First off, if you have been accepted into the JET Programme (which you may not actually find out for a couple more months), congratulations.
You don't know it yet, but if you let it, Japan and the JET Programme will profoundly change your life.
It did for me.
It gave me an opportunity to find myself. An opportunity to grow up. An opportunity to get laid.
Now, except for the last topic, I didn't grasp those opportunities as well as I should have, but neither did I not do a lot of growing up.
What does it mean to be accepted into the JET (Japan Exchange & Teaching) Programme?
I could give you raw numbers about how you are special because you beat out all those other applicants - but screw that. I know plenty of people who went to Japan without JET.
But, you can learn a lot from JET. For example, JET can teach you about just what it is you are going to do in Japan.
Let's look at what JET means. JET is an acronym, with each letter representing a word to form another word. For example, FBI and UFO are said as individual letters, and should not be considered an acronym. But laser, radar and scuba are all acronymns. Look up the meaning of those words yourself. For me to tell you would make me a teacher.
I'm a blogger, dammit, not a teacher.
J is for Japan - simple enough - that's where you will be going. And, unless you have been there before, it should be a completely alien culture. And that's good. This is where the cream rises to the top. This is your chance to be more than you have ever been in your life.
E is for Exchange - I'm not exactly sure what they are exchanging you for? Did Canada get a box of sushi for me? No, of course not. The exchange is... you come to Japan with your skills, and we will share Japan with you. Sounds fair enough.
T is for Teaching - these are the skills JET says they want you to bring. And, while the AETs (assistant English teachers) will indeed be working at various schools (from elementary, middle and high school levels), the CIR (Coordinator of International Relations) will have much deeper involvement in various levels of government (I believe) and already speaks Japanese well and are quite well versed in their way of life.
But the AET... you will be doing more than teaching in a classroom.
Yes... there's more to this JET-thing than merely teaching students how to properly pronounce the words "My name is... " It should NOT sound like "Mayonnaise'.
No... aside from perhaps teaching some night school classes for extra class - make sure you get your Board of Education's permission first - they want to know that you are working with someone respectable... you will also be teaching your Board of Education some English at lunch time when you hang out once a week at the office.
And there's more teaching...
It's called 'internationalization'. It's a big word, but it's an important word that you should consider. To myself, it was more important than physically teaching people phrases and idioms. Internationalization is simply letting the people of Japan know that you are there... you, the gaijin (foreigner), and that you and your country of origin are interesting and worthy of learning more about.
While I was in Japan, I had a lot of foreign friends, because it helped me feel less homesick - true - but I also had a lot of Japanese friends because I wanted to learn as much as possible about people in another country other than my own.
I gladly shared my time with pretty much anyone who asked of it - and it was pretty exhausting, to tell the truth.
But, even back then, I was aware that I wasn't going to be in Japan forever, so why not enjoy myself and learn as much about the country and its people as possible.
This is me - not you - but I knew I was pretty useless at learning the Japanese language. In fact, I probably psyched myself out of learning to speak, read or write Japanese, knowing I wouldn't be around long enough to fully utilize what I was learning - so why learn? That was stupid. A mistake.
I wanted to learn as much as possible about the Japanese people - and I thought I could do that with my simplistic Japanese language skills and above-average English skulls. Who needs to learn the Japanese language? I just wanted to learn about their culture.
That was incredibly short-sighted of myself.
The Japanese people are defined by a lot of different things, and language is one of them. Do NOT let this happen to you.
With the Internet, there are plenty of worthwhile blogs to read that can help you get a leg up on Japanese culture - but for goodness sake, try and learn to communicate with the Japanese with their own language.
My ego was huge enough to think that I was there in Japan to teach English, so why should I have to learn to speak Japanese? I was cool enough for them to want to learn English dammit.
I was cool enough, but I wasn't. Don't shortchange them or yourself.
That's my biggest regret.
Hell... I never even ate Japanese food until two days before I arrived in Japan - and as bad as that is, my friend Jeff hated Japanese food and refused to eat it. He lasted three years on the JET Programme and then married a gorgeous Japanese woman and, to the best of my knowledge is still living in Japan some 22-1/2 years later. I'll assume he has eaten Japanese, but I don't know if he has ever eaten Japanese food.
Oh yes I did.
Anyhow... this was just a prep course. Mostly on how to prepare your mindset before you get to Japan.
You have to go to Japan and be open-minded. You have to be more open-minded than the Japanese, and not be offended or frustrated if they aren't as open-minded as you.
JET is all about internationalization. It's about the sharing of cultures, of friendships, and yes knowledge. You would be surprised at how many women sought my advice on equality. I know I blew Japanese convention out of the water when I, a man, helped the female teachers at my school prepare tea for the male teachers.
Not only was I seen as a rebel, but sensitive, too. Hint... the women threw themselves at me after that. Yeah, yeah, egomaniac. But I didn't do it for the sex (I had a girlfriend or night friend for all but a four-week period over three years). I did it because it was something I would have done in Canada. Treat others with respect and equality. Japan is still a bit behind the times in that department.
Just so you know, the male teachers actually tried to get me to stop helping the women - saying it was there job, but by being the stupid gaijin who didn't know better (though I did), I showed the men that there was no shame in doing this menial task. Six months later, excluding the principal and vice-principal (who had rank), the male teachers and female teachers began trading off the service of tea.
I only got this to happen at one of the seven schools I visited, but baby steps, Japan.
To me, even if I didn't accomplish anything else over the three years I called Japan home, teaching one group of men and women (and hopefully the students, too) about equality makes me think I did a good job as a JET participant.
I did more than that. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. I didn't have a plan, but I did have conviction.
What will you do when you get to Japan? Be a decent person. Teach them about the best things that make your country special, and don't do it with words - do it with actions.
I'll continue this topic tomorrow - with a description of how I think you should act in Japan - but take it with a few grains of salt.
In future blogs I will describe what your job will be like as a school teacher; provide you with a bit of advice on what you should do back home before you leave for Japan; things you will need to bring with you to Japan; tell you what to expect at those early JET meetings when your first arrive in Japan; give you a look at what your bosses will be like (your bosses will be the school board - not JET. JET is essentially a placement office); describe living quarters... stuff that you can find elsewhere on the Internet, I suppose, but at least I'll present it all in an interesting and honest way, rather than as a text book.
Last word. You are going to Japan to be paid to be a teacher to kids. Treat them with respect. But keep in mind that being a school teacher is a small part of the JET Programme job. I can honestly tell you that of the 1,700 blogs I have written about Japan, no more than 30 of them are about being a school teacher.
Somewhere still internationalizing,
Andrew Joseph
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