Edition 4Apri l – June 08JET Programme - Aomori

Special Feature . . . . . .

Activit ies & Events . . .

Event Announcement . .

ALT Talk : Getting Involved . . . . .

Introductions . . . . . . .

JET Life . . . . . . . . . . .

Japan Spotl ights/JET Bir thdays! . . . . . .

JET Talk . . . . . . . . . .

Remarks/Reminders . .

Sweet, sweet strawberries, beautiful cherry blossoms, and a gen-

eral rejuvenation of l ife are only a few of the many things to look

forward to in the coming months. Spring is almost here, which means

it ’s time to get out those picnic baskets and blankets for “hanami”

(cherry blossom viewing festival), and put away those down com-

forters and jackets. For all of you skiing and snowboarding buffs,

you have until at least April to get in as much mountain action as you

can, and then come join us for a drink under the cherry trees!

This is only a l imited l ist, but check out some of the things that wil l

be in season at: www.jflalc.org/download/OnlineMaterials/calendar/

spring.html. Happy Spring Aomori!

SAKURA GLORY!

GOOD MORNING, AOMORI!

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CONTENTS

Special FeatureApri l – June 08

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Three Months in a Glance Erin Sandstrom (Hachinohe)

Freezing, cold wetness, and a blanket of pure beauty. When will you ever see this much snow and when could you

ever get the experience of traveling on a narrow absurdly confusing road covered in an abundant amount of white fluffi-

ness? I don’t know about anyone else but I certainly have never experienced this kind of fun and extreme travel! For those

not so enthusiastic about this beautiful flaky season rest assured there was and still is much to do here in the backcountry

of Japan.

With a “ho ho ho” and a trip to the temple, December was filled with lots of trips, family, and exploration as well as the JLPT.

The Christmas potluck in Aomori and other great eating get-togethers were in abundance. Some people had hot and humid

trips to places like Thailand, Cambodia and Fiji. There were also those individuals hitting it up in our lovely place of Aomori.

I envy you and your chance for “Mid-December Emperor Watching ” as well as devouring the daifuku of New Years. Though,

most of all I envy you and the snow covered mountains for which to ski and sweat in heavenly bliss!

Oh, and my favorite beginning, the start of the New Year, January. I was watching anime with a bottle of champagne and a

grin of sweet happiness on my face when I whisked in the New Year. Smiling faces as January continued became a whole

new meaning for those working with children. AJET Ski weekend saw total debauchery and laughs. It was a lovely time of

drinking and friends. If that wasn’t enough, there were also new groups in the making as we flew into February, like the First

Aomori Book Club and the Area Coordinators Program!

Dazzling snow travel and festivals! February found us in the heart of winter and loving it (or hating it). People experienced

the great and fantastic snow festivals in Sapporo and some even got to the festival in Otaru. Splendid travel also found peo-

ple going to Hachinohe for the strange but very interesting Emburi festival. Though, before that we can’t forget, Valentine’s

chocolates devoured and the female student body to be ware of as they had eyes like a tiger focused on those they would

push their chocolates onto. Students were also in the last leg of the school year and were either enjoying the time they had

left or studying like their life depended on it, since in reality it did. If you had nothing to do with your students, for it is a

nerve-racking and a confusing time, you just might have waited in anticipation for the day many of us waited for, the up-

coming Sake party in Aomori. Oh, to love sake and taste the unique Aomori blends must be exquisitely tantalizing.

With so much that has come to pass and much that is still waiting to be experienced, Aomori can be changed into a wondrous

and magical place, if you are a 2nd year or above. I will also wait in anticipation for the next “Three Months in a Glance.”

P h o t o s u b m i t t e d b y A l l i s o n R e e d

Aomori EventsApri l – June 08

Activit ies – events & festivalsFestival Name Location

4th Annual Everest of ApplesCharity Futsal Tournament

Japan Day

Hirosaki Cherry Blossom Festival

Tako/International Kite Festival

Kanagi Cherry Blossom Festival

Ringo Hanami Food Drive

Yokohama Rape Blossom Festival

Taue TaikenRice Planting Experience

Tairadate Matsuri

American Day

Kuristo Matsuri

Tsuruta Sake Matsuri

Tsugaru-ben Taikai

Bug and Fire Festival

Aomori City

Misawa

Hirosaki

Fujisaki

Kanagi

Hirosaki

Yokohama

Inakadate

Tairadate

Misawa

Shingo

Tsuruta

Tsruta

Goshogawara

Dates

Apri l 5th

Apri l 5th

Last weekend in Apri l

Last weekend in Apri l

First week in May

May 17th

Third weekend in May

May 25th

Last weekend in May

First weekend in June

Second weekend in June

June 20th

Saturday in June/July

Last weekend in June

Duration

1 day

1 day

9-10 days

1-2 days

3- 4 days

1 day

2 days

1 day

1 day

2 days

1 day

1 day

1 day

1 day

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Work Event ScheduleEVENTS

APRIL 9 Group C JETs arrive in Japan! ( Welcome!)

MID-MAY TOA Participants wil l be notif ied

JUNE 16-17 Selected TOA Planning Meeting

Mark Your Calendars!

HOLIDAYS

APRIL 29 Showa Day

MAY 3 Constitutional Memorial Day

MAY 4 Green Day

MAY 5 Children’s Day

MAY 6 Substitute Holiday

If you need to get a Japanese license, now is the time to do it! Remember it can only be done in Aomori city. If you would like someone to translate, please ask your office or one of your PAs.

If you have a car registered in your name on April 1, you are liable for road tax – usually around 4 man a year, payable in June.

If you are a 2nd or 3rd year, get ready for a big tax bill in June, anywhere between 8-16 man. First years will also get a tax bill, but it is more likely to be in the 1 – 2 man range.

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Event Announcement

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GOOD MORNING, AOMORI!

Everest of Apples would like to invite you to the 4th Annual Everest of Apples

Charity Futsal Tournament! For the last threeyears EofA has sponsored this tournament

in Aomori-ken, Aomori-shi with the event being a great success, raising nearly 60 man

for the Prajwal School in Nepal and other educational projects abroad. We are looking

to continue this success with our 4th Tournament in April.

Everest of Apples was founded in 2002 as a nonsectarian charitable organization.

Through charity events sponsored by the EofA Aomori and Akita branches we strive to

provide equal opportunity education to underprivileged children in the Everest region.

Details regarding the tournament:Date: Saturday, April 5th

Time: 9:00 AM start, with finals slated to finish by 4:00 PM

Place: Aomori Arena, Aomori City

The tournament is open to both Japanese and foreign teams, and the event is co-ed.

The After-party: For those that aren’t too worn out from the tournament, we’ll be

organizing a gathering that evening for some drinks and good times. Details to be

announced later.

For teams coming from outside Aomori City, accommodation is available at Aomori

Arena for about 2500 yen per person. Please indicate your need for accommodation

with your registration or contact Chris for more information.

The 4th Annual Everest of Apples Charity Futsal Tournament!

If you have any questions or would l ike to enter a team, please contact me!

Chris SwansonEverest of Apples Futsal Tournament Directoreofa.futsal@gmail.com

W h e n : S a t u r d a y, M a y 1 7 t h a t 1 2 : 3 0 W h a t : We ’ l l b e h a v i n g a f o o d d r i v e f o r t h o s e i n n e e d a n d p i c n i c i n a

p a r k u n d e r s p r i n g a p p l e b l o s s o m s . A f t e r w a r d s w e ’ l l b e s e l l i n g o r g i v i n g a w a y t h i n g s f r o m o u r a p a r t m e n t s

t h a t w e n o l o n g e r n e e d . Fo o d a n d m o n e y r a i s e d f o r t h e f o o d d r i v e w i l l b e d o n a t e d t o S e c o n d H a r v e s t J a -

p a n ( h t t p : / / w w w. s e c o n d h a r v e s t j a p a n . o r g / ) P l e a s e c h e c k t h e m o u t t o l e a r n m o r e ! W h e r e : H i r o s a k i ’s A p p l e

P a r k ( R i n g o Ko u e n ) . T h e r e i s a m p l e p a r k i n g , a c a f e / s o u v e n i r s t o r e , a n o l d f a r m h o u s e t h a t y o u c a n l o o k a t

a n d l e a r n a b o u t o l d f a r m i n g t e c h n i q u e s , a n d m a n y a p p l e t r e e s t h a t w i l l h o p e f u l l y b e b l o o m i n g a t t h i s t i m e .

W h a t t o B r i n g : Yo u r o w n p i c n i c i t e m s . A s f o r t h e f o o d d o n a t i o n s : p l e a s e b e s u r e t o b r i n g o n l y n o n - p e r i s h a -

b l e s s u c h a s r i c e , p a s t a , i n s t a n t f o o d s , a n d p a c k a g e d f o o d s . P l e a s e b e s u r e t o c h e c k t h e e x p i r a t i o n d a t e

a s w e l l . T h e n o f c o u r s e t h e r e i s t h e s w a p a n d s e l l , s o d o a t h o r o u g h c h e c k o f t h i n g s y o u d o n ’ t w a n t i n y o u r

a p a r t m e n t a n y m o r e – t h i s i s y o u r c h a n c e t o p a s s t h e m o n t o e a g e r h a n d s ! A l s o : I ’ l l p r o b a b l y n e e d h e l p e r s

f o r t h i s e v e n t a n d t h e p r e - p l a n n i n g , s o i f y o u ’ r e i n t e r e s t e d y o u a r e a l w a y s w e l c o m e ! P l e a s e m a r k t h e d a t e o n

y o u r c a l e n d a r, a n d s t a r t c o l l e c t i n g t h a t f o o d n o w !

P l e a s e f e e l f r e e t o d i r e c t a n y q u e s t i o n s t o E r i n W i g h t a t j a d e _ f r o g @ h o t m a i l . c o m .

Ringo Hanami Food Drive and Swap n’ Sell!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Introductions

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GOOD MORNING, AOMORI!

BABIES ON BOARD! featuring 2nd-year JETs

RUSSELL AQUINO (Hachinohe)

Job Description: Part-cultural ambassador, part-linguist, part-Fräulein Maria

Best moment on JET: Onsen

One word to describe your time on JET: Panda

Something Japanese that interests you: Goma tofu and everyday onmyoudou

Quote & Words of Advice: All people smile in the same language.

JODY BUHAY (Hachinohe)

Job Description: ALT to Christ ’s descendants

Best moment on JET: Surprise party at UltraModern

One word to describe your time on JET: Plant of Modernity

Something Japanese that interests you: Sumo. Those guys are HAWT in

their l ittle “mawashi.”

Quote & Words of Advice: Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.

JOANN CHO (Aomori City)

Job Description: ALT at Toyama H.S., ambassador for the Flying Art Project

(Aomori), school visits to Aomori Dainiyogo (special needs), GMA! designer

Best moment on JET: Travels (waking up to somewhere different on planet

earth) and solving problems collectively with either my students, teachers, or

the community.

One word to describe your time on JET: Perseverance.

Something Japanese that interests you: Too many... it ’s endless.

Current nerd of contemporary and traditional Japanese arts and crafts/dance/

theater/design/music/poetry/photography/organic foods, . . .see what I mean.

Quote & Words of Advice: Live without borders. Let ’s face it, VISTAS BREVIS.

G o o g l e i m a g e s

April – June 08

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ALT Talk

Getting Involved! from C.C. Genevieve Murphy (Fukaura)

It ’s hard to believe how quickly the year is flying by. It ’s already time to start thinking about the new

JETs who will be arriving this summer. Wanting our new community members to feel welcomed in their new foreign land,

we have organized a committee with just that in mind. For now, we are called the Community Coordinators of Aomori.

Since there are about 121 JETs in Aomori, we have decided to divide our amazing ken into 4 manageable sections, each

section having 4 Community Coordinators (C.C.). It is the responsibil ity of these C.C.s to welcome the new JETs with

care packages and then proceed to overwhelm them with copious amounts of vital information during their f irst few

weeks here. We will then be available to help answer questions and solve problems as this info. is processed. We will

also assist them individually with some basic needs, to help make the transition process as easy as possible (finding

banks, hospitals, post offices, going grocery shopping, setting up cell phones and internet, etc.).

So now that our new JETs are a bit more settled, have seen their schools, made their ungodly number of awkward

speeches, and are “becoming accustomed to Japanese l ifestyle” what do they need now? A social l ife! That ’s where

you fine folks of Aomori wil l come in. As the year progresses, and the dust settles, we want our local JET communities

to continue to build and strengthen. We will be organizing events and gatherings about once a month in our respective

sections of the ken to bring people together. And you are not obligated to attend these events in any way. However, as

we have all experienced the uncertainty of relocating to a foreign country, it would be nice to come make our new JETs

feel welcomed. These events will also give us an excuse and opportunity to see each other a bit more frequently. The

monthly events will encompass a variety of activities and we will try and coordinate things that are fairly cheap or free

so that everyone can participate. Please keep an eye out for these events and come hang out and have fun for a few

hours each month!

Some other things that wil l help us: First, many of you have tons of photos from various events throughout the year.

Send them our way (Genevieve Murphy at genevievec_murphy@yahoo.com) as we are making a photo jam CD to send to

the new JETs before they arrive as a sample of what they have to look forward to. Second, we will be holding a couple of

fundraisers to get things jumpin’ so please come to our fundraisers and graciously share your money with us. Finally,

if you are leaving us, we will be asking for your help by fi l l ing out some basic information templates to leave for your

successor. This is just to help us know how to help your successor.

P h o t o s u b m i t t e d b y G e n e v i e v e M u r p h y

Introductions

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GOOD MORNING, AOMORI!

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Other 2nd years are: Rachel Johnson (Hirosaki), Helen Masters (Hirosaki), Teresa Smith (Goshogawara),*Helen Kenyon (Ajigasawa), Abidemi Bankole (Yomogita), Justin Nesbit (Ajigasawa), Mary Christensen (Itayanagi), Ricky Dewey (Hachinohe), Wade Binneboese (Hachinohe), Claire Brown (Hachi-nohe), Joel Hanneman (Hachinohe), Veronica Vil lalobos (Hachinohe), Mark Scott (Hachinohe), Courtney Hearon (Shichinohe), Yumiko Dark (Sannohe), Aaron Asmann (Hirosaki), Felicia Lee (Momoishi), Phil ip Crowe (Noheji), Eric Chan (Rokkasho), *Angella Lee (Aomori City), *Eunjin Jung (Rokkasho), Renato Nahibuan (Nakadomari)

* Coordinator of International Relations

KAREN RETTER (Aomori City)

Job Description: Resident foreign monkey at Aomori Nishko. Duties include

sitting at my desk pretending I am doing something useful, and being paranoid

that my collegues are talking about me. Also, I pretend to teach English.

Best moment on JET: I have to choose just one!? JET has been one big, long

best moment (with a few worst moments to keep me on my toes.)

One word to describe your time on JET: Supercalifragil isticexpialidocious.

Something Japanese that interests you: The Aomori City buses.

Quote & Words of Advice: Love many, trust few, and always paddle

your own canoe.

KELLY ROSE (Shichinohe)

Job Description: One-shot ALT for Noheji/Yokohama towns

Best moment on JET: Pay-day Fridays at Oirase Brewery

One word to describe your time on JET: Helter-skelter

Something Japanese that interests you: Maneki-neko

Quote & Words of Advice: “ Opportunity is missed by most people because it ’s

dressed in overalls and looks l ike work.” -Thomas Edison

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JENNIFER STAINTON (Tsuruta)

Job Description: CIR

Best moment on JET: Any of my travels, be it a weekend in Hakodate or

a month in Thailand.

One word to describe your time on JET: Enlightening

Something Japanese that interests you: Okonomiyaki :)

Quote & Words of Advice: Never say no to the chance to meet new people.

Apri l – June 08

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Introductions

KATHLEEN IU (Oma)

Job Description: ALT in Oma Town, 2 J.H.S., 2 elementary schools, and the

occasional visits to the local preschool.

Best moment on JET: When I realized that people around me no longer re-

garded me as some foreign creature with nothing in common with them, but as

an actual person with similar goals and aspirations.

One word to describe your time on JET: SWEEEET!

Something Japanese that interests you: Food, Kendo, Shimokita-ben

Quote & Words of Advice: Everything doesn’t have to go your way in order for

you to be happy. Try to scratch the surface. Things may not always be the way

they seem. Initial perceptions may be deceiving.

MELISSA McIVOR (Sotogahama)

Job Description: ALT in Sotogahama-machi

Best moment on JET: Doing a can-can kick l ine to the Chipmunk’s version of

Jingle Bells with my elementary school 5/6th graders (intiated by them).

One word to describe your time on JET: Indescribable

Something Japanese that interests you: Sumi-e

Quote & Words of Advice: “The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman,” a quote

by Shakespeare.

ALAINE NOZAWA (Nanbu)

Job Description: J.H.S. and elementary ALT

Best moment on JET: Getting to see one of my students participate in the

All-Japan Speech Contest in Tokyo

One word to describe your time on JET: Sitting.

Something Japanese that interests you: The gothic lolita and gothic aristo-

crat subcultures.

Quote & Words of Advice: I think everyone knows this by now, but stickers are

your best frind at an elementary school...as well as Twister and Jenga.

I n t r o d u c t i o n s / J E T L i f e

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Apri l – June 08

Spring is Almost Here! Jody Buhay (Hachinohe)

Can you feel it? Spring is almost here! And with the dawn of spring comes sakura (cherry blossoms) and

hanami (sakura viewing parties), an experience you will for sure not want to miss. My first hanami gathering was on

the castle grounds at Hirosaki park, and I must say it was FABULOUS. The crowds were out in full force but that only

heightened the excitement as I approached the park entrance. The park provided beautiful views everywhere I went.

Walking around the park we met with many familiar faces and it feels l ike all of Aomori comes to town to celebrate. I

found my friends under a weeping cherry tree where they had already started on lunch and drinks. We later then walked

around the park taking pictures of the trees, red bridges, and castle. My favorite part of hanami at Hirosaki Park is

the sakura tunnel, a walkway l ined with cherry trees that forms a beautiful canopy to stroll under. I highly reccomend

making your way over to Hirosaki for their Cherry Blossom Festival in late April. Other places around the ken to see

the blossoms are Gappo Park in Aomori City and Hachinohe Park in Hachinohe. Wherever you go, sakura season is one

party you do not want to miss.

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CHRIS SWANSON (Aomori City)

Job Description: Aomori Minami H.S. ALT (but posing as an internet

researcher, e-mail checker, and frequent napper)

Best moment on JET: It makes my head hurt to try to think of just one,

so I pass.

One word to describe your time on JET: Blast

Something Japanese that interests you: Pottery, sushi, and nomihoudai

Quote & Words of Advice: “ Whenever I ’m about to do something, I think,

‘ would an idiot do that?’ and if they would, I do not do that thing.”

- Dwight Schrute

Japan Spotl ights/Bir thdays!Apri l – June 08

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Melissa NyeMark Scott

John Kincheloe

Rebecca Behrendt

Eric Clark

Brian Yoshioka

Yumiko DarkZachary Bass

Alisa Tobin

Abidemi Bankole

Amy Mil ler

Teri Smith

MAYAPRIL

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Dominic Smith

Christopher Tate

Travis Harper

Lindsay Hurley

Robert Tunstall

JUNE

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Carly Romano

Daniel van De Sandt

Melissa McIvor

Leon Fonseka

Helen Bridges

Natalie Leong

Anne Barton

Chris SwansonDavid Foley Jr.

Melissa Tee

Garrett Austin

Jason Johnson

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY JETs!

おめでとう！

Many travelers hear of the small islands that dot the coast of mainland Okinawa. If you’re considering visit-

ing one of these islands, why don’t you consider the small island of Zamami-jima? Ferries run about 4 times a day to this

quaint, pretty l ittle island. On first impression you may think that it ’s a bit run down-looking, but the locals are friendly

and the downtown is easily traversable.

This island has all the basics, except for ATMs, so make sure that you get your money before coming here. There are

several restaurants on the island, all serving similar fare. There is a nice l ittle izakaya (Japanese pub) called Shiisa.

Also, there is a food and goods store on Zamami called 105, where you can buy anything from packaged (and l imited

fresh) foods to batteries for your camera.

There are all kinds of dive shops and snorkeling rental places throughout the downtown area, all similarly priced. One

place I recommend is NatureLand Kayak. The cost is 7,000 yen for half a day (no meal) and 11,000 yen for a full day

(including a meal). Everything you’l l need is included. Suits (for the colder months) are included in the fee; however,

if you are of a non-typical size you might want to bring your own suit, since the sizes are l imited and cater to Japanese

tourists. If you’re interested in humpback whale watching go to the port, where there is a whale watching office. The

cost is 5,000 yen to go watching from 10:30 am until 12:30 noon. The whales come to Okinawa from January to March,

with their peak time being in February. If you go out and don’t see any whales you don’t get your money refunded,

though. Reservations can be done at the counter, even if your Japanese is l imited.

There are different places to stay at Zamami. Definitely some Japanese will help here. One recommendation is the

Akabana minshuku. Run-down but full of character, this place was definitely worth it! If you’re interested, try call ing

the owner Hiro-san (he can’t speak English) to see if there’s space available. His phone number is 098-987-2397. It ’s

about 4,000 yen a night to stay here, dinners included.

Okinawa: Zamami-j ima Erin Wight (Goshogawara)

Editor

MARTI DEYO

Layout Designer

JOANN CHO

Contributors

AOMORI JET and COMMUNIT Y

GOOD MORNING, AOMORI!newsletter

APRIL – JUNE 08

JET Programme – Aomori

Contribute to the next Good Morning, Aomori! newsletter!Send articles, drawings, poetry, and photographs to Marti Deyo at marti_in_japan@yahoo.com or

JoAnn Cho at jocho53@gmail.com. We’d like to hear all about your adventures in the blue forest!

RemindersApri l – June 08

T h e r e a r e u n l i m i t e d o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o g e t i n v o l v e d i n t h e J E T c o m m u n i t y o v e r t h e n e x t c o u p l e

o f m o n t h s a n d l i s t e d b e l o w a r e j u s t a f e w o f t h e m . I f y o u f i n d s o m e t h i n g y o u l i k e , p l e a s e l e t t h e c o n t a c t s

l i s t e d k n o w a n d g o f r o m t h e r e . W e h o p e y o u c a n e n j o y a n d m a k e t h e m o s t o u t o f y o u r t i m e h e r e i n J a p a n

a n d A o m o r i . H a v e f u n !

• N e w s l e t t e r : W e n e e d a n e w s l e t t e r d e s i g n e r a n d p r o d u c e r. A s J o A n n m o v e s o n t o n e w p r o j e c t s , w e w i l l n e e d

s o m e o n e t o t a k e o v e r d e s i g n i n g n e x t y e a r ’s q u a r t e r l y G o o d M o r n i n g , A o m o r i ! n e w s l e t t e r. P l e a s e c o n t a c t

M a r t i a t m a r t i _ i n _ j a p a n @ y a h o o . c o m f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n .

• D e l i v e r e r s a n d G o i n g A w a y H e l p e r s : T h e C o m m u n i t y C o o r d i n a t o r s o f A o m o r i a r e l o o k i n g f o r p e o p l e w i l l -

i n g t o h e l p o u t d e l i v e r t h e N e w J E T c a r e p a c k a g e s . A l s o n e e d e d a r e p e o p l e w i l l i n g t o h a n d l e t h e l e a v e r ’s

b o a r d s , m e m o r y p a c k a g e , a n d p o s s i b l e L e a v e r ’s p i c t u r e s l i d e s h o w. I f i n t e r e s t e d c o n t a c t G e n e v i e v e M u r p h y

a t g e n e v i e v e c _ m u r p h y @ y a h o o . c o m .

• A o m o r i B o o k P r o j e c t : A s t h e f i r s t o f i t s k i n d , w e ’ r e h o p i n g t o i n c l u d e a l l k i n d s o f i n f o r m a t i o n o n e a c h

t o w n / c i t y, i n c l u d i n g t h i n g s l i k e d e c e n t d e n t i s t s , m e c h a n i c s , r e s t a u r a n t s , h o s p i t a l s , c i n e m a s e t c , a s w e l l

a s s e c t i o n s o n g e n e r a l s u r v i v a l , w i n t e r s p o r t s , d r i v i n g t e s t s . . . T h e b o o k w i l l f o c u s o n t h e p r e f e c t u r e i n

w a y s t h a t t o u r i s t g u i d e b o o k s d o n o t . A s e x p e r t s i n t h e a r e a a n d e s s e n t i a l i n t h e p r o c e s s , p l e a s e t e l l u s

w h a t y o u r t o w n h a s t o o f f e r. W e ’ r e g o i n g t o s e n d t h e b o o k t o a l l n e w J E Ts , b u t f i r s t w e n e e d y o u r s u b m i s -

s i o n s ! ! W e a r e h o p i n g t o m a k e t h e b o o k f r e e f o r n o t o n l y n e w J E Ts b u t a l l p r e s e n t A o m o r i J E Ts a s w e l l ,

s o w a t c h o u t f o r w a y s t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e A o m o r i B o o k F u n d r a i s i n g p r o j e c t s . P l e a s e c o n t a c t f o r H e l e n

B r i d g e s a t a e n o b a r b e @ h o t m a i l . c o m f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n .

• Ta x e s w i l l s o o n b e d u e , m a k e s u r e t o c h e c k o u t t h e I R S w e b s i t e o r t h e G e n e r a l I n f o r m a t i o n H a n d b o o k f o r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Be a part of the experience!

JET Talk- Messages to JETsApri l – June 08

11

Hello Everyone!

Are you enjoying your life in Aomori? For the past 3 years I have been working with the

Mutsu city CIR. Even though I have never specialized in English, nor have I ever studied

abroad, I have never had any difficulties at work because the CIR can speak Japanese

fluently. In order for people in the community to meet foreigners and talk with them

about foreign culture it is my job to put on many activities including English Conversa-

tion/Cultural Understanding classes, and a “Free Talking” discussion group, etc. with

the CIR. I feel personally that I am benefiting a great deal from this job. The CIR is the

best teacher for me because they always understand my broken English, and explain

my mistakes in simple, easy to get terms. My favorite part of my job is getting to join in

on the English discussion groups.

Of course we occasionally also meet outside of work, and I have had the opportunity to

meet other JETs too, which is a great experience. When my JET friends have gone back

to their home countries I hope to visit and be guided around by them! Until that time

comes, please enjoy your work, and your life on JET!

Teacher ’s Talk Mr. Iwase Keigo (Mutsu City Hall)

CIR Corner – Mutsu CIR Amy Miller (Mutsu)

After a year and a half working as the Mutsu City CIR and the

only CIR on the Shimokita Peninsula I can confidently say that I have the most

diverse job of anyone I’ve ever met on the JET program. Wednesday afternoons

you can find me teaching adult “Eikaiwa.” Thursdays I spend teaching English at

Elementary Schools, and Friday mornings are reserved for recording my hour long

weekly radio show. Once a week I spend a few hours a night teaching Japanese to

the local foreigners both JET and non-JET. I write two one page articles a month,

one for the local City Newsletter, and one for the public employees’ newsletter.

Four times a year I produce a four page newsletter called the “International Con-

nection” which is sent to all of the schools in Shimokita, along with the other

city/town halls, and is of course set out at the library and other places around

town. Once a month I teach a cooking class of about 25 Japanese. I also, run

an International group called the Shimokita International Friendship Organiza-

tion where we hold events monthly; from our big Halloween Party which attracted

over 200 guests last year, to Christmas, Easter, Mexican cooking classes, panel

discussions, wine seminars, etc. I also deal with our sister city relationship with

Port Angeles, Washington including accompanying a group of Junior High school

students over to America in January each year where I translate for the head of

the delegation. Every other year I get to translate for the Mayor of Port Angeles

when a delegation comes to Mutsu. I hate to say it, but despite all of this, or more

likely because of it, I really do love my job.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .