I think it’s starting–someone in the US (my referral stats didn’t list anything other than the country) Googled “tokushima-ken, miyoshi-shi” and found this blog.
(And by “it,” I mean “the new ALTs receiving their placement information.” But “it” also could refer to the push by contracting agencies to find information about their ALTs online, because lately I’ve noticed that someone from Ikeda’s town office has been making frequent visits to this website.)
I actually already have the scoop on the 3 new ALTs coming to our fair six-towns-that-masquerade-as-a-city, and have known who they will be for a few weeks–unless they’ve rejected their placements, two are American and one is Canadian, and my successor is an American girl from the eastern US. The American coming here who isn’t my successor is a guy of Asian descent. Ooh, 50/50 odds. Hey there, to whoever you are!
And hello to any other incoming Tokushima JETs who find this! I extended this offer last year and I’ll do it again–I’ll gladly answer any questions for you until you get in contact with your predecessor. My blog’s been picked up pretty well by Google, so a lot of incoming ALTs last year found this almost before they found any of the “official” info on Tokushima. Part of why I created this blog, besides chronicling my time in Japan, was to attempt to create a window into the experience, because other people’s blogs and websites helped me out in an indescribably huge way with the interview and preparations, and it’s just cool to feel a sense of cameraderie even now when I read other JET blogs and know that there are people all over the country experiencing something similar to this.
(So the main reason I’m awake right now is because I got back only an hour ago from hanging out with Gilly, Kirsten, Christine, Rob, Sally, Ashley, and James for Gilly’s birthday dinner out in Wakimachi. It was a lot of fun and worth the 45-minute drive. I do need to get to bed ASAP, though, since I have two eikaiwas and a shougakkou class to teach tomorrow before heading out for a weekend of unadulterated Star Wars geekery at Chris’s in Matsushige, in honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of A New Hope on May 25, 1977. (I can just see my dad rolling his eyes and muttering something about how I’m wasting my time on this Star Wars crap. Love you, Dad!) The marathon was my idea, but just as a one-day thing; the others have taken it and run with it, and it’s a Friday-Sunday affair now. Spaceballs and other bonus/parody materials tomorrow, prequels Saturday, original trilogy Sunday!)
And with that, I’m off to bed. Oh–I’m almost totally better, though I still have a bit of a cough I can’t shake, but I’m almost there!