MMM, thus far, you've been an absolute life saver. You've given me such a wealth of information that would have been hard and time consuming for me to find myself. I appreciate the attention you're giving me!
One other thing that I'm curious about is whether or not it is possible for JET participants to set up Homestays. To be honest, I'm far from a perfect cook and as an only child, I've been showered with attention from my mother and grandmother (who will even go so far as to prepare meals for me, even though I live by myself!)
My point though is, if a homestay is somehow possible, it would be a convenient way to facilitate my immersion and force me to communicate with Japanese (rather than isolate myself with other foreigners).
How do these usually work? Does the individual pay the family for room and board or do they agree to some sort of "in kind" swaps, ie: you can stay with us while in Japan if you offer private English tutoring 2 hours a day to our 3 children. If you do have to pay, how much does it cost and how does a person go about organizing a homestay?
This is all so exciting.