Saturday, June 22nd was the first Boston JET orientation. Held at the Children’s Museum, it was run by the New England JET Alumni Association. It was our first time meeting and it was not mandatory, but it was INCREDIBLY helpful.
Our orientation was set up to last all day with a social hour afterward. I got there slightly early and helped set up. Everyone got an insurance book, JET welcome book and general information, and Japanese language and culture book. We also all got a small sticky note that we wrote our name and placement on, then put that note on a map of Japan over our location. The books are beneficial and the map was useful to find other people who are going to be near you.
Over the day we talked about everything. We started by walking through the Kyoto house in the museum and talked about basic living in Japan, then moved to a Japanese library room to talk about money issues and bank accounts. We had lunch upstairs and talked about culture and culture shock. In the afternoon we talked about packing for our flight; emergency services in Japan; buying and bringing お土産 (gifts); technology from cell phones to cars; clothes for work and every day; and teaching strategies. We finished with a quick plug to learn Japanese and then had an open Q&A. All of these talks were about half an hour and were run by JET alumni. It was unbelievably helpful to hear about these topics from people who have been through the program. Everything was pretty informal and relaxed, which made it a very comfortable place to ask any questions. (I will make separate posts of each of these topics once I have gone through them myself and can give a more details.)
Although it was very informative, the acronym for the day was ESID, which stands for ‘each situation is different.’ Many of the questions we have as upcoming JETs depends on where you are, what school(s) you are in, and numerous other factors. To answer these more specific questions you can ask JET alumni from your area, join a Facebook group for JETs in your area, and/or ask your predecessor. Everyone I’ve met so far has been just as excited as me and happy to answer any questions.
Although all the information at the orientation was great, I think the best part was meeting the other JETs in my area. It’s kind of scary going to such a new place without a lot of information. Meeting the people you will be traveling with the first few days is a huge help. Having other people in the exact same situation as you will be more comforting to you than you may realize. The social hour after the orientation was also useful. More JET alumni came and getting to talk to everyone in a more relaxed setting was great.
I will talk more about all of these topics more in depth as I learn more about them and experience them first hand. If you are deciding whether or not to attend a similar orientation, I strongly suggest you do. You will probably have heard much of the information before, but even if you have, meeting the people you will be traveling with and hearing stories from the people who have already gone through the program is invaluable.
