Finally, as promised, the new site is back up and running (more or less!). In this inagural "Announcements" post, I'd like to talk a little bit about the new site, as well as touch on the upcoming Tokyo Renewer's Conference and Kanzawa Leaver's Conference.

First of, I know it's been a while since the site has been updated, but I thank you for your patience and assure you that from now on, you won't be disappointed.

The new site is built on a dynamic framework which will allow it to be easily and quickly updated. The advantage of this is that people can easily contribute without having to know much about HTML or worrying about coding issues. To take advantage of this, the events and entertainment sections will be handled by Keith and Dipstarrrr who will no doubt keep you up-to-date on all the goings-ons in Ishikawa and Japan at large.

Unlike the previous site, the new ishijets website is web standards compliant, which means it should look good on virtually any browser you care to view it with. You can read more about it under technical section of the about page. Of course, if you run into any problems, please don't hesitate to e-mail me and let me know!

There's still a lot of work to be done on the site as you can see - the events and region sections should be up by next week, after I get a chance to meet with Dipstar and Keith one more time, and the region guides by next month. Unfortunately, I'm a bit busy with preparations for the upcoming Tokyo Renewer's Conference, so that's why it's taking so long!

Speaking of conferences, have you made all your arrangements yet? Make sure that you have already transferred your money to Uesugi at the Board of Education (for prefectural ALTs) or made individual arrangements with your local BOE if needed (for some municipal ALTs, possibly). Make sure to plan ahead and don't leave buying your train ticket till the last minute either! According to the paper you will have to arrive by 2pm on Monday June 6th, but in reality, you'll want to get there a lot earlier than that. There are more than 1000 attendees expected, so you can pretty much bet that things are going to be jam packed! Many of you may be planning on going down the weekend before which is an excellent idea as well, as you can take your time about things on Monday.

Some people have asked if their expenses will still be covered if they choose to go down early, and the answer is "Yes". Regardless of when you choose to go down to Tokyo, you will still be reimbursed a standard amount (calculated according to the official formulas for determining mileage, which for Kanazawa-Tokyo routes through Echigo-Yuzawa, I believe) for your transportation costs. Accomodations, it goes without saying, will only be covered for Monday and Tuesday night, so make sure you have a place to stay!

I will be posting more details on the Renewer's Conference in the next week or so, so stay tuned! If you have any questions you would like answered, feel free to leave them on the comments section of this post.

Finally, for those of you going back home after this year, information on the Leaver's Conference - to be held in Kanzawa in the next month or so - will be posted as soon as I get it from the Kyoiku Center. It's never too early, however, to start thinking about packing, shipping stuff home, selling on your belongings and what not, so try and get started on that early as well. If you have things you need to get rid of, you can try selling them on the buy/sell forum or else at the upcoming flea market at Korinbo Harbor at the end of June.

That's it for the moment. Please enjoy the new site and rest assured that the kinks and under construction bits will be sorted out soon enough! Have a great week!

-Panda