Job Discussion Forums

Lyrajean · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 109 Location: going to Okinawa

Got my JET placement today. I figured I was a shoe in for somewhere in Tohoku because I was bright enough to request it, and Fukuoka Kyushu, on the placement requests section of my app.

Low and behold, they had the wisdom (or lack there of) to place me in the one place in Japan I ahd no particular desire to go.

OKINAWA!

Anyway, if anyone has any heads up on what its like to live there I'm looking for inspiring stories, things to do, etc... I'm not the outdoorsy type. And I have no idea WTF I am going to wear since I come from cold climate and all my suits are wool. Was looking forward to an unheated apartment with feet snuggled under a kotatsu drinking genmaicha in February.

And BTW, pls don't tell me to register over at Big D. I tried and my acc. never got activated....

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

"Stuck" in Okinawa? Somehow I don't think you'll get much sympathy with that line... A LOT of JETs would kill to get that placement -- as would many, many other non-JET English teachers.

My suggestion if you're really at a loss? Cede your placement to someone who will really appreciate it.

David W · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 457 Location: Japan

Where in Okinawa?

Dipso · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Posts: 194 Location: England

Ah, the contrariness of JET placements! I myself asked to be placed in an urban area; I ended up in a fishing village. I also once met a guy who had been asked to be placed somewhere northern and snowy as he was a champion snowboarder - he too was placed in Okinawa.

Still, I had a good three years in my tiny town, so it all worked out for the best. Smile

Lyrajean · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 109 Location: going to Okinawa

Don't know yet.

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Don't go, many others would probably jump at the chance. Best entry level job in Japan.

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Oh, how I wish I could be stuck in Okinawa for a year! Horses for courses, huh.

kdynamic · Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 562 Location: Japan

bearcat · Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 367

fat_chris · Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 3198 Location: Beijing

I ended up with Shizuoka Prefecture and am very content with that. Well, I had no preference in the first place. I just want to go to Japan with JET as I had a hunch all along what Gordon just said:

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

One of my students favorite places in Japan is Okinawa, but he said that it is dangerous to drive because military men run red lights...lol...

flyingkiwi · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 3:58 am Post subject:

Do they actually speak Japanese down there? Or, do they usually speak their dialect most of the time, including in the office? If so, our friend may have a hard time studying Japanese.

southofreality · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 579 Location: Tokyo

Are you kidding? The golfer Ai Miyazato, Namie Amuro, and Yukie Nakama
were all born and raised in Okinawa. Yukie Nakama speaks Japanese beautifully. She's well-known for it.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Mon May 21, 2007 5:30 am Post subject:

We can't get everything we want in life and JET aren't under any obligation to grant you it. I can understand that you don't want to go to Okinawa; just because it is a popular place doesn't mean that it's your type of place. Have you tried calling JET and explaining the situation? I don't know what JET's policy is on changing places with other confirmed applicants but I do know there is usually a long waiting list of other people who would indeed wish to go to Okinawa and if you are dead set against the place then it may be the right thing to give your place up to someone who would appreciate it. Otherwise the orientation will be fun, won't it? A sea of starry-eyed faces who can't believe their luck and one morose, despondent one ruining the party pulling a "what-a-sucky-place" expression.