Category: Japan

Recontracting Time

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So, about the middle of last month came time for recontracting. At that time I was thankfully given the papers which extended me the offer of staying for another year, which I am really excited about, so I signed the recontracting paper immediately and returned it to my Board of Education.

Although I’m very excited about all that may come to pass in the next year, I am sad to see some people go. This year, out of the 17 JETs placed in the greater Amakusa area, 11 will be replaced, which means only 6 of the current ALTs in the area are staying! But don’t misinterpret the situation. All is good here in Amakusa, but many situations have led to older JETs moving on to the next tasks in their life. Amakusa is very unique; because we are somewhat displaced from mainland JETs and/or limited by access, we enjoy a close-knit community here. So a lot will change come July/August, but I am really interested to know, meet, and subsequently welcome those who will be joining us this year.

About this time last year I was preparing for my interview, which was somewhat stressful but just remember it involves a certain degree of common sense. I rehearsed very much only to be assigned a comparatively laid-back interview committee (for which I am incredibly grateful). We shared some laughs, addressed the questions, and though I couldn’t be sure I left feeling great, and definitely relieved. That being said, be diligent as well; I heard of other serious interview committees who questioned very pointedly on points of reuniting with Japanese girlfriends and such. (For those of you wondering, I interviewed in Houston.) Best advice: don’t panic or stress to much, and be prepared for either situation. Also – a suit! Absolutely necessary. I was very surprised to see someone turn up without one on my interview day. Everyone will be wearing one so just grin and bear it (the expense and discomfort).

Regardless, come May or June, if you find yourself accepted and your placement to be Amakusa, I will be looking for you! Even if you’re not the incoming JET who will be placed at my school (unique situation – two ALTs in one school), I look forward to setting your mind at ease on some points. I will be prowling the JET forums as well. Though they deleted the entire Aspiring JETs section, the Kumamoto prefecture thread still exists, so I will mainly be looking there.

That’s all for now folks!

Local Shrine: 諏訪神社 (Suwajinja)

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DSC_0024One of the things that I was able to experience within the first week of arriving in my actual placement city was a local shrine. This particular shrine, Suwajinjya (it seems many Japanese cities have one of these shrines), is a beautiful reprieve hidden away between tightly crowded buildings and their shops. This is a particularly interesting shrine due to the shrine’s proximity to the once bustling city shopping arcade which is now comparable to a ghost town, especially at night. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, having been placed in one of Japan’s most rapidly depopulating areas, but nonetheless it always makes me think. DSC_0020Shops still open in the arcade during the day with a steady trickle of customers, but the sight always inspires me to think on what it was before in its heyday. In spite of the fact that the shopping arcade fell into disrepair and disuse, the shrine is well-known and continues to thrive. Anyway, having always been a fan of the calm and serene appearance of shrines, I was very excited to see this one in the main city in such an interesting location. Though a small shrine, it has quite a bit of character and is very well tended at all times.  More local shrine highlights to come! :)

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英語案表大会 -English Recitation Contest-

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For those of you who will be accepted to JET and have just arrived to Japan and your schools, this will be the first project you will likely be handed: the regional English Recitation Contest.

Now, ALT’s are not in charge of this contest, but it is expected that we show up to practices and help guide the students in their efforts to memorize and pronounce a 2-3 page English piece. There are 20-minute practices before school, 10-minute practices during hiruyasumi, and hour-long practices afterschool. So we are expected to put in a fair bit of effort to help whichever kids are chosen to rise to the occasion.

After about a month of intense and often harried practices, we all load up with the supervising teacher and head to the area contest, allowing students to compete on a local level to decide the best deserving speakers, to move on to the prefectural-wide competition.

DSC_0281Last year we took five students to the massive(ish) Amakusa regional contest and the results were pretty good!! Our first-year pair and our second year got awards though they didn’t move to the next round, but our third-years got first place and went to the prefectural competition a month later. If this happens you’ll need to keep helping them with their delivery; otherwise, you’re free. The only downside for some of us that had students move on is that for the prefectural our schools didn’t even invite us to attend! We were frustrated by this because we do want to show our support for the kids at any opportunity. Nonetheless though, I was incredibly proud of them. All of the ALT’s wanted the best for their kids but it’s of course a competition. If only all of the kids could move on, then we’d have a real gigantic competition on our hands! And a greater sense of improvement. All of the kids make great improvements over time, so it’s an all-around beneficial exercise for everyone, including the teachers!

 

A Wooden Stick: Your Japanese Identity

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So yes, I’m being a little facetious here. It’s so much more than a stick. It’s a stamp! (Basically.) But it looks really cool!

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Right?! And they only cost roughly $20 US.

IMG_1725判子・印鑑 (hanko/inkan) are made for people as a way to certify your identity and approval for many things, not limited to the creation of a bank account, starting up gas and electric for your house, signing up for mobile phone service, and any number of financial obligations it seems. You would probably need it for a house or an apartment(?), but in the case of municipal JETs it seems that certain residences are furnished by the establishment for those who work in the area temporarily. I think this has a lot to do with the fact that there seems to be what I’ll call the yearly lottery in April, at which time teachers are moved about the prefecture to other schools en masse.

I also personally have to stamp an attendance sheet every day in the teachers’ room when I report to work, so it’s possibly common to use the inkan in regard to employment, especially as civil servants (which is stressed to us that we are!).

As to their real official weight, I can’t really comment. Apparently people can take your inkan and stamp for you, which seems to somewhat defeat the purpose or the ceremony of it all. On the other hand, you could easily argue the same thing about the validity and ceremony of signatures in terms of legal and financial obligation. All in all they do the same thing: look cool. :)

I hope to discover even more uses for the lovely inkan, but you may have to wait for something a bit more detailed (the backlog of posts is lengthy!).

So I’ve been in Japan about two weeks

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and it’s been great!! I’ve crammed a lot into those two weeks and I’ve taken a lot of pictures as well so this evening I hope to line up and post the backlog of posts I’ve aimed to either shed light on local events or Japanese life in general!

Until then, here’s a cool photo.
( ^-^)ノ∠※。.:*:・’°☆

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