And the survey says....

The funny thing about the JET Programme is that the interview and selection process take place in the spring. Applications are submitted in December, whittled down in January, interviews take place in March, and offers are sent out in April. By May most people have been placed and in late July/ early August the new JETs arrive in Japan.

Because of this, people currently in the program have to decide by mid-February whether they wish to re-contract for another year or not; so the coordinators know how many new applicants to accept. It's a difficult position to be put in, especially for 1st year JETs, only 6 months into the program and still with 6 more months to go; you have to decide if you want to stay for a time period longer than what you originally signed up for (18 more months!), and what your frame of mind will be like at the end of the current contract period.

My time in Japan has been an amazing experience. And I have found that I'm challenged here in ways that I never was at home - not only through being immersed in Japanese language and culture but in trying to communicate and connect with so many different people from different places. My current work responsibilities have nothing to do at all with what I spent 7 years of my life in school training for, and 2 years after school actually doing. And yet I feel like I am learning vast amounts of things, not only about Japan and Japanese culture, but about the other people on the program I have met here as well as myself.

Now I heard from a friend of mine on the program whose father spent years living abroad, first working with the Peace Corps and then with other agencies, and frequently moving from place to place - and maybe my friend Julien who is currently in Georgia (the country, not the state) can confirm or deny this for me - that there is a reason you have to sign for 2 years with the Peace Corps. That it takes about 6 months to get adjusted to life in a foreign country, then you spend about a year actually living in and experiencing the culture, learning the local language, etc, and the last 6 months you spend preparing to move on to the next phase in your life.

Seeing as JET Programme contracts are signed for one year only, by that logic you spend your first 6 months getting used to life in Japan and your last 6 months preparing yourself to go home, and you don't get any time to really get into the culture. And of course, that's the whole point I started this crazy adventure.

All of this is to say that I have made the decision to stay for another year. I struggled with it for months, putting it off until the absolute final moment I could. In the end, I chose to listen to the little voice inside that told me I am not finished with this experience yet.

This decision has some pretty big consequences for me and many people at home. At the very least, I know some of you are disappointed I won't be coming back at the end of July. Some relationships are changing considerably; but that's not something I'm going to discuss publicly here (sorry! I'm sure you're all dying to know :P). I am not sure how many people are still reading since I don't get many comments, but I will continue to post about life in Japan and my experiences as often as I can.

With so many big changes happening for me, I have neglected the blog a bit I admit. And I apologize for the lack of emails and responses that I should send out, I will try hard in the future to keep in touch better :)

For now, look forward to more stories and posts! I've got some great pictures from the snow festival in Sapporo 2 weeks ago and the crazy Nagano ski weekend trip from last week to tell you all about.

For now, じゃあね！See you!