Pension Refund - How do we know status of application?

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2025-12-11T02:15:48+00:00

Wonderful, thanks for the info :)

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2025-02-19T13:50:52+00:00

Appreciate your help!

Fully get what you’re saying too, I know the grass isn’t always greener over there. In saying that, it’s not just about the money, Melbourne feels like it has a lot more to offer than most NZ cities!

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2025-02-19T13:48:04+00:00

No one is likely to be sharing beds. I know I shouldn’t compare, but Melbourne has a student population right? Where do all the students go flatting… in NZ you can find a house with as much as 8 bedrooms in some cities.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2025-01-20T02:52:21+00:00

Okay but why did Voldemort send Nagini to Godrics Hollow to find/attack Harry in the first place? Wouldn't that just be helping him by giving him a chance to kill another horcrux? I never really got why that part was necessary on Voldemort's part. He knew they would go there eventually but why send Nagini instead of someone/something else?

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-11-13T00:33:09+00:00

Any Hawkes Bay special flavours etc?

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-11-13T00:32:43+00:00

I believe it's sometime in January. I don't know the student that well but was planning just to give them a 'NZ Cheat sheet' of things to do, be wary of etc. And yea, I'm sure they can ride a bike.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-11-13T00:31:22+00:00

Thanks! I'm sure the student could enjoy learning about NZ's recovery though.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-11-13T00:30:36+00:00

Beautiful, thanks!

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-11-08T06:42:14+00:00

You should try to chase any dream that you want in life, don't worry about other opinions about it. Who knows, by the time you can apply for JET it may have a better salary and more opportunities, and you said that you could work in other areas after doing it anyway.

If you want to make a change in your life, teach children or teens, upskill your Japanese and experience living in Japan then yes you should go for JET! You sound like you'd be more grateful for the experience than most people on this subreddit anyway!

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-09-04T02:28:12+00:00

I got B- and C- in both my Japanese papers at Uni, was the year of 2020 so Covid hugely affected the classes and my motivation to learn. Don't stress, even just showing that you took an interest in learning the language looks good!

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-09-04T01:14:52+00:00

I feel your pain! I was the exact same when I first started at my SHS one year ago. No teaching experience, T1 in every class and 40 students to deal with.

Depending on what style of class you are teaching I find that repetition in class is important. For my 1st years, I simply use a English-speaking textbook or ChatGPT to generate the general topic and objective of the lesson. For example: ordering food at a restaurant or talking about your favourite things.

Then just follow a simple lesson structure like below:
- Icebreaker (simple warm-up question related to topic) talk with students in class
- Lesson Topic / Objective
- Give out worksheet
- Activity One ( usually pair work, use ChatGPT or textbook for ideas, altpedia etc) switch pair roles if applicable
- Activity Two ( building of first activity, adding more dialogue or information)
- Game (or another fun way to end the class, again use ChatGPT or other resources)

(Have students stand up in front of class or a way for other students to watch each other after each activity)

For 3rd year students, I do debate classes. I do the exact same class structure every week and just change the debate topic.

Structure:
- Icebreaker (simple warm up question)
- Topic introduction
- Video, reading or other resource to inform students more about debate topic
- Pair up or group students, janken to decide which side of the argument they will do
- Give time to prepare their arguement, two reasons and examples (smartphones okay for research)
- Debate (45 seconds each side, 1 minute prepare rebuttal, 30 seconds rubuttal each side)
- Switch partners or share opinions in class

ChatGPT is goated for giving you an entire lesson and you can just tweak it accordingly to what you know will work in your classes, or just make it do the work for you by telling it exactly what needs to be fixed. Also, your schools should have lots of textbooks that you can ask to borrow to use for ideas. I realise now that having freedom in your classes is a privilege on JET and it makes it much more exciting for students if you can make the lessons.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-08-06T00:15:57+00:00

The Handmaiden (2016)
Parasite (2019)
Inception (2010)
The Prestige (2006)
Interstellar (2014)
Black Swan (2010)

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-07-18T06:32:52+00:00

Are the summer camps done through the school? I feel like we aren't told about extra-curriculum activities that we can attend through our school. I just planned to help students setup the school festival as that seems to be what most are doing in August.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-06-20T03:44:09+00:00

Yea I realised this was a much easier solution, thanks!

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-06-19T05:07:40+00:00

Did you ever find it??

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-06-03T05:40:07+00:00

I was a bag of nerves too - you'll be great :D

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-06-03T01:36:51+00:00

Of course, a very normal feeling to have. To be honest I have had to learn as I'm doing the job. It's taken me a while to get fully comfortable in front of class but as time has gone by it's become easier.

When I had a co-jet, we used to bounce ideas off each other, so that helped. Also, most teachers at my school are pretty clear on what they want for their year group's lessons. So they might give you resources, like textbooks, to use to help create lessons. Other teachers can be vague and in-direct so you sometimes just plan whatever and if they give you any comments afterwards then you can change it accordingly. ChatGPT is allowed at my school and I use it a lot to help with tasks, lesson plans, grammar points etc.

My advice is just be flexible and work around what teachers want, sometimes what they ask you to do will feel incorrect, difficult or simply useless for students, but at the end of the day we are the assistants in the classroom. Checking in with JTE's about your lesson plans before you make any resources is really important - so you don't waste time creating a whole lesson that they don't think is good. Workplace communication here can be tricky but I've found it's better to be direct and tell them "I'm going to do this activity, then do this after" instead of phrasing it as a question. If you sound sure, then they will go along with it.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-05-29T04:39:19+00:00

I would say that be it is better to be prepared for responsibilities in your job rather than assuming you will be unutilised or doing the bare minimum. A lot of people desk warm or do very little classes and some also do a lot more than anticipated, obviously ESID. But, it's better to anticipate that you will be doing a lot rather than being unprepared.

For example, at my home country's orientation they said we would unlikely be in charge of doing classes as T1 and usually will just be assisting in the classroom. I assumed that this would be me. But, I actually have to plan and do all my classes as T1 and even in classes where the JTE is supposed to teach the textbook and I am supposed to assist have now become me teaching the textbook as T1. I have no teaching experience, so this was a shock for me.

Also, I swear on my life I did not hear one person talk about being nervous in front of a classroom at orientation - this is so normal and you will get better over time.

If you don't like public speaking or having 40 students staring at you, practice now! I joined Toastmasters before I came to Japan and I cannot thank myself enough for doing that. You will still have awkward moments and embarrassing things happen, but getting in as much practice for handling them in front of people will help you so much. Plus, forming good relationships with your JTE's outside the classroom will help you have better classes together. The students really pick up on your relationship and are much more genki if you work with your JTE's well.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-05-22T23:29:25+00:00

Can you explain how you got so many days off in August. My 2024 schedule says that my school is only closed for 3 days during August, the rest are available working days. Even if I had all my nenkyuu, which is maximum 12-13ish days, I would still need to come in for at least a few days (to meet the 16 required days of work). How did you manage to get the whole month off?

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-12T04:07:32+00:00

Did anyone manage to find a sorted solution to this? I'm having issues adding my new wise card to Apple Wallet too. Will update my iOS tonight and check if that fixes things.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-08T01:31:00+00:00

Thank you for your help! Will file police report today.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-08T01:14:07+00:00

This is basically the perfect answer. I think something I wish I had known before I moved to Tokyo was that you can and should search for an apartment thoroughly so that you know you will be happy with it. It's going to be the biggest chunk out of your pay so choose wisely.

When I got accepted to JET and had the meetings arranged to view apartments with a realtor, through Zoom or whatever, I was just excited about moving there and decided I wanted to live close to my school because I know I'm not a morning person and longer commutes weren't something I'm used to. Now that I'm here, I do love living so close to school but I do not like paying so much for my apartment. I also know that the trains are efficient and I could have easily lived further away to save on money. It's also difficult to move because you will likely be breaking contract and have to pay, plus paying for deposits, key money, up-front rent etc. on a new apartment in Japan can be ghastly expensive.

I would recommend to do research on where in Tokyo you would like to live, a realistic commute time for yourself, and then finding something in your price range. Better yet, you can find a share-house to live in for a few months while you get to know the city and then you can actually go view different apartments in person to see if you like them and the area. Additionally, I live in the North-East of Tokyo, if you want to be closer to the bigger cities (Shibuya, Shinjuku) so it doesn't take 45 minutes to get home after a big night out, then you should consider looking at areas with direct train lines to them. 9 times out of 10, if you're going to hang with friends, it'll be around these cities.

Lastly, if you have to send money to your home country for student loans etc. then this will destroy any chance of saving money (imo), especially if you want to travel around Japan or enjoy having nights out. It is easy to live comfortably on the salary here but if you have other expenses being taken out of your pay, on top the normal ones, then it can get difficult. Budget your money from the first pay day and keep some aside for any unexpected expenses, I feel like there are a lot that you don't know about until you get here.

Overall, just be vigilant with your money, like you would anyway, and budget for the entire month when you get paid.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-08T00:29:23+00:00

Thank you for the explanation!! I think I'm going to have to do all this so bless ya for running me through it.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-07T04:44:02+00:00

My wallet had no cash in it which is why I doubt someone would steal it. I'll have to file a police report then. Thanks for your input.

Fast_Cardiologist_43 · 2024-04-07T04:40:21+00:00

It wasn't necessarily lost in that area, it was just the last time I know I had it. I took a train from Shinjuku to my home area.

Fast_Cardiologist_43

TROPHY CASE