With the 2016 WA JETs soon to begin an exciting new chapter of their lives, JETAAWA committee members share their greatest JET regrets.

If I had my time again, I’d join a club as soon as possible! Being part of the baseball club kept me sane when I started getting home-sick. (Caitlin Cleghorn)

My biggest regret was not trying harder to learn the language faster. It’s so much easier to build a rapport with staff and students if you can speak some basic Japanese. (Natasha Sjahrir)

Don’t get too comfortable! There’s always so much to see and do no matter where you are, and it easy and cheap to travel around Japan (compared to travel from WA). Even after four years my Japan bucket list is still so long. (Richard Southern)

I wish I had joined a local taiko group especially given my city (Kitakyushu) is famous for taiko. Also, not learning as much Japanese as I could have. (Julius Pang)

Not visiting the local sites. I usually traveled out of the prefecture on holidays/long weekends assuming that “I would always have time to visit the famous castle in my prefecture” Well, I never ended up making it there before leaving and now it is my biggest regret. (Caitlin Lee)