Shizuoka AJET

 Hi guys! Your AJET Co-President, Sally, here, with a warm welcome message to you all!
The first wave of newbies will be arriving in just a little over ONE WEEK. I can hardly believe it! With all of the preparations going on for the various orientations which I'll be helping out at, I'm getting more & more excited. I'm sure you're all way more pumped than I am, but I really am looking forward to meeting all of you.

I'll be seeing all of the Group B folks in Tokyo, & anybody coming with a spouse (or partner) or children is warmly invited to check out the "Life as a JET Bringing Partners or Family" workshop, which I'll be leading. I can't promise all of the information will be relevant, though!

A week later I'll be leading workshops at the Kakegawa Orientation (sadly, only for prefectural JETs; municipal JETs do not attend). Even if you're not in one of my workshops, please feel free to come up to me & chat! I get excited about meeting new people -- & even moreso about answering questions about life in Japan. Hit me with whatever you've got!

Group A folks are probably already mostly packed (at least mentally), & Group B people are probably rounding up all of the loose ends already -- but here's a few last-minute tips:

* If you have a driver's license, get an international drivers permit. They're cheap (US$15, probably about the same elsewhere) & even if you don't think you'll want to drive now, you never know whether you could change your mind. It requires almost no effort to go to your local Auto Club (AAA in the US), fill out the app & shell over the cash & be on your merry way.

* Unless you have sensitive skin or a brand that you're really attached to, don't bring toiletries. (You may want to bring a travel-sized set for your first day or 2 in Shizuoka, until you have time to go to a store, though.) You can buy just about anything you need here.

* DO bring some cool business-casual clothes. Many schools only have air conditioning in the teacher's room -- where you'll be spending most of your time anyway, but you'll probably also be walking around getting tours of the school (& maybe your neighborhood), so you'll want to be dressed comfortably. Remember, ladies: In Japan (as elsewhere), it's not considered acceptable to show your shoulders or cleavage at work. Short-sleeved shirts are okay. If you have more questions on dress code, talk to your predecessor or shoot me an email.

* Take a browse through Ashley Thompson's blog, Surviving in Japan. She's an ex-JET, still living here with her husband (who's a JET). She has a great starter post -- "Moving to Japan? Read this first." -- & lots of useful information (including how-to's) on day-to-day life. If you have other specific questions, she's always happy to take requests & write up a useful guide.
 
 
& as with everything, if you've got questions, ask someone! Your predecessor wants to tell you all about his or her life in Japan & give you all of the little tips that s/he's stored up over the past year (or 5), so don't worry about asking questions about the daily minutiae! Your friendly AJET officers are also here for you. I didn't ask nearly enough questions when I started out & found myself floundering until I finally sucked it up & decided I would "bother" the more knowledgeable people, all of whom were more than happy to answer all of my silly questions.
 
See you in a week (or two)!
--Sally

Hey all of you new ALTs coming to Shizuoka in just over a month! We hope you're getting excited!
If you want to be a part of all that's going on in the prefecture, you should sign up for an account on the Shiz AJET website. This will allow you to post comments, vote on polls, and get the most out of the site.
When you create your account, please make your username something that will help us know it's you. That way you don't run the risk of getting deleted by the webmonster...I mean...webmaster.
Good luck in your preparations, and remember, you can contact any of the old or new AJET officers if you have any questions. See you soon!

New JETs have been getting their prefectural placements lately, so if you've been placed in Shizuoka, welcome! The specific placements should be going out sometime in early June, but for now you can take a look around this website to find out some more about Shizuoka-ken. I definitely recommend checking out the Explore Shizuoka link to see a map with some specific popular locations listed. You may or may not know your city yet, but this can at least give you an idea of what kind of stuff is around.
Also, feel free to e-mail any of the AJET Officers if you have any questions. And be sure to join the Shizuoka JETs group on Facebook. Once again, congratulations on being placed in the best prefecture in Japan, Shizuoka!

Did you enjoy AJET planned events this year? Do you have ideas and big plans for your next year on JET? Join the AJET officer team for the 2010-2011 JET year! Write up a short paragraph about why you're interested in being a part of the team and send it to shizajet@gmail.com. The team should be decided by the end of May so that we can have a smooth turnover into the next year with the leaver's party, website, and other events for June and July. Someone web-savvy for webmaster and someone with at least moderate Japanese skills for treasurer are desired. All other positions just require some organizational skills to plan events for groups of people. For more information on what being an officer entails, contact any of your local representatives. Hope you all had a great Golden Week and hope to see you out and about soon!

The AJET team (Ashley, Joey, Kory, Sharla, Jessie, Davis, Amanda and James)

The end of the year approaches, and some JETs are returning home. Hopefully, you are starting to prepare information for your successors. A key resource is a map of your area.
As you think about preparing this map, however, please consider doing it digitally so that everyone in your town, area, and even prefecture can benefit from your knowledge - not only one person! Remember, not everyone has the benefit of a great pred like you. Why not help out the community by collaborating on the ShizAJET map?
If you have a Gmail account, we can add you as a collaborator on the map and you will be able to edit it directly. Tag as many/few resources, restaurants, interesting locations, etc. as you feel comfortable with!
If you don't have a Gmail account, tag the resource on Google Maps and email it to a ShizAJET officer so they can add it for you.
Remember how nervous you were when got your placement? And afterwards, arriving in a strange place that didn't even have street signs? Wouldn't it have been great to have been able to see where the nearest grocery store was and to print out a map before ever even leaving your home country? This is a resource not only for the next group of newbies, but for the future.
You've acquired a lot of knowledge during your time in Japan. Be a good sempai. Pass it on!

Well this is a big week here as it's recontracting week. Hopefully the awful weather we had yesterday didn't affect any decisions. It's almost unfair that the decision has to come this week, with the mix of that weather and the already unsettling winter blues. But whatever you do, turn in your form and don't look back. Second-guessing yourself will get you nowhere. And for you first years, whether you do or don't recontract, don't let February get you down. February is a rough month, especially here, but it will end and then spring will be right around the corner.
Also, Yuki Matsuri is coming up. This Friday, many of our fellow ShizAJET members will be heading up to Sapporo for a weekend of fun in the snow. If any of you have any last minute questions about what to pack, where to go, or what to do while you're there, feel free to ask an AJET officer and we'll do our best to get you an answer.
Finally here are my suggestions for 3 things I think you should do while there:
3. Tour the Sapporo Beer Gardens. The tour itself is nothing special, but you get some cheap samples at the end who doesn't like that?
2. Check out the Odori site during the day and the Susukino site at night. The Odori site is not lit up very late and the Susukino site is more spectacular at night so that's my suggestion.
1. Ramen Alley. Do it. Butter/corn ramen. Do it. I ate 4 meals in Sapporo and 3 of them were in ramen alley. Just do it.
Have a great time!

I'm sure there were probably a lot of Christmas/holiday parties going on this weekend. I hope everyone had a great time. This is one of the best times of the year to get together with the people around you and celebrate the closing of another year and to see everyone off before their holiday travels. Up here in the Tobu region we had the Wednesday Nightclub Friday Night Christmas Party this past Friday night. A great time was had by all. It was one of the classiest Christmas parties I've been to in a while and was well organized by our good friend Joe Pournovin. On a personal note, I think Joe's done a great job organizing the Wednesday Nightclub over the past few years and it's too bad such a wonderful tradition has to come to a close. The Wednesday Nightclub always did a great job of bringing people together from all walks of life and all nationalities. It was so much more than just a random time to get together and drink. So much more. And this final Christmas party was no exception. This Christmas party was fun and classy and I and I'm sure many others are glad we were a part of it. So kudos to Joe for a job well done in planning this and every other Wednesday Nightclub over the past few years. We appreciate what you've done.
Though there are no official AJET holiday parties or plans, we hope you find a group of people getting together and can enjoy spending time with friends this month.
Check out the poll on the left side of the page. Let's see how many people are doing what for the holidays.

Calling all ALTs, JTEs and concerned citizens!

My name is Caroline, and I coordinate Project Outreach in Hokkaido.

This year Project Outreach, in association with GO M.A.D., is collecting donations for the Baan Unrak and Baan Dada children's homes in Thailand. These homes are close to the Myanmar border and serve children who have been orphaned or whose parents can't afford to raise them. Many of the children in the homes are ethnic minorities who have fled persecution in Myanmar.

What exactly are we raising money for?

The money raised by Operation Christmas will be donated to the Baan Unrak and Baan Dada. At Baan Unrak the money will go toward building a new house for the teenage boys at the children's home. At Baan Dada, they need funding for a vaccination program.

The Goal:
I'd like to raise at least 100,000 yen, with half of the money raised going to each home.

What can you do?

Simple: Give up to Give More

Now I know that raising money can be a challenge, so here's something that should make things a heck of a lot easier. It's really very simple...give something up so that you can give more money to charity.

Allow me to illustrate with my own personal example.

I drink a lot of 500mL bottles of soda (7-11 is very conveniently located on my way home from work). In one week I probably purchase 3 or 4 bottles of pop. That means I spend 500 yen a week on drinks that I don't really need!

So here's what I'm going to do. From now until our Hokkaido Mid-Year Conference (December 3rd and 4th), I'm going to give up buying drinks at the convenience store and donate that money to Operation Christmas. Over the five weeks between now and then I'll save 2500 yen that I can donate all without breaking a sweat (or the bank).

Anyone can do it, because we all spend money on things we don't need. Do you buy lunch from the convenience store every day? Give it up for a week, and donate the money you save. Have a chocolate bar habit? Quit for the month and give Operation Christmas the money instead. Smoker? Drinker? UniQlo shopper? Cut back (or give it up) for the next 5 weeks, and help Project Outreach help children in Thailand.

Need more information? Want to donate? Check out the Project Outreach website or email me!

http://www.hajet.org/project-outreach/
outreach.hajet@gmail.com
 

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