Filed under: Uncategorized
The Pre-Departure Orientation and reception came and went, consisting of a few memorable moments and people. 187 people are departing for JET from Chicago, which I believe is the most people from any embassy in the US; while some JETs seem totally with it, with a lot of knowledge on Japan and Japanese, others are… Leaving my best suit behind in Jefferson City, I was overly aware of everyone dressed better than me, however there were a few poor mismatched, sneakers and grandma’s dress pants types, as well as the I’m-too-cool-to-dress-up types that couldn’t help but being noticed. Surprisingly I saw someone dressed up in lolita fashion for the plane ride today. She’s in for an experience. Also notably, last night one girl at my table took no less than 3 doggie bags worth of food off the table and other tables at the formal-ish reception to her room, ruthlessly grabbing all in her site. I was thinking about brining one of the hotel’s delicious brownies to my mom but nevermind.
A few blessings included meeting my friend Rob right away and being able to sit with him at the orientation (tables were assigned at the reception), and surprisingly not having a roommate in my hotel room. Either she got different accomodations, got cold feet, or had one hell of an experience not making it to Chicago yesterday. Guess I’ll never know. My whole family also came with me and they’ve been a great help. I’m soon to leave for the airport and will write more later.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Tomorrow we leave around 5am for Chicago, opting to take the ~7 hour drive rather than flying from KC or StL. My last day in Jefferson City was all too ordinary, but it was just fine this way. The day before I became officially engaged to my boyfriend, and after all the craziness that ensued from my relatives, a normal day is all that I could ask for. It is now 10:20pm and there are still small piles of random stuff in the living room. Wonder if this stuff will fit in my luggage?
I’ve realized that packing for working abroad for a year was much harder than I anticipated. Only being able to hold 50lbs in each of my two suitcases, I easily bought 40lbs worth of new dressy clothes and another 20lbs of gifts. Ok, I’m making these numbers completely up, but regardless, it’s become impossible to take everything I wanted to bring, which is completely opposite of what happens when I packed to tour and/or study abroad. Guess I better finish the task I started.
Filed under: Happenings
After a memorable trip to Kansas City and Branson, Missouri, of all places, I find myself back home with only a little more than a week left until Japan. The same things I’ve been putting off are still waiting for me to finish up, and though this summer has gone by too quickly and many personal goals were not accomplished, I’m feeling as though even my blunders were for a reason, and my desires for improving myself in Japan are even stronger.
I did accomplish one goal, however, and that was to see my family and boyfriend plenty before departure, though some of our get-together’s were strange. For example, after finally going to a medical spa and getting a chemical peel yesterday, I went over to my boyfriend Ryan’s apartment where we had a 10+ movie marathon while my face healed. Fun times. 
Filed under: JET
The living room and dining room of my house lay in ruins as I attempt to pack a years worth of clothing and other necessities into two suitcases and a carryon or two. There’s much one can buy in Japan, but at the same time, there’s much one should prepare before leaving to work in Japan. Gifts for the people who will be working with you is important, but so is looking presentable while teaching, much less at the Tokyo orientation. I’ll be bringing a small library worth of Japanese language study books along as well. Of course, there are only the necessary ones. More daunting is the process of organizing and storing my belongings I’m not bringing, especially when I’d rather just let them lay in piles in my family’s basement. There’s still much to do.
Obviously being a first timer to the job scene in Japan, I’m no expert on the matter. I will however, give you a few links and advice on how you can find a teaching job in Japan. Since I don’t know much about non-teaching jobs I’m not of much help in this sense, nor will I pretend to be.
I’ve been asked by several people about how one applies for a visa for Japan, but to the best of my knowledge this is “putting the cart in front of the horse” as one needs to secure a job from an employer, who will assist you with obtaining a visa. Japan’s a smart country in the sense that it seems as though only those holding a bachelor’s degree can get a Visa for a teaching job (possibly for all jobs?), unless you’re the dependent of a spouse/parent whose working in Japan or you’re married to a Japanese person. There’s seven different types of visas, as an assistant language teacher via the JET Program I was told to apply for the Specialist in Humanities/International Services. Your employer should tell you what type of visa to apply for and it should be fairly obvious which one to apply for. For visa information, I recommend going straight to the source at http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/travel_and_visa/visa/index.htm, and/or contacting your local embassy.
After talking with people interested in working in Japan, it seems as though the consensus is that obtaining a visa is really difficult, that there’s lots of paperwork, etc., but from my experience it was the complete opposite. Applying for the JET program, I had to fill out a 20+ page document, letter’s of recommendation, transcripts, proof of graduation, proof of study abroad, etc., be screened, interviewed, submit health forms, an FBI fingerprint check, IRS forms, etc. all of which were probably more tedious than the one page, one passport photo visa documentation. (And remember, you must have your passport first) The visa application was a walk in the park after everything else I’ve had to gather for JET, the only hard part was mailing off my actual passport to the embassy, which I was reluctant up to the point I was close to missing the deadline when I finally sent it via next day delivery.
Anyway, here’s a few places you can find Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) and English teaching jobs in Japan that have been recommended to me and that I’ve found useful. There’s many other sites of course, just Google it. For most jobs, you need to be a native English speaker with a bachelor’s degree. Some require a teacher license but not all. Any ALT job should not require a teacher license because you are not the main teacher in the classroom.
JET Programme [link] or JET Program USA [link] The ALT program for Japan. They also hire Coordinators of International Relations (CIRs) and Sports experts (SEAs). You can reapply for your job as many as five years.
Dave’s ESL cafe. [link] This place has tons of TEACHING jobs (not ALT unless specified) all over the world. For Japan, look under the “International job forum” where you’ll unfortunately have to weed through all the other job posts. There’s a separate Korea and China forum because of their high demand for teachers. Most jobs will be for English cram schools that students go to after their regular school is over, but actual schools, colleges, and universities will post jobs too. There’s usually a lot less paperwork involved than JET, but be cautious and ask lots of questions when job hunting at cram schools because your hours might be weird (late nights/weekends), you probably won’t have the same perks as JET (won’t pay for plane ticket), and in some situations, you might not be treated as well. Try to get the phone numbers/email address of other English teachers and get their feedback and make sure your contract spells everything out.
Japan Iterac [link] For ALT jobs in Japan
Altia Central [link] For ALT jobs in Japan
(These two groups claim to provide better ALTs than JET. In some cases they might be right, but I personally, through my non-gaijin-esque actions in Japan hope to prove them wrong.)
EPIK Program. [link] ALT jobs in South Korea. It’s not Japan, but Korea is an awesome place too and I was going to apply here if JET fell through.
The Japan Times and other Japanese newspapers in English have classified ads for all types of jobs in Japan. There are also other job boards online, just Google it. As long as you’ve got an employer, you’ll be able to get a visa and begin work. Whether you’re studying or living abroad, it is a life changing experience and I recommend everyone with an open mind and heart to experience going abroad. (And of course, if you’re just visiting the country, you don’t need a visa nor any of the info I just posted)
On June 29th, Japan seemed forever away, as though I had all the time in the world to be lazy and put off the 3 p’s: paperwork, packing, and planning. It was around 1 or 2am of July 1st that I was hit with the realization that I was leaving for Japan in less than a month, on July 26th no less. I probably won’t start sleeping well again until considerable progress is made in packing what’s going to Japan and orgainzing and storing what’s staying behind in Missouri, not to mention studying Japanese. It’s now crunch time, but first I have a vacation in the Ozarks to attend to. Gotta spend time with the family too.
