Aspiring South African JETs 2012

[hatefulsandwich]

People usually abbreviate my name to HS for hatefulsandwich since they don't know my real name, so maybe that'd get my attention more easily. My initials are actually JEL, which is kinda... awful.

I wasn't asked "Why JET?" I have a feeling that they may not ask this one here so much because we don't have things like Interac and AEON and all of that goodness. It wouldn't be bad to have a response prepared, though. That said, all my preparation seemed to leave me as soon as I entered the interview room. I didn't get asked why I wanted to teach either, but that might be because I've already taught before. I did get asked various questions about my teaching experience, though.

My impression from each of the interviewers was as follows:
Japanese guy asked questions about Japan and Japanese language. I found him quite hard to understand not only because of accent, but because he speaks very quietly.
Wizard-dude asked me about my studies and professional experience.
Ryan asked about teaching, medical stuff and adjustment to living in Japan.

They basically spoke in that order, too. I got to flounder the most on my Japanesey Japan question, which I think might have been the most important and thus the reason I feel so foolish about my interview.

There was some crossover, though. They seemed to have an equal amount of questions, so there wasn't the odd one out who was especially quiet or anything. The tone of the interview is definitely cordial, mind, so it's not like they get all vicious about silly-sounding responses.

I'm fairly sure that there's no mock lesson, but it doesn't hurt to have something up your sleeve. I don't know if interviews in other parts of the country have the same panel.

I was fairly surprised that other people around weren't as uber-professionally dressed as I expected. I did the whole black-skirt, black-blazer, pale-shirt, stockings and modest black high heels thing. Most people just wore quite formal attire - nothing wrong with it at all, I just felt almost over-dressed. There was, however, one of those guys in jeans, golfer shirt and casual shoes. Eish.

Honestly though, guys, it's in my nature to view everything I do as terrible. There's not a single other person I've heard from that thought the proficiency test was anything other than dead easy and every other person who came out of the interview had a smile plastered to their face and felt positive about the whole affair. I'm just highly in tune with everything that I do wrong, so take my experience with a pinch of salt.

[Cape2Tokyo]

Hello fellow South Africans!

I am 22 years old and from Cape Town!

I'm about to graduate with my LLB law degree. I am currently doing a course in practical legal training at UCT which ends in June. The timing was great for JET.

Well, my interview is on the 24th and I'm pretty anxious to just get it over with already. The wait is killing me. As far as the actual interview / test is concerned, it's chilled. At UCT I have been inundated with mock trials and such. I always end up being a witness and keep getting drilled in cross-examination, so I'm used to pretty grueling environments.

Like many of you over here, I am quite nervous about the prospects of doing a mock lesson. I just don't know what the appropriate thing to do would be. My Japanese ability is 0 so do I just speak really sloooowly and try get my point across that way? Let's hope that this awful lesson is reserved to the US applicants

Well guys, best of luck with the preparations. If you have already done your interviews, ganbatte!

As to my fellow Capetonians out there, see you in two weeks time!

[Yumz27]

Thanks for your responses HL and eFred.

The reason I felt it was time to join the forums was because everyone really seems to be supportive of fellow applicants and even former JETs still make the effort to extend advice. I think it reveals a lot about the spirit of the people who are selected for the programme and also those who are just brave enough to apply! I am pleased to be a part of this community haha (a lil dramatic?) Ahh well.

@eFred yes UCT...I see you majored in Media as well though I went on to specialize in radio production. Thanks for summarizing possible questions for the interview by the day of the interview I'll be as prepared as I can be and I'm not psyching myself out going to take it a step at a time.

@HL well you'll be surprised to know that although religion is not big in Japan other than bits of Shintoisim and Buddhism, there are in fact 70 000 muslims and like 40 mosques. And with so many foreigners; there are indian and pakistani restaurants and online facilities to purchase halaal meat. Of course I've had to inform myself on what to expect there in terms of my religion and if I'm lucky enough to be accepted I'll be more than okay and with the tenacious being I am nothing will get me down. I make any situation work.

I've read on previous threads of a canadian muslim girl who made it on to the programme so seems they are open-minded she was even covered in a head scarf. I dress modestly but not overtly Islamic but I do cover my hair everyday. I have different ways of wearing my scarf to reveal my individuality. And besides, Islam can be practised anywhere and I can pray/salaah anywhere its clean. And the Japanese are pretty anal about cleanliness and modest dress so I'll be fine (they also enjoy their sake but I'm tolerant as far as I can be).

By the way I selected April departure

@Cape2Tokoyo such a cool nic and hello to you too wink wink.

[hatefulsandwich]

Indeed, I'm glad you've found a way that would work for you. I'm sure the Japanese would do what they can to accommodate you. As far as I've read, they enjoy their drinking a lot but would respect your religion. I have heard that not being into drinking can limit social interaction somewhat (it was mentioned in on of myargonauts' videos on YouTube). I doubt it's much of a big deal, though. I know I personally need to be quite careful about drinking because I black out and go INSANE .

I could just Google it, but for the sake of interaction, what is the stance towards fish in Islam? Do you consume shellfish? If fish is okay and you don't mind eating it, you can probably get away with a lot of the Japanese diet without having to involve meat. I personally don't eat meat, although I do eat fish.

[Yumz27]

HS, OMW I am thee biggest seafood lover! And crazy about sushi. I'm not much of a meat eater I can certainly do without it. As far as Islam and fish goes...since fish aren't slaughtered it cannot be considered unhalaal. And that extends to all kinds of fish. I work with someone whose Jewish and I think he doesn't eat shellfish so it's not an Islamic prohibition.

Regarding the limitation of social events due to alcohol. This is an issue I face here at home as well...I work in a male-dominated environment and they drink a lot and I arrange team-building activities and staff functions but I always get someone else to sort out the alcohol. I guess in certain circumstances it does become tricky for me but I find a way around it. While I'll distance myself from certain things I'd never isolate myself. I think as much as someone can accommodate you and make you feel welcome, it's also up to you to make the effort to fit in.

Do you have your X-rays and health certificate sorted yet?

[hatefulsandwich]

Awesome, you'll have a ball in Japan with all the fish. I'll admit some of it gets a little bit weird even for me, though. Like... brains and stuff. Not keen, hey! I'll always give something a try, though. We have a "Chinatown" up here and I recently went with some friends to one of the restaurants. None of us could muster up the courage to order jellyfish sashimi. Maybe if it came in a far smaller quantity I would have tried. Anyway, tangent.

No, I haven't done x-rays and the sort because I've applied for normal departure. I also, erm, really wonder at my chances of getting in after that interview . So much of foolishness.

I've worked in an environment where it was pretty much expected that you would drink every afternoon lest you get ridiculed and cajoled. I hated that. I don't know how much women drink in Japan, mind.

[eFred]

@Yumz: I wondered why 'Yumz' sounded so familiar, oh FB is really a beautiful thing. Anyway, ya. If you did Radio production then I take it you hung around UCTRadio a lot? You might have seen/know me... I used to hang with my guitar in the lounge thingy annoying Nick and Natalie... Why did you choose the April departure? That's... soon. I know Ryan sent a mail about having your what-what's for your interview and all that, while I already have my clearance, I'm only doing the x-ray stuff after I know I'm getting in. (There will be time right?). As for sushi... I like stuff to be very very dead before I eat it. I was vegetarian but I got really sick once and the doctor was all "eat meat or die!" <- that's exaggeration but something like that. I'm thinking of going vegetarian again in Japan (if I do end up going that is) because I'm a little snobby when it comes to food.

@C2T (See, I'm getting a hang of this abbreviating thing): Awesome that you can be chilled about it (Law at UCT is of the devil, mostly because everyone I know migrate to middle once they've finished their BA) I had the misfortune of being thrown into a Sunday class last week with zero preparation, this wouldn't have been so bad if it was an English class, but it was Afrikaans and my Afri. is really very terrible. But it turned out quite alright and there's nothing really to be nervous about. (BUT again, I highly doubt that a mock lesson will be asked).

If you indicated that you have little or no Japanese ability I don't think they'll ask you Japanese-y stuff. Maybe a question along the lines of how will you communicate with your students blah blah?

As for preparation. My mind shut down a while ago...

And for my final 2 cents... I've never had a real real job. Sure I work a lot on campus and I have a community project running, but I never faced a situation where drinking was a thing (I was (briefly) a band manager which required me to be in places with lots of alcohol but people don't really pressurize me because, like I said, I can be scary).

[Ps. @HS: How insane? Running naked down the street? Or singing on the table insane? (ignore this if you don't want to answer here)]

[hatefulsandwich]

I hear it's not easy to be full vegetarian in Japan because they basically put dashi (fish stock) in everything. I'm rather fond of it, though, so it's not a big concern. If you'd rather stick to Western food then I suppose it would be easier to do. And I know people do do it, it just makes eating out very difficult.

I indicated "Beginner" Japanese ability and I was asked a lot more about Japanese than I was comfortable with. I was, like, "Beginner, yo! Beginner!" If I have to reapply I will definitely drive home the Japanese learning thing.

[eFred]

HS! Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts!

...I don't eat out a lot, I think that's a bad thing which is why a rural placement would be awesome (but not rural as in "my toilet is a hole" rural). Wait, I saw a applicants placed on nationality thread, where is most SA placed?

[Yumz27]

@ eFred oh I love how small the world is hey! Yes I'd be the Yumz from uct radio not sure I remember a guitar playing guy though that doesn't sound far off. are you still on campus? And also, I'd be one of those peeps with a BA who migrated down to the world of Kramer and you'd be spot on it is of the devil! UCT law is on another level and my soul felt tortured!

I chose April departure coz I'm just really keen for a fresh start hey having a degree doesn't mean much for my employment prospects and my current job is not what I want to be doing so I need a change and I need it soon I hate being in limbo.

[eFred]

@ eFred oh I love how small the world is hey! Yes I'd be the Yumz from uct radio not sure I remember a guitar playing guy though that doesn't sound far off. are you still on campus? And also, I'd be one of those peeps with a BA who migrated down to the world of Kramer and you'd be spot on it is of the devil! UCT law is on another level and my soul felt tortured!

I chose April departure coz I'm just really keen for a fresh start hey having a degree doesn't mean much for my employment prospects and my current job is not what I want to be doing so I need a change and I need it soon I hate being in limbo.

Girl! I'm a girl! No, I'm not on campus. Well, I am kinda. I'm still the Marketing co-coordinator for UCT AIR. Is teaching something that you really want to do? (And this question is for everyone that reads this)

[hatefulsandwich]

I seem to recall reading that South Africans are most commonly placed in Fukushima. But don't take my word for it, I might just have a brain that is defective. Uuum. I believe Hiroshima is quite popular and Kyushu in general seems to contain a lot of Saffers. Honestly, though, I would be lying if I claimed that any of this is more than a figment of my imagination.

Oh, and yes, I would love to lecture animation one day. Admittedly I would love to have a little more studio experience, but I really do love sharing knowledge - pretentious as it may sound.

[Cape2Tokyo]

Hey guys!

Feel free to add me on Facebook if you have not already. I already have HS and Yumz. Just search for Sean Michael O'Toole. Not sure how this ''insert URL'' thing works, but here goes: [url][/url]http://www.facebook.com/seanie.spanner?ref=tn_tnmn / http://www.facebook.com/seanie.spanner?ref=tn_tnmn My computer literacy skills are definitely not up to scratch, but I'm sure you will find me. If you're in Cape Town, we likely have mutual friends even!

I'm so relieved that this thread is being utilised. There is comfort in the fact that I am now familiar with some of the applicants. The idea of packing my life into two suitcases and being handed a one-way flight to Tokyo is a rather daunting notion. If we get accepted, at least we have some contacts...

By the way, my placement choices are:

1) Sapporo, Hokkaido
2) Okinawa
3) Kobe, Hyogo

What did you guys choose?

eFred : thank you so much for all the advice. I was chatting to Yumz earlier, we both agree that we are not going into the interview with a ''let's try impress these guys with our broken Japanese'' thing. If they see that our application indicates no Japanese ability, they should be understanding.
South African universities do not even after anything remotely Japanese-y. If they did, I would have also done the whole minor in Asian studies thing.

A friend of mine (in JET) has been living in Tottori prefecture for the past 5 years. He says that it is better to just let them see that you do have a genuine interest in the country and that you have the capability to learn the language and live alone for at least one year. That is the aim of the programme after all.

SUSHI! Ah, how I love Japanese food. I'm game for anything. I really appreciate the art of Japanese cuisine!

Well, having a chilled Saturday. Just watched The Last Samurai. My Japanese brain is working overtime!

[Yumz27]

So sorry eFred for assuming you're a guy feel like such an idiot now! I especially don't remember a girl with a guitar! I just sent you a PM and besides eFred is quite misleading...and yes teaching is something I've contemplated since graduation but just couldn't decide what was best for me at the time. I feel I'm ready now and doing the TEFL teaching is a great start but who knows what the future holds?! I've tutored before and was Tanja Bosch's teaching assistant I enjoyed it even the 'adminy' bits.

[hatefulsandwich]

Okay, if anyone wants to know me on Facebook, you can PM me for my name/link. Or you can just use your Google-fu. I'm an easy target for stalkers, let's put it that way. If you do find me in all my glory of having my puppy feast upon my nose, just tell me who you are because I sometimes have problems with absolute weirdos.