Prize for all 15 winners:
-Round trip airfare to Japan via West Coast gateway
-Reception and one-night hotel stay at West Coast gateway
-Transportation from Narita Airport to Tokyo hotel
-Reception and three-night hotel stay in Tokyo
-One-week JR Rail pass
-Assistance from CLAIR and AJET arranging home stays in host prefecture

JETAA USA is coordinating with JETAA International to include some winning essays and runners-up in a compilation of international essays, details of which will be announced at a later date – all entrants in the JETAA USA/Kintetsu contest will automatically be considered for the International contest.

We invite all writers from JET Alumni nationwide to submit an essay to help us celebrate the long, varied experience of JET participants, please see below for topic and submission guidelines.

The deadline for submissions is SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

Topic: Narrative Essay of Japan
Essay contest participants are asked to submit a narrative essay depicting a scene, point, or experience of Japan and/or the JET Program. Narrative essays recount a connection forged and developed either in the time the author lived in Japan or recounts a recognition of this connection when the author goes home where the tie to Japan remains strong. The narrative uses the theme of “building bridges,” “ties through time,” or “uncommon journeys.”

Some Additional Prompts:
*Home away from home
*A familiar "stranger"; new friends and families
*Stories and lives, connected through time
*Uncommon stories, hiccups along the road
*Foiled again, learning is never easy

Guidelines:
· Share an event or series of events that had a profound and positive impact on you or the person/people you were involved with.
· Capture moments, rather than your whole Japan experience. Use those moments to reveal what made your experience unique, extraordinary, and worth telling, or a personal story that embodies a universal truth.
· Show, don't tell. Stories draw a reader into what the writer experienced first hand. Stories have details that the reader can feel, taste, touch, and see in vivid detail. Make your reader experience the events and emotions portrayed. “Color” your story with details that make the experience come alive, details in action, imagery, dialog, and/or dramatic scenes.
· The JET Program or the JET Experience must be integral to the narrative or event described.

Submission Rules:
-All submissions must be received via email by September 4, 2007
-The essay must be typed in MS Word
-Double spaced
-1000 -1500 words
-Include essay title as a centered header on every page
-Include page numbers as a centered footer on every page
-Do not identify your name or [JETAA] chapter in your essay
-Do not include a title page
-Include JETAA Chapter # and location in subject line (see below on how to find a Chapter if you are not yet a member)

Submissions must be sent to essaycontest@jetalumni.org and MUST include the following:
**In the Subject line: “Essay Contest Submission – JETAA Chapter Location & Number” (i.e. JETAA US 2 – New York). See www.jetalumni.org for a list of chapter locations and chapter numbers, you do not have to be an official member of a chapter to participate!

In the body of the email:
· Name
· Email address
· Mailing address (including Country)
· Phone Number
· Years on JET (i.e. 1999-2001)
· Location on JET (i.e. Tottori Prefecture)
· Essay Title (this must also be included as a header in the essay itself)
This information is used solely for awarding prizes, and will be kept strictly confidential. If you would like JETAA USA to forward your contact information to your local chapter for membership information, please indicate this in the body of your email as well.

For more information on the essay contest, please contact essaycontest@jetalumni.org.

Good luck!