5 seconds

5 seconds. 1......2......3........4............5. That's all it takes for a situation to turn ugly. And at one of my schools, that's all the time it takes for a situation to resolve myself. Not 10 minutes, I was sitting at the computer reading peaceful. My contemplative state was shattered however, when a teacher ran into the staff room saying that another sensei had gotten hit in the face. In a flash, 10 teachers went running out to the field where it had happened. I even kicked off my shoes to run faster. But we arrived only to find the teacher in question holding some toilet paper over his bleeding nose, with a group of students slinking away nonchalantly while the vice-principal looked on. Now, in the staff room, I have picked up snippets of the conversation. The teachers are huddling around, conferring over police action and a trip to the hospital for a broken nose.

Yet in a mere 20 minutes time, everything seems to be back to normal. There is the social studies teacher, munching on a carrot. There is the Japanese language teacher, preparing her lesson. I am frightened to think that the staff at this school has gotten so complacent, desensatized to these events, which are far too common. It feels like a criticism of Generation Y America, but it seems that this sort of thing can happen anywhere in the world. The children of Japan have lost the respect for their elders and their teachers, a trait that was renown throughout the world. When I ask my friends to conjure up images of the typical Japanese school child, they often respond with the kind of respectful teenager imitated in the Karate kid. Even I had visions of such a situation, that my pupils would be drilled rigorously, me the Sensei, and they, the young grasshoppers. But I have realized that this, like many stereotypes, may have had some grounding 50 years ago, but has since disappeared.

While my experience at other schools has been different, a general lack of respect seems to be inherent in the Japanese education system. I can only hope that the dinosaur that is the Japanese education system finds an impetus for change in the actions of these malcontents, but I have little faith that change is anywhere but far off.

Pianicas

Oh so this is just for Julian, Emily, and other academy kids. Remember Pianicas guys? REMEMBER? The abomination of an instrument that is the pianica? Well that monstrosity that Cheril Lehr forced us to play has made its way to Japan. Attached is a picture of 2 of my first grade (6 yr old) students playing them. Gawd i should take them and burn them so that they can't ever be played again. Oh and dont be fooled. The part they are blowing into comes out and is attached to a hose. Its the real deal.

Elementary School

Hi everyone,

I know its been a long while, but I've been busy and I don't know how many of you actually read this anyways. But today's topic is elementary school. I am what is called a "one shot" Jet and as such, I travel to several different schools and expose as many kids to English as possible. I have two junior high schools and 5 elementary schools. While this seems like an inefficient approach, the idea is to get the kids used to English and hopefully to get some of them to even like it before it becomes mandatory in elementary school (it already is mandatory in junior high).

While I certainly enjoy junior high, my favorite days have been the days that I am at elementary school. So far I have only been to two elementary schools but both have been a blast to teach at. I have taught grades 1 through 6, meaning the 6 year olds to the 13 year olds. I like elementary school a lot more because the elementary kids have not yet developed the social trait that is common in Japanese society, whereby it goes against the harmony of society and the group if a student is to raise his or her hand, thereby singling themselves out from the rest of the group. Therefore, in junior high, I am faced with many silent classrooms and getting kids to answer is like pulling teeth (although I can eventually do it). At elementary school however, the situation is different. Social manners are not yet observed and therefore I am just about the greatest thing ever to hit Kurume. The kids all swarm me and I have yet to be greeted with a silent hallway if I am walking through it. I usually enter a school to hear shouts of "Oh, Asa sensei. Hello" Or "gooood morningggggggg."

When class starts, I have no problem getting the kids to volunteer, and often they want to show off their English skills. Its great fun, and as my lessons almost always invariably contain a game, the students are really liking English (i think at least). The best time of the day usually is recess, when I always go outside and play Kori-oni (ice demon = freeze tag), cops and robbers, kick ball, soccer, or dodgeball (dodguboru in Japanese english). Piggyback rides are also a common site. To that end I have a picture attached for emphasis of both piggyback rides and recess. More to come. So as you can see, elementary is definitely the most fun.

My apartment

Besides the tax free income, every JET participant is guaranteed recommended housing by their contract organization. While that could be anything from a roach-infested shared dormitory to an entire house, I am lucky to have been given an apartment in the upper middle part of the spectrum. While my building, named Faburu house/Tsukamoto house, is not the greatest location in terms of nightlife/things to do, it is 5 minutes away from my Board of Education/one of my schools and is newer than any of the apartments that other JETS in this area have gotten. Perhaps 10-15 years old, the Tsukamoto building stands a pround 2 stories high tucked away in a residential neighborhood known as Shojima-machi (Shojima town). It is surrounded by middle class houses on all sides. Luckily, Popular convinience store is a mere 150 meters away which makes it easy to get to for any drink/food/bill paying needs I might have. In terms of annoyances, the closest grocery store is a 10 minute bike ride away, but next month that all will change when the 24 hour grocery store that is being built across the street opens up.

In terms of the apartment itself, for 450 dollars a month (half of which is covered by my contracting organization), I get a 2, 6 tatami room apartment (1 tatami is around 4x3 so its like 10x7 or so), plus a kitchen/bathroom. While not the biggest in terms of size, it definitely is more than enough for one person. I spend most of my time in my living/bed room as it is the only air conditioned room. The seasons are changing however so its not as hot as it was before. Pics to follow.

School today

So if any other Jet's read this, I have a question for you. Who else has a teacher that expects you to teach the entire class? I arrived at one of my middle schools today, and it's the first time that I am not doing Self-intro lessons here. I go with one of the teachers and she does what I would expect, explain things some and then we have a conversation or shes uses me for pronunciation. First we reviewed the material from last time (what is this, what is that etc), then we did "whats your favorite______) and played a bingo type game. I felt it was quite a mutual class and was satisfied.

Then I went to the next class with another english teacher. Now, her english isnt very good, she is quiet, and I dont see how she is qualified to be an English teacher but she can get by. However, we were leaving the staffroom to go to the class and I was only carrying a ball i use to throw to the students and some stickers and she asks "is that all you need?" It was at this point that I got suspicious but we continued on. So we get to the classroom and she just walks off to the side and leaves me in front of the kids. I was more than a bit surprised but I managed to think on the fly and basically just led the class through what we did in the class before. However, without the teacher helping, I wasnt quite sure if i was doing it right and I had to even control the class. I didn't want to use my Japanese in the class at all b/c the kids currently think i know ohayo and thats it. But god, I was angry. I guess I have to plan every lesson in advance to teach it by myself. A Trial by fire.

WOW

So i thought that yesterday's fire couldn't be topped, but today, 5 minutes ago, one 8th grader kicked the ever loving shit out of another 8th grader. One of the teachers came charging into the staff room and shouted "8th grade fight!", and the rest of us went charging to the 2nd year hallway where 1 boy was crying and another was smirking to himself. They questioned him and led him away, but by the look on his face, I think he knows that nothing is going to happen to him. Unless he is 14. If he is 14, then he might get sent to reform school, which sounds like its run like boot camp. I sure hope he gets sent there. I also wish that I had been the first to catch the kids fighting, cause I would have pulled the bigger one off and would have been tempted to kick the shit out of him. These kids need some discipline!

In regards to the fire issue, apparently some girls came and told the teachers last night who had done it, but they were so scared of the boy coming and beating them up that now the teachers are distributing an anonymous survey to the kids and then after they collect it, they'll go and arrest the boy. What a great school. Now, I don't want to make it sound like it's a terrible place, since many schools in America are just as bad if not worse, and probably 95% of the kids here are good/nice kids, even the noisy ones that talk or sleep in class. But there is just this other 5% who don't give a crap about what's going to happen to them. They don't care about entrance exams to high school. Probably a majority of them will drop out of school after middle school is up, since secondary education is not compulsory here in Japan. The other few kids that encompass that 5% might take the entrance exam for the crappiest high school in the area, but I have a feeling that most of them are going to end up collecting my garbage or working at my nearby convinience store in a few years.

uh looks like i have one of the worst schools in the area

Well, i thought the teachers here at Konan were exaggerating, but it turns out that this is one of the most unruly schools in the area. Today, at around 1:30 local time, the teachers come running into the staffroom to tell us that someone had lit some papers on fire in the hall way in the next building. Yet, noone would fess up to who it was, so instead of making a group punishment until the offender came forward or was fingered, nothing happened. Repeatedly, the teachers simply rely on the idea that society will work it out, but in the meantime, kids are known for fighting, skipping class, and now, lighting fires here at Konan. I guess ill just try my best to ignore it.

School in Japan

I've Finally started! After a month of sitting around the board of education and staring at the wall, I'm officially a teacher. My first week was last week. On monday I went to konan (ko as in kobe bryant and nan as in the indian bread) middle school where I sat through an opening ceremony and gave a short speech in English. "hello, my name is Arthur Winer. I am from America. I dont speak Japanese, so please speak to me in English." Now, the I don't speak Japanese part is a bold faced lie, but both my supervisor and my fellow teachers (mostly) agree that I should at least pretend to only speak english so that the students will make an effort to speak to me in English. I am sure that if they knew i spoke decent Japanese, I would never get a question in English again. After that I basically sat around and went home early, as they had no use for me.
The second day, tuesday, was my first day of teaching and to commerate that historic day, I went to Shojima elementary school. Located a 4 min walk from my house, Shojima elementary is small, with only about 200-230 students. However, when I arrived, I was tasked with giving my self introduction to 3rd, 4td, 5th, and 6th grades. Man was it difficult t change the scale of the lesson according to how much english the students knew. But somehow I managed, and after my self intro I had them practice feelings. It is also a tradition to eat school lunch with the students, and upon entering the 4th grade classroom where I was to eat, I was served a meal of a disgusting egg miso soup, and some pretty good curry. It was a tiring but fun day all and all. The kids especially liked the english version of rocks, scissors, paper. In Japan, its called Janken, and its used to solve just about any dispute in school.
Wednesday was my first day at Konon junior high to officially teach. I again gave my self introduction, this time to 9th graders. Depending on the class, it was a smashing success or a total bust. On average, it was somewhere inbetween. As I mentioned in an earlier post, harmony is one of the most important social qualities to be had in Japan. This manifests itself in junior and senior high school as the students staying as quiet as they can in class, never raising their hand to be singled out in giving an answer. Instead, teachers usually lecture to the kids, who take notes, and then are tested on those notes later. Conversation and spontaneity are not encouraged so much so when I walk into the class and expect them to respond enthusiastically, I may be deluding myself. I have brought a ball to class to try to stimulate the kids and force them to talk, which works to some extent but not always. The opposite of this is the fact that some other classes are noisy and almost out of control. Students frequently talk or sleep, and some bad students even get up and leave class in the middle of it. This has to do with the lack of discipline in Japanese schools. As students are expected to promote harmony in their classes, teachers rarely discipline students themselves and instead try and let other students keep their classmates in check. However, most students just stay silent, conforming to the other social trend, thereby letting the bad kids do whatever they want. There is no system of disciple a la detention, and therefore all the teachers can do is yell at the kids which does no good. I've been told about one student who is only in 8th grade and is only 13 but he's already fought a student, frequently leaves class, talks, is noisy, etc. When the teachers put him in a room by himself to punish him unsupervised, he broke everything in the room. Apparently, when he reaches the age of 14, he can be sent to reform school, but until then, the teachers can only sit back and watch. Outside of class however the kids are friendlier, and more willing to try to talk. I suppose there is less pressure to make a mistake.
Thursday and friday, I traveled more than 30 minutes, including bike, train, and walk time, to Miyanojin (ME-YAN-NO-JEAN) junior high, my only other junior high. Located in the next town (also called miyanojim), across the river from kurume, the school is in a bunch of rice fields which is a nice contrast to my city school. There, the students are better and more attentive though they can still be noisy when they want to. That school is currently practicing for its sports day, when the entire school gets together and competes in both sporting events and dancing/cultural events. The entire school is split into 3 blocks, red, yellow, and blue, and the teams compete against each other. It was interesting watching a bunch of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders dance to techno-pop music. Ill try and get a video on here sometime soon.

So all in all, my first days of teaching have been fun if a bit frustrating. I am pretending not to speak Japanese at all in middle school which can be difficult if the students ask me something in Japanese and I understand it, or insult me somehow (this is rare). Ill keep trying to only speak english with them for a while, then maybe later ill tell them i speak the language. More to come.

I PASSED THE MCAT!

So holy fucking shit, I passed the MCAT. I think huzzahs and drinks are in order. I can think back 7 and a half months ago, when I began my MCAT prep course (princeton review), only to squander the time as I was too busy with my other college studies to effectively devote time to the MCAT. That lead my to reschedule my test date from May 11th to July 24th. Yet I resolved myself to wiling away my summer days, studying in the various librarys around central PA. After what seemed like a maddening amount of time, I still had not completed my review of the material. And so I contemplated pushing back the test yet again, to an undetermined date in Japan. However, this would mean that I would not be able to apply to medical school this year, instead giving a 2nd year off. This prospect seemed unappealing to me to say the least, and so I decided to push forth and I took the MCAT from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm on a hot day in July. While i was less than confident that I had passed, the results came in today and needless to say, I was pleased. With my score, I can now apply to medical school carefree, and hopefully, come next August, I will be sitting in the entering class of 2012 (fixed for blair) in a school somewhere in the US.　（よしょ)

Jessica The Goddess

Over the past few weeks I have been growing more and more fond of my co-worker... what should I do? She has to be the sweetest, smartest, sexiest thing ever. She is petite but curvy, with a fabulous rack and sparkling green eyes, cute clothes, really genki (energetic) and excited to be a teacher, fluent in Japanese, top of her class graduating from college... AND she`s Jewish!
She`s a cross between the pixie-like beauty of Bjork and a Greek Goddess, only in a really hot Ukranian kind of way. *

*Written by Jessica, my hyper ALT coworker. But she's hot anyway.

As you can see, we have alot of time on our hands here at the office. While for us, work started here in Kurume on the 8th, even now, school is on summer vacation. This has lead to long days of sitting at our 3 desks, bored out of our minds, looking for ways to amuse ourselves. Our attempts at making teaching materials quickly passed, devolving into games of 20 questions and 'I spy with my little eye'. Luckily school starts in another week and a half on September 3rd, so our days will grow busy. But for now, i'll just have to spend my hours admiring Jessica from afar.

Nagasaki

Its been over a week, but last Monday and Tuesday I decided to hell with it, and after booking a hotel, I hit the rails bound for Nagasaki. From Kurume, Nagasaki city in Nagasaki Prefecture is about an hour and 45 minutes. I first had to travel to Tosu, a city 2 stops away in Saga Prefecture. Tosu is a crossroads, and after switching to the rapid train I was on my way to Nagasaki. The countryside was particularly beautiful as I traveled through both Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures; I saw plenty of rice fields and the train eventually traveled along the coast.
When I arrived I immediately boarded a trolley (Roman Densha ロマン電車） and got off at the stop in front of the peace park (Heiwa Koen - 平和公園). Constructed in the 1950's, the peace park now boasts statues of saints donated from various countries. In the center is a statue of a greek-like diety simply known as the peace statue. It seemed both out of place and appropriate at the same time. From there, I took a 5 minute walk to the Urakami Cathedral. Once the biggest church in East Asia, it is said that Urakami Cathedral took 3 decades to construct and 3 seconds to be destroyed by the Atomic Bomb. Continuing on with my tour of depressing landmarks, I traveled to the Atomic Bomb Museum, which housed remnants of buildings melted and twisted by the bomb blast, along with photos, videos, and testamonials from various A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha- 被爆者). Particularly moving if ghastly was the site of a man on a ladder. While the ladder and the man were utterly destroyed by the bomb blast, the intense heat wave generated by the explosion seared the shadows of both onto a wall in a sort of twisted memorial. Determined to see all things related to the horrific event befalling Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945, my final stop was at Hypocenter park. This park is rather plain except for a single statue and a black monolith marking the exact point above which the A-bomb exploded at 11:02 AM.
In the mood for something cheerier, after lunch I traveled the opposite direction on the trolleys to Dejima Island. During the closed country ( sakoku-鎖国) period, enacted by the Tokugawa Shogunate (specifically by Tokugawa Iemitsu) through a number of edicts between 1635 and 1641, the country of Japan was technically off limits to foreigners until it was reopened by Commadore Perry reopened the country in 1853 (it remained illegal to leave Japan until the Meiji Restoration in 1868). However, a loophole was left in this policy through the creation of the artifical island of Dejima. This island, constructed out of sand and reenforced artifically, was the only place in Japan that foreigners (specifically the Dutch) could come and trade for Japanese goods. While the Dutch were basically restricted from leaving the island from the mid 17th century onward, through the trade provided for by the Dutch of Dejima, the Japanese gained knowledge of a variety of subjects and were able to keep apprised of the various developments outside of their country. Today the island is no longer an island at all. Through a variety of land reclamantion acts passed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the area around Dejima was filled in. Today, the `island' is infact landlocked, surrounded by office buildings and perhaps .15 miles from the shore. However, the Japanese have done a fairly admirable job in restoring the island at least partially, with dutch buildings etc, and it was a very interesting historic sight to see. Finally, at the end of the day, I traveled up inasa mountain via cable car where i took some spectacular pictures of the city at night.
The next day, I went to temple row and checked out Shofuku-ji temple, a buddhist temple obviously influenced by chinese architecture, as well as several other small and large temples. I went no the day of obon, a day on which the Japanese travel to the graves of their ancestors and pay homage to them, so I saw many people praying at the temples. It was fascinating really. However, it started to rain, and so I hopped on a trolley, hit the biggest Shinto shrine in Nagasaki (Suwa shrine) (after climbing up several hundred stairs), and then high-tailed it out of Nagasaki. Anyone visiting Kyushu, make this historical and amazing city a priority for sure.

Travel, bugs, power rangers, and more

A lot has happened in these past few weeks. This past weekend I decided it was time to travel, even though I had only been in Kurume for less than 3 days, and so on saturday I went on a shopping excursion with my fellow JETs, Jessica and Alexis, to Youme town (pronounced you - me (as in MAY)), the new immense shopping mall in town. It was daunting. we were the only western faces in a sea of several thousand Japanese, all headed to the mall to do their weekend shopping. While there I saw several random things which can only be attributed to Japan, the first of which being the rhinocerous beetle (カブト虫) . This hideous beetle (also called the hercules beetle as it can lift up to 750 times its own weight - 65 tons or so if it was the size of a human) is about the size of one's palm and looks like something out of the movie creep show or some other horror movie, but is in fact a children's pet in Asia. Apparently it's a plant eater, clean, easy to maintain and only lives during the summer and so it's a good for children, but I know that if I saw one on the street I wouldn't hesitate and crushing it. I did however see several mammoth examples of the beetle at both a pet store and in Toys R' us of all places, lending credence to their popularity.

Also, after buying a couch (which im currently sitting on) and some cushions, I stumbled upon a gathering of children and their parents, who were all sitting on several blue tarps staring at a stage in the middle of the mall. I expected a clown or something of that sort to appear, but was surprised (but not totally so) when two guys in power rangers costumes came running onto the stage and then proceded to battle each other. It was hilarious and the kids loved it, with each character posing with the children for photos after the 'show'. What a wacky country but i suppose we have the same sort of stuff.

On Sunday, while it was sweltering outside, with temperatures in the high 90's and humid as hell, I felt I should explore, and so I took a trip to Dazaifu. In the 1800's, Daizaifu was the Fukuoka prefectural capital. However, at the beginning of the Meiji restoration, the capital was moved to Fukuoka city and so the town is now known for its temples (although one can see the ruins of the government buildings- I did not, it was too hot). I did, however, go to the biggest temple in the area, Tengu-ji. Dedicated to the scholar god, Tengu-ji was established after a famous academic was exiled from fukuoka city to Dazaifu city, where he died in exile. Promptly realizing their mistake, the Japanese decided to dedicate a shrine to him and now students go there to pray for good luck. After viewing the shrine, I looked on the local map and saw that there were some smaller temples, one with the oldest bell in Japan (dating from 746 ad), nearby so i decided to walk the mile or so and check them out. Well the heat was blistering and i probably got sunburn but I made it. The temple was basically deserted in the middle of a rice field. Next to it, there was a monastery as well as a temple hall that housed some gigantic buddhas from the 10th-13th century or so. Photos to come. I also checked out an even smaller temple that was in the middle of a neighborhood but it was more for praying and less for show. Good stuff.





　

Harmony

　　　　　The Japanese office is a peculiar creature. Unlike American offices, which cubiclize everything and coordine off most everybody while still promoting the guise of unity by leaving one side of a cube open to the rest of the world, Japanese offices function without barriers. You see, in order to maintain the harmony (調和 - chiyoowa) of society even in office settings, the Japanese have effectively set up rows of desks with the most senior of people at the head of the office closest to the windows, while us lowely English teachers are farthest from the bosses. The only one with a private office is the superintendant of the school district, who is too much of a head honcho to be among us lowly mid level administrators. Even now, as I sit here typing this, I can see all of my colleagues and they can see me, which discourages me from going online but I do it anyway as I have nothing to do.
　　　　　Coming to that topic, we, as Assistant Teachers of Language (ALTs), are required to come into the office every day from 8:30 to 4:15, Monday through Friday until school starts. We are supposed to work on lesson plans and teaching materials but as we still have more than 2 weeks until school starts, we sit here through mind-numbing bordom, listening to the same cheesy song that plays when one is to cross the street outside of our office, which can drive one to madness. So in addition to lesson planning, I have been checking my email and posting here in order to relive the endless hours of nothingness. But everyone here is amazingly nice, more so than in America. All this lends to the harmony of the office. If somone were to act out, being grumpy or whatnot, it would lead to discord and result in concern for that individual. But people here are generally laid back and agreeable. I made sure to bring in presents ( おみやげ- omiyage) from both America (I gave hershey's kisses to my immediate superiors - Mr. Higuchi and Mrs. Kobukata who both can speak english - only kobukata uses english with us, Higuchi majored in English literature but speaks japanese which is good for practicing), and from nagasaki (a cake called Castella cake which was portugese in origin - it speaks to the diversity of nagasaki and its rich history with the outside world) which i gave to the entire office in order to feel more accepted by my colleages. Everything goes back to harmony in this society and we're trying our best to fit in.頑張りましょう！ (I shall try my best).

Tokyo orientation

　　　　　Upon my arrival in Japan on August 5th, I along with 1000 other native speakers of English were deposited via bus at the Keio Plaza Hotel in the heart of Tokyo, 2 blocks from shinjuku station. There, we were subjected to long boring speeches from government officials, as well many workshops that were pretty useless. However, some were beneficial to those like me who have no prior teaching experience, and I suffered through all of them to find the good ones. My advice?　Go to any workshop on teaching that you can so that you have some idea of what to do come September. The nights were pretty standard Tokyo-fare. Going out, getting drunk, and making your way back to the hotel to sleep it off. My nights were pretty tame as I was still tired as hell from the plane ride over, but make the most of it if you can. Orientation lasted from the 5th, a sunday, to wednesday the 8th when we were all herded off to our respective prefectures (the fukuoka-ken JETs went by plane to Fukuoka airport). I was surprised to see that we took a 747 jumbo jet (capacity 400 ppl) from Tokyo to Fukuoka, a 1 hour 20 minute flight, but I guess in a country as condensed as Japan (population about 133 million), jumbo jets are necessary.

　　　　　After meeting my supervisors, a very nice woman fluent in english named Kobukata-sensei, who studied at ball state for a year, and a man named higuchi-sensei who only speaks to us in Japanese but understands English well, we drove to Kurume city, where I am currently posted. Instead of taking us to our home, we were brought to the board of education, our workplace for the next month, and introduced to all of the teachers and administrators currently working there. We also met the superintendant, who, unlike in America, sits in a plush office, sort of like the prime minister. We were all ushered into his office (me and 4 other JETS), and given a formal introduction; the superintendant even gave us a letter of appointment, all part of the show. I also performed my best, lowest bow, since he is of much higher rank than me, the lowely english teacher. Then I was taken to my home, a 2, 6 tatami room apartment, with a kitchen and bathroom, about 5 minutes from the Board of Education by bike. Kurume is a very bikeable city; in fact a bike is almost mandatory. Well, I havent been here for even a week yet, but i am definately liking Kurume. Pictures to come.

The JET Program

Oh to be a JET participant. While the first association that you may make may be an aeronautical one, I am, in fact, not training to be a pilot but instead next week I am going to be thrust into the education world as an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) on the JET (Japan Exchange an Teaching) Program. Since every blog I have ever read about the JET program starts of with a "how did I get into JET" entry, here's mine.

At the beginning of my senior year of college last year, I started to think, 'what do I want to do next year?' Being a Japanese major with a premed concentration, I was inclined to go straight to medical school. However, as I had not yet taken the MCAT, that option was not avaliable and thus started my road towards the JET program. Why not do something with my major before its gone forever, lost in the vastness of medicine. So i filled out the online application form last november, and in february, I found out that I had been invited to the interview round. Now for those of you that dont know, the program which is 5000 ppl strong, cuts half of its applicants right then and there so i felt pretty good going into the interview. But also, for those of you that dont know, most ppl walk out of that interview with a `wtf' feeling. Thats what i felt because i was asked such questions as `Why are you proud to be an American` and other such gems.
A month after the interview, at the beginning of April, I checked my inbox at 5pm only to discover the words 'Congratulations, you have been accepted as a JET program alternate'. What the hell. Not only that but some ppl I met that were definately not qualified to be a teacher of young children in Japan got in! But nevertheless, i decided to wait it out (I had also called the embassy and they basically told me i was 1 or 2 on the waiting list) and 1 long anguishing month later (May 4th to be exact) I got a call from Joelle Williams from the embassy congratulating me on my upgrade. Now here I am in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, in an Internet cafe that also serves dinner, allows you to do your laundry, and take a shower, writing this post. Good luck to anyone applying and if you have any questions, feel free to email me at Jelly476@gmail.com