２００７年５月２６日
今週の漢字: 県
Prefecture:
僕は愛知県へ行きます！でも、町はまだわかりません。I found out my placement last weekend. I’ll be going to Aichi Prefecture, which is in the Chubu region! However, I still don’t know which town yet. I’ve been researching on the prefecture and how prefectures work. Apparently, a prefecture is similar to a state in the U.S. The capital of Aichi Prefecture is Nagoya, the forth largest city in Japan. I’m very happy with my placement as the prefecture is somewhat in the middle of Japan between Tokyo and Osaka. I didn’t want the northernmost or southernmost otherwise it would be more difficult to travel around Japan. It is now up to the Board of Education with whom I’ll be contracted to inform me of the town as well as my predecessor’s contact information.
On my application under placement preferences, I listed locations in and around Tokyo. This was before I researched more on Japan, but my preferences also reflected my love for the urban life. Although I feel that I would be able to adjust to a rural town of rice paddies, I prefer the vibrant energy of the city. After reading up on city living expenses, I was very pleased with being placed in Aichi-ken. Another thing that is excellent is that I found at least one church in the prefecture. So all is looking good—of course being placed anywhere else in Japan would also have been good. I look forward to finding more information especially on the town where I’ll be placed when I am notified about it.
In a previous post, I mentioned that all candidates who pass the initial application screening have an interview in February. I would like to recount my interview experience for you all. My interview was on February 16th at 10:30AM. I flew home on Wednesday night, which was a good idea because there was a snow storm earlier that week in the northeast. What if it hit on Wednesday or Thursday?? I commuted from home in northern New Jersey and arrived at the General Consulate of Japan in New York by 10AM after much slipping and sliding on the dirty snow. I was directed to the floor where the interview took place and acquainted myself with two other interviewees in the waiting area. There was a former JET participant to collect our required slips of papers that was sent earlier by mail. I wasn’t nervous at all; I don’t mind interviews and somewhat enjoy them. It’s sort of like auditioning.
When I went in, I was greeted by three people: a Ministry of Education representative, a Japanese woman from Swarthmore (whom I have no idea why she was an interviewer), and a former JET participant, who asked most of the questions. The first third of the interview went as expected with general questions like why I want to participate in the program. Interestingly, they asked me often about how the JET Program would meet my goals considering I majored in theatre arts. Of course it wasn’t simply repeated verbatim; it was rephrased. The second third of the interview was the most surprising for me. I anticipated giving a demo lesson, but instead I was asked to introduce myself to them as if they were students who knew little, if any, English. I was instructed to pretend I have visual aids and any other materials that would supplement my introduction.
I started off with a こんいちは (konnichiwa), followed by a basic introduction of my name and location. The Ministry of Education representative raised his hand and asked, “You say you are from New Jersey. What is it like??” My brilliant answer: “There… are… lots of… trees.” I quickly changed my topic to New York since I identify more with New York City. I mentioned how I am a Chinese American, so considering it was just two days before Chinese New Year, I talked about red envelopes and other festivities. I transitioned somehow to Valentine’s Day since it was just two days after and presented differences between Japan and America on its traditions. After my introduction, I expressed my dissatisfaction with myself because I felt I was rushing and used too many complex sentences.
The last third consisted of my question to them, which was not at all elegant or eloquent. I was trying to ask about the differences between teaching styles in America and Japan, but they were not clear on what I meant. I tried to clarify, and I felt that it ended up in a jumbled mess. They tried their best to answer my question, which was helpful. They talked about the importance of community in Japan. For example, the class might clean the floor together.
By the end of the interview, I was still confident, but not as high as the first third of the interview. I couldn’t gauge how well it went mainly because the interviewers gave very few expressions. In some ways they would be the perfect theatre casting team as it seems casting directors reveal more emotions.
Stay tuned next week for a look into video games and the required materials after being shortlisted as a JET!
今週の写真: My camera recently arrived in the mail, and I haven’t had the chance to use it much yet. So for this week, here’s a map with Aichi Prefecture highlighted.
今週の漢字: 県
Prefecture:
僕は愛知県へ行きます！でも、町はまだわかりません。I found out my placement last weekend. I’ll be going to Aichi Prefecture, which is in the Chubu region! However, I still don’t know which town yet. I’ve been researching on the prefecture and how prefectures work. Apparently, a prefecture is similar to a state in the U.S. The capital of Aichi Prefecture is Nagoya, the forth largest city in Japan. I’m very happy with my placement as the prefecture is somewhat in the middle of Japan between Tokyo and Osaka. I didn’t want the northernmost or southernmost otherwise it would be more difficult to travel around Japan. It is now up to the Board of Education with whom I’ll be contracted to inform me of the town as well as my predecessor’s contact information.
On my application under placement preferences, I listed locations in and around Tokyo. This was before I researched more on Japan, but my preferences also reflected my love for the urban life. Although I feel that I would be able to adjust to a rural town of rice paddies, I prefer the vibrant energy of the city. After reading up on city living expenses, I was very pleased with being placed in Aichi-ken. Another thing that is excellent is that I found at least one church in the prefecture. So all is looking good—of course being placed anywhere else in Japan would also have been good. I look forward to finding more information especially on the town where I’ll be placed when I am notified about it.
In a previous post, I mentioned that all candidates who pass the initial application screening have an interview in February. I would like to recount my interview experience for you all. My interview was on February 16th at 10:30AM. I flew home on Wednesday night, which was a good idea because there was a snow storm earlier that week in the northeast. What if it hit on Wednesday or Thursday?? I commuted from home in northern New Jersey and arrived at the General Consulate of Japan in New York by 10AM after much slipping and sliding on the dirty snow. I was directed to the floor where the interview took place and acquainted myself with two other interviewees in the waiting area. There was a former JET participant to collect our required slips of papers that was sent earlier by mail. I wasn’t nervous at all; I don’t mind interviews and somewhat enjoy them. It’s sort of like auditioning.
When I went in, I was greeted by three people: a Ministry of Education representative, a Japanese woman from Swarthmore (whom I have no idea why she was an interviewer), and a former JET participant, who asked most of the questions. The first third of the interview went as expected with general questions like why I want to participate in the program. Interestingly, they asked me often about how the JET Program would meet my goals considering I majored in theatre arts. Of course it wasn’t simply repeated verbatim; it was rephrased. The second third of the interview was the most surprising for me. I anticipated giving a demo lesson, but instead I was asked to introduce myself to them as if they were students who knew little, if any, English. I was instructed to pretend I have visual aids and any other materials that would supplement my introduction.
I started off with a こんいちは (konnichiwa), followed by a basic introduction of my name and location. The Ministry of Education representative raised his hand and asked, “You say you are from New Jersey. What is it like??” My brilliant answer: “There… are… lots of… trees.” I quickly changed my topic to New York since I identify more with New York City. I mentioned how I am a Chinese American, so considering it was just two days before Chinese New Year, I talked about red envelopes and other festivities. I transitioned somehow to Valentine’s Day since it was just two days after and presented differences between Japan and America on its traditions. After my introduction, I expressed my dissatisfaction with myself because I felt I was rushing and used too many complex sentences.
The last third consisted of my question to them, which was not at all elegant or eloquent. I was trying to ask about the differences between teaching styles in America and Japan, but they were not clear on what I meant. I tried to clarify, and I felt that it ended up in a jumbled mess. They tried their best to answer my question, which was helpful. They talked about the importance of community in Japan. For example, the class might clean the floor together.
By the end of the interview, I was still confident, but not as high as the first third of the interview. I couldn’t gauge how well it went mainly because the interviewers gave very few expressions. In some ways they would be the perfect theatre casting team as it seems casting directors reveal more emotions.
Stay tuned next week for a look into video games and the required materials after being shortlisted as a JET!
今週の写真: My camera recently arrived in the mail, and I haven’t had the chance to use it much yet. So for this week, here’s a map with Aichi Prefecture highlighted.
