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The Results

I had tried to put JET to the back of my mind during the wait between the interview and results. Of course it popped up at the forefront of my thoughts but I told myself there was no point stressing over it until the end of March... Well, easier said than done! By mid-March I was checking my emails often enough to be considered obsessed and it only escalated from there. I had also found the  JET Reddit  page and tortured myself by checking that with such frequency that I should have just joined instead of being that strange kid who just stares from afar. By Monday 27 March the first lucky few reported that they had heard back from their consulates (some parts of the USA and South Africa). Tuesday again had the stories from applicants who were put out of their misery. Cruelly, my local embassy shared a cryptic post on their Facebook page hinting that our results would be revealed soon. By Wednesday I was chewing through my phone battery by constantly refreshing my emails and JET Redd
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The Interview

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Despite trying to divert my thoughts elsewhere, I had been wondering about my JET fate for months. I desperately wanted to proceed to the interview stage to get closer to my goal of being accepted onto the Programme. Applicants were advised that we would hear in mid January whether we had been selected for interviews so I kept a close eye on my e-mails. Finally, I checked them on 10 January and saw I had received an email from JET only minutes earlier ( I wasn't kidding with the frequent email checking). I frantically skim read the email and saw that I MADE IT TO INTERVIEWS! I told my husband and we jumped around victoriously! I replied to confirm my interview in record speed and then got onto the list of required documents to bring along. I also started thinking of where to get a nice blazer that would hopefully see me through to Tokyo orientation (I found a nice black blazer which was on sale from $150 down to $56!!!). A few days later, the hard copy of my interview notifica
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The Application

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I had taken Japanese for two years in high school and had miraculously retained my knowledge of hiragana. Once I got my gig as a high school English teacher I took the opportunity to pester my colleague and friend who taught Japanese and ask him ALL about Japan. He was patient and obliged for months before recommending I attend a seminar evening in mid September on the JET Programme. I was initially reluctant because I was comfortable with the familiar but once I saw that there was free food AND it was held at the mayor's fancy office - I was in! I'm also glad we had to RSVP as it held me accountable for actually showing up. Upon arrival I nervously used my stale Japanese to greet the friendly JET representatives and made the most of the information provided. We heard from a JET alumnus about his experience and then Skyped JETs in my town's (Lower Hutt) sister city of Mino City in Gifu Prefecture. It must have been fate because a friend from university was on the othe
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