Aspiring US JETs 2012

[tashikanakoto]

Well, today is over. Better luck tomorrow, ladies and gents!

[Mimmy]

I was trying to stay away until results were out but I am NOT enjoying this wait!!!

[ludditelamb]

Oh my! So many Whovians! I feel so at home!

[chomuch]

Well, today is over. Better luck tomorrow, ladies and gents!

Then aaaagain, interview results came out at night didn't it? So we still have a few hours left (though I'm not expecting anything until later this week).

SO who's looking forward to checking their emails the day results come out? C'mon, imagine the moment when someone will post in this forum: "OMG IT'S OUT!". What would you do? Think? I'm sure some people will break their fingers trying to log into their email as quickly as possible. I, on the other hand, will probably go "OH SHEEET" and avoid the internet for a solid 10 minutes while I walk in a daze and try to convince myself that I don't care one way or the other about the result.

It's THAT moment I am not looking forward to..... at all.

[SeaJay]

Woo! It's always a comfort to have a fellow Whovian around. Makes me feel like someone gets me.

Agreed! Its definitely reassuring that a lot of other aspiring JET's seem to have similar sensibilities to mine.



Edit: WOW I hadnt gotten all the way down the thread yet when I wrote this.......you all ROCK!

I hope I get the change to meet all of you in Tokyo

No, YOU rock! I hope we all get to meet in Tokyo too!!

LOL! You guys!

Since we've come to the silly portion of our waiting I figured I would find a Whovian gif that acurately represents how completely nutters I've become waiting to find out.

I'm fairly certain Houston Consolate isn't going to find out today or tomorrow and probably not even by Wednesday because we just got finished with our huge yearly japanese culture event, Japan Fest. The co-ordinator and somebody I interviewed with were all there working on the Fesitval so I highly doubt we're going to find out in the early part of the week.

Ah, darn it! I'm in Austin, so I'm waiting to hear back from Houston too. Well, I guess I can relax for the next few days now and not have a mini-stroke every time my phone dings.

I didn't know the Houston Consulate did a Japan Fest! That sounds awesome. What kind of events do you have?

In other news...

MWAHAHAHAHA! The Whovians are taking overrrrrr!

[sleepykitty]

Gah! This is the most stressful wait ever!! Whenever I hear the *ding* you have mail sound from my inbox my heart starts pounding at least I'm not the only one

Sendai_Momiji wrote:LOL! You guys!

Since we've come to the silly portion of our waiting I figured I would find a Whovian gif that acurately represents how completely nutters I've become waiting to find out.

I'm fairly certain Houston Consolate isn't going to find out today or tomorrow and probably not even by Wednesday because we just got finished with our huge yearly japanese culture event, Japan Fest. The co-ordinator and somebody I interviewed with were all there working on the Fesitval so I highly doubt we're going to find out in the early part of the week.




Ah, darn it! I'm in Austin, so I'm waiting to hear back from Houston too. Well, I guess I can relax for the next few days now and not have a mini-stroke every time my phone dings.

ah man, I interviewed in Houston, too. Maybe now that they are done with the festival, they have free time to send us the results...*hopeful*

[chelocean]

I just remembered this forum exists! I went onto the regional page to see if I could find my successor, and then came here to realize you guys haven't even been notified of results yet! I remember your pain...

Anyway, all current JETs are doing absolutely nothing these days (new school year hasn't started yet), so that being said, if anyone has any stupid, ridiculous questions they want to ask, I'm open! Currently I'm staring out the window watching rain and also secretly trying to read Freakonomics without my vice principal seeing. Fun times.

[eacat]

Anyway, all current JETs are doing absolutely nothing these days (new school year hasn't started yet), so that being said, if anyone has any stupid, ridiculous questions they want to ask, I'm open!

Since you offered....

I know when you go on a trip, you're supposed to bring Omiyage, but who do you bring it for?

What should you bring to your first day of work? How do you break the ice with your colleagues, especially if your Japanese is limited?

Any suggestions for classroom prizes or what else to bring from the States?

[Liz Okinawa PA]

I know when you go on a trip, you're supposed to bring Omiyage, but who do you bring it for?

What should you bring to your first day of work? How do you break the ice with your colleagues, especially if your Japanese is limited?

Any suggestions for classroom prizes or what else to bring from the States?

1) Pretty much everyone. Generally you get a big box of something edible for your office.

2) Omiyage. First the big box o` edibles, and maybe half-a-dozen small things like pins or bookmarks or mini paperweights for the important people in your office. Expect to be surprised by who you're expected to give to, which is why it's good to be prepared beforehand (because if your pred didn't tell you about Important person X and you're caught without an omiyage, mostly everyone gives you a "oh, why didn't you know?" sort of look. The situation isn't unsalvageable, so don't worry if that happens, it's just embarrassing).

As far as breaking the ice goes: food and weather. Everyone will be fascinated to know if you eat bread or rice for breakfast, if you can use chopsticks, if you like sushi/natto/soba/etc. Everyone will be agog at the temperature differences between your home and Japan. Expect much giggling and "Really?!" After that, you'll have work to discuss with them.

3) Candy. A big ol' bag of starburst or jolly ranchers, small things with English-language wrappers. Do NOT train them to expect it, but as a prize, they will love it. Stickers also go over really well. I have a friend who uses clear files and rulers, too, so feel free to get creative if it's small, colorful, and has English on it. But if you're not feeling creative, the gold standard are stickers and candy.

[eacat]

You are awesome. Thank you!

Follow up to question 2, are these small things supposed to be wrapped or can they be given as is? Those first couple days, do you just go around with a bag of omiyage in your purse in case you meet new people?

How awful would it be to offer someone a second gift of omiyage to someone I've already met? It takes me some time to learn faces, and knowing me this is definitely going to happen. Should I just prepare for awkward/embarrassing hilarity?

Is it culturally acceptable to divide the class into two teams to play against each other? What about individually? I'm thinking like a spelling bee or a game where two kids go head to head. The winner stays and the loser has to sit down/go to the back of the line, etc. Can you give prizes just to those who answer questions correctly, or do you have to give them to everybody?

I guess a better question would be, how does Japanese culture influence what you can and cannot do in the classroom? What is something that might be okay to do in a US classroom that is unacceptable/uncomfortable for students to do in a Japanese classroom?

How involved are you in lesson planning? How does team-teaching work for you? I know ESID, but I'm curious!

[Kirari]

Oh my goodness! You're a Whovian too, Merky?! So...we're all popping out of the wood work. Fantastic!

All of my friends are crazy into Dr. Who and have been demanding that I watch. Now my fellow JETs, too! I can only conclude that it's a quality show and deserves a try. You've convinced me, so I will see what I can find on Hulu or Netflix.

@eacat, awesome questions! Those are things I'm wondering about, too.

@Liz, thanks for your answers! I have more questions about the gifts for when you first arrive. I know stickers and bookmarks are small and everything, but what about everything else? How am I supposed to bring along all this food and whatnot when I only get to bring two checked bags, and I still have to pack them with stuff for me to live for a year? Should I just pay the extra checked bag fee and bring another suitcase just for gifts? Sounds like it's going to be expensive.

And when do we meet the people we need to give gifts to? I was told by a JET Alumni (from 1990!) that once her training in Tokyo was over and she was sent to her hometown, she had to go immediately to her BoE and meet important people, not stopping to drop her bags off at her new place and get freshened up or anything. Is it a case of ESID, or is this typical? If so, we've got to have our gifts in nice bags (after being smushed in the suitcase) to present right away, I guess?

And on a personal note, what are some interesting/crazy/lovely experiences you've had, at work or on private time?

Thanks again!

[chelocean]

For eacat:

The way omiyage works in Japan is that in a city's airport/train station/touristy spot, there will be beautiful gift wrapped boxes of individually wrapped cookies/treats. This is omiyage, and this is why it's hard to bring it from abroad...these strange region-specific boxes of individually wrapped sweets don't exist everywhere. When you go on a trip while in Japan, you can grab a box of it (and they sell it in small, medium, large, etc) based on how many people you want to bring it back for. I have 60 teachers in my main school and I bring stuff for them only and not my other school. If they don’t know I'm going somewhere, I don't bring anything. It's expensive if you travel a lot! lol – Usually you just leave the box in a main area with a note on it saying where it's from and to help themselves. You don't have to go around personally handing it to people so you don't need to worry about giving it twice to the same person! It's just a fun courtesy thing for the office to have sweets around for when people travelled. It was one of my hugest worries when coming to Japan and now I realize I was just being retarded and overthinking it.

First day of work: just be smiley and nice and approachable! I didn't know any Japanese other than the greeting words! People may be scared out of their minds to talk to you. I had a new teacher introduce herself with the wrong name to me yesterday, she was so nervous!!!!

And I constantly divide the class into teams to do things. Works fine! I don’t give out prizes because even though I brought some with me in the beginning, I realized they run out fast when you teach like 15 different classes. Instead there’s a point-scheme in place by the school where they get dollar bills called“Totoro dollars” for good stuff that count as extra credit points for their exam later. If there isn’t something like this in place (I've heard other schools have passport books that they get stamps in) then you might be able to start one!

The way your class works and what you can do in it depends on age/region/ability. I can only speak for HS, and in general students are shy and don't want to volunteer answers. This plays a huge role in what kind of activities will work, though as they get used to you, they'll open up. They're not hugely competitive most of the time, so a lot of the competition games I played in HS French would not work here. This is a culture where sameness is rewarded, so standing out as an individual or a group that is better than another in the same class isn't a great thing like it is in America. Also, each one of your classes will be different. If you happen to have one class clown in the class, the entire class will act accordingly and be more open and happy. If not, you may have a dead silent class full of students who take 10 minutes to move their desks into groups for a game (this has happened to me). My more academic school is less enthusiatic to participate in things than my lower-level school.

In most of my classes, team teaching doesn't work the way we or JET would like it to. I plan and run activities on my own for the most part without any kind of guidance or input from a JTE. I only have one class where the teacher comes up to me and tells me what she wants me to do in her class, as an assistant. For the others, I mainly teach alone while the JTE stands off to the side...the day before they'll come up to me and ask what activities I have, and I'll show them. Sometimes I have a few and let them pick what they like. Then I implement and run it in the class.

Wow do I like to talk!

[chelocean]

@Kirari: for the omiyage you bring with you, it can be as simple as like, a bag of fun-size Reese's (this is one US candy they don't have here) that you put in a bowl and leave in the staff room. I overthought it and brought like 15 boxes of Rice Krispie treats that took up a huge portion of my suitcase! lol - You can bring better stuff for your principal or supervisor, etc (your pred can tell you who to bring it for, in my case it was Principal, Vice Principal, Landlord and two English convo ladies I would teach) and I just gave them little gift bags of a few bigger size candies and America pencils. It's truly the thought that counts though.

I also went immediately to my school from the airport to meet people (stressful, but yes this is what happens!). You'll be tired and smelly probably. You can put out your omiyage in the morning the next day. No rush! People aren't like, OMG WHERE IS HER OMIYAGE?! It's not something they think about. When the omiyage appears, they're like, "Oh cool! American candy!" and that will be their first thought of it.

Interesting experiences:

--A grandma in the supermarket physically removed popcorn from my basket and asked loudly if I was able to eat it, telling me how delicious it was and annoucing to others in the supermarket that the gaijin eats popcorn.

--A teacher telling me cold weather gives her diarrhea while walking to class, totally nonchalantly

--While walking at night from a friend's apartment into the city (45 min walk) I was picked up by two ladies screaming at me about what the frack I was doing walking by a highway and personally delivered by car to my destination, totally out of their way

[Kirari]

@chelocean - Thanks for the omiyage advice. That does make me feel a bit better about it. And your experiences are awesome. I lol'd for real when I read about the lady in the grocery store! And about the ladies picking you up - I have heard quite a few people tell similar stories about Japanese going out of their way to help out. Kinda gives me the warm fuzzies.

To any of you in Japan right now, I've just heard that there's severe weather, like, everywhere. I was directed to this clickable map that shows crazy goings-on in every single prefecture, especially the coastal ones. What's the deal? Is everyone okay?

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/warn/index.html

[MollyQ]

@ chelocean

Thanks for the tips for the omiyagi, when I was reading about that I was so confused, everything said to bring something that is 'specific to where you are from and can't be obtained in japan' so I'd been trying to think up like weird random new york/new england things ... it's good to hear it's more about the thought and not such a big deal. When I had a Japanese exchange student in high school her parents gave me some pretty extravagant gifts so I was thinking I had to drop some serious cash on presents alone should I get shortlisted.

Also, Happy Tuesday, everyone! I have a paper to refine but why would I do that when I can read hundreds of pages of forum posts?