Let’s get this thing started.

I’m still learning how to use WordPress so the formatting might be off, but if I wait until I’ve got things perfect then I’ll never actually get any posts put up, so I’m just going to dive right in. Here we go.

Some background.

My name is Kevin. I am 25 years old and I hail from Washington state, in the US. I am currently living on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, in the city of Kobe, Japan.

I am in Kobe as a participant of the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program. JET Program participants – often called “JETs” – are placed throughout the country, where most work as assistant English teachers in public schools. JETs are selected from around the globe and the primary goal of the program is “internationalization.” Improvement of English teaching is the second goal. This order of priorities can be seen in the base requirements for applicants to the program: You need a four-year university degree, but no teaching experience is necessary. So basically, JETs are brought to Japan so that locals can interact with real, live foreigners, and those foreigners will themselves form bonds with the people and the country that they will take with them when they go home (we have one-year contracts and are limited to three years total).

There’s something of an unofficial slogan for JET: “Every situation is different.” But here’s mine.

I’m a first-year JET in Kobe. Kobe is a fairly large city – population: 1.5 million – that on its east end bleeds into the metropolis of Osaka. Kobe proper occupies a narrow strip of land with mountains to the north and Osaka bay to the south. I live in an apartment up in the mountains, in a semi-rural valley. I commute to work (or anywhere else) by train.

I’m assigned to two schools. Monday through Thursday I work at Sumiyoshi Junior High School, which is three train stops east of downtown. On Friday, I go to Yuusei-yougo, which is eight or ten blocks south of Sumiyoshi. “Yougo” literally means something like “nursery,” but basically it’s a school for developmentally disabled kids, grades K-12. I’ve been in Kobe since the beginning of August, and the new school term started on September 1st (although the school year starts in the spring).

Okay, that’s enough boring background info. Next post: pictures.

Tags: First Post