By Nicholas Jones
June and July are some of JETAA Toronto’s busiest months. This is when our collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Toronto reaches a fever pitch as we work together to prepare the new cohort of departing JETs for their eventual departure to Japan.
And, at the triumphant and bittersweet end of these feverish months of orientations and seminars, we have the final pre-departure reception for the departing JETs.
This reception usually takes place on the eve of the Toronto JET’s departure, and it’s always the case that each of these departing JETs is about 33% ecstatic to be heading to Japan, 33% nervous about what surprises their new home has in store, and 33% worried that they’ll never finish packing in time.
The remaining 1% of their mind is taken up by doubt.
As they smile, and greet the various members of the Japanese community in attendance to wish them well, that niggling 1% plays out in the back of their mind as a flurry of questions:
Was this the right decision?
Am I going to be able to make it in Japan?
How long am I going to stay?
Should I have gone on to that Master’s or PhD?
And one question, most of all: Am I ready?
It was this one question that I wanted to answer for these JETs when I was asked to address them on the behalf of JETAA Toronto at this final reception in their honour. I’d felt their nervousness about it when Consul-General Nakayama had commented on how this was their final night in Canada in his own speech, and the comment had set off titters of nervous laughter throughout the room.
Over the preceding two months, we JETAA volunteers had gotten to know these new JETs through Pre-Departure Orientation sessions, paint nights, cooking classes, and language lessons. Throughout all of these interactions, we JETAA senpais kept talking about how impressed we were with this 2016 cohort of departing Toronto JETs—impressed by the way they’ve gelled with each other, and by the maturity with which they are approaching their responsibilities as JET Programme participants.
So it was with no flippancy or groundless optimism that I assured them that, though they might not feel like it in that instant, with a little more than 18 hours left on Canadian soil, they were all definitely ready for their adventure: ready to make the most of this once in a lifetime opportunity to live and work in Japan.
And I hope it worked, in some small way, to assuage that 1% of doubt: that it allowed them to turn their minds back to excitement, or to wonder, or to packing.
JETAA Toronto, as a whole, couldn’t be prouder of the 2016 Toronto JETs, and we’ll be here, waiting for their return. Whether they spend one year in Japan, or three, or five, we look forward to welcoming them back to Canada one day, and hearing the familiar stories about how Japan and the JET Programme has irrevocably changed their lives.