1 COVER PAGE 1 ajet TABLE OF CONTENTS WELCOME TO EHIME P. 3 o ABOUT THIS GUIDEBOOK o THE CLIMATE o EHIME JET SUPPORT NETWORK . PAs/RAs o NEW JETS 2015-2016 BEFORE YOU LEAVE P. 9 o YOUR APARTMENT o CLOTHING o THINGS TO BRING TOWN GUIDES o PACKING o HOMESICKNESS NANYO A o LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIPS P. 43 AFTER YOU ARRIVE P. 12 o TOKYO NANYO B o SCHEDULE o JOURNEYING TO YOUR NEW HOME P. 60 o GIFT GIVING o EHIME ORIENTATION CHUYO YOUR LIFE IN JAPAN P. 15 o HOME AWAY FROM HOME P. 90 o CULTURE SHOCK o TRANSPORT o SETTLING INTO YOUR JOB TOYO A o AT SCHOOL o ENKAI P. 112 o STUDYING JAPANESE/TEFL o USEFUL WEBSITES o GROCERY SHOPPING TOYO B LIVING IN EHIME P. 26 P. 153 o AJET o INAKA LIVING o INVISIBLE IDENTITY o IN THE BIG CITY o GETTING YOUR PHONE o HEALTH o TRAVELING o THE OUTDOOR REPORT o SKIING AND SNOWBOARDING o BEING VEGETARIAN o LGBTQ LIFE IN EHIME o CHRISTIAN/RELIGIOUS GROUPS o JAPANESE SIGN LANGUAGE o EMERGENCY PREPARATION 2 Welcome to Ehime! Ehime (pronounced eh-hee-meh, written 愛媛) is on the northwestern side of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan’s four main islands. While Did you know? Ehime is largely a rural prefecture, it boasts the largest city on Shikoku - Matsuyama (over About 70% of Ehime is 500,000 people) and is home to some of forested Japan's cultural treasures, including Ehime has the highest peak Matsuyama Castle, Dogo Spa, and Oyamazumi in western Japan: Mount Shrine. The “Love Princess” (which is the literal Ishizuchi 1,982m translation of Ehime’s name) is truly a hidden Ehime was originally called treasure – a place where culture and natural “The Land of Iyo” beauty intertwine. Japanese “haiku” originated in Ehime The population of Ehime is about 1,500,000 (1.18% of the About this Guidebook nation’s population) Ehime boasts a wide variety of cities and towns Ehime is famous for and this inevitably leads to very different living mandarin oranges (a.k.a. situations. We are spread far and wide – from mikan) the industrial cities of the east to the coastal There is a region of Ehime communities of the south-west, and all there is that is famous for making in between - like the mountainous villages of the towels central regions and the tiny island communities Matsuyama Castle is one of in the north! (And let’s not forget Matsuyama!) only three large-scale, multi- wing castles remaining in This guidebook has been created to give you an Japan idea of what to expect (and not to expect) as Ehime is home to Japan's you start your new life in Ehime. It contains oldest hot spring – Dogo information taken (and updated) from old Onsen versions of the guide, as well as several new Dogo Onsen was the sections and bits of information. Hopefully it will answer some of the questions you may have – inspiration for the bath house but if not, please feel free to get in touch one of in the Studio Ghibli flim us current JETs! ‘Spirited Away’ Kenzaburo Oe, who hails A big thanks to past and present JETs for from Uchiko Town, is one of contributing ideas, materials and suggestions only two Japanese writers to for this guidebook – you have helped to make it win the Nobel Prize in what it is! literature. 3 The Climate Summer is hot, humid, and sticky. Air some areas may receive up to a meter of conditioning is not often found in snow! Be warned: heating is hard to classrooms, but it’s in offices and find in Ehime! (This means Japan is a very (hopefully!) your apartment. At winter can feel very cold!) weather-oriented times, Ehime has been recorded Schools may not have as the hottest place in Japan. country, with fashion, food heaters in the classrooms Temperatures can get up to and festivals greatly and your apartment may the mid-thirties (Celsius) / influenced by the coming and have a space heater, but nineties (Fahrenheit). going of the seasons. In not central heating. Ehime, the temperatures can vary greatly depending on Autumn is beautiful. The air is full of flowers, what region you live in, Spring is crisp, but not too cool. The but here’s a cherry blossoms and (again) maple leaves change colour and rain. The weather mercifully general guide. the fall festivals are plentiful. begins to warm back up, and the Autumn also brings typhoon season, rains come down. Days alternate which means it rains, a lot. When the rain between beautiful sunshine and downpours. stops, the cool weather begins to settle in. Rainy Season is late spring, early Winter is mild and in general, there is only summer (the Japanese will tell you they have light snow that melts upon touching the five seasons). It rains – a lot! All day, for days ground…except in the mountains, where on end! For those of you from dry regions, expect to get wet. Ehime JET Support Network Prefectural Advisors Prefectural Advisors (PAs) are appointed by the prefecture and are trained by CLAIR on the workings of the JET Programme. From taxes to mental health referrals to medical bills, PAs can help you with the nitty gritty parts of living abroad. For 2015- 2016, Ehime has two PAs. The PAs work with the Ehime prefectural government division that is in charge of JET. Together the JET PAs and Japanese PAs plan seminars for JETs and supervisors, as well as disseminate important information and announcements throughout the year. PAs are here to provide support for the JET community. Below, you will find a flowchart detailing the support system: Your JET PAs for the 2016-2017 term will be Jennifer Cerna, Rowan Carmichael, and Maggie Thorpe. The JPAs will be Nobu Murakami, Masahiro Hosokawa, and Hiro Sasaki. 4 Hi, everyone! Welcome to Ehime! I’m so excited to meet you guys! I’m Jen, a fourth-year ALT from the U.S., currenly living in Ikata. My hobbies include longboarding, lifting, running, karate, cooking, gardening, drawing, writing, and music. I’m super stoked to be one of your prefectural advisors this year! As such, I’m here to help make the transition to living in Japan as smooth as possible. Please don’t hesitate to contact Rowan, Maggie, or I with any questions you may have! I look forward to a fantastic year with you! Jennifer Cerna [email protected] mobile: 080-5666-5012 G’day everyone! I’m Rowan, a third-year ALT living in Saijo. I hail from Tasmania, Australia, going from one ignored rural island to another here in lovely Shikoku. I’m your average musical-adoring, Japanese-game- history-obsessed, competitive-minded Smash Bros./fighting game player with a love of sober singing. I also enjoy blogging about Japan, LGBTIQ life here, and life in general. I’m excited to be one of the heads of the PA Cerberus this year, although we don’t guard the gate to Hades so much as offer advice and Rowan Carmichael assistance. If you ever need help or need a question [email protected] answered, please feel free to email us. mobile: 080-2972-3406 Howdy! My name is Maggie Thorpe and I will be serving as your PA this year. I work as a 2nd-year CIR in Ikata and my job is a jack-of-all-trades (from Prefectural Advisors Prefectural playing with babies, conducting international relation workshops, guiding sister city student exchanges, translation and visiting schools). I am originally from Tucson, Arizona and I went to school in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. This is my fifth time living in Japan (previously lived in Fukuoka, Yokohama, and Tokyo). My hobbies include taiko (been playing since grad school!), traveling, photography, dance, concerts (particularly BIGBANG), writing, listening to music, and eating Maggie Thorpe zaru udon. I am a frequent visitor of onsens (and I [email protected] like to visit Oita, which is just a short ferry ride mobile: 090-1175-0868 away!) as well as a big fan of Ehime’s Mikyan. Looking forward to getting to know you all soon! Cheers! 5 Regional Advisor System In Ehime, we also have a support network called the ‘Regional Advisor’ system. The JETs in Ehime have been divided into 5 groups based on the region they live in: Nanyo A, Nanyo B, Chuyo, Toyo A, Toyo B. Each region has at least one Regional Advisor (RA) – an experienced, volunteer JET who wants to help out other JETs in his/her area. The RAs can help you out with many region/job related questions - information about your area, ideas for teaching, traveling in/out of your region, services available, etc. The RAs are JETs who have lived in their region for at least a year and know what it’s like to be a 1st year JET there! Feel free to contact the RAs in other areas to find out about their region. Here are your RAs for the 2016-2017 year! Hello Everyone! Welcome to Ehime! I take three things very seriously here in Ehime. 1) Teaching English. 2) Mikan. 3) Onsen. I love my mikan and I am most likely to tell you when certain mikan are in season and where the best mikan come from. When it comes to onsen you’ll probably see me at Poppo Onsen in Matsuno Town! If you have any questions about teaching just send me a message! I am originally from Wailuku, Maui, USA.