Thanks for the message! Yup, I am still living here in Japan. I will likely return to Canada in September for about 6 months. Then, in all likelihood, I will head back to Oita.
I arrived in Japan on the JET programme. However, I only stayed in JET for a year before finding a private job. I have now lived here closing in on 9 years! My current position is as a lecturer and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Beppu.
Thanks for the inquiry! Do you live here now? Or planning to come?
I'm in Florida atm and am currently working on my BA so that I can teach English in Japan. I have been looking into this and researching it and it is the main reason I decided to go back to school. The only worry I have about being able to actually do it is a slight anxiety problem =/ Hopefully by the time I receive my BA the anxiety problem will be gone.
Why did you not renew your contract after being with JET? How does JET and companies/programs like it feel about you applying to them and also other places like Geos?
Why didn't I renew with JET? Good question with a bit of a long answer: but let's do the fast version. I had decided to apply for JET with my girlfriend from Canada. We both got accepted; however, I was placed up near Tokyo (in Chiba city) while she was placed in OITA! Not close at all. So, after a year, I left Chiba and came down to Oita to be with her and find a private job. (JET very very rarely allows transfer between prefectures. Within prefectures is very common.)
In the end, it didn't work out between us and she returned to Canada and I kept living in Oita.
JET doesn't want people to use JET as a stepping stone to other jobs. In my case, since I was moving to another job in Japan within 6 months of my contract ending, they wouldn't pay for a flight home (as they do with those leaving the program). However, this type of thing happens all the time. Some people arrive on JET and end up staying far past their JET contract. One thing that is clearly stipulated however is that you should not have any other jobs while on a JET contract. They can't overlap.
Ah okay I just was worried that maybe it was a problem with JET itself, life happens ;)
How does JET feel about you applying to other ALT companies when first applying? (In case one doesn't get accepted into JET) I spent some more time watching a few more of your videos, keep up the good work, your editing skills look great.