Congratulations, Hiroshima JETs! National AJET has announced the winners of its 2010 Awards, and the Wide Island View has been named Best Online Resource of 2010. Three cheers to all of you! The Wide Island View would not be what it is without your contributions. The Best Online Resource Award was given to “the AJET Group that provides the most outstanding online services to its members, including websites, online magazines, bulletin boards, forums, or any other kind of online medium. Points of consideration include readership, content, design, reliability, regularity and educational resources.”

Saying sayonara to Japan this summer? Wondering what lies ahead upon your return to your home country? For a lot of JETs, reverse culture shock awaits — but it’s not all bad. Read on for one ALT’s account of life after JET. Kathleen Bomers returned to Canada in the summer of 2009 after spending two years on JET in Fukuyama.

In early May, CLAIR will be sending out the Course Guidebook for the 2010-2011 JET Programme Language Courses. Wondering whether to sign up for the course? Here’s Jonathan Fisher’s take on the quality of the 2009-2010 course.

In 2008 and 2009, the Japanese government approved some new education guidelines that could affect the way English is taught from kindergarten through 12th grade. Exactly how this reform will take shape in each school is unclear from a mere glance at the outline of the new guidelines. However, by taking a look at some of the government’s graphs, it is possible to get a general sense for how foreign language education will change.

Personal finance is too often about what you can’t do with your money. Stop buying concert tickets, stop traveling, spend less — which really means live less. The reason a lot of people avoid learning about the money in their lives is that they don’t want to come to grips with that reality — the reality that they’ll have to sacrifice some of the things they love. But the reality is, you don’t have to sacrifice all the fun things. If your spending is out of control, a fun budget is the perfect way to put a damper on your spending problems, without disrupting your whole lifestyle.

Do you often find yourself sitting bored at your desk bored, avoiding any number of important things? Jikan mottainai? The following 10 activities include ways to stay on schedule, better oneself, and break up the humdrum hours spent “organizing your desk.” If you’re not being productive, then you are wasting your time.

I am a gaijin. I accept it. I am not trying to create any debate or start a social revolution in Japan, but here is a brief description of my life in Japan, and my thoughts on the concept of the word, “gaijin”.

A fellow gaijin friend of mine who lives in Hiroshima recently found out the hard way why it’s important to fold up and put away her futons each day. After searching her apartment for the source of a mysterious foul odor last month, she was horrified to discover a huge mess of disgusting black mold growing between her futon and a bamboo mat beneath it on the linoleum floor. Unfortunately, no one had thought to clue her in about proper care for her futon after her arrival in Japan last year, and she unwittingly left it laying out for a couple months without being aware of the breeding ground this would create for mold.

Last weekend I came out of my hibernation igloo in Fukui and ventured south to visit a friend and go to a concert in Nagoya. While I was preparing to leave, I was trying to figure out how much money I would need to bring since I didn’t have a credit card. It’s always difficult to accurately guess how much money you’ll need for a trip. I tried to figure in food, travel, and entertainment and then add a buffer, but I still felt uneasy about the amount I was bringing. What if I fell in love with a new computer, iPod, or camera, but it was over the amount I brought? After a while, I realized that I could stop worrying because I had a savings account with the Japan Post Office. This account allows me access to my money across Japan, as long as I can locate a post office location with a working ATM.

Introducing the new Wide Island “Where Are They Now?” JET alumni survey! Fukuyama JET alum Crystal Spencer answers some questions about what she’s been up to post-JET and how the JET experience has helped her.