AJET: Stonewall Japan – LGBT Computer-based Q and A sign-in
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Saw this originally posted to the JETAA Southern California Facebook group by Stephen Haverfield:
Passing along info from Stonewall Japan: LGBT Computer-based Q&A sign in:
Greetings from Stonewall Japan! Many of you may know of our organization already but for those unfamiliar, we are one of the national AJET special interest groups. With almost 800 members, we are definitely the largest of the SIGs, and our mission is to provide a safe community for LGBTQIA English language speakers living and working in Japan.
http://ajet.net/contact-ajet/special-interest-nationality-language-groups/Stonewall.ajet.net
We are contacting you today to let you know about the resources we have been putting together for the incoming 2014 JETs. As departure looms, we’re sure you are all extremely busy with preparing the new JETs for their life abroad. In order to help with that process, we have created a small handout about living as an LGBTQIA person in Japan. It includes links to resources and has a lot of great information that we certainly wish we had had when we first arrived on JET! We have also gathered some wonderful volunteers from Stonewall’s leadership to provide Q&A sessions through Google Hangouts for incoming JETs BEFORE they leave, which we hope will answer a lot of lingering questions and alleviate some stress from the often stressful process of preparing for departure.
The orientation handout is attached and the link to the Q&A session sign-up is here:
http://stonewall.ajet.net/new-jet-info-session-sign-up-2014/
However, as you know, the time for orientation is limited, especially considering AJET will no longer have a presence this year at Tokyo orientation. So we were encouraged by National AJET to send this out to the JET alumni associations / orientation coordinators post-haste. We hope that you can distribute the handout and the link to the Q&A to the incoming JETs in your area as soon as possible (the deadline for the Google Hangouts sign up is July 12th and we have a limited amount of spots open).
Lastly, we want to congratulate you on the work you’ve done and continue to do to make sure the new JETs arrive in Japan with the knowledge they need to hit the ground running. A big Otsukare-sama goes out from the whole Stonewall team.
Thank you and onegaishimasu,
Sincerely,
The Stonewall Japan Leadership Team
stonewallsig@ajet.net
Attachment: Handout https://docs.google.com/document/d/1n2WwAeSZYmv2nqVETSA8SI4lKbMLKi9vp3AUn4salVc/edit?usp=sharing
Life After JET: Gabai Life!-Educational Journeys of an Ex-JET from Saga
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By Jose Ariel Ramos (Saga-ken, 1998-2001). Jose recently moved to Central Texas where he now works as a recruiter for a charter school.
Gabai Life!-Educational Journeys of an Ex-JET from Saga
“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
I reach for my phone. I want to check my email. I’m pretty sure there is something important there-a job lead, a response from a recruiter, a rejection, an actual offer. I put it back on the table. I go back to re-writing my resume and looking on JETwit, on Idealist, on Linkedin, on many other websites where jobs are posted. Again. Again. Again. Maybe this time I’d get a yes.
This has been my life for the past eight months: re-writing my resume; re-arranging the cover letter; sending all required documents in; filling in another online form at another job application site. I’ve applied to teaching positions in Japan, Oman, Korea, Singapore, China. I’ve applied to be director for different university overseas programs. I’ve applied to grad school. I’ve probably applied for no less than two hundred or so jobs-I’d lost count a while ago. I’ve gotten about six interviews but no luck. “How did I get here?” I’d find myself asking.
I got on JET right after graduating university with a Music and French degree in 1998. With an open mind and plenty of optimism I went to Saga ken as an ALT to find out what Japan was like. At that time cellphones were just starting to be widely used, dial-up was the common way to connect on the net, and we were still making long distance telephone calls on landlines. Saga was a rural place that had it’s own unmistakable dialect-“Gabai oishika!” I would find myself saying after a meal (Really delicious!). I made plenty of mistakes but made plenty of friends, and I had incredible experiences. The first times I went snowboarding, white-water rafting, even bungee jumping were in Japan. Three years of adventure with other adventurous people. I decided back then that that was the kind of life I wanted to live-a life of voyage, excitement, freedom.
I came back home in 2001 right before 9/11, Read More
AJET Connect Magazine Interviews an Award-winning Saga JET Author
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Via the Saga JET Programme website:
This month’s edition of AJET’s Connect Magazine features a double (DOUBLE) page spread interviewing current Karatsu City JET Andre Swartley about his award-winning book – Leon Martin and the Fantasy Girl. If you haven’t read this month’s edition, the interview and short review is below. If you want you buy a copy of the book click here.
Review and Interview: Leon Martin and the Fantasy Girl
Leon Martin and the Fantasy Girl delves into cultural exchange on a level that most people never get a chance to experience. When a group of American high school students arrive at a small German town for a summer work-study program, they find themselves caring for a potentially illegal alien in a life-threatening situation.
Leon and Autumn, a pair of teens staying with the same host family, are at the forefront of the action. Instead of spending their summer doing the work they traveled to Germany to do, they find themselves looking after a girl named Shin. Her presence is the glue that holds this story together, as well as what makes it so unbelievable. Shin’s story is vague at first and takes its time in clearing itself up.
The build-up to the second half requires readers to have some faith that that these characters will eventually find themselves in slightly more realistic situations, which they do. Spending a summer abroad in Germany is adventurous, but saving a fellow foreigner who should have been taken into custody from the beginning is a bit of a stretch. Read More
JETs Carry on Taylor’s Legacy in Miyagi
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Originally posted on the JETAA USA website:
Donated Books from Ambassador Kennedy Translated into Japanese
Following Ambassador Kennedy’s donation last November of 110 books to the Taylor Anderson Reading Corner at Mangokuura Elementary School in Ishinomaki, the volunteer group that reads to the students there, Soyokaze no Ohanashi (The Gentle Breeze Talks), joined together with the Miyagi International Association (MIA) and current JETs in the prefecture to translate nine of these books into Japanese. The books chosen cover various topics such as the lives of children in the US and other countries around the world, science, and wildlife, and are simple enough to be accessible to younger students.
Ms. Kyoko Sasaki, from Soyokaze, reportedly first reached out to Mr. Andre Perez to ask for his support for the project. Andre, who is currently a Coordinator for International Relations with Miyagi Prefecture and MIA, took on the planning of the event, coordinating details between MIA and Ms. Sasaki. Once these were settled, he reached out to Miyagi JETs through his position as a Prefecture Advisor and tapped into the Miyagi AJET(MAJET) network through Ms. Tanya Zolotareva, another CIR and a MAJET officer. The various groups collaborated, with each taking responsibility for different steps of the process of selecting books, translating them, and affixing the translations. The whole undertaking reportedly went quite smoothly, thanks to MIA’s previous experience with translating books, the eight JETs and roughly 10 other people who volunteered their time and talent, and Mr. Perez’s connections to both MAJET and MIA.
The project was also profiled on Miyagi Prefecture’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/visitmiyagi) and in the Asahi Shimbun and Kahoku Shimbun.
The books will now be available to students at Mangokuura E.S. to look at any time and they will be able to work on their understanding of the English texts by referring to the new Japanese translations. Having prepared translations at hand will also make it easier for the volunteers who read to the children.
As Ms. Sasaki, who is also a friend of the Andersons, having known Taylor, said in talking with one of the local newspapers that reported on the story, “This is a way to express our thanks to Taylor’s family. We want to show them that we are continuing Taylor’s legacy by carrying on her work.”
All the volunteer teams working to translate books for the Taylor Anderson Reading Corner.
JETAA Scotland logo
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Very nice! I’m not sure if it’s new, but I hadn’t seen it before and I just noticed it in a JETAA UK Facebook post:
AJET Professional Development Call with JET alum Anthony Bianchi
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Via the AJET website:
On May 7th, we held our fourth AJET Professional Development Conference Call. Our guest speaker was former JET, Mr. Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, Kiyosu City, 1989-91) who now serves as a city council council member in Inuyama City, Aichi prefecture. Mr. Bianchi is often highlighted in the Japanese media and is well-known for being the first American-born elected official in Japan. Click here to read a short interview with him on AJET.net.
Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, 1989-91)
Mr. Bianchi discussed the inner workings of his current position, various initiatives to improve English and international communication in his community and how JETs can potentially get involved with local politics in their communities.
Click here to listen to the recording of the call on the AJET website: http://ajet.net/2014/05/13/professional-development-call-anthony-bianchi/
JETs in the News: Matt Cook featured in hometown paper
Interview/Profile, JETs in the News, LifeAfterJET, Local Government, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment Comments Off on JETs in the News: Matt Cook featured in hometown paper
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Very nice article on JET alum and former AJET Chair Matthew Cook (Osaka-fu, 2007-12) that recently appeared in the newspaper of Matt’s hometown, Danville, Virginia and describes his path from the JET Program to becoming a key player in Osaka’s pioneering English education reform efforts.
Danville man appointed to Japanese board of education
By DENICE THIBODEAU
dthibodeau@registerbee.com
Thibodeau reports for the Danville Register & Bee.
May 10, 2014
When Danville native Matthew Cook headed to Osaka, Japan, in 2007 to take a job as an education specialist and trainer in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, little did he realize he would end up working for a Japanese government agency to completely reform how English is taught in the city.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article: http://m.godanriver.com/news/danville/danville-man-appointed-to-japanese-board-of-education/article_1b9620f2-d972-11e3-8adc-0017a43b2370.html?mode=jqm#.U3A0DN98uYw.facebook
CLAIR Sydney Newsletter No. 75
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Posted originally by Hiromi Hakuta to the JETAA Oceania FB page.
“In CLAIR monthly Newsletter No.75, we introduce JETAA South Island activities, a cycling festival in Hiroshima and Japanese schools that are seeking Sister School relationships with Australian or NZ schools. My business trip to New Zealand is also introduced on that!”
http://www.jlgc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/CLAIR-newsletter-No.75.pdf
JET alum Roland Kelts on Japan’s “Generation Resignation” in Adbusters
Article/Journalism, Japan Trends, JET Alum Author Beat, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment, Roland Kelts, Writers Comments Off on JET alum Roland Kelts on Japan’s “Generation Resignation” in Adbusters
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Another thought provoking article by JET alum author and writer Roland Kelts(Osaka-shi, 1998-99), this one in the current issue of Adbusters.
The Satori Generation
A new breed of young people have outdone the tricksters of advertising.
Roland Kelts, 07 May 2014
They don’t want cars or brand name handbags or luxury boots. To many of them, travel beyond the known and local is expensive and potentially dangerous. They work part-time jobs—because that is what they’ve been offered—and live at home long after they graduate. They’re not getting married or having kids. They’re not even sure if they want to be in romantic relationships. Why? Too much hassle. Oh, and too expensive.
In Japan, they’ve come to be known as satori sedai—the “enlightened generation.” In Buddhist terms: free from material desires, focused on self-awareness, finding essential truths. But another translation is grimmer: “generation resignation,” or those without ideals, ambition or hope.
CLICK HERE to read the rest on ADBUSTERS: https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/113/satori-generation.html
Click here to read more of Roland’s articles from Adbusters: https://www.adbusters.org/authors/roland_kelts
Japan Times: Osaka Embraces English Reformation
Japan Trends, JETs in the News, Language Study, Local Government, Notable JET Alums, Return on JET-vestment Comments Off on Japan Times: Osaka Embraces English Reformation
Former AJET Chair Matthew Cook (Osaka-fu, 2007-12) has been heavily involved in this cutting edge effort to improve Osaka’s English education system and is quoted in the article.
Osaka embraces English Reformation
BY TERU CLAVEL
While Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto’s controversial political antics have increasingly drawn criticism, little attention has been paid to how his leadership has prompted the most progressive reforms of English-language education in the nation. Hashimoto, who served as Osaka’s governor from 2008-11, made possible the appointment of fellow Waseda Law School graduate Toru Nakahara as superintendent of the Osaka Prefectural Board of Education, charging him with the task of empowering students to compete on a global stage.
Only in Osaka will students in the public school system have the opportunity to start preparing for the TOEFL iBT — an internationally recognized English-language proficiency exam for non-native speakers administered over the Internet that tests reading, writing, speaking and listening skills for entrance to English-speaking university overseas — in grade one of primary school.
With the urging of Mayor Hashimoto, Nakahara — who also graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and was a practicing attorney at a California firm for 10 years — left the private sector and took a substantial pay cut to become the principal of Izumi High School in Osaka in 2010. In 2013, Nakahara became Japan’s youngest-ever superintendent at age 42, overseeing 1,600-plus schools, and he formed what is known as the English Reformation Project Team.
Nakahara’s accomplishments in the United States and at Izumi High School have led him to be recognized as an education innovator.
“One thing I noticed when I was in Ann Arbor (Michigan) Read More
JapaneseLondon.com April Newsletter
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Here’s a link to the latest JapaneseLondon.com April Newsletter. This wonderful site is run by JET alum Vanessa Villalobos.
http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7bc6ccc938e02760a959b1d91&id=60f2abc5ca&e=d52cd058ae
JET alum Michael Auslin’s commentary on NATO’s relevance in Forbes
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JET alum Michael Auslin, Resident Scholar and Director in Asian and Security Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, has a new article in Forbes magazine titled “No Need to Argue for NATO’s Relevance.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2014/04/04/no-need-to-argue-for-natos-relevance/
JET alum featured on ABC News for building tsunami-proof ark
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Thanks to JETAA DC’s Mac Maloney for alerting JETwit to this:
Fukushima JET alum Chris Robinson, former art director for Facebook who lives in Palo Alto, CA, is featured in this ABC News segment. It explains how he lived in Fukushima during the tsunami and how a few years later he decided to build an ark in the event of a tsunami. Notably, he specifically mentions the JET Program in the interview. Very cool video. Have a look:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/modern-day-noah-makes-tsunami-154204077.html
More photos here: http://architizer.com/blog/tsunami-pod/
Interview with Chris in Wired here: http://www.wired.com/2014/03/tsunami-lifeboat/
And here’s Chris’ blog, Tsunamiball: http://tsunamiball.com/
More video, from the Wired interview that explains the details of the ark:
JETAA Portland announces new officers
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Saw this on the JETAA Portland email blast:
New JETAA Portland Officers Announced
The votes have been counted! The officers elected to the new April-to-March term are below. Congratulate them the next time you see them. Also, thanks to last year’s officers — Brooke, Jeffrey, Veronica and Matt Turner.
| President | Jeffrey Houser |
| Vice President | Brooke Muetzel |
| Treasurer | Veronica Adversalo |
| Secretary | Matt Krzyzynski |
ALSO…. JETAA Portland continues its long tradition of one of the greatest JETAA events out there, the Iron Chef Potluck, where they typically invite the JETAA Pacific Northwest (based in Seattle) folks to come down for some friendly competition and communal eating.
Iron Chef: May 17th
The JETAA Iron Chef competitive potluck is planned for Saturday, May 17th. Check the JETAA Portland website or look for an email with more detail in the next few weeks. Start thinking about those recipes!
JETAA Northern Ireland looking for more ex-JETs in Northern Ireland
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Taken from a recent JETAA UK email blast:
Hello everyone,
My name is Richard Fleming (a.k.a Richie, The Richie, Tricky, and Dick). I have recently been nominated to chair the Northern Ireland chapter of JETAA UK and I need your help.
I am reaching out to everyone in the hope that there are some former JETs here in NI who still want to be involved with JETAA events. Are you one of them?! If so, get in touch!
If you are lucky enough to be reading this from a location outside of NI, good for you. Thanks for still reading. Are you formerly from here? Do you know any former JETs who may be lying around Belfast/Derry wishing they had someone to talk to about how amazing Japan is? They obviously don’t have to be from here, they could be from anywhere, as long as they’re here and interested in getting involved.
We’re a small province and we all pretty much know each other through no more than 2 or 3 degrees of separation. Everyone knows my mate Paddy. He has a beard and drinks Guinness.
I welcome contact from all quarters. I’m determined to reinvigorate the NI chapter and link in with other individuals/organisations which have a connection with Japan. The Japan Society have already invited me to their Hanami event, I would like to have a few former JETs to accompany me!
Anyway, apologies for the mass Mailshot, but the wider you cast the net the better your chances of catching something. If you’ve been on a night out in Belfast you’ll understand why that saying is not always good advice.
Also, even if you don’t know any former JETs here, I welcome any suggestions to try to kick start our chapter!
Best regards,
Richie
JETAA Northern Ireland: http://www.jetaa.org.uk/about-jetaa/chapters/northern-ireland/
