BEit Dude (created by JETAANY member Amber Liang’s cousin) is coming this Holiday Season and you do not want to miss the chance to own one of the most innovative customizable urban vinyl toy from Kicktoys. This toy will not only bring you joy and excitment to your life, but also brings unique design to the centerpieces of a new and growing toy movement. BEit Dude is coming this Holiday Season! Get it while its available!

From TOYSREVIL:

Along with a spiffy website roll-out / launch, fledgling toymakers Kicktoys’ BEit Dudes [tagged] are now listed and available online for a SRP of US$28.99 - currently in a trio of styles (Rapper, Skater. Knight) and a DIY Version to boot! In addition, Kidrobt and Toyqube are a couple of resellers stocking BEit Dudes.

DIY BEit DUDE DESCRIPTION: “DIY is ready to rock out with the rest of the BEit Dude crew to bring out the soul of a DIY. This toy is made out of vinyl and stands 6-Inches tall. It comes with its own unique accessories such as: a cowboy hat, a cell phone, a guitar and a cute surfboard. Just BEit Dude!”

And to give back to the community, Kicktoys will be donating 15% of the profit (for each toy sold on their website) to “Save the Children”. Kicktoys also mentions that they are also working on a few more toys that are coming out through out the year of 2009 (*neato*)

Hello everyone,

I’m happy to debut the Fall issue of Pacific Bridge, the “Politics Issue,” hot off the press. A full 19 pages(!) of great, alumni-contributed content!

Thanks to all who helped create yet another great issue.

Best,
Mark, your friendly neighborhood JETAANC editor

Pacific Bridge back issues.

Our event was a blast!! We painted pottery, made jewelry, enjoyed some Japanese food, traded JET stories, and laughed the night away! See a few photos attached.  Everyone was excited that the Philly group was re-awakening!  Based on the feedback of even those who couldn’t make it - I am already looking forward to our next event!

Thanks
Renay

More photos on Flickr.

JetWit.com is a new website for the JET alumni community across the U.S. and abroad, created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94), editor of the JETAA NY Newsletter   from 2002 to 2008.

JetWit.com is a place for:

JET ALUMS: To publish and promote their writings, translations and other creations and/or to have opportunities in general to stay connected with the JET alumni community

JOB SEEKERS: To find jobs and helpful career information and post their professional profiles

EMPLOYERS: To post job listings and find JET alum professionals with a range of skills

JETAA CHAPTERS & NEWSLETTERS: To find information and articles to share with their members, and to share job listings and other information with the greater JET alumni community.

CURRENT JETS: To find jobs and learn what various people do after JET

PROSPECTIVE JETS: To learn more about the JET Programme and the people who completed it through their writings and other creations.

CLAIR: To locate JET alumni with particular skills or backgrounds.

ADVERTISERS: To reach a national audience of JET alumni and other people with a connection to Japan.

The Backstory
After nearly 7 years as the editor of the JETAA NY Newsletter and several months of running the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) email group, I decided to create JetWit.com  as a resource to serve the JET alumni community of writers, interpreters, translators and other professionals, and also to let everyone know the wonderful things that so many alumni are doing.  In many ways, the JET alumni community remains a great, untapped resource, and JetWit.com  is an effort to help tie us together, build community and demonstrate our strengths.

Among other things, my goal is to help JET alumni promote their work and gain exposure while providing entertaining and relevant content for JET alums to read.  So feel free to get in touch and use JetWit.com  to your advantage.  I’m always happy to chat and brainstorm.

Please take a look at the website and feel free to get in touch with questions, comments, feedback, ideas, nado.  JetWit.com  is very much an evolving work in progress, and the more people contribute, the better a resource it will be.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Steven Horowitz  (Aichi-ken, 1992-94)
stevenwaseda at jetwit.com
JetWit.com

Change is in the air. Not just for America, but for the JETAANY Newsletter. After shipping out the hardcopies of the new issue last night, Steven Horowitz (left) has stepped down as editor and handed the torch to Justin Tedaldi (right). Otsukare-sama deshita Steven-san!

See more pictures of the Newsletter mailing here.

Saturday, November 15
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm…and tatami timeshare/sleepover afterwards!
The Mud Shack (in The Village Shopping Center) 515 Stump Road - North Wales, PA 19454

Join the us at The Mud Shack (a pottery and glass art center) and have fun getting to know other JET alumni in the Philly area, reminisce about your days in Japan, enjoy good times with good company…all while playing and making your own creative masterpieces!  You will have the choice of painting/designing existing pottery, making fused glass or mosaics, or making your own jewelry.  All of the pieces make great personal items or holiday gifts!  Depending on what you decide to do, it will cost between $15 - $45 (which includes the sitting fee).  Refreshments will be provided.  After the pottery part - we will move the party to the house!  All are welcome to hang out for a bit…or all night!

Please RSVP to PhillyRep@jetaany.org by 11/5/08.  Please indicate if you will spend the night.

Hope to see you there!

Nihongo Dake Dinner is back! Since we are all thinking about our wallets a little bit (or a lot) these days, this Nihongo Dake will be BYO Food. Come on out to Jackson Heights Queens (the realtors tell me it is the “new Park Slope” whatever that means) to the home of JETAANY member Clara Solomon for some food, drinks, and nihongo fun. You must bring something to share with everyone, food or drink, and be prepared to parlez-vous-nihongo. Invite your Japanese-speaking friends!

Date & Time: November 8th, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Jackson Heights, Queens (the E, F, V, R, G, and 7 trains all go there). Exact address will be emailed to attendees.
RSVP: clarasolomon@earthlink.net

Friday, October 24
After work til’ last JET standing?!
At Crocodile Lounge - 325 E. 14th Street btwn 1st and 2nd

Come one come all to the October happy hour at Crocodile Lounge next Friday night. Every drink you order comes with a free personal pizza made right at the bar! Draft beers cost around $5-7 and Yuengling is only $3 til 6pm. Look for the JETAANY group in the back or on the back patio if it’s a nice day.

Saturday, October 18
10:00 AM (11:30 AM meet at Bear Mountain)
Bear Mountain, NY

This may be the last chance in 2008 for you to get out of the city and do something fun outdoors. We are planning to head to Bear Mountain to hike up and have some lunch at the top of the mountain, and then hike back down to reward ourselves with some beer and sausage and other German delicacies at the Oktoberfest Festival being held at the mountain’s base.  JET Alum Jonn will be our Bear Mountain guide with an approximate hiking time of 3 hours (not including time to stop and eat and admire the beeeeautiful scenery.)

Driving from NYC to Bear Mountain takes about one hour. At this point all car spaces are full, but there is a bus that takes you staright to the mountain from Port Authority.  If interested, please contact Meredith at secretary@jetaany.org for more details.

Happy hiking to all those who are going!

NY de Volunteer
The Japanese Spa Day on Monday, November 3, 2008
Let’s volunteer with us!

http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/2008/2008.11.03_e.html

Hi, All

I hope this mail finds you all well.

Today I am excited to announce our upcoming event,
The Japanese Spa Day.
-Community Service through Beauty-

Beauty Volunteer by providing make-up, manicure, hair styling and
introducing Japanese culture

Our goal is to enrich the lives of seniors in New York City by
visiting nursing homes,
hospitals and retirement communities providing exciting and
fulfilling time,
and to create an opportunity for exchange between local Americans and
Japanese.

We need YOU to make it happen!

Regardless of age, every women desires to feel beautiful.
The bright faces of the seniors who experienced our volunteer service at
the nursing home ensure us of the power of beauty as part of women’s
happiness.

This activity is also a great experience for Japanese volunteers
because they can not only learn make-up technique
but also share a fulfilling time and interact with the local
community by meeting residents at the nursing home.

Every year, the residents and staff at Isabella are looking forward
to this event.
NYdV is also looking forward to having a heartwarming day with many
volunteers.
———— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— -
A Variety of Volunteers Needed
———— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— -
1. Make-up volunteers, (First time participants)
2. Make-up volunteers, (Experienced volunteers)
3. Volunteer Photographers
4. Volunteer Retouchers
5. Volunteer Hair Stylists
6. Volunteers to introduce Japanese culture
7. Volunter TV Director and Cameraman
8. Volunteer Editors for TV Program
9. Operating Volunteer Staff
10. Volunteers for Media Relations
11. Volunteer Manicurists
———— ——— ——— ——— ——— ——— -
For more details, please visit this web page;
http://www.nydevolunteer.org/activities/2008/2008.11.03_e.html

Thank you very much and looking forward to volunteering with you all!

Noriko Hino
NY de Volunteer