Interesse Club: Matchmaking Service
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JETwit.com is pleased to welcome its newest sponsor, interesseclub, a subsidiary company of staffing/recruiting firm Interesse International, Inc.
interesseclub offers a progressive matchmaking service, from registration through marriage, and is based in both the U.S. and Japan.
To learn more and/or to register, visit the interesseclub website or contact them in:
- New York: 212-391-7767
- Los Angeles: 310-414-4541
- Sillicon Valley: 650-218-9464
Online registration available 24/7!
Happy (American) Thanksgiving from JETwit
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Just want to wish everyone out there a Happy (American) Thanksgiving.
This has been a challenging year for JET and JETAA. We lost two of our own, many of us lost friends and we al perhaps l lost part of some familiar notion of Japan that existed before the earthquake and tsunami.
This year’s Thanksgiving may feel like an acute reminder to take stock and be thankful for all that we have and all that we still have to look forward to.
Ganbare Nippon and Ganbare JET Alumni.
Wishing everyone a safe and healthy Thanksgiving.
Miyagi AJET launches Micro Grant Program in honor of Taylor Anderson
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Miyagi AJET has launched a Micro Grant Program in honor of Taylor Anderson intended to “empower JETs with financial support in their efforts to fulfill the goals of the JET Programme in and outside of school.” Read below for full details:
To all Miyagi/Sendai JETs:
Employed directly through Boards of Education and embedded in communities, we JETs have a lot of potential to do great things here in Japan. Many of us invest our personal time, and sometimes our own money, to craft interactive lessons that engage students, to motivate students and spark their interest in English and foreign cultures, to produce quality events educating the people in our communities about our home countries, and more. As the AJET branch for Miyagi and Sendai, MAJET is here to support you in your activities as a JET, and to this end, we would like to announce the “Miyagi-Sendai JET Micro-Grant Program.”
Attached please find a detailed description of the program, outlining it’s goals and how to apply. To put it simply, as Miyagi starts to take it’s formative steps towards recovery from the March 11th disaster, the purpose of this program is to empower JETs with financial support in their efforts to fulfill the goals of the JET Programme in and outside of school.
All too often JETs have great ideas to create language/culture boards at their school, to put on fun events for eikaiwa groups, to put on culture days at the local community center, but find themselves encumbered for lack of even a minimal working budget. There’s only so much that can come out of our own pockets, which is where this program comes in. Whatever idea you may have for doing something that you feel helps meet the goals of the JET Programme (internationalization, cultural interaction, language education, etc.), we want you to tell us about it. If your idea does indeed further the cause of JET, we’ll provide you with money to make it a reality! Initially we have set the range of possible grants to between 2,000 and 10,000 yen, but if you have a particularly good idea, let us know and we will consider going beyond this range.
If you are interested in applying for a grant, please fill out an application here:
https://docs.google.com/a/ajet.net/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dDNPaFdVSFUxUDBzb1pZcGttZEdoSHc6MQ
Even if you are currently engaged in an activity that you already pay for out of pocket, let us know and we may be able to provide you with funding to take this activity to the next level. Please keep in mind that once funds run out, this program will be discontinued, so if you have an idea for things you want to do next spring/summer, let us know sooner rather than later.
In announcing this program, we would like to give special thanks to the family of Taylor Anderson, an Ishinomaki JET who was sadly loston March 11th. During what was undoubtedly a trying time for the Andersons, they decided to honor Taylor’s memory as best they could in supporting the recovery of the community in which Taylor lived, and which she loved. Knowing Taylor’s activities as a JET, the Andersons recognize the importance of the JET Programme towards internationalization and language education at the grassroots/community level in Japan, and see the potential for the JETs of Miyagi and Sendai to be active parts of recovery. It is a result of the Andersons commitment to helping Ishinomaki and Miyagi that the idea for this program was formed, and it is from donations raised by the Anderson’s that the seed money for this program will come.
If you have any questions about this program, or if you would like to brainstorm with us and discuss in more detail the possibility of receiving a grant, please contact us at miyagi@ajet.net
Wishing you the best,
The MAJET Team
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Miyagi Association of JET 2011-12
www.ajetmiyagi.net
Claudine Bennent (President)
Cameron Peek (President)
Brian Garvey (Vice-President)
Marissa Godwin (Treasurer)
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Read on for official Micro Grant Program guidelines: Read More
Japan Foundation new project to promote exchanges with alma maters of Taylor Anderson and Monty Dickson
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Here’s an article from Asahi.com about a new Japan Foundation project to promote exchanges and closer ties between Japan and the alma matters of Taylor Anderson (Randolph Macon College) and Monty Dickson (University of Alaska at Anchorage), including student and teacher exchange programs with Japan and providing Japan-related books and materials for the schools.
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1120/TKY201111200276.html
震災で犠牲のアンダーソンさんらを記念 日米で交流事業
国際交流基金は、東日本大震災で犠牲になった米国人の英語指導助手、テイラー・アンダーソンさん（当時２４歳）とモンゴメリー・ディクソンさん（同２６歳）を記念し、両氏の出身校と同基金が中心になって日米理解の促進に関する事業を行う、と発表した。
アンダーソンさんはランドルフ・メーコン・カレッジ（米バージニア州）、ディクソンさんはアラスカ大学アンカレジ校（米アラスカ州）の出身。日米の学生・教員の交流、出身校への日本関連の図書寄贈や講座の充実、日本文化に関する講演会の開催などが計画されている。（ワシントン＝伊藤宏）
Xmas cards for Tohoku kids
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Via JETAA USA:
Xmas Cards for Tohoku Kids
http://www.jetaausa.com/?p=1952&preview=true
A Professor Emeritus of Chuo University has started a project called “Xmas Cards from Friends Around the World”. This is a campaign to gather Christmas cards from around the world to bring to the children in Tohoku. If you’d like to participate, please send your card(s) to the following address:
c/o Mrs. Mayumi Hoshi
Shichigahama-cho Saigai-Volunteer Center
Noyama 5-9, Yoshidahama
Shichigahama-cho, Miyagi
JAPAN 985-0802
ATTN: Boys and Girls
For more information (Japanese only) please see the PDF.
“Hope For Tomorrow” expands activities to 5 cities including Ishinomaki thanks to JETAA USA Funds
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JETAA USA Earthquake Relief Fund Update:
Hope for Tomorrow, one of the grantees of the JETAA USA Earthquake Relief Fund, has been successful enough to expand to 5 cities, including Ishinomaki in addition to Rikuzentakata. They mention the JET contribution as a reason for focusing on these cities front and center on their home page.
Also, since the original posting, JETAA USA upped its grant to a total of $26,700 which comes out to an even 2,000,000 yen.
Click here for a re-cap of disbursements by the JETAA USA Earthquake Relief Fund.
Daily Yomiuri: “Study halls opened in honor of ‘Monty-sensei'”
Earthquake Tsunami, Fundraising, JETs in the News, Local Government, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment Comments Off on Daily Yomiuri: “Study halls opened in honor of ‘Monty-sensei'”
JETAA Sydney Christmas Party and Photo Competition
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| Christmas Party and Photo Competition Do you like taking pictures? Whether your weapon of choice is a point-and-shoot or a DSLR, why not share your photos with us? This year we are running a photo competition as part of the JETAA Christmas party on 10 December. Interested? Keep on reading.Photo Competition
We’re sure you have many pictures in your collection, so start sorting and start sending them in! Good luck! Christmas Party In addition to the photo competition and general Christmas party fun, we will also have a giant raffle, with a great range of prizes. All raffle proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross Japan Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Appeal. There will also be a donation box for anyone wanting to make further contributions. When: Saturday, 10 December from 7:00pm until late. Where: Parkview Hotel, 178-170 Mitchell Road Alexandria (closest station is Erskineville). Cost: Only $25 per person includes food and drinks for 2 hours (get there early to get the full drinks package). RSVP: Email sydney@jetalumni.org by Wednesday 7 December to confirm your attendance. |
JET alums Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) and Peter Weber (JET Coordinator at the Consulate in San Francisco) are both quoted in this article titled “Teaching English in Japan: JET vs. Alternatives” on the GoTeachAbroad.com website.
http://www.goteachabroad.com/teach-abroad-blog/teaching-english-in-japan-jet-vs-alternatives/2994
JETAA USA establishes Sister City Support System
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Since just before the 2011 National Conference in DC this past summer, a few of us (e.g., U.S. Country Reps Jessyca Wilcox and Mike Shu as well as myself) have been working on setting up a JETAA USA system to encourage JETAA chapters to connect with and engage with their sister city/ prefecture counterparts in Japan. We met with Sister Cities International prior to the start of the conference (SCI is HQ is based in DC) to see how we might get this put together and how we can have a symbiotic relationship.
We established that some of the key needs of U.S. sister cities are the ability to communicate in Japanese and familiarity with and ability to navigate the Japanese culture, which are key ingredients for helping to grow, re-inspire, or create those relationships. This, as you are likely well aware, is the exact skill set we, as JET alumni, possess.
While JETAA has not yet established any formal relationship yet with SCI, JETAA is very much looking forward to working with them more closely in the future. But in the meantime, JETAA has begun to lay necessary groundwork to enable the JET alumni network and community to begin providing support when ready.
This has now been created in the form of the JETAA USA Sister Cities/ States JET Initiative (thanks to a lot of behind the scenes work by Jessyca Wilcox). Click the link (or read further down) for more background about this project and the tools that will enable JETAA chapters to get started. Simply connecting your JETAA chapter with your Japanese counterpart is valuable in and of itself! It demonstrates to local governments in Japan one more way that the JET alumni community is eager to provide “Return on JET-vestment” to our adopted home country.
New JETAANY Long Island Subchapter!
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JETAANY has announced a new subchapter in Long Island, and Carolyn Brooks (Ishikawa-ken, Kanazawa, 2006-11) will be the Long Island Subchapter Representative. You can contact her at longislandrep [at] jetaany.org.
JET Alumni Parents Facebook group
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Update: This is now a “group.” I originally set it up as a “page” but realized that’s not the way to go. Apologies for any inconvenience.
Are you a JET or JET alum and a parent? Or planning on being a parent? Then here’s a new JET alumni group for you:
JET Alumni Parents Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/231863163545612/
Yes, enough of us have reached that stage in our lives where it makes sense to set this up. So join the group, meet other JET alum parents, share stories and photos, and maybe even set up exchanges across countries where we swap our kids for a week or two! :-)
New Facebook group for Brooklyn JET Alumni
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Update: I originally set this up as a FB “page” but have now more wisely switched it to a “group.” So make sure to sign up for the “group.”
For anyone who’s interested, I’ve set up the Brooklyn JET Alumni group on Facebook for JET alumni who live in Brooklyn, are from Brooklyn or are just interested in Brooklyn.
Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/319357708081547/
I’ve had an informal email list for a few years, since I live in Brooklyn. And it was just time to turn it into a Facebook page. It’s not an official chapter or sub-chapter. Just an informal group for the convenience of those of us living in Brooklyn-cho.
BTW, if anyone wants to come up with a better graphic, please feel free to make one and send it to me at jetwit [at] jetwit.com.
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JETAANY held its annual Career Forum/Welcome Back Reception on Saturday at the Nippon Club in NYC. And in addition to the usual combination of useful advice, networking, natsukashii talk and reconnecting in general, this year’s Welcome Back Reception was notable for one other reason: It was attended by approximately 25 participants in Japan’s new Japan-U.S. Training Training and Exchange Program for English Language Teachers (JUSTE) program, sometimes referred to as the “Reverse JET” program.
The program selected 96 Japanese teachers of English to spend 6 months in the U.S. studying ESL teaching methodology–in English–at 6 different universities across the U.S.: Rutgers University (NJ), University of Delaware, University of Michigan, University of Texas, University of Iowa, UC Irvine and UC Davis. The teachers are in turn supposed to bring back their learning and share it with their respective school systems as part of an effort to improve English ability of Japanese students.
The Reverse JETs attending on Saturday came up from Rutgers and the University of Delaware. It was a terrific opportunity to get to know them and learn more about the program. Following a brief intro by all of the returning JETs, the Reverse JETs were asked to do the same. And as they said their names and prefectures, there was an almost instant connection as JET alums from various prefectures cheered when the Reverse JETs called out their own home prefecture.
It was also apparent that these were top rate teachers–the really genki, creative and engaged teachers you remember from your JET days. (We all were fortunate to have had at least one of these if not more.) This was made rather apparent when the Delaware contingency decided to forego the traditional introduction style and instead go with a teaching game they had all learned in class the day before. (See video below.)
Throughout the reception and the nijikai at Faces & Names, JET alumni found the Reverse JETs extremely friendly and easy to talk to. And it was interesting to hear about their situations and the parallels with our own first time experiences in Japan. For example:
- While the Rutgers participants are all living on campus in a dormitory for foreign students, the Delaware participants are all living with homestay families and generally need to rely on them for transportation to and from the campus (as they’re not permitted to drive while in the U.S.)
- Most participants were surprised to have been selected for the program. That’s because most of them hadn’t even known of the program’s existence until their principals called them into their offices and asked them if they’d like to go to the U.S. for 6 months. In same cases, participants only had hours to contact their spouse and decide whether to say yes. Though in everyone’s eyes, this was too good an opportunity to pass up, not to mention a terrific honor. They realized they had been 1 of 96 selected out of a total pool of 50,000 English teachers in Japan. It sounds like each prefecture is permitted to select a few school systems, and then the Board of Ed in those school systems chooses the teacher. Interestingly, some schools apparently passed on the opportunity because they didn’t feel they could afford to be without one of their top teachers for 6 months. And in some prefectures, the selection process is different and teachers can actually apply to be a participant.
- The teachers seemed to be aware of the costs involved in sending them to the U.S. and expressed a strong sense of obligation to study hard and share their learning upon return. Though one confessed to worrying about maintaining a delicate balance of sharing knowledge while also not wanting to be the nail that sticks up.
- And perhaps most interesting of all, in talking with one of the participants from Aichi (my JET prefecture), I learned that she grew up in Inuyama City and had JET alum and Inuyama City Council Member Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, Inuyama-shi, 1988-89) as her ALT when she was a student! Now that’s full circle. (If anyone knows a good Japanese kotowaza for that idea, please share.)
Hopefully, the Reverse JETs through the U.S. will be able to find JET alumni in their area. And it would be really terrific if JETAA chapters as well as the JET alumni community in general could do its best to reach out to the participants wherever they are. They truly appreciate getting to spend time with the New York JET alumni on Saturday. Imagine how great it must feel to be from Tottori-ken and find an American who is also familiar with Tottori.
Unfortunately, they’re only here through January. So now is the time to reach out. In addition to meeting some great people, you’ll also be helping to support a very unique Japanese education program that we hope will continue in the future and grow to meet the English learning needs of Japan’s society.
JETwit Career Update 11.09.11
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JETwit Career Update is a new feature where JETwit will list any JET alums who have recently (loosely interpreted) found a new job, gotten a promotion, started a new business, been elected to an office, started a new grad program or have any other career developments to share. You probably see lots of job listings, so I thought it would also be interested to know who’s finding work and what kind of work people are finding.
Let us know about yourself or fellow JET alums by sending an e-mail to jetwit [at] jetwit.com. (Make sure to include prefecture and years on JET. And of course mention if you found your job via JETwit or JETAA listings or connections.)
- Rob Cornilles won the Republican primary for the Congressional seat vacated by David Wu (D-Oregon), who resigned due to allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior. If Rob, who lost to Wu in the last election, wins this election, he would be the first ever JET alum to hold a seat in the U.S. Congress.
- Kiesha Speech (Nagasaki-ken, 2000-02) was elected to the Oak Park School Board last night in Oakland County, Michigan. (http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=POLITICS01) (https://www.facebook.com/#!/kieshaspeech)
- Olivia Nilsson (Tokushima-ken 2006-08) reports she has left her position at the New York Bureau of the Yomiuri Shimbun after three years covering business and economic news. She’s now working as a researcher at Blue Heron Research Partners in NYC.
- Elizabeth Gordon of JETAA Chicago reports: “I am the new Director of Private Events at the Adler Planetarium – totally different from what I was doing, but very exciting!”
- Daniel Sturgeon, a Political Analyst and Speechwriter at the Consulate General of Japan in Atlanta who also previously worked as a Chunichi/Tokyo Shimbun staff reporter in D.C. says: “My last three jobs have been Japan related and were found either at JETwit or the JETAA network.” Daniel also mentioned that he is now a Rotarian, so if anyone is interested in applying for their scholarship, he’s a point of contact.
- Shane Taber (Monbusho English Fellow, Nara-ken, 1979-81) says: “After a nearly 30 year “break”, 4 kids (now all grown), plus years of public school teaching innorthern California, I am happily back in Kansai teaching full time at Kobe College High School for the next several years. While I became aware of this job opening through other sources, this teaching position was also listed in JETwit’s job section in 2010. Of course, having been an MEF was a big plus in landing this position, I’m sure! I’d love to hear from other former MEFs from the late ’70s/early ’80s who are also in Japan now.” (JETwit note: There’s a LinkedIn group for MEFs. Please join if you haven’t yet!)
- And Kay Munroe-Johnson in Atlanta says: “This is great to see! I rejoice with all of you in achieving such great job success! Maybe I will have a report to share soon as I am looking for a job in (near Atlanta). Thanks JetWit for your dedication and support of all of us JET Alums!”
- And Greg Beck (CIR Hiroshima-ken, 2006-11) (listed in the previous JETwit Career Update) says: “It is great not just to be employed, but to work in the field I love, not just for a paycheck. That’s a tragically rare thing right now, and a huge concern I had as my JET career wound down. Basically, JETwit ROCKS!”
