#jet2015

So it’s been a long time since the last post...BUT! I will continue with my previous plan and keep on talking about the process :)

For sure the hardest part about the JET process, next to all the paperwork (of which there is a ton o.o) would have to be the waiting. The first part of the process of putting in the application at the most will take a month and can be less time if you turn it in early. But that will no doubt be the shortest of any wait in the whole thing. After that, which the application deadline was at the end of October, then you have to wait till mid-January to find out if you even got an interview. It was so nerve wracking x.x

But what that time did offer was the opportunity to practice or at least read up on the interview itself on blogs and, of course, at Tofugu :3 I used the one there for most of my studying up and for pretty much the whole process in general haha 

Something I found incredibly helpful for my own sanity was to practice different types of questions that have been asked in the past. A good list of those is on Tofugu as well as on a website called Open Door. However, you can also just google something like ‘JET interview questions’ and you will be given a lot of different things to look at :) The best advice I can give on practicing in this fashion is something I read on Tofugu. Every interviewer is different and they WILL change the questions they ask and the way they ask them each year. Because of this, make sure that if you practice a question that says something like “What do you like about Japan, especially in relation to food?”, be well prepared that the question is not going to be asked in that same way in the actual interview. They may not add the about food portion or they might say in relation to, say, performing arts, for example. So it’s important to think about honest answers that don’t seem ‘formulated’ or ‘fake’. I’m doing a terrible job at explaining that but if you look at Tofugu, they explain it WAY better ><

ANYWAY~ Now I’ll get to the actual hard part of this~

The Interview

I received my notification that I was selected for an interview in about the second week of January. There were a lot of instructions contained within the email that I’m sure will be there for many years to come and may even change so I won’t dwell on that portion haha

But in terms of the actual interview and preparing for it, the best advice I could give anyone would be to just practice beforehand to make yourself more comfortable. On the day of though, take a break, breath, have a good breakfast and just chill. Make sure you get a good night’s sleep before so your head can be in the game on the day of. Nothing is worse than getting to your interview so hopped up on caffeine that you can barely sit still. I guarantee your nerves will shoot through the roof, unless you’re SUPER used to these sorts of interviews. I was not. I have had jobs in the past, but I’ve never had a panel interview or anything as formal as this was. This is, of course, because I’ve been working in retail or at a coffee shop my whole working life. Those interviews were much more lax. 

My interview happened to be at my university, so I was very familiar with the campus and where the interview would be held. If you’re not, I would HIGHLY suggest planning out your route the day before so you have a good idea of where you’re going. The more you have planned the more confident you’re going to feel.

When I got there, I had to check in, which happened to have one of the speakers that was present at the informational session. So that right away calmed me down a little. I talked with him a bit, talked with my sister who had come with me and then I went into the waiting room where the other interviewees were. It was awkward, I’ll be honest. We were all in there, interviewing for the same job, though there were multiples of that job. We all knew how competitive it was though, of course. In those situations, it can be a little hard to want to talk to someone who is your “competition”, but I would highly suggest that you do. Just smile and talk to someone in there. It can help get the nerves out and you may even meet a new friend :) 

When your interview time comes, if your interviewers aren’t running behind, which they may be, so don’t worry too much, one of the interviewers will come to grab you. It’s usually the former ALT, and that was the case for me as well. They come to talk to you, break the ice as you head to the interview room. It’s all done to help you calm down. Because I know, and as I’ve read, they know how stressful the interview is. Best thing to do is to just remember that they’re people just like you.

Now, for entering the room, I have heard multiple different ways to do this, but this is what I did because it was what one of my senseis said to do. The door was already open for me so upon entering, I bowed, said, “し連れします” or “shitsureshimasu”, which basically means excuse me, my intrusion, etc., and sat down when it was indicated that I could do so. If your interviewers offer their hand for shaking, do so. Mine, however, did not so I didn’t. I was in such a state of nerves though that I didn’t even think about it at the time. It was only later that it came to my realization and I had a mild freak out that I’d forgotten to shake their hands X.X But it turned out just fine in the end because the table that was between us was so wide I doubt I could have even reached their hands haha 

After I sat down, the interview started. 

So, I’ve never done a blog before nor have I ever been a diary keeper, but this blog is going to be my attempt at keeping a log of my attempts and hopefully adventures on the JET program in Japan. :D

 So with that being said, I’ll go about telling about the process so far. I was planning from pretty much last year when I realized I would be graduating this December from ASU  :D I’m so happy to finally be done with college! I’ve been working toward this moment for a long time and I wish I hadn’t taken the time off I did. However! I’m so grateful for the experiences that I’ve had these last two years and am so happy to have been able to go through this adventure with my sister. :)

THE ESSAY

Okay, side note over! Back to the point, haha. So, I’ve been working toward the point I’m at now for a while now. Over the last few months, I’ve looked into the best ways to present myself as a viable candidate for the JET program for when I write my essay that explains why I would be good for the program. 

So I thought and I thought and I thought some more….

But every time I went to write…I just stared at a blank page. Questions of why I would be good..why I would do well in the program and why I would be a benefit just kept circling in my head. I would write a few words and then delete everything. Nothing sounded right. I even did a bubble chart or a thinking tree thing to get all my thoughts on paper. And while this helped narrow down things…I still found it nearly impossible to generate all these things into a coherent and meaningful essay that would impress the JET staff.

The pressure was piled on even more because one of my references wanted my essay to read so he could write a stronger letter and so he could know what my goals were exactly. 

What I found helped the most in writing was actually my friend. She is trying this year as well to get into JET and was having an equally hard time in writing her essay. She was getting disheartened about the whole thing and I gave her some advice about the types of things she could talk about and oddly enough it helped me write my own! Thank you Angelique XD When writing my essay, the most important thing I found to remember was that even though I don’t have any teaching experience or even that my main goal doesn’t have to do with teaching, I still have things I can offer to the kids that will be in my classes. Write like I had already gotten the job. It sounds silly, but I completely believe in the power of positive thinking. Whether it does anything magical or not, I know for a fact that it will help you have a better outlook and will make your writing more powerful.

All that being said, what should be top priority is really presenting yourself as you are. Know why you want to go to Japan and what sort of impact you want to make and do your best to get those points across in your writing.

I was finally able to meet Ben, a British ALT from my school who started out as a JET 11 years ago and who also has type 1 diabetes. He was on a school trip in New Zealand until about a week ago and Matt and I have been hanging out with him a bit since he got back.

Ben and I talked quite a lot on facebook before we came over and he gave me a lot of actually useful advice. He helped us sign up at a local gym the other day and also took us around to some second hand stores. Over here, the popular second hand stores are named “Hard Off”. There’s also “Hobby Off”, “House Off” and “Book Off”. Let’s be serious, “Hard Off” made you think of boners, or the opposite of boners?

The second hand places here are amazing. You can get almost brand new electrical goods in perfect condition because Japanese people are all about using them once or twice and then getting rid of them. The clothes are also cool and there are so many Hello Kitty, Pokemon and Disney goods to place in your house. You can also get old (and some dead) Japanese consoles in almost perfect condition for just nothing. It’s funny trying to explain to other JETs how the console thing is pretty amazing here since they are almost impossible to find in Perth. We’re ready to get a TV just so we can have a Japanese Gamecube and play Melee all day (and night).

On Wednesday, Ben escorted us to Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku. We haven’t seen much of central Tokyo since moving away from there so this was a really exciting outing. We saw amazing shops with amazing clothes, a really cool toy shop featuring movie replicas and a cool Star Wars battlepod and just the general sensory overload that these parts of Japan offer. Ben took us to a huge Disney Store that he really wasn’t keen on being in, but came along anyway. He mentioned that he had an ex that loved Disney. “She cheated on me. I hate her and Disney”. We went and had a photograph with Hachi and got some pretty cool shots of the famous Shibuya crossing. It was sort of busy, but I need to go back at night to see it in proper action.

We went to a cool bookshop in Shinjuku and then went back to Ben’s place where we smoked cigars on his stoop (stoop kid left his stoop!) and talked about how shit the world is. We all became heavily depressed so went inside and watched Ben play Alien Isolation on his PS4 while trying not to shit ourselves from the terror that involved. I am lucky to be working with such a cool person!

After being contacted by our schools this week, Matt and I now realise that neither of us are where we thought we were at all. Our schools are quite a bit closer together and about an hour out of central Tokyo. We also found out that we will be finding our own place to live (with some assistance) and there’s some pretty expensive fees to achieve that. I am quietly shitting myself in the corner about all that, whereas Matt is a lot more calm about it and he’s making all the lists and looking up places to live as I type this. We’re also currently getting ready to bake a huge Reese’s cookie. FKN YESS.

This week, I touched one of the bandicoots that runs around the school. On the back. I’m not sure if it liked it, but I did. It did a little post-transcendence shudder and I felt complete. This week, I am also sporting a new hair colour. This really freaked all my students out. My hair was going orange and it had to be done.

I want to take all my students out to eat ramen, but I think it’s actually impossible. 

So, the two of us found out we are stationed in Tokyo! (just the 2 of us). We are still in shock, given that our preference, Fukui, is nothing like Tokyo and I never thought we would be in the big smoke (the big Smokyo...if you will).

I am slightly terrified but more parts excited. We have already picked our baseball team and are checking how far away all the other cool things are.

A bandicoot came into my classroom the other day. One of the year 8′s frightened it away and I became very cross at him. That is not the Steiner way, nor is it the anything way. 

This has been my first week at the Steiner school.

Pros of Steiner school:

1. I can wear semi-casual clothes because there is hiking to be done. 2. The school is on bush land and it feels right. 3. The students are cool and have heard of Black Books. 4. They haven’t asked me to dye my hair back to a boring colour yet. 5. I have done zero farts in front of co-workers and students. 6. I get to sleep in. 7. There is a zen garden outside my office. Cons of Steiner School:

1. The students don’t wear uniforms and it is hard to select outfits that make it look like I am not also in high school. 2. I got hit in the head with a cricket bat and now the whole school knows about it and it’s somewhat of a scandal. 3. I have people talking because of my coloured hair. 4. Is that a student or a staff member? Nobody knows! 5. I nearly walked into a spider web. 6. I’m not vegan. Do they hate me? Answer is probably yes. 7. I’ve gone to the toilet a lot and maybe people have noticed. 8. I told one of my year 7 classes that I dabble in Pokemon and now there’s a kid who wants to talk about Pokemon with me all the time. That would be fine, but the other kids want to learn shit.

The kids think I am cool for now. Wait until they find out that part of my English autobiography in year 8 was called “Big Time Now”