Hello!!  Please read the following for important information for our big year of 2012!

We want to take this exciting new opportunity in early 2012 to introduce ourselves and tell you a little about what we and JETAA MN are about.  We feel we’ve lost touch with our JETAA community here a bit lately and want to revitalize our base!  We are really pumped for the year ahead of us and are thrilled to announce our new website here and Facebook page here.  As some of you know, we have recently started using our new Facebook Fan page and stopped using our old Facebook Group page….we are up and rolling!  If you haven’t already done so already, become a member of our new page!!

***WE ARE UPDATING OUR MEMBER DATABASE!!!  Please take just a minute and fill out a very short questionnaire HERE.***

To describe our group: we are all Alumni of the JET Programme of all different ages and stages of life.  There are JET Alumni Associations around the world, 19 of them being in the US.  We are Minnesota Chapter 18 – and proud of it!  There is a JETAA USA and JETAA i (JETAA International).  Our local JETAA MN board is made up of six, and our duties are to head our chapter, make decisions for the group, disseminate information about JET and all Japan-related items and events going on in Minnesota, and plan fun events.  See our website here to read more about each of us!  Ideally, we Board Members would love Alumni from all ages and stages to attend our events throughout the year.  This makes it fun for all members to connect over our common JET Programme thread – and who knows! connect over other common interests and hobbies! – and meet new people.  The more, the merrier!  There is a yearly National JETAA Conference that two of our Board Members attend; it’s a great time to get pumped about JETAA, learn new ideas for the coming year, and meet other Alumni representatives!

Your National JETAA USA representatives are comprised of three people: Jessyca Wilcox (based in Colorado), Megan Miller-Yoo (based in New York), and Mike Shu (based in North Carolina).

We are working hard to make your local JETAA organization better!  If you have an idea for our local chapter, please email us here.

One way we want to revitalize our chapter is by outlining very clearly to you what our FIVE main CAN’T MISS/MUST ATTEND events are during the year!  They are:

CAN’T MISS EVENTS:

1. Winter Event Part I: An active winter-related event.  This year, we are going SNOW TUBING!!!  Families welcome!  Date: February 26, 2012.  Details are already on our site, see them here.
2. Winter Event Part II: A cultural event.  Usually, we have a Sushi Making day at a local Japanese restaurant.  Due to low counts in recent years, we’re changing it up this year!  Instead, we’re doing a slightly lower key COOKING DAY with the local Japanese community.  Email us if you want us to bring back Sushi Making!!!  Date: April 15, 2012. See the details here.
3. Spring Event: HANAMI!!!  We will hold this at a park; we’ll decide which one is most ‘Hanami primed’ closer to the date!  Date: May 20, 2012.
4. Summer Event: LANTERN LIGHTING FESTIVAL!!!  Families welcome!  This is such a wonderful event that’s held every year and sponsored by JASM.  It’s held at Como Park, usually on the third Saturday in August.  JETAAMN hosts a booth there, selling some type of Japanese summer festival food.  In 2011, we sold Kakigori (a snow cone, shaved ice type thing….but Japanese style and SO much better than what we have here!!) – it was successful and delicious!  We need help!  Please email Liz here if you are interested in volunteering.  Date: Tentatively August 19, 2012.
5. Fall Event: WELCOME BACK BBQ!!!  Families welcome!  This is for the returning JET’s who have just come back from Japan and also existing JETAAs who want to come out for an afternoon of food, friends, and fun!  This is one of our favorite events of the year and really look forward to meeting our new Alumni members – and it’s so great to connect with other Alumni after a busy summer!  Come join us for grilling out and relaxing on a fall weekend days…. Date: September 9, 2012.

About other events throughout the year….

We hold other events throughout the year, namely, the JET Q&A SESSION and the JET SEND OFF BBQ.  We also have smaller, more impromptu gatherings that we will put on our website and Facebook – like dinners at Japanese restaurants, Japanese-related events, and KARAOKE nights!  Stay tuned!!

A Thank You:

We’d also like to say a HUGE thank you to our past Core Member Board: Errol Packard, Matt & Nichola Schoenfelder, Rebecca Metz, and Michael Moesenthin.  They worked tirelessly to improve JETAAMN, gain new members, disseminate information about the JET Programme and Japan, and promote our cause.  Thank you crew, we owe who we have become today due to your hard work and diligence.  And thanks, too, for all your guidance and tutorials!

JASM

Please see our partner-in-service, JASM (Japan America Society of Minnesota), website here.  Our very own Vice President, Liz Brailsford, is on the board and organizes young professional events throughout the year including Kanna Club (a monthly networking social dinner) and Japan Career Day (a yearly career day focused on Japan).  She’d love to see you come to the events – or become a member!!!  Please email her with any questions you might have here.

Do you have an idea?  Do you have a question?  Do you want to get in touch?  Email us here!!

Donation

We would love your donation! Your donation will help JETAAMN promote our cause, progress our organization, and plan fun events for members. Thank you so much!