Hey everyone! So I finally started my blog! I will use this blog to not only document my experiences and adventures working and living in Japan, but also to communicate with my family back in the states. I obviously haven’t left yet but I thought I would give you guys a little insight into how I have come to this stage of my life.
Back in November of 2009 I was sorting through my email and I came across an email from my adviser, Professor Lin. It was an email that he sent out to all the students on his advisee list and it was in regards to the JET Program. At this point I didn’t have any idea what the JET program was but the email said you would teach in Japan, which caught my eye. It caught my attention because Japan is a country which I have studied and learned about throughout my college career but I still have never had the opportunity to visit. My second major was Chinese and Japanese studies but I had mostly concentrated on the Chinese side of that.
So I decided to research the program and concluded that I would apply to the program. Everything I read about the program made it out to be the best way to go abroad and teach English. The benefits were great and the length of the contract was short enough that if the program didn’t live up to my expectations, I could stop after a year and go in another direction. Although the application process seemed daunting at the beginning, I told myself that it wouldn’t be worth it if it didn’t require some hard work. I then went to ask one of my professors if he had any information about the program and to my surprise he told me that he was a former JET! I don’t know if this was a bit of luck or destiny but it proved to be a fortunate surprise because he wrote me a letter of recommendation. I suppose that his letter carried a lot of weight and I am very grateful that he took the time to write it. After I gathered everything that was required, I submitted the application (along with my friend Matt Cook) in late November and prepared to wait until late January to find out if I even made it to the interview stage.
January rolled around and fortunately both Matt and I made it to the interview stage! We were to schedule an interview in Chicago for mid February! How exciting! I was really happy that we both got interviews. I think we both thought that if we made it to the interview stage we had it in the bag. I mean of course we look good on paper but we look even better in person! (At least I do…Haha)
We scheduled the interview for the same day so we could go to Chicago together and we both had a blast. We were nervous of course but a bit relieved when the interview only took about 20 minutes. We couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing? Time could only tell. Now we had to wait until April to see if we even made the short list of candidates (which really means you got in to the program.) April rolled around we both got into the program! We were really excited. We asked to be placed together but who knows if that will happen. So now we had to wait to find out where in Japan we would be placed and what grade level we would be teaching.
About a week ago, I found out I will be in Tanabe-shi, Wakayama, Japan.
I didn’t request a specific placement because I figured it would help my chances if I just said I wanted to go and I didn’t care where I was placed. The moment I found out my placement I found a map to see where Tanabe-shi was. To my delight, it is in central Japan right on the coast of a peninsula! Although it is far from Tokyo where my friend Dana is teaching, I was still excited that I was in a semi-rural area. I didn’t really want a big city because I figured I would use English all the time and I wouldn’t learn a lot of Japanese. Being in a smaller city I will be forced to use more Japanese than English and I can hopefully grasp the language better. Matt hasn’t found out his placement yet but we are still hoping that he’s at least somewhat near to me and not up in Hokkaido!
For the time being I am taking a Japanese class offered by the program in Chicago. It is only once a week but I hope that it will give me somewhat of a foundation that I can build on once I arrive in Japan. I have also been filling out tons of forms that the program requires. It takes a long time and some patience but I hope everything goes fine.
The schedule says we have orientation on July 23rd in Chicago and we depart on July 24th! I think about my life in Japan almost every day. I am constantly on the internet reading about both living and working in Japan. Now that I know where I will be living, I am trying to learn as much as I can about the city and the surrounding area so that I don’t feel completely lost once I arrive.
My family has been really excited about this whole experience as well. Although I can tell my mom really doesn’t want me to be away for a very long time, she knows that this is what I want to do and will support me as long as I want.
Stay tuned for another post soon!
