Summer 2004 Volume 10 Issue 2

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

2004 prep seminar Greg Joughin

T

he annual JETAABC-organized Prep Seminar was held June 12 and 13 at Vancouver English Centre in downtown Vancouver. For the first time in a few years, the Prep Seminar was back as a two-day event, largely in response to feedback from previous attendees. JETAABC took comments along the lines of “too much good information for one day” and “I think my head is going to explode” to heart, and spread out both large- and small-group seminars over the Saturday and Sunday schedule.

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Association SUMMER 2004 Volume 10 Number 2

For the first time, both online registration and payment were possible, courtesy of some hard work by Andrew Eisenberg, JETAABC’s resident website guru. Fully 75% of the more than 80 attendees used the online system to register, and approximately 60% also paid by online methods. Having information submitted electronically also made life much easier for the registration coordinator, Adele Pransky, who in the past has laboriously entered every registration form by hand.The event began on Saturday with a keynote address by Mr. Taga, Consul General of Japan in Vancouver. Not every Consul General attends and speaks at the seminar, so it was very gracious of Mr. Taga to give up some of his Saturday free time to address the seminar attendees.

During the first coffee break (arranged by Matt Fedoruk, the event’s food and beverage coordinator) attendees were encouraged to write down any specific questions for speakers. These questions helped the speakers covering Your First Month (Kathleen Wong and Paul Donovan, Culture Shock (Bobby Taylor) and Money and Taxes (Tracey Bowen) tailor their presentations to match the concerns of participants.

PAGE 2 Letter from the President News from the Consulate 3 The Manabi Story 4 JETAA Conference 5 News from the Island Dragon Boat Festival 6 Sobalicious Review 7 Japanophile: “Shiso” Events Calendar 8 Remaining Tidbits

THE CONTENTS . . .

Because the event was split over two days, arranging speakers to give the seminars was more difficult this year.

Due to various other prior commitments (including JETAABC’s own Dragon Boat team), some speakers were unable to speak on both Saturday and Sunday. Nevertheless, the speaker coordinator, Dianne Cook, did an outstanding job juggling schedules and availability to deliver a full slate of speakers for the record number of mini-semiPaul Donov an imparting some Donovan nar topics. Some speakers w ords of wisdom (such as Joseph Luk, Christine Gergich, and Caroline Klee) pulled double shifts, speaking on more than one topic. Through Dianne’s efforts and the dedication of our speakers, JETAABC was able to offer twelve different mini-seminars to attendees!

The afternoon schedule featured the first of the four miniseminar sessions, and the Japanese Educational System presentation for ALTs (given by Christine Gergich), concurrent with the Japanese Speech Making session for CIRs (presented by Caroline Klee to the four CIRattendees).

This year, attendees were given more free time for lunch – a popular choice was Ebi-Ten, across from the Vancouver Public Library – and for getting to know fellow participants.

CURIOUS ABOUT JET AABC HAPPENINGS? JETAABC Sign up to be a member of the JETAABC Yahoo! group and receive the latest news in your inbox. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jetaabclist/join Contact: webmaster@bc.jetaa.ca for more details or info.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 4 . . .

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Notes from the President Angie Oshika

Here comes the sun! With summer finally upon us, JETAABC has been involved with planning and supporting a number of events and functions. Please join us in the coming months for BBQs, movie nights, a presentation about Japanese Children’s literature, our JET Eye photo exhibition, and upcoming career development events.

I wanted to take a moment to talk about some of the great things that have happened in the past months. On June 7th, Consulate General Taga-san invited the JETAABC Board of Directors to meet Her Imperial Highness Princess Takamado of Japan. The Princess was exceptionally gracious, and we were glad to have the opportunity to express how welcoming Japan was and how profoundly we were affected by our experiences there. As a gift, JETAABC adopted a wild orca named “Cedar” in the Princess’ name, which, by some stroke of luck, is the symbolic tree of the Japanese imperial family.

In June, we hosted the annual JET Preparation Seminar for the new JETs, who will be on their way to Japan at the end of July.

Thank you to Greg Joughin, this year’s Prep Seminar Coordinator, who put together an excellent and informative couple of days.

We’re grateful to the many alumni who volunteered, and to the Consulate for all of their support. Thank you especially to Consulate General Taga-san who took time out of his Saturday morning to come welcome the new JETs in person.

As well, one of our JETAABC Board Members, Jane Leung, organized a JET Alumni Dragon Boat named ‘Ready, JET, Go!’, which raced in the recent Alcan Dragon Boat Festival. While recruiting for paddlers, Jane was overwhelmed by the number of JET Alumni who were interested in participating, and was able to fill an entire boat with alumni. I watched their final race, which they not only won, but beat their own best time by eleven seconds, with a time of 2:18! I was struck by the number of counties, languages, and cultures represented in the boat, all brought together by the JET Programme and our alumni association. Truly, ‘internationalization’ is alive and well! It was especially moving to see the efforts of months of practice and teamwork culminate to a great achievement which all the team members are clearly very proud of.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank Jane personally for all her efforts in getting this great project off the ground. ‘Ready, JET, Go!’ isn’t finished yet – the team is still discussing entering further races for this summer, and plans to race next year.

We continue to strive to make your JETAABC membership valuable to you. For more information about what’s planned or what’s new, suggest novel event ideas, or to volunteer, please visit our new JETAABC forum at http://www.bc.jetaa.ca/bb/index.php. We look forward to seeing you at some of the great events we have planned in the coming months!

Greetings from the Consulate General of Japan! steve chevalier

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he last couple of months at the Consulate have been busy ones. Departure time for the 20042005 JET programme participants is approaching quickly and, our office is inundated with questions as they anxiously await and prepare for the adventure that lies ahead. Thankfully, JETAABC helped answer some of those questions and relieve concerns at the Pre-Departure Preparation Seminar, held on June 12 and 13. Once again, the seminar was well received by those in attendance. The Consulate thanks JETAABC for their work on the seminar. Without them, it would not be possible. Next up,getting all those visas and flight tickets sorted out and then sending the new participants off to Japan!

Some of you may have been aware of the meeting with Her Imperial Highness HIH Princess Takamodo of Japan on June 7. Our office was extremely busy over those three days ensuring that her visit went well. Within Her Imperial Highness’ tour schedule, the JETAABC Board of Directors were priveleged to have an audience at the Consul General’s Residence.

If you are planning your next trip to Japan and need a place to stay, check out “Accommodations Japan” at www.e-stay.jp. This new site presented by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is an accommodation service listing approximately 1000 hotels and other accommodation across Japan, which are hoping to welcome foreign guests. The site includes approximately100 reasonably priced hotels with room rates under US $50.

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THE MANABI STORY

By Anjali Atal-Gupta

W

hen I was a classroom teacher, one of my chief complaints was that every day was like be ing on stage…and if you had a bad hair day, everyone knew it. (What’s more, if you taught a certain age group, someone would tell you). These days I am back to teaching, but this time it is from home, sometimes at 6 AM, sometimes at 11 PM, and very often in my pajamas and with a cup of tea in hand, ensconced in my armchair….sometimes I log 4 hours a week and sometimes none….if this sounds good to you, please keep reading!

topic and location as well. A lot of my students told me they had been to Vancouver, my hometown, which I initially thought was a coincidence! Masa usually gives new teachers a lot of personal attention to get their interest level up and encourages them greatly (one of my first students was his mother, which I thought was incredibly sweet!)

Each month you receive a check with your earnings. Manabi charges the students a small fee on top of your fee, garnering them a 30-40% profit margin for each lesson. The company is not profitable yet, but stay tuned.

By now many of you have probably heard of Manabi Ltd., The Manabi software is a great management tool; it tracks a rather innovative and excityour classes and earnings for you ing teaching opportunity that and sends you email notifications many JET Alumni have joined For more information go to: http://manabi.st/t/ To put about booking requests, as well as as a way to keep in touch with your name on the waitlist for consideration, go to: reminders about upcoming lesteaching, the Japanese, and as https://ssl5.secureserver.jp/manabi/t/t_queue.php You sons. Once you get a booking recan also email me with questions at a way to supplement their inquest at your email address, you anjali_atal@hotmail.com or read my come. access the system to accept or deinterview with Manabi at http:// cline the lesson. The Manabi staff manabi.st/n/anjali.php Manabi was conceived with are very quick to respond and JET Alumni in mind. It first fairly open to feedback; I see imbecame known at the Univerprovements on the website all the sity of Virginia (Darden time, and recently even noticed Graduate School of Business) Google ads being streamed on the top page. in 2001 where it was a finalist in the business concept competition. It was created by a Mr. Oshima and Lisa Wechsler.( In terms of a business strategy, Masa initially thought Ena JET alumni) Enter the main man, Masafumi Otsuka, glish conversation would be the focal point of Manabi, but (we all call him Masa) MBA class of 2002. Masa wasn’t is quite candid about the fact that it is a huge task to comnecessarily interested in going on to be part of an investpete with all the different Eikaiwa schools in Japan by price ment bank after graduation; rather, he favored the concept alone. He doesn’t want to enter a pricing war (good deciof being an entrepreneur. Oshima san was his sempai and sion, I thought) and now that he has seen the power of after some collaboration, Masa took the model created by niche markets like prospective MBA students who want Lisa and Oshima san and ran with it. Back in Japan, Masa interview practice, or medical and legal professionals who found Taka Kikuchi, who created the software that powers want specialized lessons in English, he is gearing efforts toManabi, and Manabi Ltd. was born later in 2002. wards attracting a student base that is a diverse professional group with different learning needs.

What does this virtual school look like? Well, Manabi is a web and distance-based educational system that operates To sum it all up, I find Manabi to be easy to use, fun, and on a basic free market premise that allows teachers to vie increasingly lucrative, and I wanted to share the concept for students by setting their own price, deciding on their with fellow JET Alumni. I started off with simple “Freetalk” time slots, and custom designing their own curriculum, conversation classes but quickly found that I preferred more which they can then download and describe on the webserious classes with a set topic involving my profession in based system. medical devices as well as other hobby and current events type classes. (Alas, no takers for my wine country cooking Once you display an interest in being a teacher, Masa asks classes yet!) The possibilities for classes are endless and it is for your resume and experience, and then you are waitlisted really a lot of fun. When you combine the medium of the as a teacher. Once you are accepted (he screens by profesInternet and the phone, creativity reigns. sion and experience), you are invited to visit the website and enter in your personal profile so that prospective students can research teachers not only by price, but also by P A GE 3

PREP SEMINAR CONT’D...

The Pop Culture topic brought the total number of seminars offered to a whopping 12 – more than in each of the previous two years. Of course, all the old standbys were also given.

After two more mini-seminar sessions and a short lunch break, the large group re-assembled for a final 75-minute Q&A Panel session for JETs and their parents and friends. Eleanor Joughin (mother of Greg Joughin, obviously) sat on the panel as the parent of an alumnus – sadly, no questions were directed her way!

Following the final session, most people stayed for the brief reception, where JETs and their parents and friends continued to ask questions, exchange contact information, and polish off large quantities of sushi, fruit, and chicken karaage.

Feedback from the seminar was generally positive, with most attendees grateful for the opportunity to hear how it’s really going to go, from people who have been there and done that. This is among the largest events JETAABC puts on during the year, and is also among the most rewarding for volunteers – it just feels good to be sharing hard-won knowledge with people who can really benefit! Hope to see you at next year’s seminar, probably on the second weekend of June, 2005…

2004 JET AA CANADA CONFERENCE JETAA Gr eg Joughin Greg

T

he annual JETAA Canada conference was held May 14 through 16 in downtown Ottawa. The two JETAABC delegates were Stephenie Gold, and yours truly, Greg Joughin. Each of the other chapters in Canada (Northern Alberta, Manitoba, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto) also sent a pair of delegates — with the notable exception of Southern Alberta, which is in the process of being nursed back to health by Northern Alberta. In addition, several representatives from CLAIR in New York and the Embassy in Ottawa attended.On Friday evening, just after everyone had arrived and prior to any actual work, MOFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) hosted a reception at the Embassy of Japan.

The embassy is on Sussex Drive within walking distance of the Novotel hotel where the conference was held. The scenery along Sussex is impressive: the new imposing US Embassy, the Royal Canadian Mint, Notre-Dame cathedral, the National Art Gallery, and the National War Museum (whose Sherman tank on display outside is pointed directly at the brand-new Kuwaiti embassy right across the street). Too bad the weather was pretty warm and humid. A 20-minute stroll in a suit and tie was not what most of us wanted at that point. Both the reception and the subsequent ni-jikai at the Earl of Sussex pub let JETAA delegates, JLGC staff and Embassy hosts catch up (many delegates have attended previous conferences) or get to know each other.

The main thrust of this annual conference is for Canadian chapters to discuss and share their activities over the past year, and to formulate some common goals for all chapters across Canada for the upcoming year. Near the beginning of the conference on Saturday morning, each chapter presented a 12-minute summary of some of the initiatives and events that they have pursued. Stephenie and I introduced the brand-new JETAABC web forum (www.bc.jetaa.ca/bb), which was well received. We also outlined our plans for the Prep Seminar, the Dragon Boat team, Re-Entry Seminar, and the JET Eye photo exhibition – all activities that other chapters have tried in the past. Which is good, actually: chapters are actively encouraged to crib from other chapters’ plans, to cut down on the up-front effort needed to hold any of these events!

The keynote speaker on Saturday after lunch was Lyse Lavictoire, who is a professional event planner. Lyse provided some excellent tips for running an event, and also gave some hints on how JETAA Canada can provide a united front to the increasing number of advertisers interested in our members’ dollars.

After just an hour of free time, it was off to another reception, hosted by CLAIR New York and held at Kinki, a Japanese fusion restaurant. This gave most of us a chance to get to know each other better (including some CLAIR New York staff not attending the other official events of the conference) because the service was really slow. This unexpectedly long reception probably led to discussions on Sunday morning being somewhat less formal than the previous two days!

If you would pr efer to rreceive eceive futur prefer futuree editions by email rather than in print, please contact the membership coor dinator at: membership@bc.jetaa.ca Greg m aking t making tough stra tegic ough str ategi c ansa t the c o nference... plansa ansat co pl

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news fr om the island from shaun sephton

G

reetings from Vancouver Island. My name is Shaun and I am the JETAABC representative on beautiful Vancouver Island. We are a small and scattered group but that hasn’t stopped us from getting together for various Japan-related gatherings. To date we have had mixers, participated in JET-related information sessions, and playeda weekly game of ultimate frisbee at Beacon Hill Park. The sky is the limit as far as what we can do. We have talked about organizing potlucks, language classes, hikes, participating as a group in local international events, creating a CV resource book/career network that would help facilitate connections between local businesses and returnees, and having monthly get-togethers at alternate venues. The more people that get involved on VI the more we will be able to do. So get in touch if you want to organize an event, brainstorm ideas, or just chit-chat. I will look forward to hearing from you and keep your eyeballs peeled for missive from yours truly. islandrep@bc.jetaa.ca or sllsephton@hotmail.com

2004 Al can d r ago n bo at festiv al Alcan dr agon boa festival Jane Leung

COME ONE, COME ALL TTO O THE NEW JET AABC BULLETIN BO ARD! ALL JETAABC BOARD! ALUMNI ARE WELCOME TTO O P AR TICIP A TE: TICIPA

Congratulations Paddlers!

HTTP://BC.JET HTTP://BC.JETAA A . C A / B B / I N D E X . P H P JETAABC’s Ready, JET, Go! Dragon Boat team had a successful weekend at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival on June 19-20. The team of novice paddlers came in first in the Recreational D Consolation finals with a time of 2 minutes and 18 seconds, and received a beautiful plaque to commemorate the achievement. (Not bad for a team with only 11 practices under their belt!) The team was highly visible as we wandered through the racers’ village and the festival site in our powder blue CoolMax shirts and happi coats.

We paddled our hearts out in five races the whole weekend, saving the best for last. After three frantic races on Saturday that determined our seeding, we finally competed against teams of similar caliber on Sunday morning. The team just wasn’t a morning boat, as we lost our timing throughout the race. Although we had our worst race, we still came in fourth, which put us in the Consolation D Final. The determined group vowed to put in their best effort, and we didn’t disappoint as we blew out of the start and never looked back. Although other teams looked to be gaining on us, we stayed focused and stayed ahead. Not only did we win our race, we did it with the team’s best ever time.

Our boat was one of 178 teams that participated in the Dragon Boat Festival, while over 100,000 people attended the event. Please consider joining us for Kelowna in September or for Alcan next year as we look to represent our JET background with pride. Contact Jane at volunteerjetaabc@yahoo.ca.

What you will find: uying other *Job postings, notices for bbuying people’ people’ss stuff and selling your own, houses AABD ent and other items in the JET for rrent JETAABD marketplace ents forum *Upcoming ev events ant to the alumni elev *Discussions on topics rrelev elevant association *What’ oing on with the JET AABC *What’ss ggoing JETAABC Board of Dir ectors Directors

Those of you on the Yahoo! group may have noticed posts related to the bulletin board. Our goal is to encourage an open forum for communication amongst all JET alumni. This would not be possible on the Yahoo! group (which would only encourages massive amounts of e-mail). We will continue to use the Yahoo!group to send notifications of events and other important items, but for everything else Japan and JETrelated, come on over and check out the new JETAABC bulletin board.

This bulletin board is only going to get better through the participation of the alumni as a whole. So, please post any thoughts, event ideas, epiphanies, jobs, stuff you want to sell, houses you want to rent, and interesting links. Even if you don’t want to post, checkoften because there are new articles, postings and discussions every day.

What is the JET AABC Newsletter?

JETAABC

For more information, contact: webmaster@bc.jetaa.ca

This publication pr ovides, news, articles and ev ent info for JET Alumni provides, event r esiding in British Columbia. W elcome your ideas, sugg estions and Wee w welcome suggestions articles! Please write to us at: newsletter@bc.jetaa.ca

P A GE 5

Sobalicious! So Delicious Christine Rowlands

Makers of ready made noodles need not fear for their sales figures, but 28 soba enthusiasts had a fantastic time on Saturday, May 22 learning how to make zaru soba from scratch.

Onuki-san, head of security for the Japanese Consulate, shared the secrets of making homemade soba noodles from the initial mixing of buckwheat flour and water to kneading the dough, rolling it out, cutting the noodles, and cooking them. Chef Masaki, from the Consul General’s residence, dropped in to demonstrate his knife technique on preparing the green onions that garnish the dish.

The morning class included plenty of time for demonstration and practice at each stage in the process. The $10 admission fee also provided for lots of snacks throughout and a cheap, filling lunch of our own homemade noodles, Onuki-san’s special dipping sauce, tempura veggies and prawns, and a very natsukashii refreshment of Calpis! (Our group had the advantage of working with the dough Onuki-san had started, so of course our noodles were the best!)

Sobalicious! was the first in what is hoped to be a series of Japanese cooking classes. A big “arigatou gozaimashita!” to Nina Inaoka for organizing this event for JETAABC. Thank you also to Kimiye Kawashima for taking the photographs!

Udon, anyone?

Call for Entries: JET Eye Photo Exhibit and Silent Auction “Japan Through the Eyes of JETs” September 2004 ATTENTION All JET Participants, Past and Present!

We are looking for your photos of Japan to include in our photo exhibit and silent auction, taking place in midSeptember 2004 at Nikkei Place in Burnaby. Share your visual memories of your time in Japan with your peers, prospective JETs and with people in the Japanese and Canadian business communities. Selected submissions will be enlarged and displayed for approximately one week before being featured and auctioned at the event. All the images will be featured in a multimedia slide show on the evening of the event.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS For Submissions: Film: Please submit a standard 4 X 6 print. Negatives will be requested for those images selected for enlargement. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you require your prints and/or negatives to be returned.

Digital: Please submit images of at least 800 X 600 resolution by e-mail or on CD. Please provide descriptive filenames that include the photographer’s name.

For all photos, please include a description with the photographer’s name, location and subject of the photo (landmark or event, city, prefecture, etc.), date photo was taken (if known), names of any people appearing in the photo (if known), and any technical information (film, camera, f-stop, etc., if known).

* Please note that selection of photos will be at the discretion of the planning committee. Photos need to be appropriate for public viewing. The committee has the right to refuse any photo(s) for any reason. Only

PLEASE SUBMIT PHOTOS TO: by e-mail: jet-eye-photos@bc.jetaa.ca by mail / courier: JET Eye Photo Submission c/o 17590 Kennedy Road Pitt Meadows, BC V3Y 1Z1 in person: Japanese Consulate

P A GE 6

what’ss happening what’

JET AABC BBQ JETAABC Our Summer BBQ was originally announced at the Prep Seminar as being planned for July 17, due to timing conflicts with the Vancouver Folk Fest, so the date of the BBQ has been moved forward, and will take place a week earlier on Saturday, July 10.

Yet-to-depart new JETs and Mokuyokai members are also invited. We will have a number of BBQs fired up from about 5:00 pm onwards. In addition, all soft drinks and food – except meat – will be provided. If you want meat (or some veggie-based facsimile thereof) on your hot dog or hamburger bun, please bring your own and slap it on our grill!

JETAABC Barbecue July 10, 2004 from 4:30 pm JUL Y JULY onwards Spanish Banks Join new JETs, JET alumni and Mokuyokai members to kick off summer. Bring your meat for the grill; soft drinks and sides provided. $10 For updates visit www.bc.jetaa.ca/bb under “Events” New JETs leave for Japan!

Ganbatte, we’re all natsukashii now.

End of July

Date: Saturday, July 10, 2004 Place: Spanish Banks East (grassy part) Time: 4:30 pm Keep an eye on the JETAABC Web Forum

28th Annual Powell Street Festival Saturday July 31 and AUGUST Sunday, August 1, 2004 Oppenheimer Park and Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver The largest Japanese Canadian festival and the longest running community celebration in Vancouver! Come enjoy taiko, sumo, martial arts demos, dance, music, arts, film/video, and a fantastic array of Japanese food. http://powellstfestival.shinnova.com/

Shiso

Oana Capota

“There is no shiso,” she said.

“That’s ok. I am not looking for shiso. I am looking for the shiso farmer.”

“He came last Monday.”

“Can you give me his phone number?”

“No.” “Why not?”

“Because there is no shiso.”

Y

ou may remember the green leaf that accompanied your sashimi. Shiso, the charming bed on which slabs of tuna slumber, also answers to the names Perilla and Beefsteak Plant.

It is a member of the mint family, and shiso comes in green (aojiso), purple (aka-jiso), and, if you encounter the Vietnamese version, “bronze” (purple on one side and green on the other).

Recently I’ve hit upon the idea of visiting a shiso farm. Shiso is sold in a local Asian supermarket. Surely there is a farmer with a shiso farm near here. Surely I can find this farmer and find the source of Vancouver shiso.In Japan, I grew shiso on my balcony.

Luck blessed me; shiso can be a weed. It grows like the dickens.

Weeds flourish even with grim reapers who take the souls of houseplants.I remembered to sprinkle it daily with water and it would do the rest. My only other task was to eat it fast enough.

Every morning two handfuls of shiso made a plump sandwich.

Sometimes I would chop up a few leaves and add them to an omelette. There is a recipe for shiso mashed potatoes out there, and shiso makes a fine addition to a Bloody Caesar.

After returning to Canada, a search of 14 – that’s right, 14 garden stores finally turned up some shiso seeds. Yet - alas!

Tragedy! An overzealous lawnmower decapitated the sprouts. I was left shiso-less once again. My first phone call to the shisoselling supermarket led to a shop clerk who insisted that there was no more shiso left in the store.

JET Eye Photo Exhibit and Silent SEPTEMBER Auction Exact date TBANikkei Place, 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby Everyone is welcome to submit photographs for this exhibition on Japan through JET eyes.

Deadline for submissions is July 31, 2004.

Contact jet-eye-photos@bc.jetaa.ca “But there has got to be more shiso somewhere out there. This farmer knows where the shiso is. ”“No, shiso season is over.”“What? That can’t be true!”

“Yes, shiso season finished on Monday.”

Monday, June 14. Shiso is an exact plant, with its own schedule. It comes and goes based entirely on its wn whims, like a sullen rockstar. I left her with my phone number, just in case the shiso farmer showed oup. The clerk phoned the next day.

She left a message stating that she has no shiso nor will she have any more this year nor will she ever see the shiso farmer again this year.She must have been afraid that I wouldphone again because she phoned back an hour later to reaffirm that there is no shiso. There is no shiso any here in the Lower Mainland. I am convinced. I will simply have to succumb to garnishing my meals with wparsley.

“No, no,” I protested, “I want to find the farmer who grows shiso, not the shiso itself.”“There is no shiso.”

P A GE 7

**If you are undeterred, you can order shiso (it goes by perilla), both green and purple, from Richters (www.Richters.com) or West Coast Seeds (www.westcoastseeds.com)

A: O TSUKARESAMA DESHIT DESHITA: angie oshika, steve chevalier, shaun sephton, anjali atal-gupta, andrew eisenberg, jane leung, greg joughin, oana capota

2004-2005 BOARD DIRECTOR ORS: 2004-200 5 BO ARD OF DIRECT OR S: PRESIDENT - Angie Oshik a Oshika pr esident@bc .jet aa.ca president@bc esident@bc.jet .jetaa.ca

om The Editor A Shor From Shortt Scribble Fr

TREASURER - Matt F edoruk Fedoruk tr easur er@bc .jet aa.ca treasur easurer@bc er@bc.jet .jetaa.ca

When I first became part of the JET programme just four short years ago, I had no way of knowing how my experiences on the other side of the Pacific would affect my life. I’m sure most of you can relate to those feelings of uncertainty and excitement both before and after you acquired your new cultural belts.

SECRET AR Y- Joseph LLuk uk SECRETAR ARY secr et ary@bc .jet aa.ca secret etary@bc ary@bc.jet .jetaa.ca V OL UNTEER COORDINA TOR eung VOL OLUNTEER COORDINAT OR-- Jane LLeung v olunteer@bc .jet aa.ca olunteer@bc.jet .jetaa.ca MEMBER A T LARGE - Damien Vilasa yne AT Vilasayne member@y ahoo.ca member@yahoo.ca

With these thoughts in mind, the theme of this newsletter is aptly titled: ‘before and after JET’. With the successful completion of the Prep Seminar last month, the soon-to-be departed JET’s are ready to be on their way. Shortly thereafter, it will be time to welcome back those returning JET’s who will be ready to start anew.

NEW SLETTER EDIT OR(S) NEWSLETTER EDITOR(S) Christine R o wlands/Jennifer T omomit su Ro Tomomit omomitsu ne w sletter@bc .jet aa.ca new sletter@bc.jet .jetaa.ca CAREER AND PER SONAL DE VEL OPMENT PERSONAL DEVEL VELOPMENT COORDINA TOR(S) - Z amiha Virjee/ COORDINAT Zamiha Stephenie Gold car eer s@bc .jet aa.ca career eers@bc s@bc.jet .jetaa.ca

The aim of the JETAABC newsletter is to help inform, report and unite members of the JET community within the BC region. Christine and I have done our best to provide some useful information and we hope this issue will prove helpful to those of you still searching for alternatives after JET.

MEMBER SHIP COORDINA TOR MEMBERSHIP COORDINAT Bobb y T a ylor - member ship@bc .jet aa.ca Bobby Ta membership@bc ship@bc.jet .jetaa.ca PREP SEMINAR/SOCIAL COORDINA TOR COORDINAT Gr eg Joughin - social@bc .jet aa.ca Greg social@bc.jet .jetaa.ca

I also regret to inform that this will be the last JETAABC newsletter I will have the privilege of co-editing. Although my intentions were to stay in Vancouver for the next two years, I have decided to pack my bags and try my luck at grad school in England this fall. Christine will be your official editor for the remaining two issues so you will be in very good hands!

I’ve enjoyed being part of the JETAABC board of directors and although I wished I could have participated in more events, I feel privileged to have met some really great people. Farewell everyone!

TECHNICAL COORDINA TOR COORDINAT Andr ew Eisenber g Andre Eisenberg w ebmaster@bc .jet aa.ca ebmaster@bc.jet .jetaa.ca CUL TURAL PR OGRAMS COORDINA TOR CULTURAL PROGRAMS COORDINAT Nina Inaok a - cultur al@bc .jet aa.ca Inaoka cultural@bc al@bc.jet .jetaa.ca SENIOR AD VISOR - Kristin Olson ADVISOR advisor@bc .jet aa.ca advisor@bc.jet .jetaa.ca

Jennifer

special annoucement!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JETAABC PRESIDENT, ANGIE FREEDMAN WHO TIED THE KNOT WITH JOHNNY OSHIKA ON APRIL 24, 2004!

Not too sure when, and definitely don’t know where just yet, but another Food Night is in the works! The only criteria will be: Japanese food of some sort (preferably slightly more unusual than sushi and donburi), located in the Lower Mainland (sorry, Kelowna, Victoria, PG, et al!), and with a few weeks’ notice.

Last time, we tried a Friday night, which evidently was less than ideal. So look for the date to be a Saturday sometime. Keep an eye open on the JETAABC web forum, at www.bc.jetaa.ca/bb!

BEST WISHES TO YOU BOTH!

JET AABC JETAABC

WE We welcome your suggestions or

MAIL: Bentall Centr Centree PO Box 48121 V ancouver Vancouver ancouver,, BC V7X 1N8

ideas. Please contact us to find out mor moree about our events or how you can become involved!

WEB: www.bc.jetaa.ca EMAIL: info@bc.jetaa.ca

Coming Soon:F ood Night II Soon:Food Son of FFood ood Night!

oneg ai shimasu!

Remember to keep those articles flowing in – we want them!

Email us your story ideas, photos, etc.: newsletter@bc.jetaa.ca NEXT NEW SLETTER DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 1 5th NEWSLETTER 15th

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