Surely it cannot be summer again! Where did the past year go? The last time I sat down to write a PR piece for the Hyogo Times I had just officially begun my duties as a member of the AJET National Council. As many of you know I have held the positions of Block 6…
 On Saturday the 18th of April, thirty or so intrepid travelers and a handful of tenacious volunteers attempted to complete the first ever AJET Block 6 Car Rally. Months of careful planning and organization accumulated in one mammoth adventure all over Hyogo Prefecture. Dear reader let it be known that your author is not,…
Although Golden Week is over, there are still many chances for after-school adventures and weekend getaways this month. There are dozens of upcoming events to keep even the most active of ALTs busy – fill up your schedules and enjoy the gorgeous Spring weather before the infamous Hyogo rainy season hits! It might…
[Inhale.] As we get older, our bodies change. There’s hair where it never was before. Members of the opposite sex no longer seem icky. Broccoli is suddenly not the worst thing ever. We acknowledge that we only said we were a Phoebe to be different and there’s nothing wrong with being a Rachel. Sometimes we…
 Every year thousands of foreign and local tourists alike flock to Sapporo, Hokkaido in early February for the famed Yuki Matsuri and boy are they in for a treat. Beginning in 1950 the festival has fast become one of Sapporo’s main attractions along with its world class ski slopes, the famed Ramen Alley, brilliant…
Well, winter is finally coming to a close. We had the HAJET ski trip on the weekend of February 28. Fortunately, Saturday was freshly fallen snow and a sunny day. Not bad conditions for our skiing and snowboarding. Unfortunately, Sunday was rainy and warm. Instead of hitting the slopes, we headed to the local Chorakuji…
“Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” -  John Boswell As we enter February, the month of my birth, we endure the slowly lengthening and sometimes bitterly cold days. It can feel like the warmth will never come back. However, a…
Akemashite Omedeto!!! Happy New Years! Congratulations on the closing of one great year and the opening of another. While it is the start of the new calendar year, for most JETs, we are reaching the halfway mark in our contracts. Those of us who are first years have most likely fallen into their groove. But…
If you’re feeling a bit woozy after each lesson from kerosene inhalation you know that it’s that magical time of year, when you can’t move (physically) from layers and (metaphorically) for saccharine jingles blaring from every speaker. Yes it’s winter, and Christmas is coming, and if you’re from the Southern hemisphere you might be feeling…