Australian JETs 2012

[Pretendbeard]

I brought tea! Mind you, I came after a pred who left every single teacher high and dry, so anything I brought over with me would be an improvement. Main concern was that tea bags weigh next to nothing, and for all us non-Americans weight allowance is everything.

With Tim Tams, I'd honestly ask a pred if there's somewhere in your area that stocks them. It's sneaky, but you could totally buy them once in Japan (and hey, if I can get Tim Tams - at the local Liqueur Mountain, a magical, wonderful store - where I live, most of you will at least have access to somewhere with them), and then just shop them into work in a container purchased from a 100 yen store. Less melted, more room in your bags, and it's likely that nobody will ever notice (or care).

Also, 5c coins. Just bring em in your pockets. People go nuts over foreign currency with cute animals printed on.

[lj66]

To everyone I met last night at the Melbourne JET farewell drinks, it was lovely meeting you (and putting some faces to forum aliases!). Meeting others in the same position I'm in makes it seem so much more real! Six weeks to go!!! (But who's counting?)

[btlef0]

To everyone I met last night at the Melbourne JET farewell drinks, it was lovely meeting you (and putting some faces to forum aliases!). Meeting others in the same position I'm in makes it seem so much more real! Six weeks to go!!! (But who's counting?)

Same sentiment, but instead to all the Brisbane guys and girls that were at the Q & A session...a pretty surreal situation we have gotten ourselves into...

[nicklar]

Omiyage - no tea towels!

Something unique along the lines as suggested. I brought a bottle of Bundaberg rum for the head of the BOE. He was impressed but a bit of a pain to carry though. I also brought boomerangs and some ties with tasteful Australian designs. Bring along a clutch of small stuff like stamps and stick pins. If you don't give them away as omiyage you can use them for prizes in the classroom.

My first night at TO and the Australian Embassy was a rather memorable one - I mostly remember cricket, karaoke and barbecued carrots.

[Shem]

Looks like our flight from Sydney arrives in Japan at 6:05am on the 29th but Tokyo Orientation doesn't start until the 30th (not sure if WA/ Brisbane JETs are flying via Sydney- us Melbournites are, though!).

That means if you're like me and decent at sleeping on the plane we'll have a full day (and night) to ourselves in Tokyo!

[nicklar]

Lucky people. I came from Adelaide via Melbourne and Sydney. There were also Tasmanians on the plane. We didn't get in till about 8pm the night before.

Here's my recollection from the last night at TO:

The last night in Tokyo there was a bash at the Australian Embassy. Presumably having to show that they were the lapdogs of Japanese economic might we weren’t given anything to drink after arrival but were instead subjected to ninety minutes of boring speeches and information. The food wasn’t bad but I didn’t want to try the barbecued carrots - what a bizarre concept. These guys had obviously stayed too long and started to go feral. A group of a dozen or so of us settled in for the night before being pushed out the door. One employee got particularly upset about our impromptu indoor cricket game. What were they thinking? They get us all drunk, and then don’t expect us to behave in a like manner...? I think it was Phillip Adams who once noted that young Australians travelling abroad tended to see the world as an extended pub-crawl - with behaviour to match.

On the way back to the subway two fellow Aussies, Shane and Charles, also took up the local custom of peeing in the street. This was really one of those cultural anomalies I found difficult to get my head around. It’s okay to take a pee in public but not to blow your nose or eat while walking. We ended up in an apparently well-known bar called ‘Pronto’ which some locals didn’t like and left. Hey, what do you know, it was my first experience of ‘gaijin fear’. When we began to sing the barman yelled at us (I’m told), “Stop making so much noise, you are not wanted here!”

So much for our first attempt at being ambassadors. Undeterred, and encouraged by previous performance, we moved onto...a karaoke lounge! About twelve people squeezed into a very small room singing everything from The Carpenters to Petshop Boys. Back at the Keio Plaza Hotel around 2am, and collapsed on the foyer stairs, some Canadians tried to convince us to come to a gay bar. With a twenty-minute walk and a 6:30am start I decided against it and struggled back to the Hyatt.

[Patryn]

wow! I thought all aussies got to Japan at the same time! Also, lol @ story... hope that wasn't entirely true... :S There's nothing wrong with bbq'd carrots. They're nice!

Last year's Embassy shindig was pretty cool. Food was awesome. It's just annoying coz there's so much stuff happening on at the same time! >_<

But yeah, full day in Tokyo before orientation. Your rooms are usually ready for you, and they had a nice system going where you follow the line of the TOAs and you go into a room and get your key and then head to your room. Drop off all your stuff, get a bit settled (pick ur bed!), meet your roommates and then head out for some shopping or food, and then come back and then head out again for a party of some sort. xD Then 2 days of lectures and talks and stuff like that, and then you're off to your placement the next day!

[ynthrepic]

Anyone here manage to find out who the new Otaru JET was? ^_^

Congratulations to everyone who got placements!

[DoubleSupercool]

Sorry to ask about shipping again, but what are the options other than:

AusPost
CubeIt

I will be sending stuff like shoes (bigfoot) and omiyage over now so they are not taking up space in checked/carry on luggage.

AusPost has very weird dimension restrictions and seems to be quite expensive now they only do airmail (max "girth" of 140cm, eg 30x40, length 105 - not being similar to say, any box's dimensions that you can pick up at storage places).

CubeIt - great if you are in a major city, if not, a pain in the ass to get stuff to the major city, then get it in their boxes etc.

Another option appears to be just paying for excess baggage on the day with QANTAS (as it seems we will be flying) or immediately prior to leaving (7 days prior) which looks to be quite reasonably priced.

Any other thoughts?

[Patryn]

depends how much you need to send. If it's just a few kgs, then sticking it in with your check-in would be the way to go, imo.
if it's another 20 or so kilos, then i'd check to see what it can all fit into before deciding. I think the prices between AusPost and CubeIt were pretty similar, but if you have small heavy things, then CubeIT would probably be better, but otherwise, it's a about the same.

[DoubleSupercool]

FYI

CubeIt is $170 for a 45cm cubed box @25kg max
AusPost is $260 for a max of 105cm length and 140cm "circumference" @20kg max

[Patryn]

don't AusPost do it cheaper depending on how much you send? Like, if you have 5kg only, then it's cheaper..

[LucBren]

I arrived at my placement in Kamaishi, Iwate on the 29th of May from Adelaide and will be attending TOA in July, hope to meet some of you guys there.

With regards to postage I have recieved 3 boxes from home, these were sent via Auspost, dimensions around 40cmx40cmx40cm and weight about 14kg a piece. These cost me between $170-$180AUD and arrived at my school here in less than a week each time, the best was posted on a thursday in Adelaide and arrived at my school way up in rural Iwate prefecture on the following tuesday. I found this to be a great option for things which I wanted fairly quickly but couldn't fit in my luggage and the didn't think the cost was unreasonable for the speed of the service. hope this helps some of you.

[LucBren]

FYI I also bought excess baggage with QANTAS in the week before I flew out, cost I think $80 for another piece up to 23kg if you buy it online before you get to the airport, I brought my mountain bike. Not sure how easy it will be to deal with so much luggage when you all arrive though as there will be so many of you.

[DoubleSupercool]

don't AusPost do it cheaper depending on how much you send? Like, if you have 5kg only, then it's cheaper..

They should do, yes, just noting the max's. Also, interested in the 40x40x40 box as the AusPost website says 140cm circumference, eg, 30wx40h (ie, 30+30+40+40), whereas a 40x40 box would put you over.