Interac Placement Offer #1
I was beginning to become a little discouraged when I started seeing people around me getting their placement offers. Even though it was definitely premature, I couldn't help but feel "am I being passed over? am I not as good?" Of course, that was just anxiety building up. I probably should have considered the fact that I HAD gotten a "mysterious" phone call from an undisclosed number (a sure-fire indicator that it was a call from Japan) last week. I figured if it was important enough, they would either leave a message, call back within the hour, or just email me. Well, that never happened... until today...
I got the same call from the same "unavailable" number tonight. After speaking with a new friend and fellow Interac noobie via AIM earlier this evening, I learned that placement offers are coming in via telephone. So of course, this time I rushed to the phone and didn't hesitate to answer. Yup, it was a call from Tokyo and they were offering a position in one of my top-3 city choices:
Hiroshima branch's Takahashi-shi, Okayama-ken
The position involves either one or two permanent junior high school (chugakkou) placements and a rotation of 4 or 5 elementary school (shugakkou) placements. I'm a little disappointed perhaps to not have a high school thrown in the mix, since I would like the opportunity to work with the more advanced students, as well as see more club options and activities, but then again, I could just pass over the offer. I really hate to do it though... I'm going to have to think really hard about this one. I know a few people living in Fukuoka (like John, the Interac friend I mentioned earlier), and I know at least one person in neighboring Shikoku Island. But everyone else I know lives way way beyond Mount Fuji. Well, it would prove interesting for travel options.
I need to look more at the facts of what this placement is offering. Technically it is exactly in line with what I put on my application request, so huge thumbs up to Interac for being able to come through on their promise to meet up with personalized requests, but my mind keeps changing on what I want. One thing I would have to get is a car, which I found out that they will give me 200,000Y to buy a car and monthly allowance for gas. I would prefer to take advantage of public transportation, or even bike, but it seems that a few of my other ALT friends are most miffed about not having cars available at their leisure.
Another thing I need to look at is what kind of housing options they have available. The private, furnished apartments look perfect, but this area might only have government-provided units, which may or may not put me in a "savory" kind of neighborhood.
I need to hit up wiki and find out how close to the coast and to the Shinkansen that Takahashi is. I also need to research population density and climate. I'd also like to find out how close to Hiroshima-shi it is, since I really don't want to be stuck in the boonies all year. General proximity seems cool though since I'm right in the middle of Fukuoka and Kyoto, plus Shikoku isn't all that far away. Journeys out to Tokyo require more time and money, but yeah, that's what trips are for.
I'll talk to my students about this tomorrow. If anyone has some valuable information or good ideas for questions to ask, please let me know. I'd love to hear all your input!!
I got the same call from the same "unavailable" number tonight. After speaking with a new friend and fellow Interac noobie via AIM earlier this evening, I learned that placement offers are coming in via telephone. So of course, this time I rushed to the phone and didn't hesitate to answer. Yup, it was a call from Tokyo and they were offering a position in one of my top-3 city choices:
Hiroshima branch's Takahashi-shi, Okayama-ken
The position involves either one or two permanent junior high school (chugakkou) placements and a rotation of 4 or 5 elementary school (shugakkou) placements. I'm a little disappointed perhaps to not have a high school thrown in the mix, since I would like the opportunity to work with the more advanced students, as well as see more club options and activities, but then again, I could just pass over the offer. I really hate to do it though... I'm going to have to think really hard about this one. I know a few people living in Fukuoka (like John, the Interac friend I mentioned earlier), and I know at least one person in neighboring Shikoku Island. But everyone else I know lives way way beyond Mount Fuji. Well, it would prove interesting for travel options.
I need to look more at the facts of what this placement is offering. Technically it is exactly in line with what I put on my application request, so huge thumbs up to Interac for being able to come through on their promise to meet up with personalized requests, but my mind keeps changing on what I want. One thing I would have to get is a car, which I found out that they will give me 200,000Y to buy a car and monthly allowance for gas. I would prefer to take advantage of public transportation, or even bike, but it seems that a few of my other ALT friends are most miffed about not having cars available at their leisure.
Another thing I need to look at is what kind of housing options they have available. The private, furnished apartments look perfect, but this area might only have government-provided units, which may or may not put me in a "savory" kind of neighborhood.
I need to hit up wiki and find out how close to the coast and to the Shinkansen that Takahashi is. I also need to research population density and climate. I'd also like to find out how close to Hiroshima-shi it is, since I really don't want to be stuck in the boonies all year. General proximity seems cool though since I'm right in the middle of Fukuoka and Kyoto, plus Shikoku isn't all that far away. Journeys out to Tokyo require more time and money, but yeah, that's what trips are for.
I'll talk to my students about this tomorrow. If anyone has some valuable information or good ideas for questions to ask, please let me know. I'd love to hear all your input!!