JETAA DC Newsletter – August 2013
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Here’s a link to the latest JETAA DC Newsletter post. (It used to be a PDF newsletter, but now it’s set up as a blog post. Very nice!)
http://jetaadc.org/august-jetaadc-news/
In This Edition of JETAA DC News:
- Message from the Board
- August JETAADC Events
- New on the Blog!
- Other Events
- Best of JET (etc.) Around the Web
New JETAA UK Mentoring Scheme
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Via the extremely wonderful JETAA UK website:
New JETAA Mentoring Scheme
JETAA UK is keen to find new ways to help returning JETs with their job search if/when they return to the UK. One popular idea is to set up a mentoring scheme to link returning JETs with other ex-JETs that have already established their careers in the UK.
We are looking for mentors from various working sectors with (in principle) five years work experience post-JET. This is a chance for you to build your leadership skills while giving back to the JET community. Please, please get involved, and pass this on to other ex-JET friends that might be interested.
For possible mentors:
You can sign up to the scheme here:
***Please note your personal information will not be used for any purpose other than the administration of the Mentor Program.***
For returning JETs:
We have a separate sign up sheet for you here:
The deadline for mentor sign-ups is August 30th, 2013. We plan to assign mentors and mentees within two weeks of that date.
*****Also from the JETAA UK website**********
Questionnaire for Careers Networking Events
JETAA UK wants to support JETs with their post-JET careers and provide nationwide professional networking opportunities and JET connect events for its members. In order to do this, we want to know what professional and regional areas you would be interested in and whether you would be willing to help out in any way.
Please fill in this quick questionnaire to help us help you!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-Noev_dsw9Q-NeDAcxQPIOJgf_3QsVTUTP02idrQLmc/viewform
Contact Sarah Parsons, National Careers and Networking Coordinator for more info. on careers@jetaa.org.uk.
New website for JETAA New South Wales (formerly JETAA Sydney)
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Posted by Eden Law to the JETAA New South Wales (formerly JETAA Sydney) Facebook group:
So, at long last, we’ve redesigned our website, and it comes with a brand-spanking new URL: www.jetaansw.org (it was www.sydneyjetaa.org before). There will be a lot of cross-promotion and sharing of information between our Facebook Group and our website, including some content that’s exclusive only to either.
We’d love to hear what you think and suggestions about what you’d like to see in the future. Thanks!
USJBF selects JET alum Laurel Lukaszewski for new “Strengthening the JETAA USA Network” initiative
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Laurel Lukaszewski (Kagoshima-ken, 1990-1992)
Remember the job listing for the Part-time Project Director with the US-Japan Bridging Foundation (USJBF) to support JETAA USA growth? The USJBF has announced that it has selected Laurel Lukaszewski (ALT Kagoshima-ken, 1990-92) for the position for its new initiative “Strengthening the JETAA Network and Connecting Next Generation Leaders.”
Shojiki ni itte, it’s hard to imagine anyone better suited for the role. Laurel has maintained a strong connection with Japan and the Japan-US community since here time on the JET Program by previously serving on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Japan-America Societies (NAJAS), as the Executive Director for the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C, and as a Program Director of the Japan-America Society in Seattle. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. where she actively participates on the Board of the National Cherry Blossom Festival and JETAADC. You can see her in this panel discussion with fellow JET alums Jim Gannon (Ehime-ken, 1992-94) and Anthony Bianchi (Aichi-ken, Inuyama-shi, 1988-89) from the 2011 JETAA National Conference in D.C.
Laurel (who is also a sculptor–see her work here) officially started working Tuesday, July 9. Here is the official announcement from the USJBF:
July 11, 2013
The U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation (USJBF), is pleased to announce that Laurel Lukaszewski has been hired as Project Director for its new initiative “Strengthening the JETAA Network and Connecting Next Generation Leaders.” Funded by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP), the purpose of the project is to build infrastructure in support of the Japan-Exchange and Teaching Program Alumni Association, United States of America (JETAA USA) and enhance its impact promoting U.S.-Japan relations.
Laurel is an alumna of the JET Programme (Kagoshima-ken, 1990-1992) and has a solid understanding of U.S.-Japan relations, the U.S.-Japan community and how nonprofit and membership organizations are governed and run. After completing the JET Programme and receiving an M.A. in Asian Studies, Laurel embarked on a nine-year career with the Japan-America Societies in Seattle and Washington, D.C.. In 2005, Laurel left her position as ED of the JASW to pursue a career as an artist. She has maintained her ties to the JET Programme and U.S.-Japan community by serving as an active member of the JET Application Review and Interview committees for over thirteen years. Laurel served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Japan America Societies (NAJAS), and has been on the National Cherry Blossom Festival Board of Directors since 2002. Paige Cottingham-Streater, Executive Director of the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation said, “Laurel is a valuable addition to our team and will bring a unique understanding about the JET community and its potential to promote a strong U.S.-Japan relationship.”
The U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, awards scholarships to U.S. undergraduate students to study for one semester or academic year in Japan. The Foundation grows global leaders to help prepare America’s young people to assume future leadership roles in business, education, international and public affairs and other professions.
URL: http://www.bridgingfoundation.org/news/new-project-director-to-facilitate-jetaa-capacity-building
Sister City Ties Ep #1: ALTs of the JET Program
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Eliot Honda (Ehime-ken, 2009-2012) has started a unique video series on Sister City Ties in which he interviews current and former JETs:
JQ Magazine: JETerations — How Alumni Touch New Generations of JETs
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Clare Grady and William Collazo representing fifteen years of JET at the Pre-Departure Orientation, Florida, 2012. (Courtesy of William Collazo)
By Bahia Simons-Lane (Gunma-ken, 2005-07) for JQ magazine. Bahia is the president of the Florida JET Alumni Association.
As a high school Japanese teacher in Deerfield Beach, Florida, WIlliam Collazo teaches his students about his time on JET along with his language lessons. Little did he know he would inspire a student to pursue JET years after she left his classroom.
Collazo said that JET was instrumental in deciding to become a Japanese teacher. He has a BA in Asian studies and religious studies, and he also studied Japanese language at Cornell University in New York. After JET, Collazo earned an MA in East Asian studies from Washington University in St. Louis, where he turned his academic interests to studying language pedagogy.
When he applied to the JET Program, he thought he would enjoy the work since he had some high school teaching experience, but mostly he was hoping to enhance his understanding of Japanese culture by living and working there. Instead, his two years on JET from 1997-99 in Hiroshima Prefecture were life-changing. “I didn’t think I would actually become a teacher of Japanese before going,” Collazo explained, “but my experience was so profound that I felt compelled to come home to Florida and share what I had learned in public education.”
His former student Clare Grady graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Chinese and departed to Northern Gifu on the JET Program last year. It was Collazo’s stories of JET that inspired Grady to apply for the JET Program. It might seem surprising that Grady majored in Chinese and not Japanese, but by the time Grady entered university she already had considerable Japanese capability under her belt due to the Deerfield Beach International Baccalaureate (IB) program. She started studying Japanese when she entered high school, but after completing all the Japanese classes offered at her school she began teaching herself Chinese—earning her the nickname “Kanji Master.”
Welcome to JET Talks, by JETAADC – Live Your Dream Q&A
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JET Talks is a brand new speaker series organized by the JET Program Alumni Association of Washington, DC. JET Talks is modeled after the TED Talks concept and will feature dynamic and interesting speakers with the goal of inspiring innovative ideas and conversations on Japan-related themes. Although JET Talks audio files will be accessible via the Let’s Talk Japan podcast subscription feed, the two are separate entities. However, our goals are the same – to get people talking and thinking about Japan.
Shauna Tischler, came up with the idea of JET Talks and currently serves as JETAADC’s Thought Leadership Chair. From 2000-2003, Shauna worked as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET Program in Gifu Prefecture. Special recognition is also owed to Leigh Ann Mastrini, the current President of JETAADC, and the Japan Information and Cultural Center of Washington, DC, for hosting the first JET Talks event.
Regular listeners of the Let’s Talk Japan podcast will recall that in Episode 11, host Nick Harling spoke with Regge Life about making the film Live Your Dream, chronicling the lives of JET Program participants Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickson, who passed away in the March 11, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.
Regge was recently in Washington, DC, along with Taylor’s father, Andy Anderson, and Montgomery’s sister, Shelly Frederickson, to speak at the first JET Talks event – a screening and panel discussion of the film Live Your Dream. More than 120 guests were in attendance and the event was a huge success.
For anyone who has not seen Live Your Dream, I encourage you to listen to Let’s Talk Japan episode 11, as it provide a good overview of the film.
In this JET Talks, you will first hear introductory remarks from the event organizers and panelists, followed by the panel discussion, which followed the screening.
You can listen to this first installment of JET Talks by subscribing to the Let’s Talk Japan podcast in iTunes or by clicking HERE.
New: JET Programme official Facebook page
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Via CLAIR:
The Department of JET Programme Management has recently created an official JET Programme Facebook page. The Facebook page is mainly used to assist in the dissemination of JET Programme-related information to current JET participants and contracting organisations, but we would also like to encourage JET alumni to view and like the page. The URL for the page is:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/JET-Programme/219440938121634
CLAIR’s JET Streams Newsletter 06.07.13
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Via CLAIR:
Please find below a link to the online version of the JET Streams newsletter. JET Streams is distributed to all JET alumni who request it and have registered an email address with CLAIR.
http://www.jetprogramme.org/e/former/jetstreams12-13.html
JETAA Portland wins the Seattle-Portland Iron Chef Cook-Off
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Every year JETAA Portland invites Pacific Northwest JETAA to join for an Iron Chef Cook-Off. This year, it looks like JETAA Portland was the official winner, though we’re guessing that all the attendees who got to eat the food were the real winners.
Photographic evidence of the event available on the PNW JETAA Facebook group, courtesy of President Cheryl Hou.
Calling all Ex-JETs in the Midlands Area (UK)
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Originally posted to the JETAA UK LinkedIn group by Sarah Parsons:
CALLING ALL EX JETS IN THE MIDLANDS AREA to help with Q & A session for JETS about to go out to Japan and to provide advice and networking opportunities for those who will return this year.
We are holding a pre-departure Q & A session in Birmingham on Saturday 20th July from 3-5pm for JETs about to set sail for Japan so they can ask us more experienced and hopefully wiser JETS anything they want to know about living in Japan.
We are also holding a welcome back reception for JETS returning from Japan in September to offer them a networking opportunity and post-JET careers advice (date yet to be confirmed).
We really need ex-JETS who have used their JET experience whether in Japan related companies or doing something completely different to come along and share their experiences as well as continue to promote the links between our two countries.
E mail us on midlands@jetaa.org.uk, follow us on Twitter @JETAAMidlands or find us on Facebook – JETAA UK Midlands. Thank you.
JETAA DC May 2013 Newsletter
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This just in from JETAA DC:
JETAADC Community,
The Newsletter for May is up on our website. Check it out:
http://jetaadc.org/may-
A big thanks to Kat for putting this together!
Event: Portland JETAA Iron Chef!
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Via PNWJETAA. Posted by Kay Monroe (Miyazaki-shi, 1995 -97). Click here to join the JETwit Jobs Google Group and receive job listings even sooner by email.
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Three years ago, PNWJETAA made a fine showing and won “Best Overall” for their Soy Sauce Green Tea Ice Cream!
(Try it, and be surprised by how mellow the garlic is!)
This year, on May 18th, we’ll have a chance to defend the title! If you’re interested in heading down to Portland with some of the JETAA folk, send an email to president@pnwjetaa.org for more information!
When: May 18th (Saturday)
Where: Portland, Oregon
Why: Because we’re awesome and we need to show Portland just awesome we are.
The theme this year is Soybeam Jozo Chickpea Miso – excited? OH YES.
CLAIR Magazine “JET Plaza” series: Jordan Patrick Lincez (Aichi)
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Each month, current and former JET participants are featured in the “JET Plaza” section of the CLAIR Forum magazine. The May 2013 edition includes an article by JET alumn Jordan Patrick Lincez. Posted by Celine Castex (Chiba-ken, 2006-11), currently programme coordinator at CLAIR Tokyo.
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“Through the people I meet, I feel as though I have a responsibility to share my love and experiences of Japan to strengthen and sustain the bonds that were tied in fellowship and goodwill.”
Jordan Patrick Lincez (Aichi-ken, Toyone-mura, 2009-11) is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He has been playing various instruments from a young age, first learning the guitar from his father Marc Victor, and eventually making an album with him before joining the JET Programme. Jordan spent two years in one of the smallest villages of Japan and his contributions to the community include recording a collaborative album with local musicians and organizing a charity music festival. He is now studying in Vancouver, BC, to become a French teacher in elementary schools in rural Canada.
After JET – Rural Reflections
Steve Jobs once talked about connecting the dots only after you go through something. Coming to and leaving Toyone was like that. My memories of there are vivid: wet mornings with mists floating above green mountains around Tsugawa Heights; straining to keep my eyes open and my body moving to the drum on Hana Matsuri; watching the evening sun burst in orange and red leaves during the autumn foliage season on my drive to Toyama; listening to my students practice Kendo in the dojo while watching the snow gently falls outside; joining my friends in celebrating our charity festival’s success with the most bountiful yakiniku feast I have ever seen. I have left Japan with a wealth of memories and friendships that I will carry with me forever, and it was only in connecting the dots looking back that am I able to see the impact my experiences there have had on my life and current endeavors.
What brought me to Japan? I wanted a new challenge, and, one day, I met a wonderful teacher in Ottawa who taught me Japanese, but also taught me about Japanese culture—and I was fascinated with it. I had to go experience it. I had to get out of Ottawa, out of Canada, and learn about myself through experiencing life in a different world. JET brought me to Japan and placed me as an ALT in two of the smallest villages in Japan: Toyone and Toyama in Aichi Prefecture. Read More
JETAA Australia, New Zealand chapters collaborate towards JETAA Oceania
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I noticed on the JETAA New South Wales Facebook group that JETAA chapters in Australia and New Zealand decided to emphasize a more regional collaboration. This sounds a bit like what’s been going on between JETAA USA and Canada chapters, and there’s even been some mention here and there about the possibility of more collaboration between JETAA UK and the North American chapters. Here the info from the JETAA New South Wales email list:
“One of the main outcomes of the 2012 JETAA Regional Conference was a decision to create a combined logo for all JETAA chapters in Australia and New Zealand.”
“All JETAA members are invited to vote for their preferred logo by emailing their name and preferred image (number 1-5) to jetaanzrep [at] gmail.com. Alternatively, you can vote on the JETAA Oceania Facebook page: JETAA Oceania Logo Poll”
“Voting closes on Thursday 11 April, so get in quick!”
Link to JETAA Oceania Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/192391273441/
