JETAA Tech Conference in Denver on Twitter

Alex Svetlovsky, JETAA Ottawa President, will be attending the JETAA Tech Conference in Denver this weekend from January 27 - 29. We will be tweeting out live during the conference itself, and will be soliciting suggesting and discussion during the actual event. Please follow @jetaaottawa or the hashtag #jetaa to be a part of the conversation. If you have any ideas, suggestions, questions or anything at all please tweet them to us, or send an email to president@jetaaottawa.ca.

The sessions that Alex will be attending are:

January 28 - 11:30am EST - 12:30pm EST - National Database Discussion

January 28 - 12:45pm EST - 1:45pm EST - National Database Discussion cont, Mailchimp mentorship

January 28 - 4:00pm EST - 5:00pm EST - Joomla Website Management

January 28 - 5:15pm EST - 7:15pm EST - Website Management

January 29 - 10:40am EST - 12:30pm EST - Website and Membership Integration

January 29 - 12:40pm EST - 1:40pm EST - Social Media

Tea Ceremony

Join us Sunday, Feb. 5th at 1pm for a tea ceremony gathering with Rebecca, President of Camellia Teas. Spots are limited, RSVP to events@jetaaottawa.ca.

Founder and President of Camellia Teas of Ottawa, Rebecca continues her studies in Omotesenke and studied Omotesenke-Seiha in Ottawa for 5 years. She is currently training in Sencha-Do in Ottawa. During the 7 years she taught in Japan, Rebecca was a student of Mrs. Eiko Kuwayama at the Zen Temple of SANGO-JI (Coral Temple) in the Capital of Wakayama Prefecture, 120 km from Kyoto.

Through Camellia Teas of Ottawa, over 20,000 bowls of matcha have been served to guests throughout the National Capital Area - and most recently as far away as Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Japan. Active in community outreach, Rebecca was a member of the Board of the Ottawa Japanese Community Centre for over 5 years. She currently teaches Omotesenke on Monday afternoons and hold weekly gatherings.

President's Address

Annual Survey

Please take a moment to fill out our annual survey, your feedback will help us offer events better suited for our members.

JETAA Exec. 2012

We would like to thank Lisa for being an outstanding president for the past two years. Her hard work has helped the JETAA Ottawa chapter strengthen in our numbers, and shine in the outstanding events we have hosted over the past two years. Thank you so much for your dedication to JETAA and the JET Programme. Additionally, on behalf of JETAA Ottawa I would like to thank the entire executive for another successful year, we pulled together and had countless successful events including the Japan Fundraising event where we raised over $30,000 for the Red Cross's Japan relief efforts, not to mention our Japanese Summer Festival and Networking Wine and Sushi which have had the largest turn out to date.

JETAA Ottawa would like to wish all members a joyful holiday season and all the best in the New Year.

Thank you to everyone who attended this year's Annual General Meeting. The 2012 JETAA Ottawa Executive is:

President: Alex Svetlovsky

Vice-Presidents: Stephanie White and Lisa Mallin

Treasurer: Paul Scobie

Events Coordinators: Ferra-lynn McCaffery and Ala Ji

Communications Officer: Tiffany Moreside

Membership Coordinator: Rika Sawatsky

Newsletter Editors: Maureen Barry and Gemma Villanueva

Web and Graphic Designer: Anna Joynt

Secretary: Santa Vinerte

Social Media Coordinator: Brent Stirling

Translator: Andre Bouffard

Dinner at Ambassador Ishikawa's residence

Culture Class & Holiday Cards for Tohoku Children

Join us on December 7th for a night of Japan-themed arts and crafts at the Routhier Centre at 172 Guigues from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

We will be making holiday cards in support of an initiative being organized to send Christmas cards from around the world to children in the Tohoku Region, new JETs who left Ottawa this summer, and for your friends and family. If you are unable to attend but would like to send cards for the "Xmas Cards from Friends Around the World" campaign, see the jetaausa link: http://www.jetaausa.com/?p=1952&preview=true 

Make someone feel special with a homemade card! There will be plenty of washi paper, origami, and light refreshments. 

Quick Survey

All JET Alumni in this area are requested to provide their employment field (politics, government, business, culture, education, media, judicial, NPO/NGO, unemployed, other). The information provided will only be used to create an anonymous report to stress the importance of the JET Programme and JET alumni to the Ministry of Finance.

Optionally, you may allow the Japanese Government to use your specific personal information, such as your name, current employer and position, email address, years on JET and base school/organization to be used to promote the JET Programme to the Ministry of Finance.

This information is requested to help give the Japanese Government a better understanding of what JET alumni are doing post-JET. Please take the time to update your information online to help show the important role JET alumni have in Canada.

All information you provide will be kept anonymous unless you provide permission to the Japanese Government to use your personal information for promoting the JET Programme to the Ministry of Finance.

Please login to jetaaottawa.ca to provide the information, or fill in the blanks below and send us an email. Your login name is your email address, and you can obtain a new password by clicking here if you require one. Once logged in, please click on the Membership menu item to provide the information.

Email response questions to design@jetaaottawa.ca:

1. Field of Work (politics, government, business, culture, education, media, judicial, NPO/NGO, unemployed, other):
2. Do you give permission to give the Japanese Government permission to use your personal information for the purpose of promoting the JET Programme?
3. Name:
4. Employer:
5. Position Title:
6. E-mail address:
7. JET starting year:
8. JET ending year:
9. Base school/organization worked at:

Japanese Classes

As for Intermediate, well I didn't dare step into that classroom with Beginner still hurtin', so I can wager a guess and say that those in Intermediate were also challenged to do their best and conquer!

A quick reminder that there will be no final class on either Monday the 05th or Wednesday December 07th but instead a Holiday Card making class! 

Annual General Meeting

JETAA Ottawa will be holding its Annual General Meeting, followed by Bonenkai - Year End Party, on Wednesday, December 14^th, 2011 from 7 PM at the Exchange Pub in Rideau Center.  If you have been considering becoming more involved at the executive level, this will be your opportunity to run for a position. RSVP to events@jetaaottawa.ca

Global Financial Crisis and Financial Linkages in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Embassy of Japan, the Centre for Monetary and Financial Economics and the Department of Economics at Carleton University are pleased to present a lecture on: The Global Financial Crisis and Financial Linkages in the Asia-Pacific Region by Prof. Akira Kohsaka, Kwansei Gakuin University. Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 6:00pm, reception to follow, Room 3275 Mackenzie Building, Carleton University 1125 Colonel By Drive. Admission is free. Please RSVP at infocul@ot.mofa.go.jp or by phone at 613-241-8541 ext. 145)

Prof. Akira Kohsaka currently teaches at the School of International Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, Hyogo, Japan. He previously taught at Osaka University (1994-2011), where he was the Dean of the Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). He is also Vice President of East Asian Economic Association (2001-), and was the editor of the Asian Economic Journal (2001-2006). Consulting work includes those at the Economic Council of the Economic Planning Agency (now Cabinet Office) and at the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. Fields of interest include international economics and development economics. He received a Ph.D. in economics at Stanford University (1984).

For more information, please visit: http://www.carleton.ca/cmfe/news/events_10-11.html

Executive Update

It's officially fall when posters for the JET Programme adorn bus stops across the city. To help with recruiting, JETAA Ottawa has been very active in raising the profile of the Programme among members of the greater Ottawa community through various recruiting events across the National Capital Region.

On September 25, 2011, JETAA Ottawa participated in the Museum of Civilization's Japan Day. It was an opportunity for Japanese community members across the city to come together and showcase wonderful aspects of Japanese culture. Using our JET-earned teaching skills, JETAA members interacted with visitors and community members of all ages (from 2 to 72!) through Japan-themed colouring pages, origami, and washi-paper art. The JETAA arts and crafts table was a hit!

This October 1st, JETAA Ottawa hosted our second annual photography show. Many members of the JETAA Ottawa community, along with family and friends, Embassy staff and the Japanese Ambassador and his wife came to view photos taken by JETs while in Japan. We are always looking for new submissions so we encourage you to send your photos along.

This Thanksgiving, JETAA Ottawa members welcomed back the most recent returnees from Japan. They are a great new bunch! We hope that they will continue to come out to our events throughout the year.

We are very excited to be hosting the Networking Wine and Sushi at the Gordon Harrison Gallery on Sussex this year. If all things go well, Don Newman will be there as our key note speaker. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Photo Show Recap

Our second annual Retrospectives Photo Show on October 1st, 2011 was a wonderful success. We were able to feature many new photographs submitted from both recent returning JETs, as well as established alumni. To our pleasant surprise, Ambassador Ishikawa and Mrs. Ishikawa dropped in, chatted with guests and brought a photo. Roughly 50 guests came to appreciate the photos, enjoy the refreshments, and listen to Brent Stirling speak about his experience in Fukushima. 

JETAA Ottawa article in JLGC newsletter

Important: The official need for JET alum groups by prefecture

It’s official. Soumusho (Ministry of Internal Affairs) sees great value in the JET alumni community being organized and identifiable by prefecture and would like to see such groups formed and put to better use. This according to an announcement that came through the official bureaucratic news source (iJAMP). (See very unofficial translation summary below.)

Annual Networking Wine and Sushi

An Invitation Program to Japan for Social Media Writers

Are you active in the world of social media?  Do you have many friends and followers who read and enjoy what you write?  The Government of Japan invites you to participate in an opportunity to travel to Japan and share your experience through social media. This invitation program is to provide participants the opportunity to travel to Japan. Participants are able to attend meetings with the persons in their area of interest as well as visit places that would help them understand Japan’s politics, economics, society, and culture including seeing with their own eyes the process of the country’s reconstruction and recovery from the damage and influence of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Areas of interest include pop culture, fashion, design, science and technology, Japanese food culture, sports, academia, art, etc. The main objective of the participants’ visit to Japan is to share their impressions, positive expressions, and attraction to Japan through social media such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Participants need to write more than three articles about their visit. The visit period is 7 days during the period of the end of November 2011- March 2012. The invitation program offered by the Government of Japan covers the following expenses: 6 night’s accommodation, travel to and from Japan, transportation in Japan, and accident insurance. The Embassy of Japan in Canada asks the candidates to complete the attached form and send it to infocul@ot.mofa.go.jp before October 19th. Please note that the Embassy of Japan may request candidates to visit the Embassy for an interview.

Retrospectives Photography Show － October 1, 2011

Spend the time to soak in captured moments of Japan that have been taken by Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Programme alumni of Ottawa. On Saturday, October 1st, 2011 the JET Alumni Association (JETAA) Ottawa will be hosting a one day exhibit entitled Retrospectives, at Raw Sugar from 5 to 9 pm. Photographs will be available for purchase starting as little as $1 with proceeds going towards supporting JETAA Ottawa’s activities that promote cultural exchanges, such as the Japanese Summer Festival. The exhibit will feature photographs taken of the Tohoku region before and after the March 11, 2011, disasters.

Why this is only blog #3.5

Before I left for Japan, I had figured I would have time to write, in and amongst the crazy hectic schedule I created for myself and the drinking and general shenanigans that went along with returning to see friends throughout Fukushima.  I did fall a bit behind but had written a few blogs and took copious notes throughout my trip about how I was feeling and what I was thinking about.  My initial blog about Tokyo was written in a travel blog style, with descriptive paragraphs, metaphors and the like, in order to entice and excite you and I assume after all is said and done it still will be along those lines.  But there was one thing I hadn’t counted on during this short jaunt through the land of the rising sun.  And that one thing was Soma.

Pre-Japan Thoughts

For the first time in as long as I can remember, I was nervous while heading to the airport today.  Maybe it came from drinking a little bit more wine then I should have last night with friends.  But nonetheless an anxious nervousness swept over me as I loaded my bag in the car and grew as my girlfriend, dog and I, sped towards the Ottawa airport.  Thankfully she talked and I was content to listen while I pet the dog in my lap.