In August this year, Nhora Prieto, a native of Colombia, and her two sons arrived in the tiny town of Shichinohe, Aomori Prefecture -- with a population little over 10,000 -- where she now works as an assistant language teacher of English.
Prieto, who worked as a consultant in Washington, D.C., before getting a degree in marketing and international business, came to Japan on the JET program to get multicultural experience before embarking on a career in international business.
Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the subsequent closing of the New York Stock Exchange, Prieto foresaw the bleak future of the U.S. economy. This was confirmed by the bankruptcy of Enron and other giant companies. To her, this signaled a downturn in work prospects in the field of international marketing, so she took up on her professor's suggestion and considered the JET program. Looking at the program's Web site, however, her initial enthusiasm soured.
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