My time in Japan seems so long ago yet it feels like yesterday. My journey onto the programme was probably like many of you, as it was far from being straight forward. After my degree I undertook a TEFL certificate which led me on to teaching children in a summer school in Kent (Pilgrims). I loved it. I knew that teaching was something that I enjoyed and hoped to do it again one day. That day came quite quickly. A friend of mine called me to tell that he knew of a role teaching English at a school in Volos, Greece. I gave up my job that day and I literally packed my bags the next week, took a flight, and headed to the town I would call home for the next 9 months. I guess it was lucky I passed the onsite interview. The folly of youth ?. It was a shock to the system as teaching for exams is very different from teaching English for ‘fun’ in the summer. Yet it gave me a great grounding in teaching and the use of English.

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

My name is Jessica Shepherd, and I was placed in Ehime on the island of Shikoku from 2011 to 2015. I am originally from Quebec, Canada and am currently residing there now. Matsuyama was my first choice for placement, and I was lucky enough to get it. Actually, it was my fiancé at the time who chose Matsuyama. I was happy to go anywhere in Japan since each place had its interesting features. He wanted to walk the Shikoku 88 temple pilgrimage during our time in Japan and living in a big city on Shikoku would also allow him to find a job in his domain: French cooking and pastries. It was such a great placement! It has everything you want in a big city (500 000 people) with all the charm of country life. He did end up walking the pilgrimage and I could join him on weekends. One of the best experiences of our lives.

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

Tom Schmidt-Makino. I was initially placed in Yawatahama in my first year on JET, and then in Matsuyama in my 2nd and 3rd year due to some changes in prefectural roles at the time. I’m originally from LA.

In 2004 I moved from Wellington, New Zealand to Ehime, Japan with a suitcase, a backpack and five words of Japanese in my vocabulary. It would not be overstating things to say the experience changed my life.

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

My name is Michael Dziesinski. I was an Ehime JET who was placed as an ALT in the city of Imabari from 1997 to 2000. Originally from the United States, I was accepted into the JET program during my final year as an Undergrad at Florida State University.

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

My name is Bruce Baird. I was just about to graduate from college (Columbia University) and I was looking to get back to Japan because I wanted to practice and improve my Japanese for a year before I went to grad school in Japanese studies. I don’t recall how exactly I became aware of the JET program, but JET was known as an option for going back to Japan. Of course, I was aware that I would be teaching English to students, but I tried to think of the most inaka place i could think of, where most of the people wouIdn’t speak English, so I would have a lot of chances to practice my Japanese. I had been in Japan previously and had been to Kochi once, and really liked the dialect there. So, I applied to go to Kochi, but was placed in the Ehime Education Research Center located on the southern side of Matsuyama city.  The Educational Research Center was a place where school teachers could take a six month sabbatical to do further research on teaching techniques and part of my job was to assist with whatever research the English teachers were conducting. I wasn’t associated with a specific school, but I did have an assignment to go out to about seven schools mostly in the hill towns south of Matsuyama. Then one of the ALTs in Matsuyama got homesick (and quite frankly was having a huge case of cultural shock) and went home early, so I got an assignment to also go to all the high schools in Matsuyama.

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

Greetings!  Thank you for reaching out.  I am Gary Haase.  I came to Japan in 1996 as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT).  I was based at the Ehime Prefecture Educational Research Center in Matsuyama.  I also visited several high schools, such as Matsuyama Minami, Oda, Kamiukena, Matsuyama Minami Tobe Bunko, and Iyo.  I am from Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.  I ended up staying on JET for three years, which was the maximum placement time back then. 

What’s your name, when and where was your placement, and where are you from originally?

I am Stefan Hall.  I was placed in Matsuyama-shi, Ehime-ken, from 1995-96.  At the time of placement I was living in Virginia.

When the cruise cancelled our family trip to China and Japan in 2020 there was much cursing, crying, and screaming. Then my 12-year-old daughter patted my shoulder and said, “Stop crying mom. Japan’s not going anywhere.”

Though impressed with my child’s maturity, I was ticked off. Sniffling, I thought of all the planning gone down the drain. But as I set the travel brochure on fire in the kitchen sink it hit me. I wasn’t using the lesson the JET Programme taught me – to be happy, expect only the unexpected.

It all started with blackmail and somehow got me through a pandemic.