Occupations, names, birthplaces

Man, I totally LOVE learning Japanese!

Six pounds and fifty pence...

...is what it cost to send my JET Application. Phew! Finally! I included a postcard of Manchester Town Hall with my application. Now, so say the forums, is when the waiting game begins.

Application Pack... done?

So far i've got...

1 completed and signed JET Programme Application Form	4 copies
1 completed and signed Self Assessment Medical Form	4 copies
1 signed and dated Authorisation and Release Form	4 copies
Statement of Physician Form (if applicable)	N/A
1 Personal Statement (double spaced)	4 copies
2 authenticated, original academic transcripts (stamped and signed)	4 copies of both
2 Proofs of Degree	4 copies
1 Proof of Nationality	4 copies
2 sealed references	1 copy of each
2 proof of study letters from college	4 copies of each

... but I can't be sure. Is that defnitely everything? It is, I know, but I really don't want to make any mistakes. I'll just check it all one more time...

We've bought a printer, just for our JET applications!

Yes, that's right, just to print off our applications. It isn't worth the stress of doing them at the library or at work, we've decided. I wonder if we can ship it to Japan to use once we get accepted.

JET Personal Statement - an extract

I think that my JET Application is going okay. Here's a blast of a chunk of my personal statement so far:

The JET Programme excites me because it offers an unsurpassed opportunity to experience life in Japan whilst working in a demanding and productive position as an ALT. I am fascinated by Japan, its culture, its history and its people. This interest began at University, where I took a module in Post-war Japanese Cinema within my Postgraduate Diploma in International Cinema. I became thoroughly captivated as I found out more about the country during my studies. A placement on the JET Programme would allow me to develop a profound understanding of Japan that a tourist would struggle to attain. My time working on a summer camp in America showed me that the best way to understand an unfamiliar culture is to live as part of it. The JET Programme offers me the chance to discover Japan first-hand.

- what do you think? Any good?

Months and Dates

Wow! These are tough. I thought that the numbers were hard, but the dates and months are full of irregularities. Repeating them at the start of the lesson will help, I'm sure.

Seb's blog - golf update!

If you haven't seen it yet, I'd definitely recommend checking out my friend Seb's blog. His latest entry is about golfing with his colleagues, and it's great stuff. Snip...

I don’t know how prestigious this course was but it was one of the plushest I’ve ever been to. You arrive and pull up in front of the club house. A valet takes your car and an army of middle aged women in day-glow attire take your clubs and disappear while you go and sign in. It’s at this point I’m informed I’m playing in a match day, so no pressure there! We sign in, I’m taken to the rentals dept for shoe fitting, quick toilet stop (where the ineffable charm of the club is somewhat diluted but the ‘Thomas the Tank Engine music playing in the toilets) and then out the back where a day-glow girl is waiting with our clubs on an electric cart and off we go.

Unsnip! Great stuff Seb! You can find more at http://englishgaijin.wordpress.com/

65 Years On – Remembering the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bomb blasts

We went to the opening of the exhibition about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the People's History Museum. We heard about the day of the Nagasaki bomb from two survivors, both of whom had been children at the time. We saw terrible photographs that were particularly moving, including one of shards of melted glass in a poor man's back. The Lord Mayor of Manchester spoke, and we heard from Mr Tomihisa Taue, the Mayor of Nagasaki. It was a very moving exhibition.

JET Application Form - a first look, first thoughts

It's a long form, but not that long. Most of the questions are straightforward, and most of the answers should be too. The most challenging, I think, is the question about the relationship of the JET Programme to the participant's current career direction or intended future plans. Time to pull on the thinking cap! Maybe I'll not have much not much time to blog* about the application process, so I'll apologise in advance if the posting rate seems slower than normal. I'm applying for JET, so give me a break, okay!?! Hehehehe!

*or I'll just end up backdating a lot of posts, as per usual.