New Zealand Participants

[Red PowerRanger]

Hi all,

I have been reading the forums lately and have seen that there was no New Zealand thread so I decided to create one.
This is for any type of JET participant and is just a thread for discussion on what is happening for different people around the country.

I am currently an alternate from Wellington so i am still waiting for any form of contact so i can be upgraded.
I wish you all luck and hope to hear from others later so myself and others can understand the situation we are in while waiting for the
next step of the JET participation process.

[Nats]

Woot! Was just trawling the forum to see if there was thread like this, you beat me to making one!

Good luck on the waiting, I got upgraded (Christchurch) on Tuesday, so health paperwork has been order of the week... Hopefully can send it all off early next week. I hope you get upgraded! I'm sure there will be more shortlisters over the next few weeks with a change of heart. Hang in there!

Do you know any other kiwis who applied? I know of three others in Chch, but haven't heard if they've been accepted.

[rosec20]

Good work Red! I'm an alternate from Christchurch so I feel your pain in the agonising wait I had a missed call from an unknown number on Tuesday and I was already freaking out about it, then last night I found out my voicemail has been disabled for who knows how long - aaaargh, the uncertainty!! I doubt it was JET calling anyway, but I'd love to know for sure.

Do you have any back-up plans Red? I'm currently in full-time employment so there's no pressure to come up with a plan B, but I'm trying to think of something anyway. (I think it's this time of year that gives me itchy feet for travelling).

Do you know how many alternates are on the Christchurch list Nats? Cytrix said there were only about 15 shortlisted from Christchurch.

[Red PowerRanger]

I don't know anyone personally but i have a friend who has been over for 2 years and is leaving and had mentioned
that they knew two others from Wellington who have applied but i don't know their status.

As for plan B i am deciding on that now. I am still working on my degree but only have a single course to pass then done. I think this is why i might have been put in alternate and could be low on the list just in case i don't do well. So I might just plan on carrying on with uni to further improve myself and i don't mind dropping out of a course or two. I work as well so i will have something to do as the time passes.

Also for alternates when i went to my consulate i got to talk with the JET information helper and he told me a little about upgrading.
He said that NZ sometimes doesn't use a ranking list and that the Japanese schools and boards decide on people by your application info. I think he was referring to after placements as you get put where they were though. Also upgrades are worldwide and not just national so if a gap opens after an American leaves a New Zealander can take their place. He also said that last year Wellington had 20 alternates and 13 got upgraded by December but they happened mainly now and in august as people experienced culture shock after a week or two. I hope this gives some hope to other alternates as it may look bad but it isn't really and you still have a strong chance.

[Cytrix]

Hey y'all. We did have a NZ thread but I think it has disappeared somewhere amongst the mist and ether.

Cy here from Auckland (although a Southlander originally). Shortlisted, so super looking forward to finding out my placement (and also freaking out over the 77 days left to sort everything out!)

[bigbennynz]

Hey hey my fellow Kiwi's!

Yes there did used to be a kiwi thread, but it has been buried amongst everything else!

I am a short lister up in Auckland

Getting pretty damn excited now! Everything is slowly falling into place... 1 week of work left, and then I have 2 months to learn as much Japanese as possible haha looking forward to finding out where I am going to be placed too!!!

Good luck to you alternates as well! It is great to hear that a few of you have already been upgraded!

[nzpete]

Aucklander shortlisted here too!

My partner is from Okinawa so she's just gonna try to get a job in whichever area I get sent to. We're actually going to Thailand from 30/06 until 25/07 for a mean holiday beforehand, and she'll go directly to Japan from there and i'll come back for the week. I'm aiming to buy a nice laptop then off we go on the 31st. I leave work on 24/06, a week before the thailand trip.

That's basically the plan! can't wait can't wait

Pete

[Nats]

This is awesome, I feel way more excited now all these other kiwis have appeared! Good luck on the wait Red and Rose (?), hope you get that phonecall soon
I have no idea about numbers from Chch on the lists, a couple of people I know got interviews here, but haven't heard anything since.

I totally had my plan B all ready to go, was all enrolled in more uni courses for next semester, and have a part-time job too. Really wasn't sure about my chances. Now I'm waiting til July to de-enroll, so I keep receiving student allowance...

Nice way to get everyone stressed Cy (75 days now?) I'm focussing on uni for the next 6 weeks, then I can panic over how little time I have left to do everything. I'm taking first-year papers, but somehow this has turned out to be the most intense, stressful semester ever.

Who here has studied Japanese? And does anyone have preferred placements?

[Ja9]

hey everyone! been trawling the forums as a guest for awhile now, finally registered after seeing this thread

i'm a shortlisted aucklander as well

can't wait to hear about my placement...i requested nagano (for snowboarding!!), chiba and okinawa (random choice lol)

i have a friend who got in for the april placements coz another girl dropped out, so he's leaving late may. he spoke to the co-ordinator at the consulate and she reckons most alternates will be upgraded this year, so fingers crossed for you alternates out there!

i studied japanese for a year at a language school, but my japanese isn't that good...hoping to self study heaps before i go

[Kaesespaetzle]

Thanks for making the thread, Red! I have my fingers crossed for you and Rosec to get your upgrades really soon!

My Partner and I were both shortlisted from Wellington, but I haven't heard of any others in the capital yet, except for you, Red.

Now I'm waiting til July to de-enroll, so I keep receiving student allowance...

Haha! Wish I'd thought of that..

[Cytrix]

Oh I just love to spread the panic hehe.

My Japanese study has fallen to the side, what with the marking and preparation work needed as a high school teacher. Sometimes I wonder how I even get more than 5 hours sleep.

Have you guys started purchasing stickers etc. to take over? I've got a box full of random crap at the moment...finding random clearance specials at places like Stevens and Whitcoulls = awesome! It's so hard to think of what to take that represents our country...so far a lot of the stuff has to do with rugby, kiwifruit, sheep and kiwi.

[Ngaire]

It's so hard to think of what to take that represents our country...so far a lot of the stuff has to do with rugby, kiwifruit, sheep and kiwi.

Since I already have to be a representative of New Zealand here in America, I think I can help!

I think the big thing my mother had me sharing with kids as I grew up (other than sheep and Footrot Flats) was a lot of Maori games/songs, small flags, volcanoes, Vegemite, and internationally famous Kiwis like Sir Edmond Hillary. Lately in America, NZ generally equates Lord of the Rings which likely carries over to Japan. In fact, in quite a few of my older Japanese magazines NZ tourism adverts played up Lord of the Rings.

I hope that helps you come up with some ideas!

[sooey]

Hey, a thread for NZers! I was shortlisted by the Wellington embassy but the only other two people I knew who applied got rejected Congrats though to all the other shortlisters and all the best to the alternatives -- perhaps I'll see you at the orientation, red, if you get accepted!

All I have to do now is learn Japanese, because I kind of don't speak any at all

[Kiwi Jam]

Hi All,

Great to see a NZ thread going on! My partner and I are from chch and are super excited to both get shortlisted. We're just looking forward now to finding out our placements, so I've been checking my email inbox several times a day and trawling the forum to see if others have received placement details. Would be great to find out where the kiwis are placed and when they are notified.

Does anyone know how we should expect to be contacted about our placements? (Phone, email, snail mail ...)

[Cytrix]

I've heard not to expect anything until the 1st of June. Most of the leaving ALTs/CIRs now know who their successors are, but have to wait until it's all official. I'm imagining it'll be email for us, since that seems to be the way they've been doing everything so far!