JETs - Unite!

Kobe!

Meat hangover? Sounds like my kinda place!! Yeah, give me the name or something, I'll definately check it out. In general, do you like Kobe? A bit expensive, but an interesting place. I love Chinatown.

Yeah, Kobe is a very livable place from my experiences there. If I had to pick a big city in Kansai to live in, I would go with Kobe.

Give my poor tired brain a bit of time to think, but I will come up with the name of the restaurant. It is in that shopping complex down by the water near the big Kobe Tower and that funny shaped hotel. I'm thinking the name of the shoping area is Harbor Land, but I might be wrong...

I've heard that in some countries one can be a teacher's sidekick. Pretty much just doing some observations of how class goes down. Is this offered in Japan?

It is called JET

JET has three sections: ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) CIR ( Coordinator of International Relations) and SEA (Sports Exchange A(something)).

As an ALT you work with a JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) at junior and senior high levels, or largly solo if at an elementary school. ALTs sometimes work a lot, sometimes they are little more than living tape players. ALTs do not have overall responsibility for what is taught or how much the student really learn (unless you are an elementary ALT, but since the kids don't get grades you are teaching in the slight hope that the kids will think that when a JTE in junior high is forcing them to learn English it will be "fun").

To boot, you are paid about 500 USD more a month than most private teachers at English conversation companies like NOVA, need no real teaching qualifications (just a four year degree) and how much you achieve is left largely up to you. You can't totally slack off, but no one is going to get upset if you only do a so-so job.

I don't know about programs in other countries.

MP - sorry, I can't remember the name of the BBQ restaurant in Kobe, but it is in Harbor Land... If you have a ton of cash and want to drop something like 10,000 on a meal you should try some Kobe beef! Good cheapish place in that big, multi-storied hotel by ShinKobe station...The Oriental something maybe? Just go to ShinKobe and you can't miss the building.

This sounds great but I don't have a four year degree.

Thanks Mand, I'll check it out.

Heh, you know all the dumb acronyms you can make outta JET..? Japanese enslavement trooper, Japan's English Troupe, etc.

Jovial Every Time!