Jean's JET placement goes to... (drumroll)

Noto-cho! "Where?" I hear you say. And that, is a very good question (I can already see myself quickly growing weary of this question).

Last Monday, I received a short welcoming email from my new supervisor who is a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE) at one of the schools I'll be teaching at, and another more lengthy email from my predecessor (the one whom I will be replacing). On one hand, it was good to finally know exactly where in Japan I'll be living for the next 1 year, but on the other hand I wasn't too terribly excited about this inaka area. However, I do see many good things about my placement, and I am quite excited with anticipation. The idea of living in little Noto-cho is growing on me.

Noto-cho is a fishing town on the Noto Peninsula on the west coast of Japan in Ishikawa prefecture. It is pretty rural, but I see many advantages to this placement (unfortunately we don't get to choose our placements in the JET Program). Great seafood, good exposure to 'real' Japanese culture and relatively inexpensive living costs. Plus it's on the coast (I'd much prefer the beaches than the mountains!) and the two schools that I will be teaching at specialises in marine and maritime stuff, which is probably why I was was selected for this area being a maritime engineer (well, I like to think that way - it gives a bit of a reason behind my placement rather than it being a random selection process).

My predecessor is really friendly and so helpful with thoroughly answering all my questions (and I have heaps!), and the other JETs in Ishikawa Prefecture have likewise been really welcoming and helpful (they have their own website and forum. It seems like the JETs in this prefecture are pretty close-knit and are quite a social bunch. They've been saying to come prepared for the hot humid summers and the cold snowy winters. I lived in Malaysia for the first 11 years of my life and I'm pretty sure that the heat and humidity can't be worse than Malaysia. As for winter, the first time we see snow will be when we have to live with it! It'd certainly be an experience driving on icy roads...

No doubt there will be many things I will miss from home. Most obvious one is my family and friends (of course), but next in line will definitely be the food. I really am spoilt for choice here, and I'm not just talking about fresh produce. The fact that Australia is so multicultural means that we get a huge variety of food from different cultures to choose from when dining out. I am really gonna miss giving lots of restaurant reviews. I'm also going to miss the many days of sunshine that Perth is blessed with, the great cycle paths around Perth, living in a great location at Highgate close to the city, Subi and Leederville. I'm a bit daunted by the fact that fresh fruits and veges are expensive in Japan because I eat so much of the stuff!! But living in Japan will be an exciting cultural experience on the whole, paying a bit more for food seems like a small price to pay, and I am looking forward to it!

We will be quite busy for the next few weeks in preparation for my departure for the Tokyo Orientation on 5th August, and I will be in Tokyo for a few days, and then will fly to my new home where I will do more induction/orientation stuff and settling in. It makes sense then for Rob to leave Perth one or two weeks after me since I'll be quite busy with work stuff for the first week or so in Japan. That way I can suss out the things we need that we can't get in Japan, and get Rob to pack and ship them over..

Anyway, I thought it would be nice to conclude this post with a quote that I used in my essay for my JET application:

"Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the earth all one's lifetime." - Mark Twain