JET004: More Preparations and Pre-Departure Orientation
After all the waiting on information, the time finally came when the British JETs travelled to London for their two-day pre-departure orientation. According to the schedule sent out by the EJEF, the two-day course included information from the Japanese Embassy, EJEF, British Council, CLAIR (Japan Local Government Centre), FCO (British Foreign and Commonwealth Office), Miki Travel Agency, and former JET participants. The two days also included a few hours of Japanese language classes (1h30m on the first day, 3hrs in the morning of day 2 and 2h30m in the afternoon of day 2). Of course, one of the biggest aspects of the course was the chance to properly meet other JETs from Britain, whether they are or are not from your placement area in Japan.
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28 June 2008 (Saturday) - Shopping for London Orientation things + passport photos taken.
30 June 2008 (Monday) - Bought train tickets for the 2-day London Orientation, reregistered with my doctor and asked about vaccinations, more financial stuff.
02 July 2008 (Wednesday) - Left the house at 7am for London for the 2-day orientation, which starts at 10.30am and ends at 7pm.
03 July 2008 (Thursday) - Last part of the London Orientation, which starts at 9am and ends at 5pm. Got back home about 8pm.
04 July 2008 (Friday) - First time I used my Japanese address!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
★ 28 June 2008
Left the house at 8.50am to sort some bank things out, then met up with my friend. I had my passport pictures taken (got 12... I'll need 6 for Japan apparantly, and 1 for my Visa application) then headed to the train station to head to Bluewater Mall for shopping (strictly work/orientation/JET things only!). Managed to circle the whole mall, get tired and so on by about... 4 or 5pm? I can't quite remember.
★ 30 June 2008
I bought my train tickets in advance to save myself from having to rush on Wednesday morning (rush hour/peak time). I then went to the doctors, had tons of forms to fill out, then went to sort out more bank stuff.
★ 02 July 2008
The start of a long and tiring, but extremely fun 2 days.
I got up at 5am and left at 7am. Luckily my dad gave me a lift to the train station for my 7.13 train. I arrived in London at 8.33 and met with one of the new JET ALTs (whom I met on the internet previously). This was a HUUUUGE relief as it helped calm the nerves and it was good to travel with someone. We grabbed food for breakfast and lunch from WHSmith (sandwich and fruit for her, sandwich and pasta for me). I also bought some plasters (band-aid) for me because I realized that the old, formal shoes that I had were actually brand new shoes that I've never worn and had such a stiff back that it started to cut into my heels. So we sat for a bit while I nursed myself, then went to make our way through the crowd of London business people to get to the Tube. The orientation was at Queen Mary's and overnight accomodation was provided.
Once we made it to Queen Mary's, we met another JET (obvious because she was standing by the Queen Mary's map, in a business suit and was next to a suitcase, looking lost). The three of us finally found our way through to where the JET registration was. I ran into a couple who both made it into JET and whom I've spoken to online before. They showed us where to leave our things and updated us on what we had to do (as they'd already done it because they arrived earlier). We ran into a couple of other JETs whom we recognized from the internet (the girl I'd met earlier at the station was recognized a lot, hehe) and made some more friends along the way. ^^
The registration process was fine... it just took a bit longer than expected. There were two lines, I believe, one for A-HAN and the other for the rest of the names. We just managed to make it into the lecture theatre for the start and it even started while some people were waiting to get registered (it was that busy!). From 10.35am to 12.40noon, we were given a number of presentations:
Welcome Address - Japanese Embassy
Pre-Departure Orientation Information - EJEF
Introducing CLAIR - Japan Local Government Centre
Advice from the FCO - The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Flight and Travel Information - Miki Travel Agency
Panel Discussion with Former JET Participants
Aside from finding out a lot more information about the Programme, the support offered, packing and so on... we were allowed to ask questions of our own. ^^ We did learn though, that we had to teach American English because that's the system in Japan. ^^
We had our lunch break from 12.40noon to 1.55pm. We got our room keys for the night (twin rooms and we didn't know who our roommates were) and since we already had lunch with us, we just ate in the common room where our suitcases were. Before lunch break ended, we dropped our things off in our rooms (my roommate had been and gone by this time so I didn't get to meet her) then headed to another lecture (1.55pm to 2.15pm - Introducing the British Council). After that we had to attend 3 workshops, which were divided by Japanese language ability (there were 9 groups of ALTs and 1 group of CIRs. There were only 4 CIRs, and I didn't even get to meet the one in my city! TT_TT). From 2.20pm to 3.50pm we had our first Japanese language class. Our teacher was awesome! From 3.55pm to 5.25pm we had another presentation on more information from JET, then at 5.30pm to 7pm we had a presentation from the British Council (which included teaching resources and school-linking).
Once our day was done, we all went back to our dorms to get ready for dinner. I was smart and decided that I didn't want to bring any change of clothes for the evening because I didn't want to carry a big bag... This was quite ridiculous of me because the back of my feet were bleeding and raw at this point, despite being covered by plasters. Additionally, I stupidly forgot my blazer in the last workshop and had to go back for it. *sigh* Although, I did finally get to meet my roommate. ^^
We wandered down the street to find the first good place to eat (and the best place we found was Wetherspoons lol). It was fun to eat and bond with all the other ALTs. The topics obviously centred around our future adventures and life in Japan. I can't wait to go.
We left 'Spoons at about 10pm and when we were walking home we ran into some of our other friends. We talked for a few minutes outside, then decided the best place to be was my kitchen. We headed to my flat and talked until about 11.30pm. Once my friends had gone back to their dorms, I spent the rest of the night winding down with my roommate and getting ready for bed. We didn't get to bed until about 12.30midnight.
My left eye had been bugging me all day as well and when I was washing my face I think I managed to get make-up remover in my eye (*sigh*) which irritated it even more and it wouldn't stop tearing. It stopped me from sleeping properly I think... but it wasn't hard to get up the next morning, luckily.
★ 03 July 2008
We agreed that we'd all meet at 8am for breakfast, so I got up at 6.30am to get ready and pack up (because checkout had to be before 10am and our first class was from 9am to 12noon). Because of the eye infection, I had to endure the whole day with just one contact in (I didn't want to irritate my left eye even more). My box of 20 plasters was used up by now (and I just bought it yesterday!) and had one left. Luckily one of my friends had a box of plasters herself. Took some more just in case (used it all up too in the end *sigh*). We headed to breakfast and there was a queue already so we decided to checkout first. Once we checked out, I realized I'd left my blazer (AGAIN!) in the closet *sigh* so I went looking for my roommate to ask her to place it with her bag when she checks out (I owe her!!). We went back to queue for breakfast and the queue was about 3 times longer than when we left it! Argh! I think it was because there were about 3-5 school trips who were staying there at the same time. It was crazy... but a funny experience. The three of us, realizing we were running out of time, ended up tutting at all the leftover food that people didn't eat and as we passed someone's table (while we were in the queue), I joked saying we should ask him for his untouched croissant and one of my friends actually DID ask for it! We divided it into three and munched on it til we hit the coffee and tea area... so we had tea with us luckily. The queue was winding but we passed the end of it (though we were far from getting there ourselves) and since we were running out of time, we asked the man at the queue if we could just have cold food instead of a cooked breakfast, so he kindly let us and armed with two pieces of fruit (banana and apple for me) and a small box of cereal we finally left the queue. We only had time to eat one before heading to our first class (9am-12noon of our Japanese Language and Culture Sessions). I survived through that because of my drink of tea and ate half the small box of Rice Krispies in the break (though it was so dry without milk!). At the end of this lesson, we were given homework, to memorize our presentation to give at the end of the day. At 12.10 to 1.30pm, we had our lunch break. I went to get my blazer (which my roommate DID keep with her bag, THANK YOU SO MUCH) then ate at the on-campus restaurant where they had served breakfast earlier. It was much less busy this time, thankfully!
Then after lunch, we had a lecture on Aspects of Japan (1.30 to 2.25pm) and we were shown a number of pictures and this man's story of his life in Japan. It was a really, really good, funny, and interesting presentation.
After that, we had our final class of the orientation, another Japanese Language and Culture Session (2.30pm to 5pm). We did our presentation at the end too.
Once the entire two-day orientation was over, we all immediately took our things and made our way back to the train station (as it was just too exhausting to hang out longer in London). Despite it being rush hour, I managed to catch my train at 6.33, without any waiting around.
Overall, though I was exhausted beyond belief, wearing only one contact, and my feet in pain (I ended up barefoot on the way home from the station), it was an extremely fun, funny and memorable experience! Meeting everyone and hearing everything made my move to Japan so much more exciting and more real now. There's still a lot of things that I need to do and prepare for... but I'm so excited. I can't wait to go (even though I know I'll miss my family here).
And as of today... I have 22 days until I fly off to Japan. (^________^)v
★ 04 July 2008
One of the Japanese groups I'm into have a pre-order out today! This is relevant just because it's the first time I used my Japanese address! I can't wait! I even got to set the time and date of when I went it to arrive, plus it saved me $30+ on shipping. Amazing! LOL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other parts can be found here:
JET001 // JET002 // JET003
~~~~~~~~~~~~
28 June 2008 (Saturday) - Shopping for London Orientation things + passport photos taken.
30 June 2008 (Monday) - Bought train tickets for the 2-day London Orientation, reregistered with my doctor and asked about vaccinations, more financial stuff.
02 July 2008 (Wednesday) - Left the house at 7am for London for the 2-day orientation, which starts at 10.30am and ends at 7pm.
03 July 2008 (Thursday) - Last part of the London Orientation, which starts at 9am and ends at 5pm. Got back home about 8pm.
04 July 2008 (Friday) - First time I used my Japanese address!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
★ 28 June 2008
Left the house at 8.50am to sort some bank things out, then met up with my friend. I had my passport pictures taken (got 12... I'll need 6 for Japan apparantly, and 1 for my Visa application) then headed to the train station to head to Bluewater Mall for shopping (strictly work/orientation/JET things only!). Managed to circle the whole mall, get tired and so on by about... 4 or 5pm? I can't quite remember.
★ 30 June 2008
I bought my train tickets in advance to save myself from having to rush on Wednesday morning (rush hour/peak time). I then went to the doctors, had tons of forms to fill out, then went to sort out more bank stuff.
★ 02 July 2008
The start of a long and tiring, but extremely fun 2 days.
I got up at 5am and left at 7am. Luckily my dad gave me a lift to the train station for my 7.13 train. I arrived in London at 8.33 and met with one of the new JET ALTs (whom I met on the internet previously). This was a HUUUUGE relief as it helped calm the nerves and it was good to travel with someone. We grabbed food for breakfast and lunch from WHSmith (sandwich and fruit for her, sandwich and pasta for me). I also bought some plasters (band-aid) for me because I realized that the old, formal shoes that I had were actually brand new shoes that I've never worn and had such a stiff back that it started to cut into my heels. So we sat for a bit while I nursed myself, then went to make our way through the crowd of London business people to get to the Tube. The orientation was at Queen Mary's and overnight accomodation was provided.
Once we made it to Queen Mary's, we met another JET (obvious because she was standing by the Queen Mary's map, in a business suit and was next to a suitcase, looking lost). The three of us finally found our way through to where the JET registration was. I ran into a couple who both made it into JET and whom I've spoken to online before. They showed us where to leave our things and updated us on what we had to do (as they'd already done it because they arrived earlier). We ran into a couple of other JETs whom we recognized from the internet (the girl I'd met earlier at the station was recognized a lot, hehe) and made some more friends along the way. ^^
The registration process was fine... it just took a bit longer than expected. There were two lines, I believe, one for A-HAN and the other for the rest of the names. We just managed to make it into the lecture theatre for the start and it even started while some people were waiting to get registered (it was that busy!). From 10.35am to 12.40noon, we were given a number of presentations:
Welcome Address - Japanese Embassy
Pre-Departure Orientation Information - EJEF
Introducing CLAIR - Japan Local Government Centre
Advice from the FCO - The Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Flight and Travel Information - Miki Travel Agency
Panel Discussion with Former JET Participants
Aside from finding out a lot more information about the Programme, the support offered, packing and so on... we were allowed to ask questions of our own. ^^ We did learn though, that we had to teach American English because that's the system in Japan. ^^
We had our lunch break from 12.40noon to 1.55pm. We got our room keys for the night (twin rooms and we didn't know who our roommates were) and since we already had lunch with us, we just ate in the common room where our suitcases were. Before lunch break ended, we dropped our things off in our rooms (my roommate had been and gone by this time so I didn't get to meet her) then headed to another lecture (1.55pm to 2.15pm - Introducing the British Council). After that we had to attend 3 workshops, which were divided by Japanese language ability (there were 9 groups of ALTs and 1 group of CIRs. There were only 4 CIRs, and I didn't even get to meet the one in my city! TT_TT). From 2.20pm to 3.50pm we had our first Japanese language class. Our teacher was awesome! From 3.55pm to 5.25pm we had another presentation on more information from JET, then at 5.30pm to 7pm we had a presentation from the British Council (which included teaching resources and school-linking).
Once our day was done, we all went back to our dorms to get ready for dinner. I was smart and decided that I didn't want to bring any change of clothes for the evening because I didn't want to carry a big bag... This was quite ridiculous of me because the back of my feet were bleeding and raw at this point, despite being covered by plasters. Additionally, I stupidly forgot my blazer in the last workshop and had to go back for it. *sigh* Although, I did finally get to meet my roommate. ^^
We wandered down the street to find the first good place to eat (and the best place we found was Wetherspoons lol). It was fun to eat and bond with all the other ALTs. The topics obviously centred around our future adventures and life in Japan. I can't wait to go.
We left 'Spoons at about 10pm and when we were walking home we ran into some of our other friends. We talked for a few minutes outside, then decided the best place to be was my kitchen. We headed to my flat and talked until about 11.30pm. Once my friends had gone back to their dorms, I spent the rest of the night winding down with my roommate and getting ready for bed. We didn't get to bed until about 12.30midnight.
My left eye had been bugging me all day as well and when I was washing my face I think I managed to get make-up remover in my eye (*sigh*) which irritated it even more and it wouldn't stop tearing. It stopped me from sleeping properly I think... but it wasn't hard to get up the next morning, luckily.
★ 03 July 2008
We agreed that we'd all meet at 8am for breakfast, so I got up at 6.30am to get ready and pack up (because checkout had to be before 10am and our first class was from 9am to 12noon). Because of the eye infection, I had to endure the whole day with just one contact in (I didn't want to irritate my left eye even more). My box of 20 plasters was used up by now (and I just bought it yesterday!) and had one left. Luckily one of my friends had a box of plasters herself. Took some more just in case (used it all up too in the end *sigh*). We headed to breakfast and there was a queue already so we decided to checkout first. Once we checked out, I realized I'd left my blazer (AGAIN!) in the closet *sigh* so I went looking for my roommate to ask her to place it with her bag when she checks out (I owe her!!). We went back to queue for breakfast and the queue was about 3 times longer than when we left it! Argh! I think it was because there were about 3-5 school trips who were staying there at the same time. It was crazy... but a funny experience. The three of us, realizing we were running out of time, ended up tutting at all the leftover food that people didn't eat and as we passed someone's table (while we were in the queue), I joked saying we should ask him for his untouched croissant and one of my friends actually DID ask for it! We divided it into three and munched on it til we hit the coffee and tea area... so we had tea with us luckily. The queue was winding but we passed the end of it (though we were far from getting there ourselves) and since we were running out of time, we asked the man at the queue if we could just have cold food instead of a cooked breakfast, so he kindly let us and armed with two pieces of fruit (banana and apple for me) and a small box of cereal we finally left the queue. We only had time to eat one before heading to our first class (9am-12noon of our Japanese Language and Culture Sessions). I survived through that because of my drink of tea and ate half the small box of Rice Krispies in the break (though it was so dry without milk!). At the end of this lesson, we were given homework, to memorize our presentation to give at the end of the day. At 12.10 to 1.30pm, we had our lunch break. I went to get my blazer (which my roommate DID keep with her bag, THANK YOU SO MUCH) then ate at the on-campus restaurant where they had served breakfast earlier. It was much less busy this time, thankfully!
Then after lunch, we had a lecture on Aspects of Japan (1.30 to 2.25pm) and we were shown a number of pictures and this man's story of his life in Japan. It was a really, really good, funny, and interesting presentation.
After that, we had our final class of the orientation, another Japanese Language and Culture Session (2.30pm to 5pm). We did our presentation at the end too.
Once the entire two-day orientation was over, we all immediately took our things and made our way back to the train station (as it was just too exhausting to hang out longer in London). Despite it being rush hour, I managed to catch my train at 6.33, without any waiting around.
Overall, though I was exhausted beyond belief, wearing only one contact, and my feet in pain (I ended up barefoot on the way home from the station), it was an extremely fun, funny and memorable experience! Meeting everyone and hearing everything made my move to Japan so much more exciting and more real now. There's still a lot of things that I need to do and prepare for... but I'm so excited. I can't wait to go (even though I know I'll miss my family here).
And as of today... I have 22 days until I fly off to Japan. (^________^)v
★ 04 July 2008
One of the Japanese groups I'm into have a pre-order out today! This is relevant just because it's the first time I used my Japanese address! I can't wait! I even got to set the time and date of when I went it to arrive, plus it saved me $30+ on shipping. Amazing! LOL.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The other parts can be found here:
JET001 // JET002 // JET003