My name is Michelle Krüger. I am 24 years old and live in Shirakawa-shi, Fukushima-ken, Japan. I moved to Japan in July 2017 after I was accepted for the JET-programme.
To give a little background: JET stands for Japanese Exchange and Training. It is a programme celebrating its thirtieth year this year and South Africa has been part of the programme for 20 years. In this programme there are two types of positions available, but unfortunately South Africans can only apply for one of the two. The position I am currently in is called ALT or “Assistant Language Teacher”.
The function of an ALT is to be an assistant teacher in the classroom for the JET (Japanese English Teacher), but in many cases the ALT takes over that position in full and presents the class themselves.
My journey to the programme started when I was 13 – or maybe younger – but I remember that I was told about it at age 13. My father’s best friend is married to a Japan