So you've finished the long application, passed your interview, heard this or that about the JET Program, and are all ready to begin your
adventure in Nagoya. But you probably have many questions remaining. Hopefully we'll clear many of them up by the time you finish perusing
this website. Probably first on your mind is, "What is life as a JET going to be like in Nagoya?" Well, get used to the phrase, "Everyone's
situation is different". You're going to be hearing it a lot between now and the time you arrive in Nagoya.
ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) JETs around the country work for three main contracting organizations. Prefectural Boards of Education,
City Boards of Education, or for individual schools themselves. In our case, we work for the Nagoya City Board of Education, otherwise known
as the Nagoya Kyouikuiinkai. We are based out of probably the oldest building standing in downtown Nagoya: the Kyouikukan (above right). After arriving in
Nagoya, this is most likely your first stop after a pretty nice lunch on our bosses' expense. And get used to it while you're there that first
day, it'll be the place you go to work everyday until school starts in September. Don't worry though, the Kyouikukan is conveniently located
right next to Sakae station, the heart of the city. In the Kyouikukan, each JET gets their own 50's era steel desk with a beautiful primer
finish. If you're not in school, this is where you'll be putting in your time.
As for the logistics of teaching all the kids in this city of 2.2 million people or so, here's how it works. Within our Board of Education's jurisdiction, there are some 14 senior high schools, 110 junior high schools and somewhere around 365 elementary schools. Your base schools will either be a SHS or a JHS, with the occasional "one-shot" visit to an elementary school. As of 2004, the city began contracting out to a couple private organizations to help increase our numbers, and currently there are 27 JETs and another 63 or so privatly contracted AET's working for the Nagoya City Board of Education. Every high school and all the large junior high schools have one AET per year, whereas the smaller junior high schools share us. The city also has the goal of getting an AET to every elementary school for at least a day, so it's highly likely you'll get lent to a local elementary school at some point during your stay.
So that's the skinny on the basics concerning your new job. We'll get down and dirty with it all in a bit, but first things first. You still have to get here!