Aspiring South African JETs 2012

[eFred]

Since you spoke about religion/beliefs, here's a quick (albeit random) question: I don't wear pants, make up, jewelry and a bunch o' other stuff. This wouldn't be much of an issue, right?

[Yumz27]

@William hahaha thank you for sharing those insights the blue bottom thing is hilarious and yes I cringed too while reading the bit about the tea/coffee lecture but I assure you I'm nothing like that!

I told the panel that I am open-minded and tolerant of those around me who may have a different lifestyle and I'd never knowingly inconvenience anyone. However, with that said I respect the fact religion is regarded as 'personal' in Japan but I don't compartmentalize my life. Islam is a way of life it informs who I am and how I view the world but at the same time I am more than my religion. I also let them know that I know how to have fun and am certainly not an introvert so wherever possible I will socialise and get involved.

From the JET programme perspective I guess it would be easier to select an ALT who is less religious and won't stand out as much as I will. But who knows?! I'm hoping they'll give me a chance. What gives me hope is that the Japanese guy near the end of the interview asked if I'm still able to make the April departure? So maybe I made a good impression?

@BradaPeace It only makes sense that we hear from them mid March I mean we need to know whether we'll be leaving in April or not!

[eFred]

Since you spoke about religion/beliefs, here's a quick (albeit random) question: I don't wear pants, make up, jewelry and a bunch o' other stuff. This wouldn't be much of an issue, right?

You don't wear pants??!!! ... umm.. that could be an issue ... (cultural note: pants or rather pantsu refers to underwear in Japan, not trousers)

Haha, yes, I did mean trousers.

[BradaPeace]

@eFred: April arrivals will be notified on the second week of March (according to the application guidelines).

@William, As for the current Japanese Prime Minister, i was shocked late last year when i heared on the news that Mr Yoshihiko Noda (current prime minister) is actually the 6th PM in the last 5 years. Now i understand when why you've stopped keeping track of the PM.

@yumz27: Yeah, They will make the notification on the 2nd week of March. have you submitted your Police Clearance and the Health Certificate yet? I think the deadline was Feb the 29 for those who couldn't hand them in with their application.

[byproduct]

Hey guys, quick question from my side.

Can we apply for the Police Clearance certificate at any Police Station? For those that made themselves available for April departure, how long did the whole process take you?

Thanks!

[BradaPeace]

Hey guys, quick question from my side.

Can we apply for the Police Clearance certificate at any Police Station? For those that made themselves available for April departure, how long did the whole process take you?

Thanks!

I'm from Pretoria, so i went to a local police station with an ID and R59. They helped me with fingerprints and then they sent me to some place in the Pretoria CBD where i had to submit the fingerprints and apply for the Police clearance by filling in a form. the process was very quickly. When i left the place, i was told that it will take 20 working days to get the Police Clearance (provided you're not convicted of any crime, but if you are, then it takes a bit longer than that) , but to my surprise, i went there after a week and a half to see if it's ready, and got it. When i do the math, it took approximately 12 WORKING DAYS to obtain mine. I was surprise of how fast the whole process was, cos in the past, i've heared stories that it takes 2 months to get it. I think that it depends where you reside, cos for guys who live outside Gauteng, the process is quite long and tedious.

So yes, you can apply for it at any Police Station, but there is a specific place where they actually do the whole "clearifying," which at this moment, i think it's in Pretoria ( i stand to be corrected). That's why if you're applying from outside Pretoria, normally the process is that, your local Police station has to courier your details (together with your fingerprints), to the head office in PTA, then they wait for it to be couriered back to them then they send it to you, then that's when you can send it to the embassy in PTA. Long process isn't it, but it's worth it at the end.

So where are you applying from Byproduct?

[byproduct]

Thanks for that info BradaPeace, much appreciated! I might as well go get that out the way then. *staying positive!*

I'll be applying from Cape Town hey, so guess my stuff will be couriered up then.

[eFred]

@BP It makes sense now. I forgot that you and Yumz were the early departure peeps.

As for byproduct, I'm at Cape Town too and the process was (surprisingly) fast too. Go to the police station (the only trouble I ran into was that I couldn't just apply in any area, I HAD to find the police station allocated to the address (Northern Suburbs) I lived in [I should explain why this was a pain: I spend a chuck of my daylight time in the Southern Suburbs, so finding the police station in my area had to be a special occasion]), I too just paid R59, we did a gazillion fingerprints, they told me what envelopes I need etc and I told me to post it myself. I sent it away just before Christmas and I got it in the first week of Jan 2012 I think. Really was smashed away by the speed. I heard rumours of it taking FOREVER. Which is why I got mine so early.

But, good luck to the April departures. I'm thinking happy thoughts at all of you.

[BradaPeace]

@ efred: Yep, happy thoughts indeed!

[Yumz27]

I love that everyone in this thread is still so upbeat and hopeful it's just what I need right now so thank you all

@BradaPeace yes I submitted my PCC the day of the interview but haven't been to the doc yet. I think the application guidelines/Ryan's e-mail says as soon as possible so I'll do it as soon as I receive notification. I'm not on medical aid so having to have x-rays done and all that is going to cost a pretty penny! How did you go about that? Are x-rays really that important?

[GJD]

I love that everyone in this thread is still so upbeat and hopeful it's just what I need right now so thank you all

@BradaPeace yes I submitted my PCC the day of the interview but haven't been to the doc yet. I think the application guidelines/Ryan's e-mail says as soon as possible so I'll do it as soon as I receive notification. I'm not on medical aid so having to have x-rays done and all that is going to cost a pretty penny! How did you go about that? Are x-rays really that important?

Yes, the JET recruiters need to be certain you are able bodied, capable and do not have TB.

[BradaPeace]

@Yumz27; Ja, doing x-rays is important bcos on the form of the Certificate Of Health, there's a clause (nr 5) that needs x-ray examination. The physician that I went to, filled the entire form but only left one part from nr. 5 that ask for "Film No." So ur physician will draft u a letter to take it to a hospital where u will do a full x-rays of ur lungs so that u can get the "film no" and fill it in. I must say, that "film no". is that long number at the bottom of ur x-ray readings, consisting of 28 digits and 4 hyphens in between those digits. I'm not sure if the number of digits come as standard for everyone or its only mine that were 28. ( I'm just telling u this in case ur in a situation where u have to write it urself). Bt if ur not sure u can always ask the staff over there to help u locate the film no.

Before going to see a physician, my advise would be to print out 2 or 3 copies of the Certificate Of Health from the website, just incase ur physician makes an error while filling in the Certificate Of Health form. My physician made a mistake while filling in the form, thank goodness I had an extra copy with me.

As for Medical Aid, I think u and I are on the same boat cos I also don't have medical. So I had to pay R250 for the physician and R355 for x-ray, total R605. I think some medical aids, if not all, DO NOT cover for x-rays, but I stand to be corrected. So either way, I think that even if u still had a medical aid, u were gonna have to pay for it frm ur own dime.

Atleast, u can rest assure cos ur only gonna do it once u've received the notification of acceptance. Imagine guys like me, if I don't get accepted into JET, there goes my R605 into the drain (whereas I could have bought a new pair of black leather (half booths) All Stars tekkies). Ek is jammer oe, ek hou bair van my All Stars, ek is mal daar oor...

[Yumz27]

@BradaPeace thanks for all that info! I actually estimated that it would cost that much dang! Never mind All Stars I could've bought 3 pairs of shoes! But hey if I'm spending that money and I'm accepted it will be money well spent! Oh and taking copies of the form along is a great idea!

By the way I was checking out the UK forum and not sure if it applies to us but in all likelihood it does there's a twitter update from the ukjetprogramme saying the interview data has been sent to Tokyo for evaluation. This probably means that there's a preliminary 'successful' candidates list or something...butterflies in my tummy I tell you!

I'm ROTFL after reading your 1984 post/thread hahaha I think JET's getting to you bru
I am going to miss speaking my slang and mixing my English and Afrikaans in Japan but I hope I'll have the opportunity to miss it. Not long now before we know.

[GJD]

Hey guys, Hope everyone is doing well, I've sorted out my police clearance sorted so has anyone got an idea when we'll hear if things worked out?

[eFred]

Hey guys, Hope everyone is doing well, I've sorted out my police clearance sorted so has anyone got an idea when we'll hear if things worked out?

Nope. Everything is eerie-ly quiet. I know that someone from the US got a reply about the early departure but that's it. Hopefully, we'll know stuff as the week progresses. Happy thoughts to the ED peeps.