Final Update:
This post definitely blew up more than I expected, thank you for all the advice and perspectives.
For the record, I only planned to do JET one year only. Due to my career, I could **only** take one gap year after graduation to go to JET, so being blacklisted is the least of my concerns.
I finally withdrew from the program. For anyone coming back to this post with a similar situation, I’m definitely expected to pay back the plane ticket and hotel fees now.
That’s life.
39 comments
Really screwing over that town and Board of Education, though. Why not give it a shot? Please elaborate on what is so suddenly become an unbearable situation. Then we might commiserate and be like, “ah, I wouldn’t go either”. Or, “that’s all?”
I applaud your courage. Japanese pulling the rug out at the last minute is so common.
I’m curious what they changed from the job description of “every situation is different”. No offense, but the JET programme makes a pretty big deal about how each situation will be different.
So it looks like we all want answers OP. What changed that made you suddenly want to quit. What did they offer before that they changed or took away?
I hope it’s not “I wanted to be in Tokyo or Osaka but they placed me in Okinawa!” Or something like that. If so, that’s a terrible reason to waste people’s time and money.
No one can help you without knowing what the issue is. Where I taught apartment changes and even school changes were possible so if that’s the issue there might be something you can do.
If it’s something that is against the contract that all ALTs agree to (unfair work hours, etc) that could help you avoid the consequences of quitting now. They likely can’t make you pay but this could negatively effect your chances of working in Japan in the future, not just with JET (if you refuse to pay when charged). If that risk doesn’t bother you then you should be okay but if it does you should try to solve the problem first.
Do not waste this opportunity. You will regret it deeply. You live in one of the most diseased societies in the modern world: highest healthcare costs, mass shootings, highest gun homicide rate among OECD countries, 64% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
And you’re going to stay instead of living in Japan? You should rethink your decision. The U.S. is a shit country and you have a ticket out
There’s not enough info here. Don’t give us the short version. What about your placement isn’t what you thought it would be?
I respect that you probably don’t want to give details. However if you want an accurate answer, your post just doesn’t have enough information.
Don’t know where you’re coming from, but I know someone who missed their flight for JET coming from New Zealand and they did have to pay. They reapplied a couple of years later (same year as me).
JET is one of the best ways to teach english in the country. You should strongly consider doing a year and see if you like it. Worst comes to worst you can quit at any time once you get there. Sure it’ll be annoying and embarrassing and cause a lot of trouble but you have to do what’s best for yourself.
There are no consequences to quitting now. They will find someone who got waitlisted and offer them your position. If you are 110% sure that it’s not for you then tell them asap you are rescinding your acceptance of the position. I have no idea if they will or can make you pay for the ticket. But even if you are forced to pay for it, it’s worth paying for rather than wasting your time doing something you don’t want to do.
Contrary to popular belief, you’re not screwing anyone over, and don’t be pressured to give details on your decision. Your position can still be given to an alternate if you inform your consulate ASAP. The only consequence I can think of atm is that you won’t be able to reapply until after a few years. Don’t let a Reddit group pressure you into coming to Japan when you know very well you don’t want to. It would be a shame for you to come all the way here and be a miserable mess. That would be silly and unfair to you, your students and teachers. Call your consulate and inform them.
Just food for thought (more for other commenters than OP): OP hasn’t stated what their issues are so we can only speculate. However, most speculation seems to be assuming that OP is an incoming ALT. It’s totally possible that OP is a CIR. Unfortunately while CIR positions get billed as translation and interpretation jobs that offer the opportunity to work on exciting international projects (and a lot of them are!) there are unfortunately also COs that use their CIRs as bilingual ALTs. If I applied for a CIR position, a translation/interpretation position, only to find out that the role I’ll be expected to fill is largely that of a teacher? I think withdrawing is more than reasonable.
Now, we don’t know if that’s the case with OP or not, but it’s a possibility worth keeping in mind.
@ OP, you’ll mostly likely have to pay for your plane ticket, but other than the financial penalty and being blacklisted from the program (length of blacklist depends on the country) there are no other penalties. And yes, the polite thing to do would be to reach out to your pred and supervisor directly. You don’t have to tell them why you’re withdrawing, but it’d be rude to straight ghost them.
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General FAQ:
>If a JET participant is unhappy with his/her placement, the only recourse is to withdraw from participation on the JET Program for that year. Please note that this also renders the individual ineligible to reapply the following year.
Chicago embassy says you have to layback your flights and tokyo orientation housing. Dunno if LA is the same
If it’s just a placement issue, you can always find work somewhere else once here and jump ship. JET experience is valuable and competitive.
You don’t seem to’ve used your account so much. Consider this an anonymous post, and tell us a bit more. Please. We are curious.
You will probably be blacklisted and have to repay your flight. You should write your pred and supervisor once you’ve notified the Program.
Not sure what the issue is exactly, but consider this.You get a flight and a visa to Japan on a government sponsored program.After hearing what you were told, do you think you can deal with it for 1 year? It is much easier to find work in Japan once you’re here (especially if you know Japanese) and have been granted a visa.
So ask yourself, why did you want to come to Japan in the first place?Can you afford to “sacrifice” one year to chase that goal/dream?If so, I say it’s worth a 1 year trip.Or… is the revelation of your position more than disappointment and feeling bummed and actually something that you outright oppose?If so, abandon JET and do something else.
How can they make you repay your plane ticket? What’s their enforcement methods? If they hold your passport then you can just cancel it and get a new one.
Have you considered reaching out to the consolate about these concerns? Fellow Shortlister here so I know all the stuff you’ve had to do to make it to the finish. You’ve made it this far, so imho I don’t think its a good idea to just pull the rug so hastily just yet. Start a Word or Google doc and list the pros and cons.
The biggest pro I can think of if you decide to do a year is your resume. If you’re cosidering doing other work in Japan or Gradschool (East Asian Studies, Translation, etc) then just having that one year of JET on there makes it look really good. JET is highly competitive and is a well known program so the fact you got in an did atleast a year I think would be well received. Good Luck. 👍🏼
Just do whatever is best for you in my opinion. Don’t worry about what others may think
So they said you’ll be in City X but have since changed it to City Y? Is the major cost you’ll have to bear buying a car?
I get that. Trust me, I do. If you can’t do it, you can’t do it. They shouldn’t expect you to have to pay $5k+ just to come and teach English.
You know your financials better than anyone here. Just beware that you might hurt your chances of going to Japan in the immediate future.
My two cents: if they change this last second, imagine what else they’ll change. Might be a red Flag.
I’m just having trouble understanding why you’d be coming out of pocket 5k+.
I genuinely do not know what they would expect a college sponsored person to pay for considering what they supply.
Cars are not even close to 5k USD used. I got a used 70,000 KM 2008 Suzuki stingray turbo for 2.2k USD from a dealership and after tax it was 3 and I probably honestly overpaid for convinience.
You can rent a reliable long term Daihatsu for approx.110 USD or so a month and it often comes out to being cheaper than buying your own if you only live here a few years since there’s no shaken inspection you’re on the hook for.
If it’s just ‘i want to be in x city but I’ve been placed in y.’ well, you and a ton of other people.
I have to ask, how many years did you intend to be on jet for? If it’s just a year it may be best to pull out asap
How far is the commute ? What’s your transportation situation? I commute an hour and 15 minutes in Kyoto. It’s hell. Haha
If it’s not financially viable, don’t do it, especially if you were planning to stay only a year. However, when you get a city placement, it doesn’t always mean you’ll be in the “city” meaning you could be in the outskirts. I know people in city placements that aren’t allowed to drive so have to take public transport for up to 2 hours to get to their schools.
Honestly, as many have said, contact your consulate and ask what the conseqeunces of dropping out now are. Weigh out the costs and pros/cons and see what makes the most sense to do.
As for the $5K you’ll have to drop, I doubt it’s actually that much. I had to buy 70% of my household goods and furniture (since I didn’t have a predecessor) and it wasn’t anywhere near $5K (atleast the initial costs. I’m sure I’ve spent more since), I would ask your predecessor for an honest answer about the cost and placement and anything related to it.
JET Alum from 2009-2011 here. I’ve been adulting for awhile and here’s my thoughts as someone now in their 30’s.
If I could guess, you are going to either Okinawa, Hokkaido, or another island. Okinawa is one of the poorest prefectures in all of Japan and tends to not subsidize their ALTs, so there are a lot of start up costs including really high key money and rent. It does, if you’ve not moved before for work seem like a lot of money.
I want to give you some perspective, if possible. I’m moving from Kansas City to Chicago and it will likely cost me about 6k, maybe more. I have to move my stuff, pay for gas, and I had to pay an application fee of 1k. Moving is just really expensive and it seems worse for you as a JET because most prefectures subsidize their JET ALTs more. If I was moving from Kansas City to say, the coasts, it would likely cost me more like 10k, no joke.
Here are some of the financial benefits of being on JET:
-A consistent salary even if you are pretty crappy at your job
-A free flight to Japan and visa you can transfer to another job
-Easy access to fly to most of Asia with tickets under $500
-Excellent health insurance
-Free language & TEFL classes
-Future networking with a really nice group of people
-The highest starting salary for an English teacher in all of Japan
My advice would be to take the gig and if you are unhappy, it’s just a year and you can find one in another region of Japan.
Regardless there is a recommendation on how much money you need to bring to get started up here in Japan. As for the commute, I drive one hour each way to one of my schools. In exchange for the distance I get some travel allowance and I don’t have to arrive at the school until one hour after starting time.
I also did not have a predecessor and had to fully furnish my apartment, this is the reason they suggest the money you need to bring with you to Japan.
I leased a car as I could not afford to buy one, and it’s pretty cheap for the car, insurance as well as all maintainance costs included. There is bound to be JETs in your area or talk to your PAs and ask them for advice.
JET is a good opportunity to live and explore Japan with a good salary.
Good luck with your decision.
So the apartment is in the wrong place? Tell them you don’t want it.
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Are they sending you to Gunma or something?
If you don’t feel comfortable and/or can’t afford it you can choose not to continue, thats certainly up to you. No one can force you to continue with the program. The primary consequence is you will not be eligible to apply again for a year, and depending on circumstances you might be unlikely to be chosen again in the future.
That said, based on your explanation I think there is an element here of you not taking the time to understand how the JET program works. Towns/cities in Japan operate differently than in the US for example. There aren’t counties here. So some towns/cities have large areas. Further, if you are a prefectural JET your “placement” is not your specific location, that is determined later by what school you are at. Unless your apartment is further from your schools than your initial placement would have been this isn’t really that surprising. Many peoples schools and apartment are not in the central location of their city/town.
Additionally having a few thousand dollars worth of startup funds is pretty standard and recommended. Its part of the JET Program literature. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it, but you shouldn’t be surprised by it at this point.
Finally, if you wanted a situation where you had greater control over your location, JET was very much not the right choice for you. Few people get any of their preferred placements and sometimes even type of placement (such as urban/rural/etc.) is different than the ideal.
Its your life and you get to choose what to do going forward. If you choose not to go it won’t be the worst thing in the world for either yourself or the JET program, life will go on. That said, without more details, IMO, this sounds more like you didn’t prepare or do the research to understand what JET involved rather than having the rug pulled out from under you. I could be wrong, the circumstances could be more different than what they seem, and you don’t have to share any information you don’t want to with random internet strangers like us, but just understand that what you have described so far sounds like what the JET program involves and isn’t much of a surprise.
Take a loan mate. It will take you a couple months to pay it back.. But its most likely gunna be cheap as to live there. I spent 1k a month on everything and the rest went to travel. But 5k isn’t that much to be honest mate. I think i brought 4k with me… You need to consider things like phones, furniture, necessities like microwave, possibly fridge…. 5k pretty standard. Now…. If you show up with 2k in your wallet would you be able to survive? Maybe your Boe will help out etc
Personally, I wouldn’t blame you for not wanting to. If it really would cost you that much, I feel like the BOE is at fault for putting anyone in a position to pay that much. I realize that it’s ESID for everyone, but that seems a little outrageous, especially when we’re told that $2500 USD should be enough. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure (and I could be wrong here) that we’re SUPPOSED to live in housing in the same town as our BOE/base school, unless we get married or something, and even then that would be after the fact. There are so many things wrong here I would send CLAIR an e-mail about this placement if I were you. Even if you decide to not take the position, it would help future JETs in this position.
It sounds like you were really settled in on one place. How far away are we talking? It can’t be that bad. How is it not financially viable? Even Tokyo JETs get by just fine. I really want to know where you were placed.
Is it possible to explain this to your supervisor about this option not being viable and asking for a possible solution or is it too late now? I get this though and hope that it works out best for you.
Having dealt with the BOEs and Japanese bureaucracy, far too many of them just don’t appreciate or fully understand the problems regarding this. They live in a vacuum.
To offer up some tangible advice, then I would lay out these concerns to your coordinator and ask them if they could offer up some form of financial assistance. I do think shelling out 5k for a temp job in the middle of nowhere is just ridiculous.
This happens occasionally since the -shi usually covers more towns than just the city itself. That just means you’ll be teaching at a school in that town rather than that city which isn’t too uncommon. If you drop out now, depending on where you live, you might get blacklisted or just won’t be able to apply for the next round.
However, I’m curious where the 5 grand payment is coming from. It might just be a rough estimate as i was told to bring 4 grand and only realistically used 1500 of that if I subtract the quality of life items I bought. 5 grand seems like way too steep of a price, unless they require a vehicle.
But honestly, if you don’t like it already, you probably won’t like it once you get there. You can ask the CO if theres anything they can do to accommodate you. If your main grip is the money, then yeah you might want to back out if you really can’t afford the minimum of around 2-3grand, assuming their 5 grand is an overestimate as they usually do. If it’s with not being in that exact city, then that’s a feels bad because that’s just how it works. Lots of people drop out after hearing their placements which isn’t a bad thing, sometimes you know you won’t fit into a place and if it’s going to sour your experience, then don’t do it.
Hello! I’m sorry to hear that you will be withdrawing, but the costs can be a bit steep when starting up or hardly cost anything depending on where you’re placed. Unfortunately, “city placements” don’t always mean that you’ll be right in that city as they may take care of surrounding suburban areas as well. If I may, however, I would like to say that you may actually really like your placement if you did give it a chance with an open mind. If you did want to give it a try, there are ways to fund and/or reduce the initial costs, and you can find some information online and by asking your supervisor/predecessor. Your BoE may even be able to help you if you are able to discuss with them about your situation and concerns.
Anyways, to answer your questions:
You will likely be unable to apply for the program again for at least a year (potentially permanently depending on the country you’re from, so double check your consulate’s information on withdrawing from the program if you’re considering to reapply in the future). There are other programs you can try, but they will likely require you to pay for your accommodations as well as any moving in costs.
It is possible that you will be requested to pay the cost of your plane ticket back. This isn’t 100% always true as I’ve heard of other people withdrawing without having to pay it back. But, just be warned that you may have to do so. I believe it’s at the contracting organization’s discretion (may depend if they can find a replacement or not). If you are asked to pay it back, just get it done with and move on. This should have been warned to everyone by their consulates well ahead of time.
I don’t know if you will be required to email your supervisor or not. I wouldn’t think you need to email your predecessor as they aren’t directly in charge of you or anything like that. That being said, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to send them an email as a courtesy. You don’t have to give them any specifics. You can just say that you have to withdraw for personal reasons. At the very least, doing so may give you a little peace of mind.
Whether or not you worry will depend on yourself to be honest. I wouldn’t worry. Things come up, and people withdraw from job opportunities all the time. They may be unable to get a new ALT right away, but there should be an alternate that will be happy to come eventually.
Anyhow, good luck with your future endeavors! You’re not the first to withdraw, and you won’t be the last. It doesn’t seem like you desired to complicate things for anyone, and you seem to have justifiable concerns.
1 year in Inaka can also feel like you’re serving a prison sentence.