AJET Connect MAY 2014

BLOCKSPOTLIGHTBlock 11 & AJET’s New WebmastersTamara Rytter, OkinawaDirector of CorporateEventsInstead of me, let’s hear from theJETs of Block 11!OkinawaHaisai from Okinawa! The Okinawa JET community is pleasedto announce the creation of OkiAJET. We are an organization focusedon making life for JETs in Okinawa the best it can possiblybe. We hope to provide opportunities for community service andprofessional development. After several months of planning wefinally have something that is ready to spread its wings and getoff the ground. I’m looking forward to leading this new organizationand developing the new ideas we have for the OkinawaJET community.ÎÎTaylor Gentry - OkiAJET ChairWe’re organizing a Tohoku Film Festival in Okinawa as part ofa large scale visibility project to get people in Okinawa activelytalking and thinking about the current issues that Tohoku isfacing, what we can do to help, and how Tohoku’s issues affecteveryone in Japan. The festival will include talk-backs with thefilmmakers, a symposium and workshops with representativesfrom local Tohoku-based governments, representatives fromNGOs, and refugees and volunteers speaking about their personalexperiences.ÎÎAutumn Widdoes - Okinawa ALTDavid Berg, HyogoAJET WebmasterHi all! My name is David Berg andI am one of the webmasters for theNational AJET Council. Despite onlybeing a 1 st -year ALT, I managed to sneakonto this year’s council back in Januarywhen they were looking for some help. I live inHyogo Prefecture of Block 6, which I’ve slowly come to believe isthe gem of Japan. Although I live deep in the heart of the inaka,I am just a few hours travel from Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. Anycravings I have for the wild side of life are easily satisfied!My most recent excursion, however, took place outside of Japan.During spring break, I went to the Philippines with JET ChristianFellowship to assist with disaster recovery. For two days,we adopted an elementary school in one of the rural villagesof Tacloban, the city hardest hit by Typhoon Haiyan. We taughtlessons, sang songs, and played games. As I normally teach highschool kids, I was caught off guard by how physically drainingit is to teach at the elementary level. It didn’t matter in the endthough, because seeing all of the kids smiling back at me gaveme all the energy I needed. The highlight of the week for me washolding the cutest 3-month-old baby I had ever seen while shefell asleep in my arms. Her mother survived the typhoon whileshe was near the end of her pregnancy, giving birth to her babygirl shortly after the storm had passed. Her story of survival wastruly inspiring!To finish off the trip, two of us flew out to Donsol Bay and swamSerena Lai, TottoriAJET WebmasterG’day from hot and balmy Kuta, Bali! Ihope everyone’s enjoying their GoldenWeek. Where to begin?Well, first off, I’m quite embarrassed to say Ifeel like I really haven’t done much since joiningthe council. My contributions have been small compared to David’sjam-packed awesomeness and proactivity!Nonetheless, this hermit has been doing her best working behindthe scenes to get AJET’s website a facelift. We all know that thecurrent site has its issues in terms of usability. Information isburied deep and things that should be easy to find are sadly not.I’m sure that not just a few of us have found using the searchbutton to be more efficient than using the existing navigationlinks to access and view the page(s) we want. And we all knowhow frustrating that can be. Well, with the help of our fantasticProject Manager, Penny, we have been collecting feedback onwhat needs improvement and have been revamping everythingfrom the sitemap to the landing page to the way content is displayedfor different sections.Currently, we are waiting for another round of feedback fromeveryone before deciding where to go from here. Our goals forthe new site is to make it more intuitive and easy to use as wellas mobile-friendly. On a side note, this will be a personal webdesign challenge as I’ve never built a responsive site before. SoI hope David and I won’t do too bad of a job at it. Yoroshiku10 with whale sharks for an afternoon! It’s one thing to see pictures David! And wish us luck everyone! :DKagoshima11and videos, but when you swim right next to them, you get anKagoshima, known for the majestic active volcano Sakurajima,idea of just how big they are. March is the beginning of peak In other news, I’m happy to report that our local Tottori AJETis one of the most picturesque prefectures in all of Japan. It isseason for these majestic creatures, and we were not disappointed.Over a period of 3 hours, we spotted 6 whale sharks! It was Just a few weeks back, we had our annual visit to the local or-chapter continues to be active in its charity and volunteer work.also home to an active local Kagoshima AJET chapter and morethan 150 JETs. A few recent KAJET-supported events here werea fitting finale to a wonderful experience, and I hope to go back phanage in Yonago. While I couldn’t make it to this year’s event,the annual Dragonboats Races in Osumi and the Mad Hattersand visit soon. As they say—it’s more fun in the Philippines! I had the privilege of taking part in the games and fun last yearHanami Party. Upcoming community events this May will includeand I’m sure this year’s visit, with its songs, dances and friendship-braceletmaking activities brought a lot of joy and laughtera screening of the Japanese film Hafu and the Fukiage-hamaSand Festival on the enchanting beaches of Minamisatsuma.to the children there. Keep it up Tottori!!ÎÎLogan Morley – Kagoshima ALTMiyazakiGreetings from sunny Miyazaki! Our local chapter of AJET, MAJET,has had a busy year filled with fun events. Recently we enjoyeda spring hike to the peak of Mount Karakunidake in Ebino. Otherseasonal events in our beautiful and diverse natural landscapehere include a summer beach BBQ and camp-out at Aoshimabeach, and a winter outdoor ice-skating and onsen event. Thisyear we also held our very own 3rd Annual Miyazaki AmazingRace around the city.ÎÎSamantha Walters – Miyazaki ALTCONNECTCONNECTMay Issue 2014 May Issue 2014