Is this thing on? We're back!

Japanese Phrase of the Day:
English: I’m home (when returning home)
Japanese: Tadaima (ただいま or 只今)

Welcome Back!

               For anyone unfamiliar with this blog it’s my way of sharing my experiences while living and traveling abroad. With any luck I also hope to have some articles discussing cultural differences as well as being a 外国人 (foreigner) in a country where that is the first word you learn.

Heeey, why'd you change the name of your blog? I liked it!

Me too. But I'm not a student this time I'm a working professional so a certain level of professionalism was required. Gomen!~

What is JET?

JET stands for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme (yes it uses the British spelling). JET is run by the Japanese government as a means of hiring post graduate native English speakers to come and be assistant language teachers (ALT) in Japan. This gives the students a native speaker to learn from and practice with as well as exposing the students to another culture. From the ALT perspective, you get a chance to live in Japan with a stable job, a massive JET community, and other bonuses like a free flight to Japan and back and pre-arranged housing.

Ok, so how long is this JET program?

When you agree to accept your position you sign a one year contract. At the end of that one year you can recontract to stay for up to a total of 5 years. After year 3 returning ALTs get a slight raise for sticking with the program. When you do decide to not recontract JET gets you a plane ticket and finds a replacement for your position.

Right, but how long are YOU staying?

Good question. Plenty of you know this has been my dream for a few years based on how much I loved living in Japan when I was a student. That said, this is an entirely different situation and it’s important to recognize that. The most common phrase among JETs is “ESID” or “every situation is different”. I could be somewhere I completely love with amazing students or I could end up in a place that just doesn’t work for me. Think about the stress of a new job with new responsibilities and coworkers you might or might not get along with and then imagine all that in another country where you barely speak the language. In short, the answer is for now I’m staying one year and we’ll go from there.

So if you’re working as a teacher you must be fluent in Japanese right?

Hahaha, you must be one of the people who didn’t know the old title of the blog. My Japanese is very minimal (in my defense, it was never offered at my university). That’s one of the big challenges is how little I know. For the record, you don’t need to know any Japanese to get into the JET Programme, though you do need a willingness to learn. Necessity makes the best teacher, anyways.

So what was the JET Process like?

First let me say I have to be intentionally vague about parts of this because of a nondisclosure agreement I signed.

The first step is you get the application in October and complete 3 copies of it with letters of recommendation. Then around January the first cut is made and if you pass you get to set up an interview at your local consulate (Atlanta is the nearest, if you were curious). In February the interviews happen and notifications are sent out around April to tell you if you were selected, wait listed, or cut.  If you get in then you try to stop dancing with joy long enough to begin the copious amounts of paperwork you have to start. The process from start to finish takes from about October to April, which is about 7 months. If you don’t get in the first time you apply (like me) then you have to wait until next October to try again. It’s a long process that puts the rest of your life and goals on hold but in my opinion it’s worth it.

That was boring. Tell me where you’re going!

I lucked out, hardcore. I cannot emphasize how incredibly amazing my placement is. I was placed in the Kyoto prefecture in a small town called Ujitawara (pop. 10,000). I am about 45 minutes away from where I studied abroad in Japan before and about an hour and a half from both Kyoto and Osaka but I am still in a small town. Seriously, this was a dream placement. Japan is quite large though and sadly my friend who also got into the program is a solid 7 hours away.

This is a scaled comparison of how big Japan is. Maybe it's the proximity to China but people seem to think it's a lot smaller than it is.

The red balloon is where I will be. Hirakata is where I studied abroad and Osaka and Kyoto are major cities and awesome.

Osaka is the second biggest city in Japan and full of amazing things like an aquarium that has whale sharks(!) and famous shopping areas like Shinsaibashi and Ame-mura. Kyoto is the former capital of Japan (back in imperial times) and is a center of history and culture. The city and its outskirts contain numerous shrines and, national treasures, and 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites. The banner from my facebook page comes from a temple in Kyoto.

Kyomizu-dera (Pure water temple) in Kyoto

But you’re going to work, right?

Yes, but I don’t have much to say about that yet. My town has a junior high school, two elementary schools, a kindergarten, and a nursery. After talking to my amazing predecessor I think I will be traveling between the schools a lot but primarily doing elementary school. Right now there's not a lot to say about that but I'll talk about it more later when my experience has been first hand.

That's about it for now. As a heads up, once I get to Japan it'll probably take me a bit to set up internet so don't expect to hear anything for a little while. Once I'm established I'll update though, don't worry. Thanks for taking the time to check my blog out and I hope you stick around, it'll be a fun ride!

Ja ne!~

Bonus! Rejected blog names

"Japan? Let me tell you about China"
Living Abroad 2: Electric Boogaloo
Oh Crap, I need to learn the metric system
Katsu and Crying