Memories of Japan, part 1: Applying for the JET Programme, 1996-1997
Apr 03 '08 (Updated Jun 12 '09)
The Bottom Line I don't know if this belongs in the Biography section, but this essay is more about my personal experiences than Japan itself...
Eleven years ago, the end of my time at UCLA was imminent. After having attended for over four years and with the requirements of my Geography major satisfied, I faced my final two quarters with the classes I needed to graduate with a Japanese degree. As most college students do, I'm sure, I fretted over my future in the full-time workplace. What would I do? Where would I go? Needless to say, like many thinking college students, I faced the future with much uncertainty and a degree of dread. It didn't seem like there was much one could do with a Japanese or Geography degree. Do GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and analyze satellite images? Ugh. Be a translator? Not good enough. Work as a temp through an employment agency? Been there, done that, may continue to do that. If anything, my prospects weren't so great for finding a truly interesting job with those degrees.
Then, one day in the middle of the fall quarter, I was directed to a job opportunity: the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme, or JET Programme.
Applying for JET
The JET Programme, as I understood it then, entailed going to Japan and teaching English at a high school or junior high school. The job included a decent salary, a place to live, and a chance to see another country. But, more importantly for me, it would afford me the opportunity to sharpen my Japanese skills and gain teaching experience. So, I applied for the program, which involved filling out a multi-page application and writing an essay.
On the application, I was asked about my location preference. Being a history enthusiast, I chose two locations that were important places in recent history: Nagasaki and Hiroshima. As my third choice, I put Okinawa for two reasons; one was because it was a location crucial to the Allied forces' island-hopping campaign during World War II; the other reason was because Mr. Miyagi (of Karate Kid fame) was from there! I then opted for a rural setting, thinking that a rural assignment would be the best place to immerse myself in Japanese.
I submitted my paperwork in early December and waited for the call...
The Interview
After the fall quarter ended and the winter quarter began, I received notification, informing me that I had been granted an interview, which was to take place in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. As far as I remember, the interview was held at the Little Tokyo Cultural Center. I wore my olive green suit (which my roommates called "my party suit") and waited in the smallish lobby with several other applicants who were unfamiliar to me.
The interview itself was conducted by three people: one native Japanese man, one Japanese woman, and a former JET participant (from this point, I will refer to JET participants or alumni as "JETs"). Most of the questions were straightforward: talk about my education, my interest in Japan, my ability to adapt to new situations, my knowledge of Japanese history, and so on. Then, the Japanese man started talking to me in Japanese; in response, I blurted out my best book Japanese. After that, the Japanese man asked me who the current Japanese prime minister was. I didn't know, but I did offer the fact that I knew the current emperor was "Akihito." Despite my attempt at rectifying my ignorance of the current Japanese prime minister (which, really, changes every 18 months or so, usually), I was disturbed that he would ask me that. It became clear to me at the end that their questioning was geared towards the obvious bias towards Japan in my current collegiate studies. However, their line of questioning left me with an empty feeling I can only describe as the feeling one gets after failing a test. It wasn't a feeling of failure -- just a feeling of not doing enough with the opportunity given.
Returning from the interview, I went to my friend Julian's house, spending much time pondering why they asked me about the prime minister of Japan and the questions they asked in Japanese. Julian, as always, listened without prejudice and shared his sympathy for what I felt was a less than favorable result. He, too, was a Japanese major and my best friend in college, so if anyone could relate to anything Japanese, he was the one who could.
Anyway, time passed before that fateful day in May when I received notification that I was accepted into the JET Programme. I wouldn't say that I was elated; I was quietly pleased, but also uncertain about how it all would take place. Going to a faraway country, speaking a language of which I only know a small amount, and being away from family and friends -- part of me wanted to see myself as bold and brave, but part of me just wanted to quit the program and continue working temp jobs...
The JET Programme Orientation
In June of 1997, a JET Programme orientation was conducted in Little Tokyo. When I arrived there, I saw one familiar face. His name was John, and he was the brother of an officer of UCLA's Nikkei Student Union (a Japanese-American cultural group of which I was a member). I only knew him as an acquaintance, but what I did know of him was that he was always positive and proactive. I sat near him amidst many other soon-to-be JETs. (Funnily enough, amidst that group was my future wife, though I didn't know it at that time.)
As I participated in the orientation, more details about the JET Programme became clearer to me. The JET Programme is a program that is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbusho) to bring native English speakers into Japanese junior high and high schools. Ostensibly, JETs were to contribute to the "globalization" of Japanese students by exposing them to English speech and foreign culture and mannerisms. In return, JETs would learn about Japanese culture. Of course, the teaching of English was more emphasized, but in many ways, the JET Programme established a two-way learning relationship.
In JET, there are two positions: one is assistant language teacher, or ALT; the other is Coordinator for International Relations (CIR). The primary job objective of ALTs is to assist English teachers in their assigned schools with the proper pronunciation and native speaking of Japanese; understandably, ALTs comprised the vast majority of the attendees that day. Conversely, CIRs served in city officers as agents to promote internationalization; I wasn't a CIR, so I didn't much more than that, but I did know that CIRs had to be very good at reading and writing Japanese, which I was not.
According to information received during the orientation, JETs (at least, in 1997) were to be paid 300,000 to 330,000 yen per month, minus domicile rent and utilities. As a JET, unlike most people in Japan, one didn't have to worry about key money (shikikin, which is 3-6 months rent put towards a kind of security deposit) or finder's fees for real estate brokers to secure a place of residence; and, unlike most Japanese people, JETs were given weekends off AND 20 guaranteed days of vacation per year, not counting August (which high school ALTs got off, but junior high school ALTs did not). Plus, in some cases, if a JET had a predecessor currently in Japan, he or she could not only purchase or inherit some of that predecessor's belongings, but also the predecessor's car, which was a big deal especially in the countryside...
Most of the orientation focused on what to expect as a resident of Japan and on how teaching occurs in schools. We were told about the important support system that fellow JETs could provide and how feelings of loneliness and isolation were natural parts of being in a foreign country. We were also told that teaching styles varied from full-on planning of lessons to being used as a human tape recorder (at least, I think I found out about the tape recorder part during this orientation).
The orientation ended with people exchanging networking information and eating with fellow JET members who were assigned to the same region. I went to a karaoke restaurant with fellow JETs assigned to Kyushu. I don't remember if my future wife was there, but I think John was there. Networking-wise, the time at that restaurant resulted in no contacts, sadly...
The Pre-Departure Orientation
The night before I departed for Japan, there was a pre-departure orientation conducted at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport. I had recently graduated from UCLA with my Geography and Japanese degrees in tow and was living at my parents' home. After a one-hour drive, I arrived at the site of the orientation, where JETs were given their visa-stamped passports and tickets for the flight to Japan. We were to fly on Japan Airlines in Business class (which, as it turned out, would be the only time I would fly to or from Japan in Business class). More networking occurred at the orientation, along with much free food (of which I availed myself constantly!). I ran into John, who was proactively networking with other Kyushu JETs. That was when I met my wife; she walked by and briefly spoke with John. I remember introducing myself, but it was a casual introduction. She quickly floated through the crowd and I continued talking to John. I also spoke with George, who was a tall, fun-loving Chinese guy. Both John and George were assigned to Fukuoka-ken (which means "prefecture"), as was my future wife; I was assigned to Nagasaki-ken, which is in the western-most part of Kyushu island.
My Assignment
I was assigned to a small country high school on an island called Hirado, which was off the northern coast of Kyushu. Connected to Nagasaki-ken proper by a bridge oddly reminiscent of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Hirado is not an isolated island, but one that allows for easy access to Kyushu and the nearest city, Sasebo. I was to live in a small village called Himosashi located in a central part of Hirado island. I was granted a two-story, two-bedroom apartment in a complex of four similar teacher-housing apartments. My school was Hirado High School, a school of some 400 students. The person that first contacted me at Kanemoto-sensei, who had sent me a letter with a floorplan of my future apartment.
Pre-Flight
The night and morning before the flight to Tokyo were not filled with the uncertainty or dread I had before I applied for the JET Programme, but were instead dominated by a strong sense of purpose and determination. I knew then what I was about to do and faced it with calmness. My parents, understandably, were a bit concerned about me. A few weeks before, my dad communicated to me that he wasn't sure that I was mature enough to handle such a trip. This was hard to take, but it further added to my sense of determination to not only do well, but to prove him wrong. (It's funny how children spend most of their lives motivated by the objective of proving their parents wrong regarding their doubts and reservations.) Nevertheless, I faced Japan with purpose and, hackneyed as this expression is, destiny.
Up to that point, I had prepared myself for what seemed to me to be a complete separation from all things Western. I made sure to pack a huge folder of my favorite CDs, VHS tapes of my favorite movies and shows, and some books. I imagined that Hirado would be totally isolated and that I would have to somehow find refuge in those familiar things. I also anticipated that sense of loneliness that may arise, but I did not dwell on those thoughts. (After all, it is never constructive to dwell on what negative things may happen, right? It's often better to simply face negative situations as they occur and deal with them in the moment...)
Cheap philosophizing aside, Japan awaited me. After four years of formal Japanese language, cultural, and historical study, I would finally get to experience the country about which I learned so much. Those moments before I boarded that plane were fraught with an excitement firmly rooted in the unknown. When would I be back in the U.S.? When would I speak to my parents again? What will living in Japan really be like?
Stay tuned for my next installment: my first year in Japan!
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