Interviewing for JET in the next week or two? Then this is for you! Having been on both sides of the table as an applicant and an interviewer for the JET Program, I wanted to give some insider tips. I was a nervous wreck before I interviewed at the Japan Consulate in Boston four years… Continue reading 7 Last Minute Tips to Help You Prepare For The JET Interview
Tag: ALT
The JET Interview Reprise
It's a pivotal time in the JET world...Right around this time, ALTs and CIRs around Japan are signing off on a piece of paper whether they will stay one more year in their placement or go back home, and future JETs in their home countries are preparing for their interviews. This time two years ago… Continue reading The JET Interview Reprise
What I Realized After Leaving Japan
I really wanted to write about this on my blog sooner, but I needed a lot of time to process my million and one emotions. I've actually been starting and stopping this "Life After JET" post since September. I don't think I'll ever have it written exactly as I want it, but now that I've… Continue reading What I Realized After Leaving Japan
A Culminating Climb up Mount Fuji (AKA Are we on the moon?)
My last epic adventure before starting my descent back to America was to climb Fuji. I left Amami the day my teaching contract ended and met Lesley (who I also hiked Yakushima with last September) and her brother, Graham, in Shinjuku so we could set off early the following morning for Shizuoka, the prefecture where… Continue reading A Culminating Climb up Mount Fuji (AKA Are we on the moon?)
My Japanese High School’s Bunkasai
I missed out on blogging about my high school`s insanely spectacular Sports Day last September, so I don`t want to miss the chance to tell you about my high school`s bunaksai, or Culture Festival, that happened in June. After reading about bunkasais from other ALT blogs, I am getting the sense that events in the Japanese school… Continue reading My Japanese High School’s Bunkasai
Truly Rural (Inaka Road Trip to Miyazaki)
Over the weekend, I was just looking forward to spending time visiting Chiho and Kevin at their new home in Issa with Ching and Megan, but our time in the inaka (the countryside) left me feeling so satisfied and fulfilled! It was my first time going on a road trip in Japan and spending some… Continue reading Truly Rural (Inaka Road Trip to Miyazaki)
I Live in a Tropical Paradise
That settles it. Amami Oshima is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. I already knew that but maybe I've never said it aloud. Monday's national holiday was appropriately Marine Day, or "Ocean Day." So we rented a beach house for Saturday and Sunday night for mine and Carson's leaving party (and Jonathan came… Continue reading I Live in a Tropical Paradise
A Snapshot of my life as a Writing Teacher/Sensei
I just got rid of my Twitter account because I never use it. But before I clicked deactivate, I browsed through my old updates, and happened upon one I posted in the fall of 2014: One of my freshman writers referred to dead leaves as "the corpses of spring" in a Nature Observation Exercise I had my… Continue reading A Snapshot of my life as a Writing Teacher/Sensei
An Ephipany in the Classroom
I started off my week by giving a speech to all my third grade students about how I was failing math in high school until I found a teacher who tutored me almost every morning before school so I could pass his class. I told them to never be afraid to ask for extra help… Continue reading An Ephipany in the Classroom
Learning to Appreciate the Here and Now
I've always been a restless person. I can never stay in one place for too long. When I was still living at home, I was gone almost every weekend visiting friends in other parts of New England or New York. I think one of the best parts about growing up in the northeast was how… Continue reading Learning to Appreciate the Here and Now
The Becca Jar 