It's been the longest and shortest two years of my life. (Sometimes I feel like I've been living here FOREVER. And sometimes I still feel like I just arrived.August 2018 marked two years of living in Japan, and it's been quite the ride. I never expected that at the ripe old age of 33 that I'd be going into my third year of teaching English here and going on almost eight years of living abroad... but here I am.What I've DoneSo much. I've done so much since I've been here! I've ...
JET Programme
JET Programme: Don’t Panic About Your Placement
It's May, and that means one thing for the new JET Programme participants - your placement is (probably) coming!Here is my advice: don't panic when you get it.That's it. Have a nice day!Kidding aside, I know from experience that this is one of the most stressful parts of this program (after finding out whether or not you got in, of course!) And I also know that a literal shit-ton (technical term) of you WILL NOT GET YOUR PLACEMENT REQUESTS. I seriously have no idea why they even ask us. ...
What I Wish I Had Known Before Coming to Japan
I tried to include this in my First Six Months in Japan recap post, but my "What I Wish I Had Known Before Coming to Japan" section was longer than the post itself. It clearly needed its own post, so here you go! Or, if you're an ALT: here you are! (Inside ALT joke - students learn "here you are" instead of "here you go", and after months of saying it constantly, it starts to replace "here you go" in your natural speech!)This list of things I wish I had known before coming to Japan is ...
The First Six Months as a JET ALT in Japan
It's been both the fastest and the slowest six months of my life. I can't believe I've been teaching as a JET Programme ALT in Japan for just over six months now.Some days I really feel like I've been in the classroom every day for three hundred years (usually, that feeling is on a Friday). Some days I feel like it's still my first day and I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.But mostly.... mostly it's been fine.I thought it might be a good idea to collect my thoughts and advice from the ...
The JET Programme: From Application to Acceptance
Most of you know by now that I'm headed to Japan to teach English as a participant on the JET Programme. I wrote previously about how this was a long time coming (I first heard about it in 2006!) and a basic breakdown of the timeline. This post will be more detailed, and will probably only be interesting to those of you who found my blog while searching for info about JET, sorry! Please keep in mind while reading that I am a Canadian (Vancouver consulate) JET, and things differ by ...