Headed to Kobe and am finding a lot of information about the city, housing, JET community etc but I would like to know more about what your days at work look like.
There are a lot of Kobe JETs so ESID still applies even in the same city. That being said…
The most common placements are either ES or JHS. You will NOT be in a high school. High school placements are only given to more senior ALTs on request.
People at small or midsized schools typically have a visit school or three. If your main school is an ES you’ll probably only be at other elementaries, but JHS based ALTs often (but not always) split their time between JHS and ES.
ES placements very often have a higher workload than JHS, at the very least in class load. There is a lot of throwing ALTs into the deep end right off the bat in ES in my experience. Every other ES Kobe JET has a story about being spontaneously made T1 for the year.
JHS I’m less experienced with, but class counts and responsibilities are often lower, while desk work is higher.
It’s a big city with tons of schools that all handle everything differently. At the very least you can expect the ALT community to be around and (hopefully) you’ll have good, experienced ALTs around you to offer advice.
(Lmk if you have more specific questions!)
Not a Kobe JET but congrats on your placement. Super cool city and all the JETs I’ve met from there seemed cool, too. Have fun!
City is great, schools are mostly great, BOE sucks, community was almost nonexistent a few years ago but has improved since covid. Move out of Tamondai or Hanayama and live in the city centre, its much more fun
I’m also headed to Kobe this summer.
What is nenkyuu like? Does amount vary based on school you’re placed in?
If you move out of Hanayama or Tamondai, how difficult is it to find a place to live as a foreigner/minimal Japanese? Does the BoE offer any help?
What’s your favourite part of Kobe?
… are there bugs?
Edited for speeeeling
Not headed for Kobe but I’m going somewhere within Hyogo prefecture, so assuming I’m a prefectural ALT. How much does this differ from a placement in Kobe?
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Same here, also interested!
There are a lot of Kobe JETs so ESID still applies even in the same city. That being said…
The most common placements are either ES or JHS. You will NOT be in a high school. High school placements are only given to more senior ALTs on request.
People at small or midsized schools typically have a visit school or three. If your main school is an ES you’ll probably only be at other elementaries, but JHS based ALTs often (but not always) split their time between JHS and ES.
ES placements very often have a higher workload than JHS, at the very least in class load. There is a lot of throwing ALTs into the deep end right off the bat in ES in my experience. Every other ES Kobe JET has a story about being spontaneously made T1 for the year.
JHS I’m less experienced with, but class counts and responsibilities are often lower, while desk work is higher.
It’s a big city with tons of schools that all handle everything differently. At the very least you can expect the ALT community to be around and (hopefully) you’ll have good, experienced ALTs around you to offer advice.
(Lmk if you have more specific questions!)
Not a Kobe JET but congrats on your placement. Super cool city and all the JETs I’ve met from there seemed cool, too. Have fun!
City is great, schools are mostly great, BOE sucks, community was almost nonexistent a few years ago but has improved since covid. Move out of Tamondai or Hanayama and live in the city centre, its much more fun
I’m also headed to Kobe this summer.
What is nenkyuu like? Does amount vary based on school you’re placed in?
If you move out of Hanayama or Tamondai, how difficult is it to find a place to live as a foreigner/minimal Japanese? Does the BoE offer any help?
What’s your favourite part of Kobe?
… are there bugs?
Edited for speeeeling
Not headed for Kobe but I’m going somewhere within Hyogo prefecture, so assuming I’m a prefectural ALT.
How much does this differ from a placement in Kobe?