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Letter from the Iwate AJET Prefectural Representative and Vice Prefectural Representative
Spring 1995
Dear Iwate JET,
Greetings from Iwate, home of the Northern Capital of Japan! On behalf of the thirty-odd Renewers here, we welcome you to Iwate! Iwate Prefecture is a great place to live. So if you come prepared to make the most of your opportunities in the coming year(s), you will have many rich and rewarding experiences. As you probably cannot find very much in the encyclopedia or guidebooks about Iwate, we decided to publish this handy Pre-departure Handbook to help you out when making your preparations for coming here, your new home for the next year -- or more.
This Pre-departure Handbook was planned by Iwate AJET and the articles were all written by current and past JETs. This is our second go at publishing this handbook, in cooperation with the Iwate Prefectural Guidance Division ("Shidoka"). It was started last year because JETs recognized the need to get more information about Iwate to the new JETs before they arrived. We've compiled this brief handbook to help fill in some of the information gaps about your particular situation. We expect it will clear some of the confusion and relieve some of the anxiety you may be feeling. We hope this information will be useful to you when it comes time for planning what you'll bring and pack, as well.
Next, please let us introduce ourselves. Our names are Anthony Hand and Beth Sundberg. We are the Prefectural Representative and Vice Prefectural Representative, respectively, for the Iwate chapter of AJET. You've probably seen the acronym "AJET" around in a few places and have at least a vague idea of what it is, so let us clarify it a little. AJET is a professional, independent, non-governmental, volunteer-based association organized for JETs by JETs. Hence, it's name: the Association for Japan Exchange and Teaching. AJET is run completely by volunteers who offer resources and opportunities to advance JETs professionally, work to provide support and improve the situation for JETs in Japan, and facilitate internationalization at the local level.
We're glad to say that we have a fairly active AJET chapter in Iwate. AJET organizes or sponsors many projects throughout the prefecture year round, including beach clean-ups, ALT/JTE dinners, outings to kabuki and other cultural events, climbing Mt. Iwate, internationalization events for elementary schools, and much more. But it's all dependent upon the initiative and interest of its members. We hope you'll consider joining AJET and being an active member, too.
Right around now you're probably getting tons of letters from your predecessor, your host institution, CLAIR, the Iwate Guidance Division, as well as information about orientations, learning Japanese, and goodness knows what else. As we remember only all too well, it can seem a bit overwhelming at times. But hang in there, relax and enjoy the next few weeks in your home country. Literally, a whole new world of adventure lies ahead of you!
Meanwhile, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact either of us, Anthony or Beth. We'd be glad to help you in any way we can.
See you soon!
Anthony Hand and Beth Sundberg