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