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Carolyn Gibson reflects on her time in rural Japan Acton's Carolyn Gibson shows good form while working out at the Japanese art of Judo. Local athlete Julie Pliotas finishes third at National Tetrathalon Championships in Toronto Local athlete Julie Pliotas finished third at the National Tetrathalon Championships, held last week in Toronto. The tetrathalon consists of four events: riding, shooting, swimming and running. In the individual categories featured at the national championships, Pliotas placed second in swimming, and sixth in running, shooting and horseback riding. Twenty-five competitors competed in the Junior level. Erin Hewick from Westmount in Hamilton won this age group, while Kyla Cunningham from Alberta took second. Participants in the event came from Alberta, British Columbia, the Ottawa Valley and Western Ontario. BY TREVOR BANKS For the last two years, home for Carolyn Gibson, was a small rural town outside Nagoya, Japan. But Carolyn is once again calling Acton home, having recently returned after participating in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program (JET). Looking back, the Acton resident feels she has accomplished a worthy task. Her experiences in the rural town ofToki, Japan, have fuelled a philosophy that will see her put her skills to work at home in Canada. Carolyn sees a problem in our society. "There needs to be more understanding, especially in Canada, it's becoming such a multicultural country." She would like to be a liaison between the painter sees his dreams coming true BY TREVOR BANKS Mark Kalous is slowly but surely achieving his lifelong dream; he is a self-taught wildlife artist who lives and works at his home on 25 Side Road. Born in 1921, he's a fit and vigorous man who is still as determined as ever to take his lifelong passion for painting to a new level. He has been painting for the last 25 years. He works with oils and acrylics painting landscapes and Mennonite scenes along with his wildlife scenes of birds and animals. Twelve years ago, Mark made a conscious decision to devote Please turn to Page 2 different cultures. Drawing upon her experiences in Japan, she is better able to relate to others who are faced with having to adapt to new surroundings. Carolyn recalls that initially, she had to adjust to the Japanese style of communicating. "They don't want to 'lose face'. They don't want to create any friction. If you present them something, they'll encourage you but they won't say 'yes.' To a foreigner, it means a green light. So you go ahead, until you realize what they actually meant. There were numerous times when that happened," she said. Regarding the reason for difficulties here in Canada, she said "foreigners have trouble adjusting because there are still negative feelings about immigrants taking away jobs." Gibson has various ideas regarding where her plans can be implemented. Potentially, she might find work with a business dealing with Japanese investors; there is also the tourism field. "I would like to work with Canadians going overseas as well as with people coming to Canada," she said. "I want to teach people that we all can get along, that there is much in common." she continued. "I want to look at the field and if I need more education then I'll go back and get a masters degree. I'm thinking of anthropology. My ideas are in their infancy, so I would love to develop them more," she said. Carolyn enjoys challenges. Wildlife naturalist Mark Kalous's work has been compared to that of Robert Bateman. Kalous opens a show today (Tuesday) at the Halton Hills Cultural Centre. (Photo by Trevor Banks)