thanks for the insight, well, for myself, i live in USA and am getting a degree in multimedia. i actually have a rough draft of my essay already.

You said they could be "academic, professional or business contacts"...so if your academic contacts are limited, then get a reference from a job or internship you have had. If you have never held a job before...JET might not be the first place to start.

But it said here, The bolded part is the problem. When I start the application, I will still be an Undergraduate. I don't finish up until February of 2009.That seems like a weird one. Almost 27 without a job before. lol I have had one. I'm an Instructional Assistant now in a middle school. All my other jobs have been office ones.

But you said:

So I am having trouble understanding the problem.

I think that referene is going to be more valuable.

Oh, sorry about that. I guess I never mentioned that I take a Japanese class off line right here in my city. She's not with the University and where I get my lessons has no connection with it. My teacher also offered to help me prep for the interview since she's so well-informed of the program, as she's had many of her students end up joining it at some point. The advice you gave the poster above about what not to include, is pretty much what she was telling me.

Anyway, the place is called Asia Nexus, Inc.. It's a translation place, and they give Japanese language lessons.Probably, but I don't want to go against their rules either.

I see now. I wish I had an easy answer. All I can think is that if online universities want to be credible, they have to be able to fulfil this very needed requirement of their graduates. It may be worth giving them a call...

I know it's really early, but I think I'll do just that. I'll talk to my Academic Advisor and see what he says. I know the school can provide information indicating when I should be graduating and of my current enrollment, which the school has done before, but maybe he could give me an idea as to who I could ask within the school for a reference.

Maybe try calling your embassy and asking what would be best for the situation? They might let you use a different reference seeing as a remote teacher wouldn't make for a very honest or detailed one. I'm sure you're not the first person who has had this issue, so they might have some experience with what to do :)

I'm glad I don't need a uni reference, I didn't show up to enough of my classes to really get to know any of my lecturers >_>

Well, for those applying for next year, the time grows near. Anyone else, outside of ChisaChi applying for the JET program?

I guess it's just you and me then eh? :vsign: When do the applications come out again?

Make that three people :) I have been poking around the internet for some good info about the program, and I came across this thread. You guys have some great discussions and info on here, so I decided to sign up ^_^

This is a great site, so I'll be sure to keep coming back here often. Here's to hoping we all get in! :vsign:

September I think. The time sure did fly.

Here's the whole timeline for the application process:

Late September Application Process Begins
Mid October Early Applications Accepted
Late November Application Deadline* (Varies by Country)
January 1st Notice Sent to Applicants
February / March Interviews Held at Japanese Embassies / Consulates
Late March / April Interview Results Sent to Tokyo
April 2nd Notice Sent to Applicants
May Submit Health Check and Reply Forms
May-August Successful Applicants Receive Notification
May / June / July Sucessful Applicants Receive Placement Information
July Pre-Departure Orientation
July / August Departure on Designated Day

It seems like all of us are itching to apply, so I'd have them ready by the first day of the Early Application period :)

Woo, not too long now then! I'm going to have to dig up my graduation materials sometime, I think I shoved them in a filing cabinet somewhere... finally my degree is coming in handy XD I'm planning to take my sweet time to check over everything and hand it in when I'm 100% sure it's all ready :cool:

And yay, three of us!

*Cheers and claps* Yay us!!

Oh, and welcome to the board OsakaPapa. Everyone around here is nice and informative. You should be able to get a lot of good information here, and thanks for posting the time line.

We will all do our bests, and since the time is growing near, I should probably call the embassy to see about that situation I have dealing with my schooling.

I do know that I'm going to take my time on the application. I still haven't gotten started on my SoP. I think I'm focusing too much on it since this time last year I had a lot of ideas. I have no idea what happened. ><'

Thanks for the warm welcome! :3 This is by far the best forum I've seen which people talking about Japan. The only other one I knew of was BigDaikon, and there's a lot of jerks on there XD

I haven't started on my SoP yet either, and since I'm a well known procrastinator, I'll probably do it shortly before I hand in my app >_>; But I'll try my best to get it done before that! Maybe this will help break my habit XD And yeah, I'd really try to get your schooling issues settled a.s.a.p. Sometimes dealing with government agencies can be lengthy process (hey, look at the application process >_>)

Have either of you guys zeroed in on somewhere you'd like to live yet?

I'm vaguely hoping for something fairly central (so travel and getting to bigger cities every now and then won't be so difficult) or towards the south (since I have a feeling I'll be able to handle hot summers better than the cold north winters), but nothing more specific than that. I'm more or less ready to go anywhere, I'm in this for an adventure and a challenge and I think anywhere in Japan will give me that :) I'll probably put down Perth's sister city, Kagoshima and Western Australia's sister state, Hyogo as preferences since both places seem pretty cool and strengthening ties seems like a valid enough reason.

I've only briefly thought about my SoP... bit hard to decide what to write until I see what the prompts will be.

I'm guessing from your name you'd like the Osaka/Kansai area? That was where I requested, and I got Wakayama-ken, and a city less than an hour from Namba station in Osaka by train.

I'm actually trying to go to Hyogo-ken too :D I can't find it anymore on the JET programme website, but they had this table of all the prefectures in Japan, and how many people from each country went to them. If I remember correctly, the prefecture they sent the most people to was...Hyogo-ken! :vsign:

While Osaka is my favorite city (bet you never guessed that from my username :mtongue:), I know better then to apply for it. But, I love the Kansai area, and I think I found my "happy-medium" place: Nishinomiya-shi. It's a town between the cities of Kobe and Osaka in Hyogo-ken, and it really has everything I want:

- close proximity and easy access to Osaka and Kobe
- significantly smaller and less populated city, so it's not such a crazy place to live
- it's near the sea, which for me is really important
- there's a lot to do and see in the area
- Koshien Stadium, where my favorite baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers play, is in the same city! Win ;3

So yeah, I'm really hoping I can get that. If not, my second choice is Kobe, which is a sister city to my home city of Philadelphia. My third choice I'm really up in the air about whether I should pick another place in Kansai, or put down somewhere else. Still have a lot to think about XD

Big Daikon...I know of that place. Loaded with jerks, seemingly, and I'm not the type to say stuff like that.

I Think I'm Lost is a nice site to go to. Seems a bit milder than what it used to be. Not as many smart allecks like when I first went. I got bashed on that site because one person did a search, and saw I wrote fanfictions in the past and liked anime and manga and even bashed my avy, which I like, being a Legends of Zelda fan and all. But meh, it's a lot better now that I've gone back. Samurai007 (think that's the name), who is also on this site, goes there now too. He's very wise on the whole JET thing, as are a lot of others here.I know I mentioned the school issue early on in this thread earlier. Easy to miss, though. Here's the post. This is pretty much my only hindrance....so far. If things go right, I should be done by March or so.Hokkaido region, definitely. One of the places I mentioned earlier was Ishikari, Hokkaido, but even if not that, I'd still prefer someplace in Hokkaido, but "fairly central" so that I can travel, have access to public transit and stores and such. I don't want to live in a big city, but I don't mind being close to them.

The main reason I'd like Hokkaido, or even northern region of Honshuu, is mostly because of the weather. I think I can handle the cold more so than the heat, but if I do end up as a JET, and don't get my choice, doesn't matter too much. I'm already expecting that there's that chance that I won't get that placement.

My second choice would be Tochigi, but only for a shallow reason. I chat with one of the members on Tochigi BOE, and we correspond through e-mail, but of course it takes a while ot reply back and forth because of language barriers [he just sent me another message a while ago], so I'm sure that he would be very helpful to me if I were placed there. He was very nice, and seemed to really appreciate it when I helped him when I met him last year during a teaching convention.

My third choice, I'd probably have to say Saitama...maybe, but only because it's my sister city.

Edit: Here's the chart you mentioned.

I'm a bit curious now. For those who got to the interview process, did the interviewers ask why you chose certain placements?

It's strange - these sites seem to have a bit of a hazing process, and if you survive then you become one of them and join in heckling the next lot of new people (and occasionally each other). I wouldn't take it too seriously.

I've heard of people being asked to justify their placement requests in interviews, so I'm trying to stick with places I can list some intelligent reasons for requesting.

I remember seeing a chart like this a while ago, handy! I've heard that Aussies seem to have a good chance of ending up in Hyogo, but I wonder if it's just because they hire so many ALTs in general. Do they have so many because it's quite a large prefecture?

Nice to see that Osaka City has more then 2 ALTs going there, and while chances are still slim, there's still an actual chance. Still gonna go with Nishinomiya though :)

That chart also saved me from putting down Kanagawa as my third choice like I was thinking about. Pretty much nobody goes there, nor Yokohama city, so that's out. Osaka-fu took more ALTs then I thought, so maybe I'll put a choice in Osaka-fu. I really need to look into these more, because if they ask me why I chose these places, I want to be able to give a ton of reasons why :) As interesting as it may be, I'm really not a rural life kind of person, and I don't think I'd fare too well out there. I'd love to visit those places, but never live there.

Would you turn down a rural placement then? It sounds like they do make up a pretty big percentage of JET placements. I'm just hoping wherever it is has internet access, but it seems even rural Japan is pretty well connected.

Eep, I just looked at how many people from the consulate I'll be applying from got through this year - seven, including one CIR. Of course Canberra is a pretty small city itself, but still ._. I guess at least that means the consulate won't have too many applications to lose mine in.

I don't think I would turn it down, but I know I would not be nearly as happy/functional in a rural setting. Also, when I say rural, I mean inaka type places, where I may be the first American people have seen or something like that. Shikoku, and prefectures like Shimane and Totoori come to mind when I think of places in Japan I don't want to live in. Where I live in the US is exactly the kind of place I'd like to live in Japan. Easy access to a major city, and not too far from the ocean. While I know I can handle the inner city life, I'd actually rather live in a suburb or something like that. I just dont wanna be surrounded by rice paddies and little else XD

I'll be applying out of New York City, which I think has the most applicants anywhere, if not close to it =/ While that means that they send more people, it also means more competition. While I like my chances, having studied abroad in Japan, founded a Japanese club at my university, and studying to be an ESL teacher, the less competition the better XD Depending on how things go, I may end up applying through Washington D.C., but as of right now I'll be going through NYC.

That's fair enough, I think I'd prefer a similar suburban situation too in some ways. Although people's stories of being the town celebrity and being invited to lots of events sounds intriguing for me to not want to rule out the inaka. Playing with random town kids in rural China who thought my weird shaped eyes were incredible was pretty fun XD

Hrmm, just realised that newsletter with 7 people going from Canberra was from 4 years ago XD No indication if it's increased or decreased since then. From the article it looks like they all have a pretty impressive history in terms of experiences in and with Japan, like you do. I'm going to have to find a good angle to make my meager achievements look good!

I don't think I'd care for pure inaka/rural either. I really wouldn't favor being stuck in a place where the closest city or signs of civilization is like hours and hours away. I guess out of the three, suburban or semi-suburban, I'm used to suburban anyway, having grown up with it, would be good for a person like me, but whatever is offered to me, if I get to that point, I'd go on and take it...not that I'd have much choice in the first place. lol

Wouldn't it be ironic if by some crazy coincidence, that despite what we all put down or pick for placement, and we all get into JET, that we all end up in the same area or pretty close to one another in an inaka setting? lol

Oh, there is one thing I know I wouldn't do if in Japan that other JETs on some boards seem to glorify...drinking. I just don't get the fascination with sitting around getting drunk. I've never been drunk, but that can't feel too good.

Well, at least this type of hazing is safe compared to what some university fraternities and sororities do. ^^To be honest, I wouldn't know what to say for either choices without coming across as shallow or petty or uninformative.

Hokkaido: I love winter weather, and this region of Japan is very beautiful in the winter. It is also known for its onsen, good seafood, and various winter activities. It's also not as hot during the summer compared to the other regions.:p

Tochigi: I know someone on the Tochigi BOE. Yep yep. That's my reason why I chose it. Aside from that, and hearing how nice Utsunomiya-shi was, it sounds like a nice place.

Saitama: Yep yep, it's my sister city. That's my only reason. (Humorous sarcasm) I'm almost guaranteed a spot there!! Relations are important! :mtongue:

Could you imagine telling the interviewers that stuff above if asked? ><;

Maybe I could just say it was a random choice, or if I get to the interviewing process, I can cross my fingers and just hope that they don't ask me about it at all.

If you applied through D.C., and we both get to be interviewed, we'd probably meet up with one another there on coincidence or might even meet one another without even knowing.:cool:

When you talk about that stuff, it doesn't sound as bad X3 I guess it really comes down to making the best of what you have to work with ^_^

Hopefully more people have been sent out of Canberra since then. I'm sure the number has went up especially since the program grows every year. Are there any other places that are in a feasible distance that you can apply from? When it comes to achievements and such, while they would be helpful, I really think the essay is going to be really important, so make sure you nail that pretty good ;) That will really tell them about you and if you plead your case well, I think you'll be fine :) They can't go just on experiences alone, because not everybody has the same oppurtunities.

That wouold be pretty darn ironic. XD If you put down any places that arent in Hokkaido, it seems like Chisa and I are going for places in Hyogo-ken, so maybe you'd end up in or around there ^_^


Having lived there and seen it firsthand many times, I feel like I should tell you. The Japanese LOVE to drink; it's not just a JET thing. If you go out anywhere or have parties with your fellow teachers, I can almost guarentee you there will people getting drunk and lots of drinking going on. While that doesn't mean you have to, just be prepared for it to happen around you XD I'm not against drinking, just against people being really stupid about it. I don't drink very often though, and I've never gotten trashed, and don't plan it. At least I do know if I do decide to drink (or they make me), I'm not an angry drunk XD Quite the opposite actually. I'm one of those people that if they get tipsy, I start saying silly things, hug people, and tell embarresing stories about me and my friends XD But yeah, just be prepared for it to happen around you XD

Truth be told, those really aren't bad reasons ^^; (at least I don't think they are.) Especially the sister city thing..apparently to them it's a great reason. heck, that's one reason why one of my picks is Kobe XD What I do think you should do though, and I've beent trying to do this too, is find a specific city/town in the prefecture you want that sounds appealing to you, and find very specific things in that city/town you can talk about. It makes you sound VERY well informed, and I think you'd have a much better chance in getting into that town, or at least the general area if you can spout off things like that ^_^ I obviously want to live near Osaka, so I've been looking into the cities/town in Hyogo-ken and Osaka-fu, which is how I found Nishinomiya-shi. I'm looking for a town in Osaka-fu now, so I have a solid third choice. I really think when you put down places like that, it shows you've done your homework, and you don't look like an ass like the people who just say "Yeah, I wanna live in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto."

Should that happen, we can arrange to meet or something like that ^_^

You're right about it happening around you quite often. Most of the school teacher's parties were overflowing with alcohol. And they will try and try and try to get you to drink, in the belief that you need it to really loosen up and have fun. In the states, I don't drink at all. Over there, I'd try a little sip of it now and then for the kampai (toast) and then switch over to cola, fruit juices, water, etc. (More of the female teachers didn't drink, so I'd often try to sit with them... plus, hey, Japanese women are cute! :) ) As long as you are able to loosen up without alcohol, laugh, sing karaoke, joke around, etc, they'll slowly stop bugging you about drinking as the night goes on and they see you're having a good time anyway. But at the next party, it starts all over again, LOL, right up to an including my farewell party after 2 years! Just be firm, friendly, and show you can still have a great time and sing karaoke sober, and you'll be ok.

That'd be incredibly ironic. lolOh, I have nothing against those who drink and know that it's common there. Even I'm okay with having a drink occasionally, just not to the point where I'm crazy drunk. I honestly have no desire to ever experience that feeling, and I think it's because of how strict I am with drinking and driving. I'm always the designated driver here, so it's just become a habit to avoid drinking if out. At least one good thing in Japan, they have that no-tolerance thing where driving is concerned, and how you can't have any alcohol in your system before driving.

That's a good idea. Earlier, I mentioned, my first choice is Toubetsu-cho of the Ishikari subprefecture in Hokkaido or just Ishikari-shi in general, mainly because it's not too far from Sapporo. If I'm not mistaken, on the JR line, you can get to Sapporo in about a half hour or so, although, Ishikari does strike me as being a bit rural.

As for Tochigi, outside of Utsunomiya-shi, I haven't looked into other places in the area, and I only know of Utsunomiya is because of Mr. Tsurumi going on about how he'd taken a trip there to a university for a seminar or something like that. Same with Saitama. I always heard that Saitama wasn't very interesting, though.

I can loosen up without alcohol. I can be goofy and fun without the aid of alcohol, although, it does help some. lol I would only drink enough for a buzz anyway. That's enough for me. That aside, I don't see how some people can keep going with drinks. I get full. lol

They seem like pretty decent reasons! Choosing an area you think you'll feel comfortable in makes sense, and I've heard they love the whole sister city thing - make up some spiel about strengthening ties between your two cities and how much this means to you. I've heard that saying you know someone in the place you choose isn't looked upon too happily, although I'm not really sure why.

There's a few other cities closer, but they're quite large and will have significantly more competition :mtongue: When I think about it 7 people from a state of 300,000 people isn't too bad. Most people move to Canberra to take up government positions there rather than wanting to move away, so now that I think of it my odds aren't too bad after all.

I reckon I can spin a good essay when I need to, so hopefully that'll work enough... I'm hoping that the fact I have some experience with working full time as opposed to fresh grads will count for something.

That's why you go for the shooters ^_~ I'm not a big drinker either actually; I've been drunk at times (it doesn't really take much) and I wouldn't mind drinking with my colleagues at an enkai, but I'm really hoping to not get to the insane liver destruction stage it seems many JETs do. Luckily as a small girl I doubt there will be too many expectations of me!

If I had to guess, I would say that they may frown upon it because if you know people there already, usually someone isn't nearly as likely to go out and become part of the community, and instead will just stick with the people they know.

Yeah, those numbers really aren't that bad at all. I really like your chances with that ^^ Work experience will certainly benefit you, and with a good essay, knowing the places where you want to live (and good reasons for wanting to live there), things are looking pretty good ^^

See, you're lucky with the fact that they won't have a lot of expectations of you when it comes to drinking XD I'm an American guy who's just about 6 ft. tall, and I have decent amount of meat on my bones, so I have a feeling they'll be expecting me to be able to put away a 12 pack or something XD Luckily for me (or unluckily, depending on how aggressive they are about getting me to drink ^^;; ), despite the fact that I don't drink very often at all, I have a really high tolerance for alcohol, so I shouldn't have to worry about being drunk out of mind or puking in the street..a sight I've seen many times in the streets of Tokyo XD I'll have no problems either at drinking at enkais and things like that, but I'm not gonna go to bars all the time like a lot of foreigners do whilst in Japan.

I suppose, but I'm still going to research the areas so I can say something about them without sounding like I read a brochure.I wish I could say I was a small girl. Even at my ideal weight/size, I'll still never be "small" because of my height.

That aside, I see what you mean about shooters. I had some a couple of nights ago, only two, though, and an Appletini, since I was to drive. Drinking shooters wouldn't make you full at all. That aside, I don't drink much. I don't care for stuff like beer, but I do like cocktails and tropical drinks. In other words, "sissy drinks". lol