A Look Back at Summer ’23

Edited by Emily Guo

The end of summer break is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than to look back on the memories created during this much-too-hot season? With restrictions from coronavirus lifted, it has been a summer full of activities, events, and festivals. As well as a summer of farewells to our JET friends that have started a new chapter beyond ALT-ing and welcoming our newest arrivals who have brought new excitement and energy to the next year!

The AJET team has been busy planning and hosting events to give folks a chance to try new things and meet new people. Here is a recap of this summer’s AJET events. If any of them sound interesting to you, please reach out to ehimeajet@gmail.com and we’ll send more info on the next event!

Cooking Event Series

Inspired by the loud whispers of interest in having a cooking class, Ehime AJET’s Event Coordinator, Miya, organized a series of cooking events that give anyone in the community a chance to learn something new and share food with other people. Taught by fellow JETs, these classes have taught a range of foods from Khao Poon to Chili Oil Noodles.

I will add that our teachers, sharing their precious family recipes and tips and tricks, are so generous and patient. I had a wonderful time learning in the class I was able to attend. The last event of this series was on Sunday, August 27th, but it has been so popular I am sure there will be more down the line!

Stay tuned for reflections about how this summer’s classes went and keep an eye out for upcoming classes in the future!

Honey Heist (A table-top role-playing game)

If you enjoy RPG games online, imagine how silly and fun it could be to play on in real life! Event Coordinators, Andrew and Miya, have continued the AJET tradition of tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) to give us an outlet for the outrageous and creative.

Our most recent RPG, Honey Heist, is about a band of thieves planning the ultimate heist. But these criminals also happen to be a group of bears, and their target: the most delicious golden honey. From there, you and your team come together to build the most outlandish stories you can imagine. Some of our past RPG events include Cozy Town, a wholesome Animal Crossing-vibe world-building game, and The Skeletons for a more spooky, epic story about the undead guarding their tombs.

TTRPGs are a fun way to stretch your storytelling muscles and make some new friends while you’re at it. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in joining one!

Farewell Party

Summer is always bittersweet because it means saying goodbye to a lot of good friends that have been made on JET. I’ve heard people use the term “revolving-door” to describe the constant arriving and leaving of JETs, changing the demographic year to year. But while it’s inevitable for things to change, we can send off folks who are leaving with heart <3

This year’s farewell party took place on Hojo Island, with a barbeque set up for a chill and cozy time. Wishing the best to our friends on the next part of their journey and hope they stay in touch!

Soccer Tournament

First-time players and seasoned soccer players and alike gathered at the Hojo Sports Center to play in a friendly soccer tournament. It was the first time Ehime AJET has hosted their own sports tournament, and we were so happy to see not only folks from Ehime, but our neighbors in Kochi and Kagawa come through as well!

We played on the futsal pitch, which meant smaller fields and more fast-paced games, and had good fun taking on a physical challenge and meeting new people along the way. Ehime AJET’s Sports Coordinator, Freya, has been working hard to put together these engaging and fun events for our community.

Planning for another soccer tournament and a canyoning adventure is in the works, so stay tuned or reach out if you’re interested in participating!

New JET Arrivals / Welcome Party

Since the new JETs have arrived this summer ( more or less all together hopefully now that the staggered COVID-timeline is a thing of the past), Ehime AJET hosted a Welcome Party in between the PA/RA Orientation. It was so nice to see new faces and feel the buzz of excitement and anticipation from their recent move to Japan. And in a very handsome wedding venue, too – really pulling out all the stops 😉

To the new JETs that have just arrived, welcome and please reach out to any of your JET-senpais if you have questions or just need a hand settling in – we’ve all been there! And for the renewing JETs, I hope you get to meet our new kohai soon. We’ll be putting out some introduction posts as part of the blog’s Unbeaten Paths series in the next couple months so stay tuned!

If you want to know more about any upcoming events, you can follow our social media pages or check out our Events page. We’re also happy to answer any questions if you reach out to us at ehimeajet@gmail.com.

I hope you all get to enjoy the last few sweet days of summer and best of luck with the start of the semester!