On the campaign trail

Note: The following blog is quite sappy.

In my prefecture, we have a group that acts as the social lubricant that hopes to bring all Fukushima JETs together. That’s FuJET.

Spring’s just around the corner, so we’re faced with elections to choose next year’s FuJET executives.

Enter YoVilla. I’m running for the vice president position; my friend, Matt, is running for the presidential spot. Coining our last names, we’re YoVilla.

Campaigning has been interesting. It has involved lots of videos, in the hopes of reaching the Fukushima JETs throughout our prefecture. I seriously have to give MAD props to Matt, who is most definitely the creative genius behind all that is funny in our videos. (And I’m sorry for being cranky during the last shoot – but it was freakin’ cold! All of my Iwane kids know that we were prancing around the park in ridiculous summer clothes on a chilly winter’s day. I heard them gossiping about it during my last school visit. That’s awkward). Anyways、おつかれさまでした。

FuJET has been such an important part of my amazing experiences here in Japan. What has it done for me? With the current FuJET execs, I spent my last Tokyo Orientation night partying in Shibuya until 4 or 5 a.m. And then I woke up couple hours later, taking a long bus ride to meet my supervisor. I’ve cheered on the picturesque soccer fields in Nagano while the Fukushima Akabekos struggled to reach the ball. I’ve actually been to major sumo tournament in Tokyo. And I’ve endured the ridiculously long ferry (cruise ship?) rides to Hokkaido and back for the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Most of all, I value the friendships that I’ve made through FuJET. We’ve only met each other eight months ago, but I’ve found some people (both FuJETs and non-FuJETs) who have provided me with great laughs and have always looked out for me. I have this back home, too. But it’s nice to immediately find good people in a foreign place. Aw, shucks.