Hello and welcome to May! We hope that you are enjoying the warm weather. Rainy season will be upon us soon enough so be sure to get out and get that vitamin D while you can.

We will begin accepting proposals for workshops soon! Although SDC is not until October, now is the perfect time to reflect about what it is you are good at and what you can share with your peers. I am especially looking at you 3rd years and above. You have attended at least two of these SDCs, and it is now time for you to bring your A Game and school these newbies, blind them with your razzle dazzle.

There are lots of things to take care of before you go, including setting up ways to receive your pension refund, arranging travel home (or wherever you may be off to), and of course preparing your apartment for the next ALT. Don’t forget about residence taxes that might come due!

If you are leaving JET this year and are planning to do some touring in Japan in August, make sure you have time left on your card! If your period of stay ends before you leave you will need to change your status to tanki taizai (“short-term”).

Recently we featured a series on our website that covered a range of firsthand accounts of being a POC in Japan. It was well received by the ALT community and we wanted to offer the chance for other people to be able to contribute their personal experiences. Reply to this email if you are interested in writing something for the website.

Remember that any contribution you make will greatly help the incoming JETs who are probably starting to find out around now that they’re coming to Nagasaki. Remember how that felt? Oh, nostalgia.

This year Peace University will be held on Saturday, June 2nd.
This is a great opportunity to learn about one of the most tragic parts of Japanese history and think about the value of peace. There will be a live talk from an atomic bomb survivor about his experiences (translation provided) and afterward there will be a tour of Nagasaki Peace Park with an English-speaking guide. Attendance is free so please contact Will or talk to your CO about joining us. The deadline to apply is May 30th.

That is all for this month. Take care and enjoy!