JETAA NY Learning to Blog Workshop: Part 2
Blogs, Career, Networking, Uncategorized 
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Update:
I ran the second “JETAA NY Learning to Blog Workshop” last Wednesday evening, April 29 in the back of Cosi on 31st & Park, not knowing quite what to expect. It turned out to be a lot of fun and everyone found it helpful and productive. (Click here to read about the first one.)
- We covered the basics of blogs (what they’re good for; advantages and disadvantages of WordPress, Blogspot, Blogger, etc.; posts vs. pages; using RSS feeds) as well as some more advanced topics (driving traffic; creative strategies; adding users). By the time we were done, everyone had set up their own blog and was ready to go.
- The attendees included two translators and three people who had started their own businesses. One of the translators wanted to create a forum for his writing. The other translator was inspired by the discussion of blogs at the JET Alumni Author Showcase (where Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), James Kennedy (Nara-ken, 2004-06) and Rob Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) all discussed how they resisted at first but now are glad they followed their publishers’ suggestions to start blogs.)
- One of the JET alum entrepreneurs, Adrienne Smith (CIR Tochigi-ken, 1997-99), founder of Harlem Hip-Hop Tours (www.h3tours.com), said she had been thinking of starting a blog to help promote her tour business but had been holding herself back and appreciated the workshop because it lifted the “technology fog” for her.
- Frank Luo (Fukuoka-ken, 1997-99), a Chinese-English translator, said afterwards, “It was really helpful… An efficient walk through on the mechanics of how to start a blog and why do it on WordPress, plus a few other useful bits of information. We also floated a few ideas on how to expand the scope of the workshops to make them more helpful to aspiring writers as well as those who are trying to promote their business through blogs.” (Frank, by the way, brought a nifty little netbook, which we all sat around and marveled at for 5 minutes.)
- Additionally, Friend of JET (FOJ) Jon Hills, a more experienced blogger who writes the J-News Mini-Roundup column for JetWit and also writes a blog for Hills Learning, a NY-based Japanese language learning services company he started, came to help out and also share a few new tricks (like adding blog functionality to a WindowsLive-based website). He said afterwards he really appreciated having a chance to meet other people running businesses in a setting where everyone was working together towards a common goal.
Going forward
I’ll likely do one or two more blog workshops at Cosi or, if the weather’s nice, perhaps in Bryant Park after work one day. If you’d like to be notified of future workshops, please feel free to contact me at professional [at] jetaany [dot] org.
Looking ahead, it would be nice for the “workshop” to evolve into a monthly “meetup” for JET alums and FOJs at beginner, advanced and in-between levels to spend some time working together, sharing experiences and tips and, of course, helping beginners learn to get started and have an opportunity to ask all the same “dumb” questions that I’ve asked along the way.
Additionally, for readers outside the NYC area, it would be great for people to get JET alum blog workshops going in other areas. It’s a useful career tool and also a nice way to bring people together.
J-News Mini-Roundup: Japan’s Children are Disappearing
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J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese language learning options.
Background: May 5th is Children’s Day in Japan, the day to celebrate the youth and energy of the country. Local inhabitants hang large carp streamers outside their houses called koinobori, which represent famous warriors and other heroes recognizable to children.
Unfortunately, Japan’s population is shrinking and getting older. The Statistics Bureau on May 4th published their annual estimate of the population of children in Japan. The newspapers reported the news. (please note “children” are identified as 14 or younger).
Asahi “And the prefecture with the least children is…” The Asahi reported that from last year there has been a decrease of 11,000 children. This sounds alarming, but even more so is their dismal statistic that the population of children has been decreasing for 28 years in a row since 1982.
They then split the statistics by prefecture (drum roll please). The prefecture with the most children is Okinawa, while the prefecture with the least children is…
(Click HERE to read the rest of the post)
Writing Opportunity: YouMaga
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JETAA Pacific Northwest Treasurer and Webmaster Shun Endo found the below writing opportunity for JET alums in the Pacific Northwest and elsewhere:
I met with the owner of YouMaga (www.youmaga.com) a while back, and she was interested in starting a new column for her magazine in the next month or two. The monthly article would be a short story written by a JET alumnus about a HUMOROUS experience they had in Japan. Something that would highlight cultural understanding, or misunderstanding! :P The great thing is that it will be a very short piece, only about two or three paragraphs in length. Very concise and simple and easy to write! The alumnus whose article is selected will have their photo and bio next to their story. It’s a fun way for PNW JETAA to be introduced to the Japanese speaking community. Maybe next time you go shopping at Uwajimaya, an obachan will ask you for an autograph?
If you are interested, first write me and tell me that you are interested, and then write a two or three paragraph story. The article will be printed in Japanese, but you can write it in English for them to translate. Or, if you want to practice your Japanese writing skills, feel free to do so, since the editor will fix any mistakes. I encourage all of you to share your funny experiences with the Seattle Japanese community! Hope to hear from you. We need one story for each month, so send many of them in! Also, send a pic and bio information:
Biography
Name:
JET Program (Years and Location):
Profession and/or interests:
Favorite japanese thing:
Baker’s Dozen by Eric Baker
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Eric Baker (Fukuoka-ken, 2006-08) will be writing the Baker’s Dozen column as he approaches the end of a year of travel and reconnecting. He will discuss his thoughts and experiences as he transitions back to working in the States after two years on JET.
Like many folks, I discovered JetWit through a JET friend. Joining the Facebook group, I began exchanging messages with Steven, our prescient leader, who suggested I start writing a few posts about my life as I, too, join the increasingly anxious fray of those looking for work. 
You may wonder how it came to pass that I’m starting these posts now, in May. I’m either ahead of the game for an ’09 JET or way behind for the group who finished in the summer of ’08. As you may have guessed, I’m the latter–I took a scenic western route returning from Japan to round out 2008. This year I’ve balanced my time between reading and fitness binges at “home” in Detroit, and with a number of week or two-long stints on the road, reconnecting with my diaspora of American friends, seeing how they live.
So far I’ve found value through the ups and downs of my deliberately gradual reentry. But while my old friends are well on their varied roads to success, evidenced in their shapely Apple and Ikea products and the flatscreen TV pandemic (when did that happen?), I turn 25 tomorrow, am living with my parents, and am increasingly in need of that pension refund. I check my account most days for that deposit, and in the meantime my 0% American Express keeps me afloat. But with my Nokia prepaid phone, goodwill cutlery and non-HD compatible 27″ JVC, I’m clinging to the fringes of social acceptance.
In fits and starts, I’m making the inevitable transition to commence thinking about and searching for my next job. I’ve missed most grad school deadlines, so that is eliminated for now. But most everything else is up in the air. Like my friends, I’m happy to move since—my pride in the Great Lakes (五大湖, anyone?) and ability to use my right hand as a map of my state aside—finding work in Michigan isn’t realistic right now. And for better or worse, I sometimes feel more socially isolated being temporarily back “home” than I did in my inaka hamlet. I’m becoming antsy to really Read More
JOB: Middle School Teacher (Milwaukee)
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(Job posting by Barry Greene (Yamanshi-ken 2002-05)).
Milwaukee Renaissance Academy wants teachers for the core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are also actively pursuing language teachers for JAPANESE, Mandarin, Arabic, and Hindi. Position starts by August 1st, 2009.
http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/av/Job/330341-126
JOB: Bilingual Architect/Project Manager (Atlanta)
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(Job posting by Barry Greene (Yamanshi-ken 2002-05)).
A construction company has Japanese clients and English-speaking vendors: sounds like the perfect place for a JET.
Candidate must possess: Read More
J-News Mini-Roundup: The Flu Comes to Narita
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Scene from the movie, "The Blob"
J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese language learning options.
Background: All three newspapers headlines ran a story about the woman from America who was diagnosed potentially with a strain of the “flu.” Whether this is the Swine Flu or not is something that has still not been made public. At about 330pm in Narita Airport a woman who was flying on Northwest Airlines was taken in for the first level of quarantine testing, and tested positive for the A strain of the flu. She is now currently undergoing a second level of testing that will confirm whether or not this is the Swine Flu. Each newspaper gives its take on the situation.
Yomiuri “The War on the Virus is at our Shores.” This was Yomiuri’s closing quote from their article but it pretty much sums up their diagnosis of the situation. While both the Nikkei and Asahi newspapers give brief descriptions of what happened at Narita, Yomiuri gives detailed events that show a war on the virus is coming to Japanese shores. They point out that the WHO had just raised the alert level to 5 from the National Infectious Diseases Research center in Shinjuku. The newspaper in their preceding paragraph tells the reader about how diseases, if undiagnosed, transcend national borders.
(Click HERE to read the rest of the post)
Author Suzanne Kamata (Tokushima-ken, 1988-90) contacted me to let me know that poet Craig Arnold is missing in Japan. There is an effort underway to draw more attention to Craig’s disappearance to help pressure Japanese and U.S. authorities to take action.
For more information about the effort, please visit http://findcraigarnold.blogspot.com/
For more information on Craig Arnold, you can see his Wikipedia entry at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Arnold
Latest update from findcraigarnold.blogspot.com:
News
4/30 at 2:00 am EST: According to Christopher Blasdel of The International House of Japan, two US helicopters have landed on the island to assist in the search. The prefectural police have added another helicopter to make a total of four helicopters. The island has deep vegetation which might make it difficult to see anything from the air, but we have our fingers crossed!
J-News Mini-Roundup: Baby Boy Found in Freezer
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J-News Mini-Roundup is a recurring feature written by Friend Of JET, Jon Hills, who maintains the blog for Hills Learning (www.hillslearning.com). Hills Learning is a NY-based language learning services company offering customized and personal Japanese language learning options.
Background: In Hyogo Prefecture, Ono City, Miyuki Otsuka was arrested yesterday on charges that she left her child’s body in the freezer. According to the police, Miyuki showed up the police station and said that she was hiding her baby’s body in the freezer. Both the Yomiuri and the Asahi Newspapers tell this gruesome tale differently, and interestingly enough neither paper speculates on how or why the baby was killed.
Yomiuri “He was already dead when I got home.” Miyuki claims that she made her son stay at home while she went out. After she returned home, she found her son dead. The Yomiuri mentions some interesting details surrounding this, like for example Miyuki is unemployed. Also, they point out that the body was found in a vanilla bag, wrapped up. They end their article saying the police are currently doing an autopsy to find the cause of death, but the scene they set makes you wonder how it couldn’t be Miyuki.
(Click HERE to read the rest of the post)
Via JETAA Southern California:
English tutors wanted for 2 Consuls at the Consulate General of Japan in Downtown Los Angeles. Private lessons working on conversation skills.
– 1-2 times per week on weekdays
– At the Consulate office
– $20 per hour plus parking fee (parking TBA after interview)
– 2 hours per session from 18:30
– Lesson days TBA after interview
If interested, please email resume to h_tanaka@la-cgjapan.org and y_okada@la-cgjapan.org
JOB: Inside Sales/Customer Service (Los Angeles)
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Via JETAA Southern California:
Job responsibilities and qualifications: Inside sales/customer service at beauty products mfg/distributor. Must be fluent in English, and must have great communication skill. Must be interested or has experience in beauty industry. Salary, if available: approximately 30k with benefits and overtime pay.
How to apply: Please send WORD formatted resume to fumi@interplace-agency.com
National Language Service Corp…
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Acutely aware of the need for bilingual people, the US gov’t is finally doing something about it. The NLSC has been recently formed and is looking for those of us who “are multilingual volunteers who bridge communities, interpreting and translating in time of need.”
I haven’t fully checked out the website, but it sounds interesting. If you sign up, please post something. We’d love to know more about it.
http://www.nlscorps.org/Default.aspx
JOB: Bilingual IT Project Manager (New York)
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Misi Company is looking for someone to manage some complex IT projects. Send resumes to cbecker@misicompany.com and check out their website at http://www.misicompany.com
Link to full Description:
http://seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/servlet/JobSearch?op=101&dockey=xml/5/e/5e84fb0a0e302aae547792f5999b5222@endecaindex&c=1&source=20
(Posted by JetWit Job Poster Barry Greene (Yamanashi-ken, ’02-’05))
JOB: Rosetta Stone Creative Writer (Virginia)
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The folks are Rosetta are looking for someone to help them design curriculum , amongst other responsibilities. This would be perfect for bilingual former teachers- oh wait, that would be us.
(Posted by Barry Greene (Yamanashi-ken ’02-’05))
JOB: Legal, Technical Translator (Washington D.C)
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For those of us who have a couple of years experience translating patents and performing technical interpreting, Greenblum & Bernstein is looking for you.
