I am Craig, the current ALT on Izena Island. ALT stands for assistant language teacher. ALTs are sent all over Japan to team teach English as part of the JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program*. I help teach English at the local junior high and elementary school, and the kindergarten. I was originally born in Zimbabwe and lived there until I was eight years old before moving to the north of Scotland. I lived in Scotland ever since except for one year in California on an academic exchange and of course my present location. I graduated this year (2005) from the University of Edinburgh with a degree in biochemistry.

I came across the JET program by chance about one month before the application deadline when a friend of mine applied. I quickly realized what an amazing opportunity it was and I could not imagine anything else I would be rather doing right now. I am grateful every day to be here on the JET program.

Izena is a beautiful island and the people are really wonderful. The warmth and strength of the people here has greatly impressed me. Although they have faced adversity in the past and still do in some ways, they continue to be cheerful and welcoming while maintaining their strong and unique cultural traditions. One of the things that impressed me first was how vigorous their culture and traditions are. Coming from a place where tradition is often shunned and seen as stuffy and old-fashioned, this was refreshing.

Izena is a small island, but I am continually amazed how big it seems. I feel more claustrophobic in the urban areas of the Okinawa mainland than I do on this little island. It is hard to say whether Izena and its people have changed me but they have certainly impressed me. The children here especially, their positive attitudes and good character are an inspiration to all. If I was ever to become a teacher then I would like to teach children like these, not as I remember the way I and my fellow students were in my high school days.

One aspect of my life that has changed drastically are my eating habits. Okinawans are among the longest lived in Japan and this is partly due to their diet, Healthy or not, I love the food here.
One of my favorite things about Izena is the community spirit. I feel that a highly developed sense of community is one of the strengths of Japanese society and on Izena this is particularly the case. A place where people don't need to lock their doors is certainly a good place. This is unfortunately a thing of the past in the UK. Truly I cannot imagine a better place to bring up children. To me it seems like the island is one big happy family. I hope this is something that never changes.

I believe the British and Japanese peoples have much to share and teach each other to their mutual benefit and cultural enrichment. The basis of such an exchange is, of course, communication. I therefore believe it is very important for Japanese to learn English and of course for British to learn Japanese. English will allow Japanese to communicate with the many diverse peoples of the world who all share English as their first or second language. To this end the JET program is doing a lot of good.

*The JET (Japan Exchange and Teaching) program coordinates efforts by the prefectures, ordinance-designated cities, and other municipalities to invite overseas youth to Japan so as to have them teach foreign languages and/or participate in international exchange activities. Its goal is to improve foreign language education in Japan while also developing international exchange at the community level.