The JET Program holds a conference every year for its participants that are returning to their home countries this year. It is a chance to learn about job opportunities after JET, how to market the JET experience to potential employers, reverse culture shock, etc. It was a great conference and I learned a lot. Before the conference, I took a short trip to Tokyo and Kamakura as well. I took a lot of pictures, so I made a seperate page for them on the pictures page. Follow this link to see them: Tokyo, Kamakura, and 2005 Returners Conference Pictures Page

    Ashikawa Shogyo High has an International Business class, which requires the students of that class to have extra English study. As part of that study, the school decided to hold an English Camp for two days, where the students could meet many foreign teachers and study English in a relaxed atmosphere outside the classroom. It was a fantastic experience! However, I was so busy as M.C. that I took no pictures! As soon as I get some pictures of the event (there were many pictures taken), I will post them here and write a little more.

    The end of the school year for Japanese schools comes in March. My most frequently visited school, Asahikawa Commercial (Shogyo) High School, held a kind of sports competition on some of its last days. The homeroom classes competed against each other in basketball, table tennis, and volleyball. At the end, the best volleyball team competed against theteachers volleyball team. It was a lot of fun to watch.

Girl's basketball

Table tennis was especially fun to watch

Boy's basketball

Boy's Volleyball (aren't these captions original!)