Contact UsSEARCH

Site Map

2012 JET-MIP REPORT PART 1

AUGUST, 2012: BREEZE ISSUE #58
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESE

2012 JET MEMORIAL INVITATION PROGRAMREPORT PART 1: PROLOGUE
by Thomas Lin
In July of 2012, I took 32 high school students from all across the United States for a two week study tourin Japan including the Tohoku region, which focused on the two cities of Rikuzentakata and Ishinomaki.
These were the cities that Montgomery Dickson and Taylor Anderson were assigned to during their tenureas JET Assistant Language Teachers. The JET Memorial Invitation Program (JET-MIP) is dedicated to these
two aspiring individuals who worked hard to promote exchanges between Japan and the United States
and built lasting friendship between people of both countries. Sadly, both Monty and Taylor lost their lives
during the March 11 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami and the JET Memorial Invitation Program was started
to continue their work by nurturing future generations to build networks with their counterparts in Japan.
Building bridges is the theme of the program as the participants sought to discover their passion as it
relates to Japan and consider a future in international diplomacy through programs such as JET.
Privacy - Terms

JET-MIP was started last year and the 2012 program is the second year of a five year program. I was
assigned to this project early on and was tasked with handling the application and participant selection.
We had a competitive application process to find 32 of the best Japanese-language students in the US.
First applicants had to take a Japanese-language test in the form of the National Japanese Examorganized by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. The second new element was the onlineSkype interview to determine the applicants speaking ability and also to get an initial impression of theirpersonality. After the interviews, we selected 32 participants and also had a few on the waiting list in caseany of the selected were unable to participate. In the end the 32 students we selected ended up all goingon the trip and based on the feedback we received, this group was very well rounded and received
multiple compliments about their Japanese-Language abilities.
In the weeks leading up to the departure date, I setup a Facebook group for the 2012 participants so they
could get to know each other online so the ice breaking process would be easier once everyone met face
to face. I also sent out weekly email updates to inform the group of the itinerary and to provide useful
information and answers to questions that would help them prepare for the trip. Since this was the firstyear everyone participated in the Tohoku study tour (2011 participants were given the option of going toeither Kobe or Iwate for their study tour), the itinerary and lodging changed constantly and was not
finalized until right before we left for Japan. The two major cities that we planned to visit was still inrecovery mode so it was a challenge to arrange accommodation for 32 students, but in the end the staff at
the Kansai Center worked tirelessly to arrange the Tohoku itinerary.
As the departure date neared, everyone become more and more excited and the frequency of posts on
Facebook also increased. All the participants were eager to meet each other as well as go to Japan, manyfor the first time. We were busy here in Los Angeles as well preparing for the pre-departure orientationand getting everything ready so this event would go off without a hitch. Then on the morning of Sunday,
July 8th, we headed to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to pick up the participants to officially startthe 2012 JET Memorial Invitation Program.
Next Issue: Pre-Departure Orientation

Breeze #62

Breeze #61

Breeze #60

Breeze #59

Breeze #58

2012 JET-MIP Report Part 1

Breeze #57
Privacy - Terms

Breeze #56

Breeze #55

Breeze #54

Breeze #53

Breeze #52

Breeze #51

Headquarters

New York Office

Center for Global PartnershipJapan Related LinksVolunteer

ボランティア募集

Job Openings (Updated)

5700 Wilshire blvd, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90036
P. 323.761.7510

Annual Report© 2019 The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
Web Design.

Privacy - Terms