#JETprogram

[sentinel-wraith]

A wild Mejiro, or Warbling White-Eye, on a plum tree. One of my favorite activities has been observing the wide variety of unique plants and animals found in Japan. Mejiro are fun little birds that seem to enjoy munching on Plum blossoms. They have charming birdsong you’ll often hear while hiking. They’re also surprisingly bold and let me get very close! #mejiro #japanesewhiteeye #warblingwhiteeye #birdsofinstagram #birdsonearth #japanbirds #naturephotography #naturelovers #travelblogger #fukuoka #kyushuambassador #seattlephotographer #jetprogram (at Omuta, Fukuoka) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpJrTqhPrv9/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[punipunijapan]

5月5日はこどもの日です🎏 May 5 is Kodomobo no Hi in Japan🇯🇵  You can also say 端午の節句(tango no sekku)!  Do you want to learn more? Please watch full video on our YouTube channel! → ”PuniPuniJapan “  Or you can check out our blog : http://www.punipunijapan.com/kodomo-no-hi-golden-week/  Do you want to learn more about Japanese culture and Japanese language? Learn Japanese with our friendly professional Japanese teachers\(◕ω◕)/☆   You can take FREE trial lesson now → http://kakehashijapan.com   ☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°  JLPT N3 preparation course! Only $5/lesson! : http://www.punipunijapan.com/n3/   JLPT N4 preparation course ! Only $5/lesson! → http://www.punipunijapan.com/n4/    JLPT N5 preparation course! Only $5/lesson! : http://www.punipunijapan.com/five-dollar-jlpt-class/  #こどもの日 #koinobori #こいのぼり #端午の節句 #Tangonosekku #kodomonohi #kodomo #japaneseculture #japanculture #Japanesevocabulary #japanesewords #JET #ALT #JETprogram #日本語勉強中 #日本語勉強 #nihongo #Japaneselearner #japanese #Japan #japaneselanguage #japaneselessons #japaneselesson #learnjapanese #japaneseteacher #Japanesetutor #sensei #japaneseclass #jlpt #n5 #n4 #n3 #日本語 #🇯🇵 https://www.instagram.com/p/BxFU-OFHUpq/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1hz29s3ngqyoo

[shouyuanart]

Last weekend, I was able to witness one of the largest festivals in all of Japan. The Yosakoi festival has taken place every year in Kochi City of Kochi Prefecture since 1954. The dancing is electric, the music trucks are huge, and the costumes speak for themselves. It was a perfect time for sketching..! . . . . . . . #art #like4like #follow #travel #instadaily #picoftheday #instatravel #follow4follow #instatravelling #home #instagood #followme #Japan #Shikoku #JETprogram #splendidjapan #japanloverme #japanawaits #EXPLOREJPN #japan_vacations #lovers_nippon_artistic #photo_jpn #team_jp_ #gaijinpottravel #visitjapanjp #instagramjapan #visitjpn #instajapan #yosakoi #yosakoifestival #yosakoidance (at Kochi, Kochi) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Q8JYIB7q9/?igshid=esb4zut7xqj9

[dblhappiness1]

5日間という短い間でしたが、東京の会社でインターンシップをしてきました！高校の外国語指導助手としてしか働いたことがない私にとって、民間企業で仕事をしてみるのは大変有意義な経験になりました。インターンで忙しくて観光する時間はあまりなかったが、最後だけ浅草寺に寄って北九州に帰りました！🏮 It was only for five days, but I did an internship at a company in Tokyo! I’ve only ever worked as an assistant language teacher at a high school, so it was a really good experience for me to try working at a private company. I was busy working and didn’t have much time for sightseeing, but I stopped by Sensōji Temple before going home to Kitakyushu! 🗼 #東京 #インターンシップ #浅草 #浅草寺 #雷門 #jetプログラム #tokyo #internship #asakusa #sensoji #kaminarimon #jetprogram #jetprogramme 🇯🇵 (浅草寺) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0ssJpmHnyk/?igshid=gyat4lhps7k7

[annabelinjapan-blog]

英語でハロウィーン!

November 2, 2018 Hope everyone’s Halloween went swell! Here in Japan, young people gathered over the weekend and on Halloween day in Shibuya in a giant mob to “look” at each other’s costumes. It was more like a Halloween cosplay event than actual Halloween. People trashed Shibuya, tipped a truck over, broke into businesses (I think?), a fire happened and 13 people got arrested. Meanwhile this week, I am trying to teach about Halloween and some of my students say, “I don’t like Halloween because it just causes trouble for other people”. Shibuya definitely didn’t help my lessons. However, it still went well. I got to dress as a Splatoon character from a Nintendo game, which especially the elementary school kids loved, told scary stories, watched a horror movie, discussed cultural traditions (including things that are bad luck, which was fun), and listened to Halloween music. On Halloween day, I got to celebrate it with my Eikaiwa group which was really fun! People brought lots of great food and treats. Someone even brought piñatas! While playing the game Mafia I laughed so hard I cried. We bobbed for mikans (tangerines) and mummy wrapped each other with toilet paper. We also made Jack O’Lanterns! All in all, it was a busy and difficult week, especially because doing a Halloween lesson made the kids more rowdy. Although maybe they were more rowdy because I have less classroom management skills? Learning every day~ Missed home this Halloween! Halloween back home is so magical. I felt a little bit of that magic when we turned the lights off to see the Jack O’Lanterns Halloween night. 

[jeshikawa]

When I was interviewed for the #JETprogram, my panel was interested in the fact I studied history. They asked me if I studied Japanese history (self study!) and what my favorite period was (late Edo/Early Meiji!)and they asked me who my favorite historical figure was. I didn’t really have one so I said the first one that came to mind: Ryouma Sakamoto. I remember my japanese interviewer gave me this little smile and nod of approval and I felt good!! But then they asked me to teach a demo lesson on Ryouma for “young children.” After some fumbling, I came up with a lesson that was pretending to write letters as Sakamoto answering the question, “what do you think about Japan today?” And they would hypothetically answer along the lines of “I like Japan today because...” 2 years ago, I interviewed in Atlanta while recovering from a 24 hour stomach flu and had a difficult interview! But I made it. And that demo lesson really started this long inside joke about how Sakamoto is my dead husband 😂😂😂So of course, when I saw this shirt, I had to get it. This trip is celebrating 2 years in japan so why not get a shirt that literally has my demo lesson from my interview on it 😂😂😂😂 #jetprogramme https://www.instagram.com/p/BmfnWJGh2bp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1917lm72u4la5

[kateahontas]

I remember before we came to Japan on JET (but already knew we were) that it would probably feel real after we had bought our last load of bread in Australia.

Now, I can’t even recall when we bought our last loaf of bread in Japan, but it was ages ago because we had to throw our toaster out on the unburnable rubbish day (Japanese trash sorting!) last month in case they didn’t take it this month. They did take it last month and we have been toastless ever since. 

We did sing Korn (Freak on a Leash) for Lico at karaoke on Sunday and it blew some minds. Also, in reference to the part of my farewell party speech about being telepathic with Kenichi: Because that was the only part of the whole speech Matt and I bothered to get checked by a Japanese person, it was 100% perfect and the rest was not. Kenichi later approached me to tell me he was on high alert as to why this was the case and probably thinks I stole it from a book.

Our huge trip that was kind of a secret because heaps of stuff had to universally align for it to be possible is happening! From Saturday the 28th, we will shinkansen from Tokyo to Kagoshima. Then, we will spend two weeks shinkansening from Kagoshima to Hakodate stopping at Nagasai, Fukuoka, Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Akita and Aomori on the way. After Hakodate, we will stop in Sendai and then return to Tokyo. We’ll board some flights to Perth three days later.

[dungareesinjapan]

Thank you Japan Exchange and Teaching Alumni Association, Great Lakes for this month's Alumni Spotlight feature. Here's an excerpt from the article. "Summer is almost over, but that doesn’t mean the heat is! Welcome back to another edition of Alumni Spotlight, and as summer winds down, we begin to think about school again and maybe reminisce on our days of being teachers. If you’ve ever wondered how to use your teaching experience after JET, our next guest from Ohio has truly made his experience work for him. Daniel Stone has started his own tutoring company as well as working towards becoming a licensed teacher. Read on to find out more about his business and the many schools he taught at while on the JET Program." #teachinginjapan #teachingenglish #teachingoverseas #teachingabroad #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #livinginjapan #JETProgram #JETAA #GreatLakes #LicensedTeacher #tutoring #tutoringservices #tutors. https://greatlakesjetaa.org/august-2021-daniel-stone/ (at Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSLdWwdA5sV/?utm_medium=tumblr

[teriyakitime]

This is the finished postcard I designed for @jetaarm ! I’m very happy with the final piece :) . . . #art #365project #artist #instagramartist #sketch #drawing #illustration #procreate #postcard #jetaa #jetprogram #mascot #fun #rockymountains #japan #にほん #はがき (at Hawaii) https://www.instagram.com/p/COC0f3xDdNG/?igshid=oq3gkz2tslxn

[astormyknight]

Attack on influenza. #teachinginjapan #jetprogram

[sentinel-wraith]

Ended up learning how to plant rice on Sunday. I ended up walking through knee deep mud with the consistency of half melted chocolate. Surprisingly it was actually quite pleasant and didn’t stink at all. It was nice and silky. Free spa treatment I guess 🤷‍♂️ We broke off chunks of 3-5 strands of rice and planted them in 12” intervals. Each little cluster is equivalent to a bowl of rice. Overall, really fun, and I got to see some cool critters. There were frogs, fishing spiders, crickets, leeches, and unbelievably, small edible freshwater clams. #tamana #fukuoka #ricefield #japan #japanesefood #japaneseculture #farming #jetprogram #culturalexchange #seattlephotographer #pnw #kyushuambassador #sonyalpha (at Tamana, Kumamoto) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQY1Q6qj6Mr/?utm_medium=tumblr

[punipunijapan]

Starry sky in Japanese is 星空(hoshizora)🌟  Do you know how to say “Astrological signs” in Japanese? Please search and find out video and blog (◕ω<)b☆   → “PuniPuniJapan astrological signs”🔍  Do you want to start speaking Japanese today?   Take ourJapanese lessons online with our friendly professional Japanese tutors \(◕ω◕)/☆ Take FREE trial lesson now！→ http://kakehashijapan.com   ☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°  JLPT N3 preparation course! Only $5/lesson! : http://www.punipunijapan.com/n3/   JLPT N4 preparation course ! Only $5/lesson! → http://www.punipunijapan.com/n4/    JLPT N5 preparation course! Only $5/lesson! : http://www.punipunijapan.com/five-dollar-jlpt-class/  #zodiacsigns #astrologicalsigns #zodiac #Seiza #hoshi #japaneseculture #Japaneseword #Japanese #Japan #Japanesephrase #learningjapanese #japaneseculture #JLPTN5 #Japanesevocabulary #JLPTN4 #JLPTN3 #JETprogram #日本語勉強中 #日本語勉強 #nihongo #Japaneselearner #japanese #Japan #japaneselanguage #japaneselessons #japaneselesson #learnjapanese #japaneseteacher #Japanesetutor #japaneseclass #jlpt #n5 #n4 #n3 #日本語 #🇯🇵japan https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxh8A0pnKR8/?igshid=erl9pv0bstq5

[shouyuanart]

This is the windmill in the olive park of Shodoshima, the largest island in the Setouchi island chain. Plein air painting is fun. . . . . . . . #art #like4like #follow #travel #instadaily #picoftheday #instatravel #follow4follow #instatravelling #home #instagood #followme #Japan #Shikoku #JETprogram #splendidjapan #japanloverme #japanawaits #EXPLOREJPN #japan_vacations #lovers_nippon_artistic #photo_jpn #team_jp_ #gaijinpottravel #visitjapanjp #instagramjapan #visitjpn #instajapan (at 小豆島 (Shodoshima)) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwy4sZbhP0L/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13nhp3wzt1mit

[suishoujetstreams]

Transitioning jobs in the JET Programme

Hello everyone! Welcome back to Suishou JETStreams: the blog dedicated to documenting my time on the JET Programme! I have big news!

I am reaching the end of my second year on the JET Programme and the situation of this Programme and the whole world is quite chaotic, to say the least. Due to Covid-19, many JETs who are ending their contracts are finding it extremely difficult to return to their home countries. As a result, my Prefecture offered a last-minute optional 1 year contract extension to JETs who applied to leave. I am very glad that this extension was offered since I now can spend some more time with my wonderful friends here, but I wish all the best to my colleagues who are struggling with postal and airline companies to get home.

 My job was essentially redundant for a period of three months earlier this year. My schools closed to students at the end of February and remained closed until the end of May. At the beginning of that period, I felt very lost in my purpose of being here. Without students to teach or lessons to plan, I had nothing to contribute to the school. Even the Japanese teachers began to struggle as time wore on. I spent a lot of time studying Japanese, learning about other hobbies, and sneaking off to spend time by myself and read a book or watch Netflix on my phone!

 Eventually, my school began short online lessons through Zoom which I was able to present in. It was a great opportunity for me to work with teachers outside of the English department! I have worked with other teachers before, but this time I led an online immersion lesson in Maths (teaching the students about imaginary numbers) and collaborated with an art teacher on a lesson about character design. Thanks to this experience, I have been asked to attend these classes again and the concept of immersion lessons with the ALT is gaining momentum in my school.

 However, I will not be around for much longer to carry out those lessons. In fact, I’m changing jobs! I will be the next Prefectural Advisor of Senior High School JETs for my Prefecture, and I’m very excited to start my new job! It will be sad to leave the fun environment of schools and say goodbye to my amazing students, but I am ready for a change and I am ready to help as many people as I can.

 As you can imagine, the situations of PAs are very hectic right now. PAs assist the intake of new JET participants, present at Prefectural Orientation, organise meetings for JET participants and deal with any professional or personal problems that are brought to them by their JET colleagues. It has just been confirmed that many of the new intake of JETs this year will be postponed, potentially by a whole year, especially from countries with high Covid-19 infection rates. Our Prefectural Orientation is now being designed for an online environment. I don’t know if it would therefore be safe to have physical ALT meetings or whether we will need to put everything online this year! Many JETs broke contract this year and left Japan to be with their families during the Covid-19 outbreak, and I’m expecting future problems in winter when Covid-19 increases alongside the annual influenza epidemic.

 There is a whole load of uncertainty about many things right now, but I am still looking forward to this next step in my working life. At 23, I know I will be only of the youngest PAs that my Prefecture has seen for a while, so I will do my best and work my hardest to ensure that I fill this role to the best of my ability!

I have a renewed motivation for this blog, so watch this space for lessons I have learnt and experiences I have enjoyed here in Japan.

[jeannielanguage]

📷 https://www.instagram.com/p/BcjnpKthW7q/ Because when you're an adult, you set the rules! Drinking tea ☕ (non-caffeinated, because I'm semi-responsible like that) in my Minnie Mouse mug and eating プリン 🍮 before dinner.

[annabelinjapan-blog]

根室になれました？Are you used to Nemuro yet?

October 5, 2018

It’s been a while since I have updated! A lot has happened that I wanted to write down, but I kept forgetting to, and I regret it because kids say the funniest things! In one of my classes, one student wanted to know how to say “I can do this”, and demonstrated whistling through his front teeth and clicking his tongue. So I got him to say “I can whistle and click my tongue”. It was an incredible teaching moment.

I’ve been finally able to answer the question 根室になれました？ with はい、ほとんどなれました。I got asked this question a month ago or so, but I didn’t feel like answering it whole-heartedly with yes. Now that it was been about two months I would say I’m beginning to get used to living here. I really enjoy the supermarkets, finding new foods in the grocery store and discovering ways to make foods I used to eat all the time back home but with a Japanese twist. Something I really love is this one green carton of soy milk and 青汁. It’s so good and it feels like I’m drinking a healthy drink but it isn’t sweet.

I went on a trip to an onsen with my coworkers the day after my welcome party! I was crazy hungover. It was fun seeing my coworkers and getting to know them better. They go hard on nihonshuu!

I’ve been interested in getting into the keto diet. It’s this diet where you can’t eat grains, so things that contain sugar and bread are a no-go. It’s so hard, maybe near impossible? Also with the no sugar rule, I believe fruits are excluded from what you can eat. It sounds awful. I saw a YouTube video by Gabbie Hanna (I’m not a fan, let me clarify) about how much she hated the keto diet after trying it for less than a week. Which is nothing. There’s this nutritionist’s book about the keto diet, where she said she includes “carb-ups” once a week which helps. I think her idea of eating less carbs in the morning and instead having them in the evening is better for you is perhaps true. Having less carbs in the morning made me feel pretty good today, I managed to get through a morning round of classes with yawning.

If you walk outside lately all you can smell is COW. LIKE YOU HAVE NEVER SMELLED COW BEFORE. It’s like there is one standing right outside the office it’s that bad (but they’re nowhere in sight!). My allergies have been bad as has everyone else’s. The weather has finally dropped into fall, you can feel it in the air and the itchiness in your eyes and the snot stuffed in your nose.

The onsen/hotel we stayed in

Mount Iozan, where you can find sulphur, hard boiled eggs and hot spring water

A mountain shrouded in fog

The beautiful lake near Mt. Iozan (if you dig into the sand, the water is hot spring water!)

One day on my walk to school

A rainbow in Nemuro :)