Orientation for CIRs, ALTs and SEAs is three days in Shinjuku, Tokyo staying at the Keio Plaza Hotel. There are two orientations a week apart and a later one in August. There are many speeches, some interesting, others are best not discussed. There are elective seminars run by former and renewing JETs and some regional and prefectural based.

Most will arrive Sunday night and the orientation begins the next morning. Practically all JETs will suffer jet lag except the Australians and New Zealanders who are suffering heat exhaustion (it's the depth of winter in the South), and of course South Africans are suffering both heat exhaustion and jet lag. It will be hot and could be rainy as well.

There are three people to a room and you are allocated by country of origin and where you are going. Hopefully these people will become good friends. You'll make a lot of friends here. A good idea is to get come get some name cards made up with your email address and phone number in Japan (you may know it already) before you come to Japan and put some print club photos on it.

Shinjuku is one of the most interesting parts of Tokyo and you should make every effort to enjoy it. Of course missing any of the orientation would be highly unprofessional. Towards Shinjuku station is an entertainment area with a highly recommended Irish Pub appropriately named The Shamrock. Avoid any place with the word "snack" (sunakkku in katakana), sitting down will cost you all the money in your wallet, two beers could cost you a months salary. Across the tracks is the stereotypical Tokyo that you have always wanted to see. Good place to buy electronic goods that you want especially, computer components.

This is the best time to buy an electronic dictionary. The Canon Word Tank series is the only one which provides the readings of kanji, indispensable for non-Japanese. It also has an option of using English menus. The Taurus a personal digital assistant (PDA) has a dictionary option, added to the pen based kanji input it makes a very good dictionary, but expensive.

As of April 2001 the Wordtank IDF-3000 is well over a year old and is selling at around 15,000yen. This page is in Japanese but the pictures are worth looking at.

The newer model IDF-4000 is probably not worth the extra money, it is practically a encyclopedia.

Your local institution is responsible for getting you from Tokyo to your new home. Most likely you will fly from the Tokyo Haneda airport and be greeted at your local airport. (Those living closer to Tokyo may be taken in a mini bus.) A big sign with one of your names on it and a couple of school kids to welcome you is a very special way of starting your new career. You may be taken to a formal or informal welcome ceremony and then "dumped" in your new home. Hopefully someone remembered to tell you how to get to work the next day.

There will be prefecture, regional and maybe even city orientations. Some regions have intensive Japanese classes. You'll be so orientated that your head will spin.