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I requested 2 places near Tokyo, Kanagawa and Saitama (yea, yea, I know now but I didn't then!) as well as Nara. Ended up in Ibaraki. Which, while it is the lowest rated prefecture in Japan, is in a...

That's what I did, brought 1000 yen and took out large chunks of money from the JPost bank every day of orientation. Definitely was the best option in terms of exchange rate (my bank has no fees for...

Seriously. I know you "don't want to do" this, but it's actually a really good idea. I basically had to buy a whole new wardrobe upon arrival because all my clothes from America were not at all...

If you can drive, most larger home stores have a truck you can borrow for up to an hour (for free!). They have delivery as well but that costs extra.

All of the English teachers definitely knew who I was. They told me that they looked through everyone's file to decide who they'd take for this school, and they picked me because I "had a lot of...

I also have a weird system where I pay rent and utilities and then on the 20th each month I get roughly 240,000 yen which allows me to afford those things.

(I think 2 people in my prefecture still...

At this point (or at least once placements are out) you are competing with every other alternate in the world. This sounds bad, but at least you are now also being considered for all replacement...

I brought two full suitcases and a carry-on, and I do suggest you do the same (you'll probably want all that space when you return).

But: 90% of the clothes I brought were worthless upon arrival....

I took my SOP seriously, but I spent waaaaay less time on it than some of you. I printed out the official list of questions that they wanted the SOP to cover, hopped in the bath, and scribbled down...

I finally got my first communication email from someone at the BoE.
I'm going to Ibaraki, but have no predecessor as my base school is a "new base school" (which either means it's a brand new school...

Yea, I'm prefectural. So no clue on city yet but I'm quite happy with the placement. I just knew I'd be placed way up north in Hokkaido or way down south in Okinawa (and would have gladly accepted...

Upgraded alternate here, got my placement as well: Ibaraki-ken.
Don't know much about it yet, but I'm glad to be fairly close to Tokyo to be able to see my old friends, yet far enough away for it to...

Looks like the 2nd big wave of placements was today. I finally got mine (Ibaraki-ken) and so did a lot of people on the Facebook incoming JET page.

Have any upgraded people gotten their placement yet? I've gotten ridiculously antsy and people won't stop asking me where I'm going!

From what I understand, and what coordinators have said in the past, this isn't how it works. Upgrades after placement are chosen from the "alternate master list" rather than based out of each...

My upgrade was only through email as well (Portland). It was okay because it was easy and convenient, but it also felt less real until I had reread it about 50 times and gotten a response to my reply...

Nice thing about applying for early placement is that all of your paperwork still counts and you don't have to do it again. I didn't get early placement, but I now have everything in except for my...

I believe this is partially inaccurate. I think the Miami coordinator posted that initial upgrades (like those this month) are done strictly based out of the consulate that had the declined position....

For Portland, the reply forms aren't even due until the 27th, which is why I was so surprised to get upgraded on the 17th.

I'm hoping the yen stays weak until I get my money converted and then inexplicably skyrockets in value over the dollar.

I have a banking question that probably comes up very rarely. When I was in Japan for studying abroad I had a part time job through the school that required me opening a Japanese bank account. I...

I got some great news today. I am no longer an alternate and have now been short-listed! I'm surprised no one else from Portland appears to be on the boards but I suppose I'll get to meet them when...

I was not at all expecting an upgrade so soon, but here I am! Upgraded to Short-list from Portland!
I received an email without a phone call, but I had already been in contact with the coordinator...

Checking in as an alternate from the Portland group. I held off on creating an account until results were released (for fear of jinxing myself), but here I am in limbo now. Hoping for the best but...

Definitely check all of your spam folders, and if you listed a second email address check that too. I interviewed in Portland and got my results for ALT Monday afternoon (I'm an alternate though). If...