco-Farrington

Dionne Nichols

(540) 521-1168​​

vintonworldtre​k​kers@gmail.com

​Follow us on social media! Click the link below to see all our socials! ​

https://linktr.ee/vintonworldtrekkers

Japanese Class - Nihon Sanpo Vol.1

Happy Monday!! 

I hope you had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving holiday! It was most definitely a much needed break. We are three weeks away from the winter break and only TWO weeks away from our next Japanese Language and Culture class with Michael. 

Attached to this email is a short newsletter from Michael that he compiled based on some of the questions you gave on the index card from our last class to help us continue learning about Japan's language and culture in between classes. He has LOTS of resources and suggestions for us as well as YouTube playlists for us to peruse! So while we wait for our next class, practice writing your name in Hiragana and/or Katakana and check out some of the resources Michael has given us. 

Mark your calendars for our next class! 

🗓 Monday, December 12, 2022

 ⏰ 5:00 pm 

📌 WBHS Library

Click here to view Volume 1 of Nihon Sanpo! 

Use your tour donation page this holiday season - Japan 2024!

Hello, Travelers and Families,

With holiday shopping right around the corner, I wanted to remind you about your Traveler Tour Donation Page. I have attached instructions on how to access your unique page to this email. Friends and family can make secure online contributions, 100% of which are applied directly to your traveler’s tour balance.

Here are some ideas of how to get the word out there about your Tour Donation page:

• Direct Texts  
• Social Media
• Emails 
• Snail Mail – maybe along with a family holiday card

Here is an image that you can post along with a message like this:

Hey, NAME HERE,

I will be traveling to Japan 2024 with my school. Would you consider giving me the gift of travel this holiday season by donating to my trip? Here is the link to my Tour Donation Page LINK HERE. Any amount helps!

Thank you, 

TRAVELER NAME

$200 Discount Reminder

 

Deadline TODAY to receive the $200 early enrollment discount

TODAY is the deadline to receive the $200 early enrollment discount for our 2024 trip to Japan. Don’t miss out!

Visit my info page here at www.eftours.com/2539731hf to enroll. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions that you have. You can also speak with EF’s dedicated Traveler Support team at 800-665-5364.

I can’t wait to travel with you!

HOY es la fecha limite para inscribirse en nuestro viaje a Japon en el año 2024

HOY es la fecha límite para recibir el descuento de $200 para inscribirse temprano en nuestro viaje del 2024 a Japón. ¡No se lo pierdan!

Visite mi página de información aquí www.eftours.com/2539731hf para inscribirse. Por favor no dude en comunicarse conmigo con cualquier pregunta que tenga. También, se puede comunicar con nuestros especialistas de Apoyo al Viajante al 800-665-5364. ¡Hablan español!

¡Espero poder viajar contigo!

Thanks for coming! Japan 2024

Thanks to all of you who were able to make it to tonight’s meeting about our upcoming 2024 trip: Japan: Land of the Rising Sun. We were so excited to share all the tour details with you and see so many familiar (and new!) faces.  This trip is an incredible opportunity for our students (and adults!) to explore new cities, cultures, and languages, and I can’t wait to see them discover more about themselves, gain leadership skills, and grow more confident in the process.

Space is limited and comes on a first-come, first-served basis for this trip.  We do expect the remaining spots to be filled by Friday, September 23rd.  Please be sure to enroll as soon as possible 100% risk-free to secure your spot with our group! 

As a reminder, the $200 scholarship price is valid through Friday, September 16 at midnight.  To sign-up, please visit my tour website: www.eftours.com/2539731HF or call EF’s Traveler Support team at (800) 665-5364 M-F, 9am – 5:30pm.

Here are some links with more information from our FAQs last night: 

• Parent Enrollment Guide

• Insurance 

• Peace of Mind programs

• Safety on tour

• Value of an EF Tour video 

• Interest Meeting Recording

 

If you were not able to join us for the meeting, please take a look at my tour website and the Parent Enrollment Guide and let me know if you have any questions.  Please read through and/or download the booking conditions as well.

Thank you all so much – We are so excited for this adventure and to have something to look forward to

Cherry Bell

Dionne

Japan 2024 - Informational Meeting

Dear Families,

Your student is invited to join us for a once-in-a-lifetime travel experience to Japan: Land of the Rising Sun during the summer of 2024!

We have decided to offer this opportunity now to give students hope for a brighter future. Because we have been cooped up for so long, we want to give families the chance to look ahead. There is incredible growth that comes with seeing the world and exploring someplace new—and we are excited to bring that opportunity to our community.

I am a former Spanish language teacher and the current ITRT (Instructional Technology Resource teacher) and Mrs. Nichols is an English teacher at William Byrd High School, and we have successfully led EF International Tours (Education First) for students and their families in the past 8 years.

This trip will fill up fast, so please join the informational meeting and webinar where we’ll discuss:

● Where and when we’re going!

● All the things we’ll see and do!

● Travel logistics/Safety

● How your child can earn academic credit

● Flexible payment options that keep the tour affordable

We’ll also share details about how to sign up (space is limited!) and answer any questions you might have.

Please note: This opportunity is not a ‘William Byrd High School’ or ‘Roanoke County Public Schools’ sponsored event. Affiliation can no longer be tied with the school/school system in international travel.

In-person & virtual meeting date: Wednesday, September 14th at 6:00 PM 

Location: Vinton Public Library or your couch!

The Zoom meeting link will be sent to all those who register before the meeting, so be sure to register and respond "YES, I'LL BE THERE" so that you are able to receive that link and attend! If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like information, please register as well. We will send out information after the meeting. 

Click here to register https://bit.ly/3QANK7M

Can't wait to see you there!

Cherry Bell Damasco-Farrington 

Dionne Nichols 

vintonworldtrekkers@gmail.com