Jeanneabeck’s Weblog

When you come to Japan as an ALT, know that you will have a lot of extra time on your hands.  While I don’t typically have as much down time as other high school ALTs I know (with exception to Tuesday when I visit my ‘visit’ school), you’ll still be working a 40-hour job and need something to do with the rest of the 168 hours in the week.  Besides, when you’re finished with JET you might want to have something to show that you used your time wisely. Luckily, there are a lot of activities, clubs, and groups you can take part in, which I think could generally be broken up into four groups: school clubs, community center-based groups, community groups, ALT groups.

• School Clubs: If you’re placed at a junior high school or high school, your school will probably have a nice range of clubs to choose from.  ALTs are generally welcome to join the clubs and can learn a lot about Japanese cultural activities or can just enjoy playing your favorite sport while far away from home.  My main school has 30 different clubs to choose from; 15 sports clubs (we’d call them teams in the US), and 15 cultural clubs.  You could learn karate, kyudo (Japanese archery), calligraphy, flower arranging, tea ceremony, or how to dance to hip hop music, play folk music on the guitar, or take part in any sport. Clubs can meet up to every day of the week (including Saturday and Sunday) so students usually belong to just one, maybe two clubs (though the exchange students have been known to join three or more.)  If you join a meet-everyday-club, make sure you can arrange it so that you don’t have to go every day (unless you want to).  Being in charge of the English Club is in me and my ALT buddy’s job description.  We should meet twice a week but lately it’s been once a week.  We’ve somewhat become an English movie appreciation club which has made planning very simple, but makes me wonder if we shouldn’t do something more.  Whatever makes the kids happy, I guess.  

• Community Center-based groups:  The community centers “kominkan”　公民館 around town offer many different clubs and activities.  You can learn Japanese, help others learn English, study martial arts, yoga, taiko (traditional Japanese druming), photography, traditional dancing, etc.  It really varies by community center, but if you’re in a good sized city there’ll be several community centers in the area.  Also, this is one resource that was not mentioned at the JET Program Orientation last year but I think it’s worth mentioning.  I should follow my own advice and join a group sometime. 

• Community groups: There are a lot of clubs and groups out there in the community if you know where to find them.  Think of something you’re really interested in and try to find a group by asking around.  After watching the popular Japanese drama Nodame Cantabile I got swept away by the idea of playing viola in Japan.  With the help of a Japanese friend from Iida, I found the Iida City Symphony Orchestra website and left a message saying I’d be moving there soon and can play violin or viola.  Turns out the orchestra had a dire need for violists and were excited to have a foreign member. On a side note, I stopped going to the bunraku (traditional Japanese puppetry) troupe back in October/November.  Due to a variety of reasons including the distance, difficulty traveling there, difficulty with the Japanese language, needing time to study, etc. I decided to end it.    Orchestra has allowed me to meet 3 times as many Japanese people, some who are my age, some who speak English, at a closer, more convenient location, and we’re doing an activity I’ve been doing since elementary school.  Familiarity might be another reason orchestra won over bunraku. Sometimes ALTs feel like they have to do something “Japanese” while in Japan.   You’re already adjusting to a new culture, if you like an activity and are good at it, doing it in Japan might help you feel more at home, whereas trying too many new things at once might burn you out.  There’s a lot “mights” here, just do what feels right to you. 

• ALT groups:  AJET (Association for JETs) has a lot of activities to keep their members happy and active in Japan.  My predecessor was an editor for the monthly(?) Nagano ALT newspaper and helped organize a lot of events.  They’ll have parties, go skiing, mountain climbing, Christmas caroling, host talent shows, and other fun stuff.I don’t do anything with AJET, I’m not even a member of the Nagano AJET mostly because I’m at the far South of a really top-heavy prefecture, putting most activities outside my car-less, penny-pinching reach.

Dream big, dream now, just don’t dream too hard and imagine Japan to be some perfect rosy-tinted world of bliss (like I kinda did).  You can learn a lot of cool things here though, both in and outside of school.  Just make some plans and stick to them.    

My profile: Jeanne A Beck
School Club: English Club (English movie appreciation club?)
Current activities:  Iida Symphony Orchestra 
Masters of Education in TESOL Education student
Ryan-san’s cheerleader to help(?) him earn his associates/bachelor’s degree