Location, again

So, I know that some people feel like it is still super early for applying (it is), but want to be doing something for JET now, I really want to emphasize that location is something worth looking into. I think that it is beyond worthwhile to look into places you might like to be, not necessarily to set your heart on any specific location, but to have an idea on the kind of place you'd like to be. You can really find some cool stuff that might make you rethink your preferences for locations.

In my own searches (I am so sorry, if I already talked about this), I have found a whole bunch of stuff. I discovered that Kyoto is the sister city of Boston; I am 40ish minutes north of Boston and LOVE Boston. I loved Kyoto when I went to Japan and I can see that relationship making sense. Both cities have this old feel to them, they breath history, but they also have so many modern additions adding new life to them. I did not list Kyoto as a preference last year because I know that it is really unlikely that I'll get placed there, but I am going to list it this year because this new information has added to my desire to live there.

I also found out that Hokkaido is the sister region/prefecture/state to Massachusetts, my home state. I love New England, the northeast, Mass (except its politics), and the climate of our area. I did list Hokkaido, twice, last year because I already knew that I wanted to live somewhere with snow. Last year, I didn't know about this sister relationship between MA and Hokkaido, but now I can add that to my app for part of why I want to live in Hokkaido.

Lastly, I discovered that Springfield, MA also has a sister city,Takakikawa in Hokkaido. This was especially cool to me because I just didn't know about the sister city relationships in my area. I don't know yet, if I will list this as a preference because I don't love cities.

As a final note, it is worth finding a general idea of where you want to live because different places may suit you better. I don't know that I want to live in the inaka, but I don't know that I love the idea of living in a city. I think I may want to live in a bigger town (my hometown has 5,500 people in the 2000 census) because it'll be a new experience and I want to have access to public transportation. Also important is that I don't want to drive in Japan, so placement somewhere that will require driving would be bad for me. So, even if you are going to put no preference, I think you ought to think about where you want to live, just know your options.