By Nicholas Jones
June and July are some of JETAA Toronto’s busiest months. This is when our collaboration with the Consulate General of Japan in Toronto reaches a fever pitch as we work together to prepare the new cohort of departing JETs for their eventual departure to Japan.
And, at the triumphant and bittersweet end of these feverish months of orientations and seminars, we have the final pre-departure reception for the departing JETs.
By Judy Cerovski
From July 30-31st, the New York chapter of JETAA (JETAANY) hosted their first Summer Retreat and a small contingent of JETAA Toronto members decided to drive down for the weekend to check it out.
The retreat was at the Taconic Outdoor Education Center in Coldspring, New York, just north of New York City, in the beautiful and luscious Hudson Valley. True to its name, it was cold in comparison to the continuous heat waves Toronto was experiencing, which was a nice reprieve.
By Stephen Branston
2016’s hot summer was a perfect opportunity to get out and enjoy some fun in the sun! We brought our excitement and energy, enjoyed some sweet summer snacks, and played a few easy outdoor games such as Telestrations. Many thanks to those that were able to make it to this event!
Report by Gülnigar Baham, photos by Nicholas Jones
Art in essence is a window, through which we can gaze at and admire the richness of cultures. Today, Japan owes a fairly large portion of its international reputation to its vast range of intricately advanced and detailed Japanese art. Our new event this year aimed to tune into the artistic aspects of life in Japan, and on July 6th, JETAA Toronto members, with the help of our resourceful JET Coordinator, Marcia, hosted the departing JETs at the Paint Cabin.
Report by Carol Saad, photos by Nicholas Jones
Chef Jamie Oliver says, “Good Food is a global thing.” The love of food crosses cultural barriers, and is a wonderful way to meet new people and make new friends. In July, several JET Alumni came together to continue an annual tradition: to teach outgoing JETs how to make some basic Japanese staples. This year, we made onigiri, pickled cucumbers, and tamagoyaki.
Report and photos by Nicholas Jones
Carl called it when we arrived at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre for P-DOT this year.
“This orientation is going to be the best one yet!” he told Marcia, our illustrious JET Programme Coordinator and fearless leader for the P-DOT weekend.
P-DOT, or Pre-Departure Orientation Toronto, as it’s called by the uninitiated, is the JET Alumni Association of Toronto’s single largest event each year. Some two dozen alumni volunteers step up to present seminars on various parts of Japanese life (from Konbinis to Kancho) in order to prepare the incoming JETs-to-be for their departure on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme in August.
By Geoffrey Greig
JETAA Toronto was proud to be a presenter for the Canadian premier of The Inerasable on June 10th at the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre as part of their annual Toronto Japanese Film Festival. We at JETAA Toronto would like to thank all in attendance, and express our thanks for the continuing relationship with the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre.
By Sonomi Tanaka
On a lovely summer night, six excited JETAA and a mom gathered for some fine Japanese scrumptiousness at Imanishi Japanese Kitchen. They were not disappointed! Imanishi delivered well-crafted Japanese home cooking dishes like Katsu Kare and Saba Miso-ni. They even threw in some dishes with a twist like Corn Kakiage (deep fried, battered corn).