So much to say...

Christ, I can hardly catch my breath. There's so much to say! I need to tell you about:

• Jo and Simon's wedding
• Finding out my JET placement - Fukushima prefecture
• Lewis and Angela's wedding
• Moving out of Manchester and in to Catford
• Chris and Flora's wedding
• Coming to Ireland for Andrea and Anthony's wedding
• Hearing from my JET predecessor

As you can guess, it's been an ridiculously busy few weeks. I'm lucky enough to be sitting in a hotel room at the amazing Tankardstown house in Meath, so maybe there's a little I can do to catch up. Let's see...

My predecessor

Working as a JET in Japan normally means replacing another JET who did the same job the year before. A JET's predecessor can be a really useful source of specific information about the details of the post, accomodation, the local town, and many other general titbits. I asked my predecessor about three things:

1. The school, and teaching there
2. The city
3. The accomodation

He got back to me today, and this is what he said -

Yo DTRMCR,

Ireland? You must be having fun. Anyway about the questions.

1) The base school we go to is Koriyama Higashi H.S. it is considered a "shin gakku" (academic school) I have about 10 classes a week here, each about 50 min. I'm not sure who you'll be working with for team teachers, this changes every term.

Photos of Japan, one month after the tsunami

As ever, the Big Picture feature over at Boston.com provides stunning photogrpahy of the earthquake, tsunami and its aftermath. Click here for the gallery, from which a few highlights after the jump.

What's wrong Laura?

What's that you say? The shinkansen is out of control? And Gojira is up ahead? OMG!

Laura's leaving card

It's much better than the card my colleagues gave me, because it conveys exactly my sentiments towards my former job. I'm so happy to be out of there.

Sorry to be such a smug git, but...

This isn't a political blog, but political decisions have an impact on people everywhere, and I'm no different. As a result of policy choices made by the UK's Coalition Government, my employer Manchester City Council are making 2000 job cuts, and soon. (check out the BBC, Guardian and Manchester Evening News perspectives at the links)

NB: this post is backdated, see my disclaimer after the jump.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

I was really happy with the training session I’d organised, despite the usual grumblers. The exercises and activities that I’d devised got everyone involved, and I listened in on some productive discussions within the groups. My boss was there for the start of it, and I hope she was impressed by what she saw.

After work, Laura revealed her big surprise for me: tickets to “A Christmas Carol” at the Lowry! What a brilliant surprise!

Sam, Jacqui, and so it goes...

I went to the Briton's with Sam and jacqui for a catch up. It was the first time we'd talked over the plan for Japan. Sam would have been my first choice for a reference, but - based on what I'd asked the JET Office - I chose not to ask her. "You're not allowed to ask a friend," I explained.
"Charming!" said Jacqui.
"It's not like that Jacqui, I promise."
"So I'm not your friend?"

Driving back from Wellingborough gave space to reflect, space I’d lacked all weekend. My family, my father, my brother and my past; faces flashing around me as Radio 4 echoed in my ears. Weirdness and unease, coupled with familiarity, an unsettling scent of déjà vu, through-laid with relief at moving away. The long cloud of Japan offers soothing shade from the overwhelming heat of a small town past. My small town past.

TESOL Interview

I had my TESOL interview today. Interested? Get clicking!

Emi-san! Konbanwa!

Would you like to know about our first Japanese lesson? Well, get clicking then! Click! Click! Click!

Moving by degrees

My new housemates helped me to unload the car. It's the little things like that that make such a difference. We sat, had a cup of tea, watched the snooker, and chatted. We talked about TESOL, Japan and college. My new housemates are very nice.

Seb's Blog about his JET experience

Do you remember my post A Strange Coincidence? From a few weeks ago? Well, Seb got in touch earlier this week and has given me lots of information about his JET experience so far. I'll post some of what he's said once I've asked his permission to blog about it, but rest assured, it's very interesting stuff! He's written about his application process, about his interview, and about his first experiences of the scheme. Keep your eyes peeled for more of what he's said.

He has also been writing a blog about his JET experiences. It's really well written, and would make for a very enjoyable read, even if you're not interested in the JET Programme yourself. I'd heartily recommend taking a look - you can read it here, and it's also available in the blogroll too. Check it out!
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This is a cross-posting from our Preparing for Japan Blog. It's fun over there, check it out!

Yuzu

Yuzu is a new Japanese restaurant in town. I’d read a couple of reviews (Manchester Confidential here, and Taste of Manchester here), and I was keen to try it. Laura and I popped in after work, and before the cinema.

Accepted! Finally! and 8-9-10 too!

“Hi DTRMCR, it’s been decided: the room is yours if you want it! If you do, let me know.”

Excellent! Yes please, that’d be great. Phew! It took eight viewings, but I’ve finally found somewhere to live that I think I’ll be happy in. What a relief!

Also, woo for 08/09/10! By the time we get to 09/10/11, Laura and I will be in Japan! Yahoo!

Our preparations for Japan

If you're an avid reader of this blog, you'll know that Laura, Kath and I are applying to the JET Programme this autumn, and hoping to move to Japan next August. Well, now you can keep track of all of our preparations on our imaginatively named DTRJPN blog. You find it in the blogroll, where you can follow it using the Google Friend Connect suite, or you can - I imagine - set up an RSS feed direct from the page. Enjoy!

DTRMCR's reading list pt 6

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

DTRMCR's reading list pt 4

In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami

DTRMCR's reading list pt 3

The Woman in the Dunes by Kōbō Abe