Purpose of this Blog

This blog has been created to serve as a tool for those interested in Japanese language and culture, providing resources and articles designed to expand the reader's knowledge on related topics. If you have an idea for a post on this blog, please comment below.

Information for Aspiring JETs

What is JET?

The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme is an exchange program sponsored by the Japanese government that offers university graduates the opportunity to work as either a Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) in selected local government offices in Japan, or as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in elementary or secondary schools. For a basic introduction to the JET Programme, click here. 

Interested university graduates can apply for this programme, and, if accepted, will be placed somewhere in Japan for paid work. Preferences for placement can be made, though the company finds accommodation for the employee. Transportation to and from Japan is covered, but the accommodation must be paid for by the employee. Orientation sessions are held both prior to and following departure to Japan, and after arriving in Japan, participants are required to participate in mandatory training sessions, and they can enroll in Japanese language courses.

If you have any more questions about JET that not covered here or within JET’s articles on their website, check out their FAQ, or contact them using the information at the bottom of their home page.

Why apply to JET?

Why not apply to JET? If you are interested in Japanese culture, enjoy working with others, thrive for new experiences, and love learning from and teaching others, then JET might be worth looking into. While there may be a fair amount of papers required for application, the process is not overly difficult, it is free to apply and the chance to teach abroad for a year is extremely alluring to many.

Successful applicants are flown to and from Japan free of charge and housing arrangements are taken care of, though the costs for apartments are paid for by the participant. In your first year in the programme, yearly salary is ￥3.36 million (~$42, 000 CAD), and this value increases year after year. Click here for more details on salaries. Aside from the decent salary, there is time for taking holidays and exploring Japan or other nearby countries such as Korea. The combination of travel, play, and work, is a welcome change for many university students and the decent salary allows for some repayment of student loans, or saving for further studies.

Who can apply to JET?

Anyone who is a Canadian citizen and holds a Bachelor’s Degree by the designated departure date (usually around July 29^th) can apply to JET. For a full list and explanation of JET’s criteria for eligibility, click here.

Things required for application:

Applying to JET is a two-stage process which involves filling out an online application and submitting other required documents, and going for an interview. The applicants who pass the first application stage are granted an interview which usually takes place in Feburary during Reading Week. These interviews are held at the Japanese consulate offices, so for Albertans, this would be in Calgary.

The application itself requires a written essay about why you’d like to participate and why you should be selected, as well as a few reference letters and some official documentation from your university. These details are, unfortunately, not made available on their website until they open up the online application sometime in October or Novemeber. The deadline for submitting all documents is the end of November, so it’s a very good idea to check the website frequently leading up to the application release date, and to prepare your essay ahead of time. References should be considered well in advance and they should be chosen carefully.

For the timeline regarding the application process, click here. 

Planning ahead for application

One of the worst things to experience when applying for such a program is the applications opening late and you having to scramble to gather all the required materials such as transcripts, and reference letters. Such occurrences are not necessarily uncommon, but the stress resulting from such an event can be avoided by careful planning. Keep in mind that midterms in most universities take place around October/November, so staying ahead of the game is even more important in this case.

Aspiring JETs should begin browsing the JET website months before applying. In the best case scenario, this should be done at least a full semester before so that if you have any questions regarding the process or experience, there is plenty of time to ask your teachers, peers, or get in contact with JET coordinators.

At least a rough draft for the required essay should be written during the summer leading up to the application period. This will give you plenty of time to ponder how to make your essay stand out from those of the other applicants, and it will help you realize if there is anything else you could do during the summer to help your application. It may be a good idea to volunteer at a school or daycare over the summer, or to join a university group connected to Japanese exchange students.

Consider learning Japanese. While the JET programme does not require ALTs to be fluent in Japanese, over the years ALTs with some Japanese proficiency have become preferred. If possible, take a course at your university, or, enroll in some off-campus lessons if you can find them. Taking formal courses is not necessary, but they may help if you have no prior Japanese language experience. Immerse yourself in Japanese movies and television shows to help hone your listening skills and your pronunciation. There are many free Japanese learning resources online that can be exploited, so you don’t necessarily have to spend hundreds of dollars on lessons.

If you have some Japanese ability, consider taking the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). Taking one of these tests is a great way to build your JET application as it shows strong determination in your desire to learn the Japanese language. Even if you only pass the most basic level of the test, it shows a level of dedication that may help put you above other applicants. If you are interested in taking the JLP, not that you must register for these tests months in advance, and only two are held each year. One is in summer, and the other is around December. Plan in advance if you are considering taking the test, as the latest you could take the test in order to use your scores on the JET application would be during the summer. This year, the summer JLPT test falls on July 1^st. If you want more information, please visit the JLPT website here, and visit my posts on how to register for the JLPT and how to prepare for it.

Life after JET (career options and extended contracts)

Life after JET is different for everyone but may include staying in Japan having acquired an extended contract from a school, returning home to start a career, or going back to school. On JET’s website, click “After JET Guide” underneath the heading “Former JETs” at the top of the page for a downloadable pdf about the steps involved in returning home, adjusting to reverse culture shock, and tips on finding your path after JET. 

The Real JET Experience [Interview with Matt]

The following is an interview with former JET participant Matt, who is originally from Minnesota and currently is pursuing a Master’s degree in cultural psychology at the University of Alberta.

M: Matt (interviewee)

K: Karyn (interviewer)

Since Matt started the JET program many years ago, questions about the application process and interview process, as seen in other JET interviews, have been omitted.

K: When did you apply for the JET Programme?

M: I applied for JET in the fall of 2002, and started in the summer of 2003.

K: Where did you request to be placed for your contract? Why did you choose this location? Did you get this location?

M: I think I requested to be in a mid-sized town, but I didn’t request for a specific place. When I went, it was really, really random. Most people that requested for a place got the exact opposite. Like, people who wanted to be in a big city, ended up in an island with like, 12 people. So, I considered myself lucky. Even though I requested a town that was mid-sized, it was about 100,000 people. It felt more like a town in the US that is 20-30,000 people. There were fields next to my house and they had a rule where you could only have like, 50% fields and 50% residential. No movie theatres, no mall, no English at all. If you want to learn Japanese, I recommend asking for the extreme islands (Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido) because in those islands there are less English signs, less foreigners, and the people there expect you to speak Japanese. I ended up in Saijo, Ehime. 

View Larger Map

Mount Ishizuchi, Saijo, Ehime

K: What kind of applicants does JET seem to be looking for?

M: It seems like in the past they were looking for people who were more naive about Japan and who wanted to go for an adventure and a cultural experience. But now, it seems like they are looking for people who have a more serious interest in Japan. So, people who are studying Japanese, are pretty fluent or can speak well, and interact in the community. When I came in, everyone that was an ALT had no Japanese ability. That was just normal. In fact, it was strange to see someone who spoke Japanese. The CIRs were all pretty fluent though.  I think it’s because of the job market. There are more applicants, more people, and it’s really competitive. You really need a better resume to be accepted. It also seems that the people that go there now are more biased, so they act in a different way.

K: Describe the events of the days leading up to your departure. Do you have any advice for those about to pack up and leave home for a year?

M: For me, it was a fog. I didn’t really have a realization that I was going to Japan. They had a pre-conference to go to, and I visited my family, including some cousins. There was also a conference in Japan, but they were all useless. The only true thing that they said is that everyone’s experience would be different. Because of this, the advice they gave was pretty much useless. It might give a hint, but it could be completely different for everyone. When I got there, they wanted me to talk to students about my hometown, Minnesota. It was 38, 40 degrees, and they wanted me to teach a lesson right away. There were kids sleeping in their desks. That’s one experience that was definitely unique to me; I don’t think anyone else had that same type of experience on their first day.

Regarding the advice for those about to pack up and leave home, if you have any products like medicine, hairspray, etc, that you really think works the best, make sure you bring it, because you will never find the same thing in Japan. If you need drugs, it’s really hard to find because the side effects are all written in Kanji. Spices too. These are the things I wish I had packed. I had them shipped over later, but they came in food boats, so they took 3 months to come… so half of it spoiled. I think some of it was peanut butter… somehow it went bad. I remember getting a type of cleaner I wanted sent over, but it got sent back because it had something bad in it that wasn't accepted in Japan. Even if you have to pay an extra $100 for another suitcase, it’s a good idea to bring such things.

If you are tall and are a biker, it’s a great idea to buy a bike here, and actually ship it over on the plane, because you can’t buy big bikes in Japan at all.

K: When you learned where you would be going, were you able to look up information about this school?   

M: No. Actually, there were no English websites at the time for my schools. I did get info about my predecessor, but other than that it was hard to get a feel for it. It’s almost certain that a school’s website would be in Japanese, so unless you know a lot of Japanese, it’s pretty much useless to try to look up more information.

K: How was accommodation taken care of? Did you have any say in where you lived?

M: I think it’s pretty common, at least in my area, that only a few of the apartment buildings want to take foreigners. Most people get their predecessor’s place and their stuff. For me, it was a new apartment. I paid $460CAD/mo, but the BOE (Board of Education) paid about $260 of it. I’ve heard about people having really bad apartments, (like, black mould and other things hazardous to your health), and even fighting those in charge, they still didn't want to move them. So, they would have to pay a lot of money for that move, and the key money, you don't get it back either. So if I were to move, it would have cost me maybe $1000 or $2000. For me, I didn't have AC, and it was 40 degrees out. There was no human way to sleep in that. So I stayed in my neighbour’s apartment until I got AC (my neighbour was my ALT). The BOE gave me an AC that they found, but it didn't even work. It cost me $100 /mo for AC for ONE ROOM. It was a pretty bad AC.

K: What were the first few days in Japan like?

M: I actually had about a month before I had to work. I had no responsibilities at all. One of my coworkers, an ALT, told me what I would be teaching. We also biked to all the schools. I had 16-20, so my first year I basically spent it all doing an introduction to all the schools. Most of my time in this first month was spent working on moving in. I had to buy all my stuff but had to use a bike to carry it, so I would make like, 5 trips just to get enough dishes in my house.

I also met teachers, but they didn’t really help me prepare. I hadn’t brought pictures, money, or any things from where I was from, so I had to buy a printer to print things out to show to the kids for the introductions.

In the first month I had so much free time so I tried to get involved in the community. I joined a soccer team from a school I hadn’t met before, so I met a lot of my future students in the summer. This was really great because it helped make my classes a lot better. I literally taught 2500 students. 

K: How were the first days on the job? What were the other staff members like? How different was it walking into a Japanese classroom for the first time?

M: Well for me it was kinda strange. So, my first two days was an elementary school, and they were really good schools, but I learned on the job that you should never trust technology, ‘cause I spent 30 minutes out of the 40 minute class getting a projector to work. And none of the teachers knew how to work it, so during this time all the kids were going crazy.  

The third day I went to a Jr. high that was famous for the kids being violent. All the teachers hated that schools. There were fire alarms pulled 4-5 times a week, people screaming in the middle of classes, people running down the halls, holes being punched in walls… Because of this school, I took on a persona of being a badass. That was an interesting school.

The week after, I went to a country school, where all of the students were really, really sweet. So, I noticed that while all experiences are different, even all the schools are different.

In all the schools I tried to get active in their sports, so that helped students respect me and behave well in class. Even the bad school became one of my best schools. At first, it’s intimidating at times. Students can get away with a lot more in classes, because they can’t get kicked out of classes. Even if they are standing up walking around, screaming in class, hitting the desks of other students, I’ve had teachers do nothing. I had a rule, if you have 4 classes, you’ll have 2 that are really good, one that is really, really bad, and one that is kinda moderate. That rule fit in all grades, all schools, any level. That pattern just seemed to work.

K: What were the culture shocks you experienced?

M: The language at first. I thought I spoke Japanese more than I did. I found that I couldn’t understand anything because they spoke so fast, they had a dialect, and there was no English anywhere. I remember that in the first month I didn't want to leave my town, because the subway station had everything in kanji that I couldn’t read, so I didn't know where to go. Even if you start to know how to make sentences, they drop pronouns, they drop subjects, and sometimes their words, like “nomu” (drink), don't always mean the same thing. Like, I had a cup of coffee on my desk that was empty, and my boss (the vice principle of the school) came in and asked me “nonde masu ka” and I said yes, because I had drank a coffee. Turns out this means “Have you been drinking?”, referring to alcohol. I guess my face was a bit red because the coffee was hot, and he thought I had drank before coming to work.

Also ,“hai” does not always mean yes. It means, “I heard you”. A nod also does not mean yes, but “I heard you”.

Another thing was that when you go out drinking, everything that you do when you were drinking is forgiven. For example, you can completely complain to your boss when drunk, but not if you’re not.

Another thing is that changing things in the system take so long because everything is so set and firm. You have to wait for the person responsible for you to get transferred, ‘cause that new person will be the one who will listen to you about suggestions and complaints. When my new person came, I was able to make it so that 50% of my time was to be spent in elementary schools. This worked because normally there is a lot of time when I would sit in classes as kids did all this hard work writing, etc. I should be doing something productive during this time, like going to an elementary school and actually interact with the students there.

K: Were there any cultural differences (customs, etc) that you wish you had been aware of before?

M: Well I’m a cultural psychologist so…. Probably most people would say different things, but most of the things that happened to me occurred when I was more integrated in the culture. Most people who go to Japan are really young and liberal, so they’re mostly accepting of cultural things, but it’s when you deal with real issues that is most shocking. For me, I really realized that the culture was different, when I was in my third or fourth year. I was super independent, in an interdependent society. In the first three years, I was independent but I tried to do things in the Japanese way, and they loved me, and everything was alright. But in my fourth year, I was sick of working ‘til 7pm, because I did clubs afterschool, taught some really strong kendo clubs, and because of that I would be hanging out with my coworkers from 5-7pm. If I hadn’t put the effort into putting that time in, I wouldn’t have had connected with them. So, in my fourth year, I was unable to connect with them in the same way. You only get paid for 35hours a week, but the real expectation is 50-60. I recommend picking a few days a week to stay late so that you can build a proper connection with your coworkers.  It’s not a question, really. If you want to be respected by the school, you need to volunteer to put in the extra time for clubs, etc. It’s because of this concept of interdependence.

Japanese teachers are in title, sensei, the equivalent of doctors. And they get the respect equivalent to this. So, the standards are very high for them. Only 10% of those studying in school become real teachers. They are not getting paid a lot, but they put a lot in, so they deserve a lot of respect for their efforts. It doesn't mean that you have to do that though, but if you want to truly experience the culture, you should.

K: Would you recommend that students try to immerse themselves in the culture before departing for Japan? Or at least have some experience with the culture?

M: I think it’s useful to read up on some stuff, but I don’t think it’s helpful in reality, because you can never really understand it until you’ve actually been in Japan for a while. Even after five years you could think you understand the culture, but then you’ll see something that throws you off completely. Even after ten or twenty years, this still happens.

K: Describe a typical day in the classroom.

M: A typical day would be getting in at 7:42 am and 33 seconds. I come in, drop all my stuff off in a desk shared between all the ALTs. I steal the office lady’s desk as my own, because somehow she is of lower status than me, and so she ends up standing all day. And she offers a snack and tea. I then say to myself, “okay, I am early. I hate the morning meetings”. I look at the board in the room, and I know what all the words mean. Before I knew what it meant, I would have classes cancelled for the whole day.  I look at the day and say, “okay I don't wanna do the morning meeting”, so instead I go out and greet the students, make a joke, shake their hands randomly. And if they are ignoring me, I stand right in front of them and say “HI” and they say “hi..”. I don't particularly like it it, but I am out of the morning meeting, I’m out in the sun, and the teachers give me respect for it.  At about 8:05 the bell rings “pin pon pin pon pon”, and then I go back towards my desk, pick up my stuff, and head up to the teachers office. There’s a teachers’ office for each grade so I get the guest desk, or the mean-guy’s desk who’s never there. I sit there and have 20-30min before classes start, so I go to the hallway and just sit down in a chair and usually the class REPs walk by, and they all say “hi”, give me a high five, or talk to me. Technically they are not allowed to talk during that period, but I do that anyways because I’m an ALT and can break all the rules. So at 8:30 a teacher would come back and come to my desk and give me my day’s schedule. Some of them asked me to make something for class in 15min, and I would be like, “NO.”. If it’s a ridiculous request, you have to be assertive, and they’ll get the point. I often told them to tell me the day before if they want me to make something.

So then I’d walk to class; all the kids are goofing off, the bad kids role their eyes, and the good kids are shaking in heir desks with excitement, and get up to shake my hand. And then about 5 minutes in, the class starts. The first thing the teachers do is for the first 30 seconds make the students close their eyes and be quiet, which focuses the class. It makes the class go way better. They’ve done studies on it, and it’s true, it works. Then usually we’d start a on a book and they’d have me read a chapter from it. All the sentences are just stupid and ridiculous. I can’t even produce them off the top of my head. And then the students would repeat after me. And then I’d do the same on very simple, random words. Then the teachers would translate everything in Japanese, so the whole effort of studying English was gone. Then we usually do some sort of activity. The cool thing is that usually a teacher would have me do an activity in every class. So I would have some game related to a grammar point, or a conversation thing, that we’d do for 20-30 minutes and the class would be done.

Then I’d get a break for about an hour, eat and study or read, then in the next class do the exact same thing. I’d have about 2.5 hours of my own break/studying, and 4 classes. I also had a lunch break, and in my school we’d eat with the students, so I would walk down with the students and get a kyushoku, a giant bin of food, and then the teacher would serve it all and share it. There’s usually soup, rice, deserts, bread, etc. You prepare it all. The rule was for me to not talk at all when dishing it all out, and wait until everyone in the class has it, and then we all say “itadakemasu”, and then we have lunch. In the bad classes, the students aren’t allowed to talk at lunch, so they’d always give me the evil eyes. In some classes, they let you sit where you want, but in others it’s assigned. So we’d talk in trivial English for 30 minutes and eat. At the end, you put all the dishes and containers up front and take it all back down to the lunchroom.

If you cant eat a lot of food, tell them beforehand, and if you have an allergy, tell the principle, and tell the English teacher. Because they will force you to eat all the food, even if you are deathly allergic. In the classes that allow kids to not eat, you can really see it. There is a lot of anemia in Japan, especially because girls will not eat. When I have been sick, I’ve just told them before hand that I was sick, and it would be okay. 


After lunch there is a recess and as long as the weather is nice out, some or all people play games outside. There’s music outside, art, games, etc. For me, I’d play sports sometimes, or go listen to music, play games, or talk to people in class. Or sometimes I’d just read a book. If it’s summer, all your clothes will be so wet because you played basketball for 15 minutes. Literally that’s what it looks like, and all the students will be like “Matttt did you jump in the swimming pool??”.

After that is cleaning time, so for 15-20 minutes they play music and no one is allowed to speak and all the students have to clean the hallways, the toilets, pick weeds, etc. They clean everything. And then I go back to my last classes.

Then it would be about 4pm and the bell would ring, and I’d go back to my office, and the students would have a homeroom meeting. I would actually go to the homeroom meeting, sit in on a random class, to listen to their Japanese and learn some of the culture. Then students would start to head off to club, and after about 15 minutes I’d head off to kendou, where I was a teacher. In the last hour or two of that I would just beat up on them and make them cry, especially the girls. They didn't cry because I was hurting them, but because they tried their best and couldn't get a point. They went to state and got 8^th place the first year, then 4^th and then 2^nd. Even now I visit them and we are just great friends. Then I’d go home at about 6 or 7pm, and I’d be done for the day. Once it’s 3:30-4pm, you can go home. You don’t have to stay. Some days would be short days, and I’d leave at 1pm. Or some days I’d stay as late as 9pm.

K: Describe a special, or eventful day in the classroom or at the school (example, a festival day).
M: Okay, I’ll talk about the jr. high sports festival. The month before the students had been practicing these events all the time. All the students practice as a class, and they get points for their performance. They do group events, as well as individual events. The higher grades also do special events. For example, in jr. high they did something called mukade. They would fall and there would be blood everywhere, and some of what I would call fatal injuries would be like a broken leg. The other one was kibasen, where they put hats on and people on shoulders, and have a battle to take off the hats. This is usually the star event for elementary school.

In the morning, they have all the parents in tents and all the students are lined up military style and they march in, and they get graded on this march, so they practice it for like, 6 months now but they still can’t do it perfect.  So then they come in and all line up and the principle does a greeting speech and then the festival starts. So for the morning they would do a bunch of random events, like obstacle course, sprinting… a lot of the individual events. There’s a pole event where the kids line up and they have to pass a pole under them all, and then over them all. They train for this too, but sometimes people trip and fall, or get the pole in the face. There’s also a scavenger hunt which ends in students jumping in a beanbag over the finish line. There are a lot of changes between the events because all grades are different, so sometimes I have to help organize stuff. There’s also cheer squads too.

At about 12pm there’s a lunch break and all the teachers would go to a room and close the shades, pass out these school box lunches (really expensive good ones), and we start eating and mid way through, one teacher would pull out the beers. And afterwards we’d get nice ice-cream and then we’d open the shades and go all like “oh no, no beer here”. After lunch there would be a PTA event. All the students versus all the parents in tug-of-war. I would join any team that looked like they were losing. In another event, all the sports clubs would run around the track doing a club specific run, like in tennis, the members would run while dribbling the ball.

Then they do the class relay, and finally you’d get to the mukade. There was usually two lines of students, and then after two laps they’d usually have a girl line that would do one lap, and then the guys would go again. This is the most important event because it’s worth 100 points. Sometimes they’d fall, or sometimes there’d be students who couldn't do it no matter what, so I would join in and run alongside them and count with them to help them stay balanced. I would usually help out the weakest team. Then everyone waits for the final scores and they make the students march out again and then they give the scores, and all the students are crying. The third years wanted to win ‘cause it’s their last year, and the first years all tried so hard to win.

And then you think it’s all done and they say bye, and then all the students take down all the tents, like 40 of them, so after being out in the sun all day, they all have sun stroke and take all this stuff down, and take down all the decorations, clean up all the trash, and then at 5/6pm, 3 hours after it finished, they are done, and they are all sweaty and bloody. After that they go back, they all have a juice or something with their class. And then they all go home. The teachers come back and once they go to the office, there’s an after meeting for the event, and then the day is officially done, but its not really done because you’re a teacher. You have to go home, take a shower, and come back for the after party, which is 2-3hours long and involves lots of beer and a lot of good food. And if you have a lot of energy left, there’s usually a second after party, like with karaoke.  

K: What is the most significant thing you have learned so far in your experience as an ALT regarding teaching students? Any advice for future ALTs?

M: I guess the biggest thing I learned about teaching students is that you need to embrace the individuality of the classes.  It's a little bit different from here in that the students in the U.S. or Canada tend to be more personally individualistic, but in Japan the classes tend to take on this tendency.  That is, while kids still do have individuality, they aren't allowed to express it on the same scale here.  As the saying goes in Japan, "The peg that sticks out, gets pounded down." Instead, you tend to find that classes take on collective personalities.  Some loud, some quiet, some enjoying certain activities.  By catering to these tastes, in effect making slight deviations as to how you present the material, you can basically make all the classes you teach have fun, which is pretty much our job.  Also, I learned to be proactive in teaching Japan.  Some teachers are fine with you doing nothing, some want you to prepare stuff at the last second.  Now, I'm perfectly fine with not doing a lot of work, but hate doing nothing... if you talk to those teachers and ask to add something to class, usually they'll relent.  In addition, if you communicate that you need more than 15 minutes to prepare activities, they can learn to tell you about stuff ahead of time.

K: Did you find yourself bogged down with work, or relatively free to explore Japan outside the classroom? During your holidays, where did you go, or what did you do?

M: Well, I had quite a few different experiences.  Some schools were busy and some really, really idle.  I actually had chats with both of the types and was able to change my situation so I just had enough work to do in either situation.  Of course, when breaks came around I was much more free, and if I hadn't decided to coach the local Kendo teams I could have very well been traveling for several months a year, no problem.  Talking to other ALTs this seems pretty normal.  During holidays I still was able to travel to Hokkaido, Kyushu, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and all around Japan on a few long bike trips.  I recommend Hokkaido in the summer for its cool weather.  I would go almost every yeah and felt that it was the equivalent of 'escaping hell', after all, it was 35-40 and 70-85% humidity in my town for three months in the summer.

K: How long did you end up staying in Japan? How much of this time was under JET? ( did you get a contract? How?) 

M: I stayed 5 and a half years in Japan.  The 5 were under JET and the half living with friends and visiting later.  Originally I was only planning on 2 on JET, and in the end, I ended up staying 5.  Actually, in my fifth year I had considered continuing on in graduate school in Japan, but ended pulling out as I decided that I could get a better education in North America.  My plan is to go back as a researcher/guest lecturer, and it sounds like this is the right time to do it as schools in Japan are trying to become more 'international', forcing them to have more university lectures in big name schools in English.  I liked JET, but there is something very appealing having a real job, with real responsibility, and real raises.  That's something you have in University.

K: Why did you decide to stay in Japan longer?

M: Well, the reason I decided to stay longer was that I enjoyed learning about the culture and I wanted to continue serious Kendo, this teamed with work conditions that were getting better (more responsibility and more elementary school) made it a prime time to continue on.  I'm really glad that I stayed past the 3rd year as friendships with Japanese people can be slow and most of my real, close friends I made in the 4th and 5th year.  I guess this probably has something to do with language ability as I only really become fluent in the 4th year.

K: After JET, and returning home, what path did you choose, and why? Where do you plan to go from here?

M: After returning to the U.S., I decided to go back to school as a graduate student in psychology.  I really enjoyed being a teacher in Japan and even more, I enjoyed the conversations I had with other teachers about the behaviors exhibited by the students we taught.  I was interested in learning (and getting paid to do this) more about these behaviors, and also, the culture differences I saw.  Why I chose academia was that whether or not I study in North America or Japan, I knew that I would have plenty of chances to return to Japan for 'research'.  And even if I'm not 'researching', visiting Japan in the summer is possible, and encouraged, as I need to make friends in Japanese academia and continue my learning of the culture as a good cultural psychologist.

The Real JET Experience [Interview with Danielle]

The following is an interview with a current JET participant named Danielle, who is currently on her first year in JET, but has decided to stay in the programme for at least another year. In university, Danielle was a linguistics major, with a minor in Japanese East Asian Studies. Having completed a bilingual high school diploma, English-French, her minor was originally French, but she later changed it.

D: Danielle (interviewee)

K: Karyn (interviewer)

Before getting into the normal interview questions, I was interested to hear more about her French language ability and her experience with speaking French in Japan:

K: Have you ever used French in Japan?

D: Not really. There was a Belgian classical guitar player who played a concert in town, but he was more comfortable in Dutch. I do use French sometimes when teaching in elementary school. Their textbook uses other languages apart from English, so sometimes French creeps in there. I also often add French as extra content, but more for trivia and to impress the kids. Haha.

K: Okay, now on to the real questions about JET…How did you first learn about JET?

D: Well, my high school had a Japanese programme. I was able to take a few basic Japanese classes, and in my senior year, there was a trip to Japan just to go see all the touristy sights during spring break. One of the teachers supervising the trip was a former JET. She was one of the ESL teachers at my high school, as we had several exchange students who were NNS (non-native speakers), so I had never had a class with her before, however, while on the school trip, she told me a bit about her experience in Japan on the programme. It sounded really great! So that’s how I first heard about it.

K: When you first learned about it, how long was it until you were actually able to apply for the programme?

D: Okay, let me do the math. Let's see… I heard about JET in grade 12, and then applied in the fall of my fourth year at uni. So, 3.5 or 4 years or so?

K: Why were you so interested in JET, and what attracted you most to the programme?

D: Well, the applicability of a linguistics/B of A degree is pretty limited, and it's difficult to find a job in the field of linguistics without returning to school for a master's degree. My orginal plan was to continue after graduating and get a Masters in speech pathology, however, another 2 year degree on top of just finishing a 4 year bachelor's was a little daunting. I felt I needed to get some perspective and experience in the real world before jumping back in to the academic world. I knew I didn't want to get a boring office job somewhere locally, so I was looking at working abroad, or at least elsewhere. I looked at and applied for several programmes, in addition to JET. There's a programme called the Oddessey programme that you may have heard of. It's similar to JET, but run by the Canadian government. It sends English-speaking teachers to Quebec and New Brunswick, and French-speakers from Quebec and New Brunswick to English speaking Canada. There's also a French programme called L'assisstant du langue where you teach English in France. The latter one my sister actually participated in. However, it was very part-time and only for 7 months, so, JET seemed like the way to go. JET was also a good opportunity to keep up the Japanese I had already learned. If you don't use it, you lose it.

Anyway, I was actually accepted for the Oddessey programme too, but JET was always my first choice. Oddessey was a back-up because I wasn't sure what the future of the JET programme was going to be after the earthquake and tsunami. Well, I had already started the application process for both, but I kept going longer and longer with Oddessey, even though I preferred JET, because of the earthquake.

K: So, other than JET being a cool abroad experience, it was a practical application for your skills and building your resume before going back to school?

D: Yes, it was. JET is a great entry-level position. You only need a bachelor degree to get this full-time job, but it was also just to get a chance to explore a country I've held an interest in for years. I had visited Japan twice before JET, actually. Once in high school, as previously mentioned, then again in my second year of uni as an exchange student. I spent one month in Kyoto learning Japanese at Ritsumeikan University. Having lived in Japan for that short month really changed my perspective from tourist to local, and I really wanted more of that. One month was far too short, and now here I am, having lived in Japan for 9 months already, and looking at another 15 months at least :)

K: Did you know any Japanese before applying?

D: Well I learned some Japanese in high school. I took 3 semesters, but the first 2 as evening classes, and the last as self-study. I learned hiragana, katakana, as well as some basic grammar and vocab. This was pretty much what you'd learn in one semester at university. I then took classes for 4 years at university. I also took the summer course abroad, in addition to some Japanese linguistics courses that complemented my major, which taught me some finer points to Japanese grammar, phonetics, etc. I had taken and passed the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) level 3 before hand, and this July I'm taking JLPT N2. So, I guess you would say I had a very strong foundation.

[For more information about the JLPT, click here.]

K: Describe the application process and the interview process.

D: First I went to an info session about the programme that was being held at the U of A. I already knew that I was probably going to apply, but this session answered a lot of questions, and just increased my interest in the programme. I then went to the website and took a look at all the forms. It was all fairly easy to do, except for the reference letters. I was lucky enough to get one from a volunteer position I had for the previous two years teaching ESL at a local school. Then I asked one of my Japanese professors for another one. She was incredibly supportive and I had had her as a teacher for several Japanese classes, including a Japanese applied linguistics course which was all about learning Japanese as a second language, and Japanese people learning English as a second language. I was really fortunate to get two great references that were ideal for application.

Next, I just waited and waited after I submitted this application in December. Finally I got a letter in February, I think, saying I had proceeded to the interview stage. Now, because the interviews are done at Japanese consulates, I had to make my way down to Calgary for the interview. I drove down with a friend of mine who was also going for an interview. We were able to find some example questions for the JET interview online, so we drilled each other in the car on the way down. As for the interview, there were three interviewers: one from the consulate, one was a Japanese teacher at the University of Calgary, and the 3rd was another Japanese man, but I don't remember what his position was. 

They all took turns asking me questions for about 15-20 min. The most difficult question was the one where I had to do a mock lesson. I was told that the three interviewers were elementary students and I had to teach them about three Canadian animals. I then had about one minute to think before presenting. Talk about nerve-wracking! But it worked out. The other thing was about speaking in Japanese. Although Japanese is not required for the JET Progamme, if you have some knowledge, it's a real leg up. So, because I put it on my application, they tested it out. One of them asked me “日本の料理の中で、何が一番好きですか?" (Nihon no ryouri no naka de, nani ga ichiban suki desu ka?) (“Of Japanese cuisine, what is your favourite?”), and I answered, confidently, “うなぎ！”(Unagi) (“Eel!”), to which one of the other interviewers replied, “めずらしい！” (Mezurashii) (“How rare!”). After that, the interview was much more relaxed. Haha. Yeah, I guess a lot of people pick sushi or something, but I genuinely love unagi. I then followed up with a short anecdote about eating unagi in Kyoto and how whenever my friend asked me what I wanted to eat, I would always say, “unagi”. Because I followed up my answer, they didn't ask me another question. It's really just to gauge your comfort level in Japanese, I guess.

Unagi on rice

K: Do you have any advice for aspiring JETs who are looking to apply (regarding the application process, interview, getting accepted, etc.)?

D: Do your research! There's tons of info online, as well as forums, so there's no excuse for not preparing! Know what you're getting into and what the deadlines are, and ask questions if you're unsure! They are really strict about the forms so if you don't tick the correct boxes or put "NA" instead of "N/A" they will send it back to you. So read the instructions carefully! And prepare early! You need to give at least 3-4 weeks for a referee to write a reference letter; don't leave it until last minute! Also, go to the info sessions too!

K: Where did you request to be placed for your contract? Why did you choose this location? Did you get this location?

D: You're allowed three requests. I put number 1 as Kyoto, because I had already lived there for a month and loved it. Also, I knew the local dialect a little. For number 2 I put Hokkaido, because I love skiing and there's some world class ski resorts up there. Also the climate is very similar to Canada's and I don't like long hot summers. And for number 3, I put Hiroshima. I had visited there twice and it's a beautiful modern city. But of course, they rarely place people where they request except in certain cases, such as spouses or family members already living there, or if your hometown has a sister city relationship somewhere. I didn't get any of my choices, but it worked out great anyway!

K: So, where did you end up?

D: Fukushima. I'm in a small rural town in the Aizu region, which is to the far west of the prefecture. You do get to prioritize your placement in terms of rural, semi-urban or urban, and they generally respect your wishes. You usually get one of your top two. I specifically asked for a rural location so I would be forced to use my Japanese on a daily basis and so that I’d get the small town community experience. If you already know some Japanese, I'd recommend a rural setting. If you know none, it can be a little isolating. For example, the closest foreigner to me is 20 minutes drive in the next town over. But if you don't have much Japanese, ask for urban and you'll probably be placed with other JETs nearby and people tend to know more English in larger cities, especially tourist areas.

Air shot of the town from atop the mountains

Street shot, inside the town

K: So, on the JET application, do they give you a list of all the places you can choose from?

D: Yeah, they give you a map of Japan with all the prefectures marked, but of course many are unknown outside Japan. I mean, have you heard of Yamagata, Kagoshima, Akita? Not many applying JETs ask for those and not many JETs actually go to Tokyo. There's maybe 3 placements on tiny islands off the coast that are technically part of Tokyo, but that's it. You have to remember that the purpose of JET is to get native English teachers to areas that traditionally have trouble attracting foreigners, so if you pick something more off the beaten track, and actually get into the progamme, you're more likely to get your placement.

K: Describe the events of the days leading up to your departure. Do you have any advice for those about to pack up and leave home for a year?

D: Ok well as my departure flight was from Calagary, I had to make my way down there. The night before I left town, I had one last going away party with my closest friends and family. It was just a casual BBQ at my parents' place. Of course leading up to my departure I had been trying to visit as many friends as possible. I packed and repacked a million times, trying to keep the weight down. The morning I left was a little rushed though. Luckily, my dad had to be in Calgary for a competition, so he drove me down. In Calgary, there was an orientation where we met all the JETs leaving from the area and we got last minute info about what to expect when we arrived. We also got our passports and shiny new visas too, and there was also a reception at the Japanese consular's house. 

The morning of departure, my dad had to be at a competition early, and we were running late, so when he dropped me off at the airport, it was a bit like ripping off a band-aid. No long lingering good-byes. "GOODLUCK ILOVEYOU SEEYOU HAVEFUN" zoooom! Then I hung around the airport for a few hours until others came around. I should say my family and I have a very loving relationship and it was only cause we were running late that it was that abrupt. Haha. Also some other JETs had their parents hang out with them right up until we had to board, so it's a mixed bag.

Calgary International Airport

K: Do you have any advice for those about to pack up and leave home for a year?

D: Hmm…remember that Japan is a very modern country and many of the things you're packing are avaiable in Japan too, so if you forget anything, you will be able to buy it, or order it online, or get a family member or friend to mail it to you. So don't stress out about it. Also, pay attention to weigh limits on baggage as per the airline. One of the other JETs leaving from my airport decided to pay for an extra third checked bag (+220$) but packed with vacuum sealed bags, meaning she could pack a ridiculous amount of stuff. However, this put her bags way over the weight limit, so she had to run out and buy two more bags and repack on the spot, sending her total checked bags to five (+220$ per extra bag) plus additional overweight fees. You don't need that much stuff, seriously. Whatever it is, you can buy it in Japan. The only things I treated myself to was a French press to make coffee properly, and some tea leaves from home. The rest was mostly clothing and shoes because Japanese sizes tend to run small. 

Also, make sure to pack clothes for several days in your carry-on luggage (including suit) in case your bags are lost. You wouldn't want to show up at orientation with nothing but your travel clothes, haha. Yeah that's about it for the practical side. Emotionally, just remember that thanks to the internet all your friends and family back home are closer than you think. I'm on Facebook very often with photos and updates, and calls back home are free on Skype, so it's not like you get dinged with long distance fees anymore. Since I talk with my family every weekend, it really doesn't feel like I'm living an ocean away.

K: What were the orientation sessions and training like?

D: Well there was a short one in Calgary before we left, then there's the three day Tokyo orientation. Then later in the month there's a prefectural orientation which is usually two days but in my case it was cancelled because Fukushima didn't have the funding after the earthquake. Some of the other JETs just organized our own on a Saturday. Oh, but if you're an alternate and come in group C, I think the Tokyo orientation is only two days. The sessions at Tokyo orientation are a bit of a mixed bag: some are teaching seminars, other Japanese learning stuff, others daily life things (e.g. cooking, driving, etc.). The lecturers are all JETs or JTEss (Japanese teachers of English), so some are excellent while others maybe need more polish. But I think the best thing about orientation is the chance to network and make friends with other JETs in other prefectures, as well as get to know the new JETs in your own prefecture coming at the same time as you. What I did was collaborate with others and we split up to try to get into as many lectures as possible, then shared the key points afterwards. So that's about it really.

K: When did you learn what school you would be teaching at? Were you able to look up information about this school?

D: When i got my placement notification, I was told that I’d be teaching in this town I'd never heard of. I looked it up online, and all the info I could find was its location in Fukushima, and that it had a population of about 2000 people, so there wasn't any info at all. A little while later, I was sent a copy of the contract I'd be signing and included in that package was a little introduction to the area. At that point I was told I'd be teaching at the junior high, elementary and nursery school. There wasn't any info online that I could find. In fact, one of my future projects (hopefully this summer) will be to translate the town's website into English to make it more accessible to foreign visitors, but at the moment, there isn't much info online in English. I also knew that the area was famous for pawlonia wood, whatever that was. Now I know, because I've been living here, but at the time, I was like, ok even in English I don't know what that is. I found out it's a type of tree and its wood is very expensive. There're a few shops in town that sell pawlonia products, such as furniture but also art and carvings. Every town around here has got it's own traditional crafts, so it's kinda neat.

K: How was accommodation taken care of? Did you have any say in where you lived? Furnishings? How was shopping for furniture, etc? Modern toilet?

D: I took over the apartment of my predecessor. My situation was a little different in that my predecessor was still living in the apartment when I arrived. She was moving to another town and her new apartment wasn't ready yet because of some flooding we had in the area, so we actually lived together for two weeks before she moved out, which was great because she showed me the ropes. My apartment is quite spacious; I've got a large kitchen, and three tatami rooms. The bathroom is Japanese style, the bathtub and bathroom floor is a bit difficult to clean, and the shower and other water is run on gas. The toilet is western style, but there's no central heating. Although, I do have an air conditioner, a kerosene heater and a kotatsu. In the wintertime it gets very cold inside because there's not much insulation and any heat is lost quite quickly. I have to sleep with an electric blanket and in the morning, the temperature inside was usually about 2 degrees. However, this is typical in Japan, except up in Hokkaido where the winters are harsher and the buildings are newer so they tend to have western style insulation and heating. But the rent is really very cheap because I live in the countryside. I do know of some JETs who moved accommodations because they were unhappy with their location or their apartment in general, but you generally have to pay for the move. I'm very happy with mine. I live less than ten minutes walk from all of my schools. Some JETs don' t have to pay any rent at all or very cheap rent, while others pay quite a lot. It all depends on your location.

K: Do you know which locations tend to have the rent paid for by the contract school?

D: Bigger cities tend to. For example, in Fukushima city, there's an apartment building owned by the board of education only to house JETs, so they pay nothing. But this isn't a hard and fast rule. There are still JETs in Fukushima city who have their own places.

K: What were the first few days in Japan like?

D: Well my supervisor and my predecessor met me at Koriyama station when all of the Fukushima JETs came up on the shinkansen from Tokyo. My predecessor actually taught in three small towns in the area, but my town split off from the other two this year in order to focus on English. So I was in a unique situation in that my predecessor was still here. But she's fantastic and really helped me adjust. Now, because school was out for summer vacation, there were no classes, so the first day was spent doing errands, such as getting a cell phone, and filling in forms for things (such as my alien registration card and to get my own stamp/hanko). Then I was asked to help out with an elementary school summer camp, which was being run by the board of education (BOE). My BOE is very small and there's only six employees, plus me, and so I was able to get to know my coworkers quite well at the camp, as well as at the drinking party after. But apart from that, my time was spent at my BOE reading up on things, such as lesson plans from the previous few JETs, reading the textbooks, and re-reading the notes/sildes I had from Tokyo. I had a lot of free time. I also got tours of the schools and even though classes weren't in session, I was able to meet some of the teachers, and a students speech contest practice was in full swing, so I got to know the four students participating quite well. But that was about it until school started.

Koriyama Station, Japan

K: How were the first days on the job? What were the other staff members like? How different was it walking into a Japanese classroom for the first time?

D: Okay, I'll go one by one. The first few days (after orientation) were oddly relaxing. All the Fukushima JETs were sent up from Tokyo on the shinkasen to Koriyama. I was then picked up there by my supervisor and the other JET from the area. It was a two-hour drive back to my new town, but we stopped along the way to do some errands (setting up my cell phone, etc). Then I got a quick tour of the town and was dropped off at my apartment. Of course this is in the summer time, so there are no classes. For the first three weeks of being in Japan, I was actually asked to help out with a summer camp for the elementary kids, so I helped set up tents, run activities/crafts, make campfires, etc. It was a bit odd, but after that camp was over, I was at my desk at the board of education, signing tons of paperwork, reading the textbooks and notes left by my predecessors, and other miscellaneous things. I was also asked to help out with the junior high's speech contest, so I would occasionally leave the board of education, and make my way there to coach the students on pronunciation, intonation, etc. So that's what the beginning was like for me. Of course, I was expecting to be much busier, so being asked to just sit and do paperwork was kind of relaxing in a weird way. But it was a fun start to my job, helping out with the camp and then the speech contest. I really just used the down time before classes started to get my bearings, catch up on my predecessors notes, and get to know the town a little.

Anyway, about my coworkers. My town is very small, so my board of education only has six people plus me, none of whom could speak any English at all, including my supervisor, apart from greetings (Hello, my name is), so that was a bit difficult, especially as my predecessor had great Japanese, and mine wasn't quite up to snuff. Of course, as time went by, I was able to understand more and more, so now I have really gotten to know my coworkers. But at least at first, it was a little isolating being the only non-native speaker in the office, but some of my coworkers really made the effort to try to include me in some of the conversations. You know, explaining in more detail a particular word/phrase, asking me questions to make sure I understood, etc., so I'm really grateful to them. But the most important thing was to be cheerful and greet everyone properly, so when I come in in the morning, calling out (loudly) おはようございます！, (Ohayou gozaimasu) ("Good morning!") and saying おさきにしつれいします (Osakini shitsureishimasu), when I leave before others in the evening. It just means, “sorry for being rude by leaving earlier”, to which everyone replies, おつかれさまでした (otsukaresamadeshita), which just means, “you look tired”. The idea behind saying "you're tired" is that you look like you worked hard, so it's okay for you to leave. It's a very useful phrase and it's a compliment in Japanese. Greetings are very important because if you don't say them it seems like you don't really care. It's the token gesture that counts :). Anyway, once I got to know my coworkers, and they got to know me, it's been a very positive environment at my board of education. But if your coworkers seem to be ignoring you or seem standoffish, it's probably because they don't want to embarrass you by speaking in Japanese when you don't understand, or that they're embarrassed that their English isn't good enough. It's not usually because they're not friendly, it's the language barrier.

K: Okay, and how about the classroom experience?

D: Okay, well I did get to know some of the students who were in the speech contest beforehand. I also knew the Japanese teacher of English (JTE) from working on the speech contest too. I did have some experience teaching ESL in Canada, but it was as a volunteer in an adult classroom, so there was a big difference in teaching kids versus adults as well. My classes here are very small; the smallest class has only five students, and the largest has twelve, so it's not really that overwhelming. Also, I'm not the lead teacher in the classroom. 95% of the time I'm team teaching, which means that the JTE will choose the lesson and will ask for my input on activities, worksheets, or maybe to give examples or explain a grammar point. I don't usually make up the lessons from scratch, so there's a certain lack of responsibility on my part, and if something goes wrong, there's another teacher there to jump in and help me out, so it's not that stressful. I try to keep a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom and now that I've really gotten to know my students, it's common for me to joke around and laugh inside the classroom and out. Of course, being in a smaller school with fewer students, I'm able to get to know my students like this, which is just not possible for JETs in large schools or multiple schools, so I'm in a really great situation. 

K: So how did you find the first few weeks on the job? 

D: The first few weeks were a little hard, as I didn't really know the students yet or what the extents of my responsibilities were. Also my JTE didn't know how much she could ask me to do. For example, after about a month, she asked me to brainstorm with her about extra projects to improve the English of our students, so I came up with two ideas off the bat, and a third we just started last month. The first two being a weekly diary project and vocabulary list (making a list of new words with the Japanese translation and using the new word in an example sentence). I've really seen a big improvement in the English writing of the students who've consistently done the writing projects. More recently we started an epal email writing exchange with a school in Saskatchewan. So even though it's been a lot of extra work, I've been able to take that on because I'm the only JET at that school and my JTE just keeps asking for more and more from me, which is great!

In my first few weeks, I was sitting around a lot with not much to do but a couple of suggestions from both myself and my JTE(Japanese teacher of English) have had great results! So if a new JET is not doing that much with their JTE, I guess just remember that you and your JTE are a team, so work together and collaborate as much as you can!!

K: What were the culture shocks you experienced?

D: Hmm okay, let me think. Of course, I had been to Japan twice before coming on the JET programme so I sort of knew what to expect, but there have been some things that were a bit shocking. Oh! I know. Japanese attitudes about catching colds and illnesses. You may know that the Japanese tend to wear masks around cold season, ostensibly to both prevent catching and spreading of colds. These masks have been shown to have no effect either way, but at the first sign of illness, you will be asked why on earth you aren't wearing a mask! Anyway, the cold meds here are also not as strong as back home. When you have multiple symptoms (e.g. a cough, runny nose, fever, sore throat), you usually get one pill or powder for each symptom. So when I had a cold, I went to the pharmacy after seeing the doctor and came away with three different packs, each with different instructions on how often to take them, which was a little confusing to say the least. Also, even though I’ve always been taught that the most important way to prevent the spread of illness is to wash your hands thoroughly, most Japanese do not wash their hands often, or if they do, its very brief. And there’s often no soap so I have to carry around a little bottle of hand soap wherever I go because often bathrooms will not have any soap at all. That was very shocking for me. If a school has several students sick with the flu, they will often send the whole class home to prevent the spread of illness, or even shut down the whole school for a week. I just want to say, “MAKE SURE YOU ALL WASH YOUR HANDS!! Then you don't have to do this!!” Also, that anti bacterial stuff doesn't work! Flu is a virus, not a bacteria!! Anyway, it was a bit of a culture shock to find out that while the Japanese are very strict about cleanliness in certain areas, they are shockingly lax when it comes to hand washing. That's probably the two biggest shocks: the hand washing, and the different method of "preventing" colds and the flu.

K: Were there any cultural differences (customs, etc) that you wish you had been aware of before?

D: I wish I had learned the proper greetings and phrases in my Japanese classes. There are some stock phrases I use so often that I never learned in class. For example, お世話になります (O sewa ni narimasu), which means "thank you for taking care of me" when someone does you a favour or parents will often say that to teachers, implying, “thank you for taking care of my child”. Also ごくろうさまでした (gokurou sama deshita), which I had never heard and I still don't get the nuance as there's no direct English translation, but you often say it after an event or class to say “thank you for your time/ hard work”. So I think learning more stock phrases would have been useful as they're very common and I use them every day.

K: Any other customs you can think of?

D: Umm, enkai, drinking parties. Around the beginning and end of the school semesters are enkai season. A couple times a week I'm invited to these enkais by my coworkers, which are very expensive and have unlimited drinking. You can decline to go, but they're a great opportunity to network and get to know your coworkers outside of work. But they can also be very exhausting when you have had several in a row. It's a good thing that I have a strong liver, and it was a little shocking how drunk some of my coworkers can get, but it's totally acceptable to do so if it's at an enkai. I mean, you can go and not drink alcohol. I've done that several times, but you always get a little bit of flack, i.e. “Why aren't you drinking?!”. Usually if you explain you have to drive, they back off a little, but someone will often offer you a ride so you can drink. You don't have to bow to peer pressure though. Haha.

K: Would you recommend that students try to immerse themselves in the culture before departing for Japan? Or at least have some experience with the culture?

D: Yes and yes. If you do some research beforehand you will know at least a little of what to expect so the culture shock is not so severe. I recommend looking up stuff about other foreigner's culture shock. If you hear first-hand accounts about it, then you can definitely be more prepared when you're in the same situation. If you know nothing about Japan, and just jump in feet first, eyes open, well good luck, I guess. :)

K: Were you made to feel welcome in Japan when you were settling down? Was there an English-speaking community made available for you, or did you have to start to make your own friends yourself?

D: Well I'm the only English-speaking foreigner in my town but I made good friends with another JET who lives about 45 minutes away in another small town and she was always happy and willing to answer any and all questions I had. I was also given access to the Fukushima JET forums (now mostly defunct) and the Fukushima JET Facebook group. Facebook has been a great resource. There are so many JETs on Facebook and there are many events around the prefecture that are posted publically, so it's easy to find out about local events, festivals, meetups, parties, etc. Also if you post any questions on there, you can crowd source the answers, which is really great. If I hadn't know about that group though, it would have been probably very difficult for me to connect with other English-speakers.

K: Describe a typical day in the classroom.

D: Well I've got three schools the junior high, elementary and the nursery school, so depending on which school I'm in, it's a totally different ballgame.

K:Well, you don’t have to describe them all, so maybe just pick one?

D: I always come into the staffroom at all the schools and greet everyone and then check my class schedule for the day. I don't always know beforehand which grades I'll be teaching. At the junior high, my desk is next to my JTE's, so when she has a spare moment, we talk about the lessons for the day and any plans or activities she wants to do. Usually at the end of the previous day that I'd been at the school, we would have discussed what the plans for the next lessons would be, so usually I have activities/worksheets already prepared, but sometimes there are last minute changes. I usually have 2-3 classes per day at the junior high school, but more at the elementary school. At lunchtime, I sit in one of the classrooms to have lunch with the students. Depending on the class, sometimes we will make lunch "English question time" where the students will each ask me one question in English, or I will ask each of the students one question in English, just to get some conversation practice. There are four periods in the morning, then lunch, then two periods in the afternoon. After all the classes, there is cleaning time, which is usually about 20 minutes. All the students have their assigned tasks, and I usually help out by moving desks around and sweeping the floor, etc. After cleaning time, the students usually have club time and at this time, I either go help out with club activities, or if I have extra preparation to do for the next time I'm at the school, I do that instead. Since my school is vey small, we only have one club: volleyball. I'm not that athletic, but I do sometimes help out by collecting stray balls, or cheering on the students. I usually leave at about 5pm (I arrive at 8:30am in the morning). That's a typical day at junior high. Elementary is very similar, except I have a lot of short meetings throughout the day with the different home room teachers and have a lot more last minute preparation to do as I usually don't get a chance to meet with the teachers before the day of the class. And the students at elementary also don't have club activities, but apart from that, they're fairly similar.

A typical Japanese classroom

K: Describe a special, or eventful day in the classroom (example, a festival day).

D: Hmmm, recently I got the opportunity to go along with the students at the junior high to their track and field event. We left the school on the bus at 6:30 in the morning and drove a couple of towns over to their sports ground. It was raining pretty constantly all day but we set up a large tent to take shelter under between the events. I became the semi-official camera woman for the event because all the other teachers were taking turns to officiate different events and I didn't have that responsibility. Also, the camera that I brought along was better at taking action shots than the old school camera, so I spent the day rotating between different events, cheering my students on and taking tons of pictures. I'm used to Canadian-style loud cheering at hockey games, so I really know how to throw my voice. I was probably the loudest person there. Haha.

K: What is the most significant thing you have learned so far in your experience as an ALT regarding teaching students? Any advice for future ALTs?

D: English is not just about grammar, vocab, and tests, it's about communication. If the students see English as a chore, as just boring grammar, then they will not be motivated to learn. As an ALT, our job is to bring enthusiasm into the classroom through extra content such as games, activities, etc. If you make the students enthusiastic about learning English, then you've won half the battle. That's not to say that grammar, etc, isn't important, but the JTE can handle that as well. What an ALT can do perhaps better than the JTE is bring that component of motivation to the students.

As for advice for future ALTs, you are not in this alone. You have your JTEs, your coworkers, you predecessor, your fellow JETs, as well as the vast resources of the internet to fall back on for advice. I can’t count the number of problems that have been solved by just explaining the situation to someone else to get advice or another perspective. Also, there are many ESL resources online, so if you’re having trouble coming up with a lesson or activity idea, there are plenty of websites to brainstorm with. So, don’t try to solve everything yourself, especially at first, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!!

K: Did you find yourself bogged down with work, or relatively free to explore Japan outside the classroom? During your holidays, where did you go, or what did you do?

D: I'm not that bogged down and I don't usually bring work home with me. I am busy during work hours of course, but I usually finish everything at school or at the board of education. There are days where I'm not so busy at work, at which point I usually study Japanese through the JET progamme language course through correspondence. Outside work hours, I do get lots of opportunities to explore Japan. I do have a car provided by my board of education (luckily) but due to the insurance, I am only allowed to drive it within the prefecture. That being said, Japan has an extensive public transit system. Japanese trains are very famous, but there are also cheap alternatives in highway buses, and I've used several cheap domestic airlines to crisscross the country. I've even taken an overnight ferry up to Hokkaido! During winter vacation (Christmas and New Years) I flew down to Kagoshima with a friend of mine. Kagoshima is on the southernmost big island near Nagasaki. Then we flew from Kagoshima to Soeul for a week. Flights to Korea from Japan are plentiful, and if you keep an eye on different websites, you can get really great deals! Recently, a new airline opened for business, and I was able to score a couple really cheap flights so I'm going to fly down to Fukuoka in September and a bunch of Fukushima ALTs are planning another ski trip up to Hokkaido in the winter. I'm looking forward to both. Also, during the spring, a friend and I rented a car and did a road trip around Tohoku and visited 4 different prefectures: Yamagata, Iwate, Akita, and Miyagi. It was during the off-season, so it was fairly cheap too! ALTs usually get twenty vacation days and I plan to use every single one! But you have to be aware that depending on your supervisor, it may be difficult to take these vacation days. The trick is to ask really early, months in advance if need be, and during times when there are no classes scheduled, for example, during new years, spring break, summer break, etc. Then it's more likely to be approved. I haven't been declined yet, but I've had two great supervisors. But that's the trick: ask early, be flexible on your dates, and go during school breaks, and then there shouldn't be any problems. Of course, you can still get time off when classes are on, but only a day or two, no long trips. Remember you are here to work, it's not a paid vacation.

[To view a short video clip of Danielle and her nursery school students advertising for the local winter fire festival, click here. They say, "Please come to the festival!"]

K: So, you mentioned you are planning to stay longer, is this under JET still?

D: Yes. You can re-contract on a year-by-year basis, up to three years, and then if your work is exceptional, you can renew for a fourth and/or fifth year. It's not automatic though. Your supervisor will meet with your teachers and coworkers and if you've been doing a good job, they will offer to re-contract you. They usually offer in late Jan early Feb, and you have to decide by mid-Feb, if I remember correctly. But even if you accept, you can still change your mind until you sign your new contract in August, though it's a bit rude to change your mind.

K: would you be staying at the same schools then?

D: I will, yes, but every JET's situation is different. You may be switched around schools, be given more elementary or nursery school visits, but it will all be within the same board of education. You usually don't switch towns, except in extraordinary cases, i.e. the earthquake and tsunami last year. There are a lot of coastal JETs who are now working elsewhere in Fukushima.

K: So why did you decide to renew your contract?

D: Well I was tentatively planning on staying longer than a year before I even arrived in Japan, but I really think to get the full experience, you need to stay for longer than one year. I only really started getting into the swing of things the third school term and now I've got all the day-to-day stuff both at work and at home down pat. There were also festivals and events that I missed the first time round that I will try to catch next year. I think the first couple months on JET are really trying to find your feet. Now that I know what I'm doing, and I've got a good network of friends, it's a whole different experience. In my second year of JET, I'm really going to hit the ground running!

One reason that some JETs stay is a lack of job/school opportunities back home. While that is a valid concern, I don't think it's a good reason to stay on with JET. I had another job offer (with the Oddessey programme teaching in English in Quebec that I mentioned earlier), and an offer for a scholarship to grad school. While both would have been great opportunities, I really wanted to spend more time on JET. If JET is your only option, it may change your attitude, and you may become resentful, so even if you think you'd like to stay in Japan longer than a year, always, ALWAYS keep your options open. Apply for other things you're interested in so you always have a choice. That's just my opinion, though.

K: What are your plans after JET?

D: I was thinking of going back to grad school eventually, perhaps to do a degree in speech pathology; however, I don't really think that career path is for me anymore. I'm really working on my Japanese, and I'm applying for a correspondence course in Japanese-English translation. I hope to eventually get certification in French-English-Japanese, but that's only a tentative plan for now. I'd love to keep travelling and working abroad, perhaps in a French-speaking country next. We'll see what the future holds!