Wednesday 13 July 2011

London Orientation

Firstly, London Orientation is basically short for the 2011 JET Programme pre-departure orientation course :D
It began at 9am Monday 4th July and ended on Tuesday 5th July at 4pm. It took place at Brunel University, London and included an overnight stay at the uni. (Wish they'd told us accommodation came with en suite bathrooms and a massive shared kitchen - I would have brought more food with me)

It was compulsory but I wouldn't have missed it anyway. It was awesome :P T'was the first chance for all of us British JETs to get together and meet up. Quite tricky when some live in Ireland and Scotland. It was basically a series of seminars followed by several Japanese classes for different levels of ability. Really enjoyed the seminars but was reaching for my sandwiches by 12am on the first day. No lunch until 1.15!! Seeing as most people hadn't eaten anything since they left their home at some ungodly hour in the morning, I wasn't the only one crying for lunch... or a nap.

Other than that, the two days were really productive and and good chance to mingle with your distant, future colleagues.

A reception at the Embassy of Japan at 6pm on Tuesday followed the orientation and that was a shindig to be proud of :D There were many professional and respected members of Japanese society there, headteachers, presidents of companies, the Ambassador for Japan, the JET Programme Coordinator etc. There was also lots of tasty Japanese food being served as well as a never-ending supply of chamagne, wine and orange juice :) I must say, I'm quite a fussy eater so I'm going to have to spend a lot of time trying out new things to eat. This party was a good prelude to that. Yay.

Meh, gotta keep packing, got to keep tidying, got to keep trying to sell things on eBay. Bye bye >.<

Flight info

Yesterday the flight info for all of the UK JETs went up online. We all fly from London, Heathrow to Tokyo, Narita with British Airways (BA), Virgin Atlantic (VS) and Japan Airlines (JAL). I'm going to be on the VS flight.
This has led to a re-think of what I'm taking with me and what I'm sending ahead. All very taxing and tedious but it'll all be done soon enough.
If you're interested in the luggage allowance then you can check out this page...

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/en/gb/passengerinformation/baggage/index.jsp

I'm flying economy but I hear VS have free unlimited snacks. Hope it's true but I bet it isn't -_-

Us UK JET's have set up a closed group on facebook, which is a nice thing to be a part of. I like having all these people from home so easily accessible and I'm pretty sure it'll be one of many life-lines that'll keep me sane in Japan when I'm feeling isolated or lonely. Lord knows I'll probably feel that way at least once :S One of the perks of culture shock, I guess. Shrug.

Right now, I'm putting away all the JET stuff I made and received when going through the application process. My personal statement, the postcard they sent back, invitation to an interview, the congratulatory letter, stating that I'd passed the 2nd stage of the screening process and needed to send of a mesh of paperwork before officially being offered a placement on the JET Programme... Ah, happy memories.

Ooh! The Brunel stuff... See next Blog "London Orientation" ^_^

Sunday 26 June 2011

Placement info!

Within hours of my last post, the mail man arrived and delivered my placement information :)
Since then, I've been busy contacting as many people out there as possible and doing lots of overtime to save up for my travels.

For the people researching the JET Programme and reading this months or years from now, I'm going to detail what awaits you... For everyone else, you might want to skip this one :P

A large, white envelope from the JICC arrived and within it was my placement location, a congratulatory letter from the Embassy of Japan, MIC, MOFA, MEXT and CLAIR, reminders about sending off your paperwork for the Visa, a schedule for the two day orientation course in London, an invitation to meet the Ambassador of Japan at a reception, and last but not least, a 255 page bi-lingual General Information Handbook (GIH).

If your letter says something like... "PLACEMENT - You have been placed in Kochi Prefecture. This is the most detailed information regarding your placement that is currently available." then you'll likely be a Prefectural ALT, which means you'll probably end up in the city and working in a high school. When I applied for the JET programme I choose Mie, Shiga and Hyogo. My placement isn't one of those three choices but I wanted to be in the south in the warmth so I'm pretty lucky :) If it says "You have been placed in Nankoku, Kochi Prefecture" then you'll be a munincipal ALT and will probably be living in a more rural area and working in a mixture of elementary and high schools. I was expecting to work with elementary students based on my volunteering at a primary school but I guess fate has other plans in store for me...

The congratulatory letter includes a welcome in to the organistaion and some safety announcements about the current climate in Japan. There are also some numbers and info from the FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) and JETAA UK who set up cultural events, networking and pub nights. Check out jetaa.org.uk/events for more info.

At this point in the process you really don't want to miss your deadlines for sending in paperwork. Without a visa, you CAN'T participate so keep in contact with your local embassy to keep abreast of any problems. A visa application form is included in this pack which you have to fill in and hand in at the orientation in July.

All info about the 2011 JET Programme pre-departure orientation course is included. It takes place at Brunel University from the 4-5th July for which we will be provided with overnight accommodation. Here, we will receive a welcome address, an introduction to CLAIR, advice from The FCO and info about travel and flights. In the afternoon there are lectures on the Japanese education system, workshops on TEFL and some Japanese language lessons. The next day includes more workshops and language lessons.

Orientation ends at 4pm on July 5th followed by a reception at the Embassy of Japan, London. I'll write more about that after I've been.

The GIH for 2011 and includes a DVD about life in Japan as an ALT or CIR. You can read it yourself here http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/current/pubs/gih.html. It's brilliant and I read the entire pdf two years ago. Doesn't seem like much has changed either.

Since the 17th June, I've joined a yahoo group for my prefecture, messaged people living there about the city, the schools and what to bring. I'm still waiting to hear from my predecessor but fingers crossed I won't have to wait much longer! Bye byeee

Friday 17 June 2011

Third blog :)

Okay, so it's been a while since my last blog but not much has happened since then. Admittedly, I did go to Seville for four days. I also received an email from the JET Programme on 6th June saying all the placement information would be late (I think the reason they sent out that email was because they were receiving so many calls and emails from worried applicants). BUT finally an update to twitter has left me feeling elated :D THEY'VE FINALLY POSTED OUT THE PLACEMENT INFORMATION!!!! YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

So this means that sometime today or tomorrow I am going to receive the very thing I have waited over a month to receive. Doesn't sound like a long wait, does it? Well, it is when you can't stop thinking about it. I'll finally be able to finish packing now that I know where I'll be going.

Oh yeah, on Wednesday I joined the JET Programme Forums. I've previously browsed through it's pages when researching info for JET but there was never anything current in there. However, on Wednesday I finally found new threads :) Everyone was preparing for departure and I've even found the Brits after drifting through a sea of Americans :-/

Sigh, I better get ready for work :( I wanna wait for the mail though....

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Second blog

Hey hey,

It's been exactly ONE week since I last used this website.  In that time, I've worked out how to edit and colour the blog's layout. To be fair, this is a VERY simple website and I bet I won't even have problems uploading pictures... That remains to be seen...

I found out that I was accepted onto the JET programme last Wednesday and have since told my family, closest friends and work. I just hope it wasn't a premature decision on my part as I still have to wait for my visa and certain other bits of paperwork. SHOULD be fine though...

Nothing more to report this week as it's been much like any other. I'm still working on my basic JAPANESE, revising my Spanish for my trip to SPAIN and thinking about what to do with the stuff that stays here when I leave. No way I'm storing my books and clothes in the BASEMENT...

Catch you next time, BYEEE...

Wednesday 20 April 2011

My first blog

Testing...Testing...

Okay, as this is my first ever blog, I shall attempt to keep it simple. I hope that this will become the epicentre for my thoughts and discoveries on my life and new experiences.  The catalyst that made me start this venture in the first place was my acceptance onto the JET Programme.  I've only told a handful of people so far but everyone else will find out soon enough :D

I'm not keen on using Facebook so this will be my alternative method of communicating with my friends and family (this and skype so get your webcams out!).

It's gone 9pm on Wednesday 20th April and I feel like there's an awful lot to do before I fly out to Japan. I'm anxious and excited but mostly anxious. If I don't get my paperwork out on time and lose my place, I'm heading out to teach in Spain instead!
If this blogging malarkey works, I shall endeavour to keep it up :) For now, I bid you adieu x