JET Letter to JETsetter

The week starting the school Easter holidays was pretty stressful.

I applied for the JET cycle in November with a vague hope/prayer that a programme I had dreamed about for years would grant me a chance; I had read the statistics, I knew just how competitive the programme was. I knew it was really unlikely that me, a scientist by trade, would be considered for a teaching position in Japan, but I thought that maybe if my application was the best to could possibly be, maybe the Embassy of Japan might give me a chance. Maybe I could even get to interview.

The application deadline came and went and after a month or so of waiting, just when I had lost hope, I received a letter inviting me to an interview. On the 25th January I attended - it was an intimidating, formal proceeding unlike anything I had ever experienced before, with all electronics removed and strict rules about communication with other candidates. I came out in a daze. But once the interview was over, then came the real task - the 3 month or so wait for a response! The first two and a half months passed in relatively calmly - there was a long time to wait so there was no point agonising over it, but the closer it came the more nervous I got. By the first week of April I was an absolute wreck. I would check the postbox three or four times a day until it came, charging to the door like a dog and wrenching it open, only to be disappointed that the fateful letter hadn't arrived. Then, the day after results were posted out, an ambiguous email sent me into a half hopeful, half despairing tail-spin.

The day after the email i knew subconsciously that it was time. That Friday was the day I would discover my final result: it was cold but bright outside and I spent the morning pacing in my front room, and checking the post ever hour. At around 12pm I caught a glimpse of the postman looping away from my house to the neighbours. I flew down the stairs and tore open the door to find a single brown envelope addressed to me sitting in my mailbox. Hands trembling, I ripped it open and scanned the first line for those important few words.

~Final shortlist.~

It felt like a dream come true, and it's where my adventure to Japan, a country I've loved as long as I can remember, began. The next week or so was a flurry of paperwork, I was determined to get it done as soon as possible. Finally today, April 15th I sent the final set all of the paperwork to the Embassy. Every few minutes I find myself remembering and grinning;

I'm going to Japan!