Jan 27

Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurs

Uncategorized Education, entrepreneurship, fellowship

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Stephanie Boegeman (ALT, Akita-ken, 2006-09) gets her kicks from finding fun crazy ways to see the world and getting paid to do it. She is constantly in search of job, internship, and travel ideas to add to her site Playing With Hire, in the hopes that more JET alumni and like-minded souls join her in her quest to find creative, inspiring, and unique ways to make ends meet.

Those of you with big ideas on how to change the world for the better may want to investigate the Shuttleworth program, which supports social innovation. The award is the equivalent of a year’s salary, plus a travel allowance. The next proposal review is in June. More details on the program can be found here.

Jan 25

FoxHound87: Takoyaki? Yes, please.

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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.

Last Saturday, I enjoyed my first takoyaki party! Mind you, this is not my first time eating takoyaki (fried bread balls with octopus inside), but it was my first time participating in their creation. I went to the center of the universe (Tenri) and, after basking in the warm glow of Oyasama, went to Rogue’s apartment. Since we had some time to kill, she took me to a store that supposedly sold clothes in larger sizes. I didn’t buy anything, but it is good to know there may be a place in this country that I can buy clothes from.

My Japanese friend joined us kind of late, but we all went to the grocery store to pick up supplies. We got snacks, alcohol, soda, and materials for the actual takoyaki.

Rogue bought a takoyaki maker earlier that week. She did all the real cooking. I took all the verbal abuse and helped out in any way I could. Mostly I just drank Melon Cream Soda and ran around doing odd jobs.

Rogue knew that I didn’t actually like takoyaki, so she made a custom batch just for me.

My Takoyaki:
-The takoyaki Batter
-Mini hotdogs
-Cheese
-Ginger

They were yummy! My only problem was the diced, pickled ginger. It’s good, but it overpowers EVERYTHING else. It’s like it takes the other ingredients, kicks them in the nuts, and shouts “I’M THE ONLY FLAVOR! THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!!!” Yes, Ginger is the highlander of the takoyaki world.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.

http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/

Jan 24

JetWit Society: Japanese royalty at the Museum of Natural History today

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Just heard from a friend who works at the Museum of Natural History that there is apparently some Japanese royalty visiting the museum right now. No other details at the moment.

Jan 21

Saving JET: JET Alumni Groups….by Prefecture

Local Government, Networking, Return on JET-vestment, Uncategorized

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What does “Saving JET” have to do with joining your JET prefecture’s LinkedIn group?

The biggest threat to JET (and JETAA) now is attrition at the local government level as prefectural governments increasingly choose to reduce costs by getting ALTs from dispatch companies rather than hiring JETs.
The most effective way to counter this trend is to demonstrate a positive ROJ (“Return on JET-vestment”) at the local government level.
Local governments have expressed a strong interest in being able to connect and communicate with JET alumni who worked in their prefectures.
JET Alumni have never been organized by prefecture….

……until now. So please do your part and sign up for your respective JET Alumni LinkedIn Group below. It’s one small act of giving back to your prefecture that can make a big difference over time.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

–Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi, 1992-94)
jetwit [at] jetwit.com

Prefectural JET Alumni LinkedIn Groups

FYI: All groups below were created in connection with JetWit and not by the prefectural governments. They’re just intended to help facilitate future communications.
Current JETs and Monbusho English Fellows (MEFs) welcome too, as always. Additionally, prefectural and other government employees as well as residents of each prefecture are welcome to join the groups.
If anyone would like to be a “Manager” for their respective LinkedIn group, that would be very helpful. Just get in touch. Primary role will be approving requests to join the group.
You may of course join other groups in addition to your own prefecture’s group if it’s helpful to you.

Note on Methodology: I took a relatively awkward approach to setting this all up. I created subgroups via my LinkedIn account. However, LinkedIn only lets a user create up to 10 groups and up to 20 subgroups, so I had to create a new LinkedIn account (“Jet Wit”) and use that account to set up the rest of the prefectural alumni groups. Not ideal, but it seemed to be the best solution under the circumstances and given limited resources. It’s always better to have something than nothing. I’m very open to any ideas and suggestions on better ways to set this up.

Jan 20

National AJET’s “Life After JET”: Andrew Sowter

Advice, Career, Interview/Profile, Uncategorized

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National AJET shares former JET participants’ experiences – and a little advice – with current JETs in their new monthly interview, Life After JET. Contact lifeafterjet [at] ajet.net to be featured in future posts.

*************

This month, we further explore ways to build a teaching career in Japan from the JET experience. We interviewed Andy Sowter, a former-Prefectural ALT who taught at high schools and elementary schools for four years in Nara. After completing a Masters Degree in Applied Linguistics / Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), he is now a lecturer at Kwansei Gakuin University in their Intensive English Program.

Andy recommends that JET participants looking to use JET as a springboard to teach at a Japanese university need to start preparing early. Many universities look for experience presenting and publishing and “the Mid-Year Training Seminars are a good place to start.” In addition, he recommends that university job-seekers “join JALT and attend a few meetings to get a feel for the people you will be competing with for jobs.” For more advice from Andy, see the full interview or check out AJET’s Life After JET links page to find more information about the qualifications, resources, etc mentioned in this article.

National AJET: I know that you started working on your Masters while on JET. Since you didn’t have a background in linguistics before that, did you need to do any extra preparation?

Andy Sowter: I started doing my Masters during my 3rd year of JET, I finished JET after my 4th year to complete my Masters full time in Australia. Working and studying with a young family was difficult [so take] advantage of the extra free time that JET often gives you to study (either Japanese or a qualification).

To apply, I had to write a letter to the program chair stating the reasons why I thought I would be able to complete a degree in Applied Linguistics coming from a science-based background. Before applying I corresponded with the program chair to make that personal connection, I think this helped. However, I did also have a CELTA degree and three years of teaching experience to back up my application.

I was very happy with my results as I think they reflected the amount of effort I put into my studies. Seriously, anyone who decides they want to do further study has to commit, it takes a huge amount of time and effort.

NAJET: Can you tell me a little bit about your Masters programme?

Andy Sowter: My program was done through an Australian-based university called Griffith University. They had a distance education masters program [that was recommended by other JETs]. The program was designed to be completed part time over two years. It was completely course based (i.e. no thesis, just huge assignments). Two of the courses required evaluation of classroom teaching and lesson planning. I chose to go back to Australia to complete these but I could have done it externally if I could have found someone here in Japan willing and qualified to do so. By going back to Australia and completing my courses internally I managed to complete my degree in 18 months.

NAJET: What kind of requirements are there for teaching in Japanese universities?

Andy Sowter: It is getting harder and harder to get jobs as student numbers decline. To succeed in the Japanese university system you need a Masters Degree. In addition, you [must have] teaching experience in a university, [be published], [have Japanese language proficiency], and contacts [to] acquire better teaching positions.

When I started out, I took part time jobs. I managed to get some publications and made good contacts. After a year teaching part time, I [got] a full-time contract position and then relatively quickly a second better full-time (contract) position (my current job).

Click here for the rest of the interview.

Jan 19

FoxHound87: “Awesome” originates in the Iga Ninja Village

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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.

I visited the ninja village of Iga in Mie Prefecture. There were (are?) two major ninja clans in Japan: Iga Clan in Mie and the Koga clan in Shiga. I boarded the train bound for Kamo, Kyoto then switched to the super rural trains to get to Iga. It only took me about 1 ½ hrs to get there. The scenery of Mie was very pretty, but also pretty empty. It’s hard to believe there is a prefecture more rural than Nara. It was also snowing. I have experienced a little bit of snow in Nara City, but it was just a small dusting. ACTUAL snow was falling in Mie. The Floridian in me was actually excited, especially because I was warm and cozy in the train.

The city of Iga is covered in ninja imagery. Ninja cartoons animals, fake weapons shops, and tourist pamphlets line the streets near the train station. I met with my crew (about 11 other Nara JETs) and we made out way to the ninja museum. The entrance to the ninja museum is a stone stairway. The addition of black ice made this trek a bit more nerve-racking.

We finally reached the entrance, paid for the museum AND show, then entered the replica ninja house. Our ninja guide sat us down in the tatami room and began her explanation of the ninja house. Because she did not speak English, she pulled down from shades which had the English explanation printed on them. The guide showed me all the ways my apartment sucks…

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.

http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/

Jan 18

Job: Administrative Assistant at Embassy of Japan (Washington, DC)

Jobs, Uncategorized

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Via Shinpai Deshou, an online resource to help Japanese Studies majors figure out how to make a living doing what they love:

The Economics Section at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, DC currently needs an administrative Assistant. Position is open until filled, and more details can be found here.

Jan 18

Any JETs or JET alums in Kasugai, Komaki or Inuyama (Aichi-ken)?

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If you’re a JET or JET alum who lives or lived in Kasugai, Komaki or Inuyama, or anywhere in the vicinity, please get in touch ASAP at jetwit [at] jetwit.com. We may need your help.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

-Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, Kariya-shi, 1992-94)

Jan 16

JETAA Chicago site posts link to JetWit

JETAA Chapters, Uncategorized

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Thanks to JETAA Chicago for including a link to JetWit on its “Resources” page:

http://www.chicago.jetalumni.net/resources/

And a request to other JETAA chapters to include a link to JetWit somewhere on your chapter websites. (Feel free to use the JetWit mascot image as well.)

Here’s the list of other JETAA chapters that have included a link to JetWit so far:

JETAA UK: http://www.jetaa.org.uk/links (BTW, if you ever plan a trip to London, take a look at JapaneseLondon.com which is run by JET alum Vanessa Villalobos)
JETAA Southern California: http://www.jetaasc.org/ (Including image of A.J.)
JETAA South Island, New Zealand: http://www.southisland.jetalumni.org/information_links/information_links.htm (Including image of A.J.)
JETAA Sydney: http://www.sydneyjetaa.org/index.php?pg=7 (Under “JET Programme and Related Organizations”)
Pacific Northwest JETAA: http://www.pnwjetaa.org/?p=1057 (A full-on blog post about JetWit!)
JETAA New England: http://www.nejetaa.com/index.php?option=com_weblinks&view=category&id=35%3Ajetaa&Itemid=48
Music City: Tweeted about the JET-Tourist Tally Project. Chapter website coming soon.

Also, a reminder that all content on JetWit may be used by JETAA chapters and any other official JET-related organizations (e.g., AJET) on their websites, in their emails & newsletters, etc. No permission necessary. Just copy and paste. (Or link. Whatever makes your job easiest.)

Special thanks to Sam Lederer (Shizuoka-ken, 2005-07) for gathering the info. If your chapter has a link to JetWit, e-mail sam [at] jetwit.com and let us know.

Jan 10

WIT Life #149: 成人の日

Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers

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WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.

Yesterday Japan celebrated 成人の日 (seijin no hi) or Coming of Age Day, and 1.24 million youngsters took part in this celebration (成人式 or seijinshiki). This was the lowest number of participants ever, and the fourth straight year in which the number of 20-year olds has declined. This morning’s news interviewed the 1500 or so Chiba youths who were lucky enough to have their ceremony at Disneyland. They were asked how they felt about becoming adults, and the majority expressed uncertainty regarding their future and being able to find jobs. This year’s group was born in 1990 when the economic bubble burst, and they have Read More

Jan 6

Foxhound87: New Year’s

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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.

I arrived back from my trip home just in time to celebrate New Year’s in Japan! There is a lot going around New Year’s in Japan. After dinner on December 31st, a friend and I settled in to watch all the magical TV programs. There are two shows, that I’m aware of, that are shown specially on the 31st of December.

Show 1: Kōhaku Uta Gassen (“Red vs White singing contest”)

“Popular singers (and singing groups) split into two teams, women in the red team and men in the white, which then alternate while competing for the audience’s heart throughout the evening. At around 11:30 pm, the final singer (or group) sings, and the audience and a panel of judges are asked to cast their votes to decide which team sang better. The winning team gets a trophy and “the winners’ flag.” The program ends at about 11:45 pm.”
-http://satoh490625.blog50.fc2.com/blog-entry-781.html

This show was really fun to watch. I got to watch all the popular artists in Japan including Arashi and Ikimono Gakari. These two groups are INSANELY popular here. In addition to pop music, some traditional singers are also invited to the contest. One enka singer was dressed like a glamorous baby crane. I looked away from the television for a moment. When I looked back, she was RIDING A GIANT CRANE complete with flapping wings. I wish I had a picture of my reaction. It was priceless. By the way, the white team won. Guy power!

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.

http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/

Jan 5

Foxhound87: I. AM. SANTA.

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Joshua Small is a First Year JET currently living in Ikaruga-cho, Nara-ken and has been chronicling his experience on his blog Snorlax87.

On December 14th, I became the embodiment of joy and happiness in the world. I became Santa Claus. I was told weeks before that I would being playing Santa Claus for a local kindergarten. Soon after, my Kyoto Sensei told me that another kindergarten had requested my thespian skills. That’s right, I was in high demand.

The morning of the 14th, my Kyoto Sensei picked me up from school and we traveled together to the first kindergarten. We were greeted by a very nice lady who escorted us into the conference room. She gave me the costume (including eyebrows and beard), then left to let me change. The costume fit fine. It was the beard I was struggling with. It would not stay above my ACTUAL beard. I worried that the kids might see my brown beard beneath the costume…and Christmas would be ruined. I went over my lines for the show one more time, drank some hot tea, and mentally prepared myself for what was about to come…

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.

http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/

Jan 5

Sukiyaki Survey: Can you get a raw egg at Japanese restaurants in the U.S.?

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Will Japanese restaurants in the U.S. give you a raw egg for sukiyaki or gyudon or other purposes?

In my limited experience, they won’t offer it on the menu, I believe due to health code restrictions. But my understanding is that if you ask for it, they’ll give it to you.

Does anyone else have any perspective or experience with this? Have you obtained one successfully? Been denied?

Please share your responses in the comments section of this post.

Yoroshiku!

Dec 30

Job: Junior High School Assistant Language Teacher (J-ALT) Positions

Jobs, Uncategorized

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via JET alum Adrian Heinel (1996-99). Posted by Dipika Soni (Ishikawa-ken, 2003-06). Dipika currently works as an in-house translator for PFU (a Fujitsu company) in Kahoku-shi, Ishikawa-ken. She is also the vocalist for the Japanese hardcore punk band DEGRADE.

*Note: If you apply for this position, please let them know you learned of it from JetWit. Thanks.

—————————————————————————————————————–

Job Position: Junior High School Assistant Language Teacher (J-ALT) Positions

Employment Conditions:

1 Duties and Responsibilities
(1) Assist teaching junior high school foreign language classes
(2) Support in-service English education trainings
(3) Assist with producing English teaching materials/activities
(4) Help with English speech contests
(5) Participate in special events
(6) Support and advise junior high school English teachers
(7) Participate in any other activities as directed and/or requested by the teacher in charge or the principal

2 Eligibility
(1) Be a native speaker of English
(2) Must have at least a 4-year university degree
(3) Be able to attend the interview
(4) Must currently reside in Japan
(5) Applicants with conversational Japanese speaking ability preferred
(6) Applicants with a current valid visa preferred
(7) Applicants with TEFL certification preferred
(8) Applicants with a valid Japanese or international license preferred

3 Remuneration
(1) Salary: ¥320,000 per month (increasing to ¥330,000 after 2 years, ¥340,000 after 5 years of service)
(2) Japanese taxes will be paid by the city
(3) Half of shakai hoken (government social health insurance system) will be paid by the city
(4) No bonuses will be provided
(5) No relocation, transportation, or housing assistance will be provided

4 Working Hours
(1) Monday – Friday, including break time, 35 hours a week.
(2) 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. when working at the Board of Education (including a 60 minute break)
(3) 8:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. when working at schools (including a 45 minute break)

5 Method of Choosing Successful Applicants
(1) Only Successful candidates will be contacted for interviews
(2) Applicants will be screened by an interview that will include both English and Japanese

Apply by email with CV/resume, letter of introduction, photo, scanned teaching certificates, diplomas, transcripts, proof of a valid visa as well as a valid passport, and (if possible) letters of recommendation to: Mrs. Miwa and Ms. Kawazoe at kakegawarecruit@gmail.com by January 25th

Dec 30

Japan Fix: Tampa (Part 2)

Japan Fix, Uncategorized

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By Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Lily Lam (Kagawa-ken, 2004-09)

If you read the previous Japan Fix: Tampa post, then you know of some quality JET-recommended places in Tampa to get your Japan Fix on. It turns out, however, there’s more to tell and Tampa is even Japanese-ier than previously thought. You just have to know where to look. (In our case, we were forced to look because the places listed in the previous Japan Fix: Tampa post happened to be closed this past Monday thanks to the holidays.)

So read on for Japan Fix: Tampa (Part 2):

Japanese Food

I Ai Sushi (as in, “I love sushi”) is a cozy Japanese restaurant with an izakaya section on their menu tucked away in a shopping mall on 33614 W. Waters Ave. that also features a Marshalls (aka America’s “Ito Yokado”) and an Albertsons. Perhaps the Japanese-iest touch of all is their business card which, in true Japanese fashion, includes a crude yet cute map of the mall with an arrow pointing to where the restaurant is located.

I had the good fortune to go with St. Petersburg native, uber-foodie and fellow alum Lily Lam (Kagawa-ken, 2004-09) who heard about the place from a friend whose mother happens to be Japanese. (Notably, Lily actually lives and works in San Francisco these days. We only got in touch when she responded for the JET-Sister City List Project and, in the course of e-mailing, we realized we would both be in the Tampa-St. Pete area for Christmas.)

I Ai Sushi is owned by a Japanese couple who hail from Osaka and opened the restaurant about 3 years ago. Tasteful Japanese art on the walls is accented with a Hello Kitty clock as well as autographed photos of several Japanese ballplayers who have eaten there.

We started with a bottle of warm sake. And perhaps the nicest thing about the sake was that rather than present us with a long list of detailed descriptions of sakes from all over Japan, they just brought us some decent sake. Somehow I found this lack of choice to be reassuringly natsukashii. (Remember lunch in your junior high schools?)

From the izakaya menu we ordered gyoza (savory and yummy), kinpira gobo (which had a surprising and tasty kick to it), maguro yama kake (mountain potato with tuna sashimi–not commonly found in most U.S. Japanese restaurants) and, from the specials menu that night, shishamo, which are small, batter-fried and very pregnant fish. According to Lily, this was a common feature of her school lunches. Somehow I made it all this time without ever being aware of their existence, due most likely to the fact that I’ve spent most of my life avoiding fish. However, given my vow this year to make efforts to expand my palate, I took a couple bites. Right in the belly. And you know, it wasn’t so bad. Especially with a little lemon on it. (Lily noted that in her school lunches, there was no fried batter and no lemon. Just rubbery pregnant fish.)

These, of course, were just the warmup dishes, the mood setters. Because in the chilly (by Florida standards) 40 degree evening, we quickly discovered that the menu also featured various forms of nabe including sukiyaki, which we both ordered. They let us cook it right at our table. The beef was Japanese-thin and nicely marbled. The veggies were exactly what they were supposed to be. And the broth had that sweet-salty flavor that brought back memories of my first sukiyaki experience on a cold day in a friend’s unheated home gathered round a kotatsu with school colleagues.

I knew enough to request a couple raw eggs (since American health codes prohibit restaurants from offering raw eggs on their menu). And we were in business chowing down and exchanging stories of JET days past.

And for a final Japanese touch, they brought us (un-ordered) a dessert of grapes, hand-whipped cream and choux creme/シュークリームfilled with vanilla ice cream all on a plate. A very nice finish to the meal.

With our bellies full of washoku and a bit of nihonshu, it was of course time for….

Karaoke

After searching Google Maps and Yelp on our iPhones, it was determined that the best karaoke options would be Korean noreban (i.e., karaoke box) joints. Tampa Karaoke was the obvious choice, but one Yelp review mentioned something about gero in one of the rooms. So first we checked out One Family Korean Restaurant and Karaoke on 7030 West Hillsborough Ave. It was a bit hard to find at first along the commercial strip, but sure enough there was a Korean market, restaurant and karaoke place all in one warehouse-like looking building. Unfortunately for us they were all closed.

Tampa Karaoke it would be. And it was actually not so bad. Slick, chi-chi, high class and newly renovated are all words I would not use to describe the establishment. But the young Korean-American guy at the desk was very friendly. And the price was right at $25 per hour for a room. It’s also worth noting that this is a BYOB place (like Bar Toto in Korea Town in NYC), which is great if you happen to know about it in advance (which we didn’t).

We asked if there were Japanese songs in the books and were told that indeed there were. We eventually found them, however they were organized by song title only which made it a bit hard to search. That inconvenience, however, was mooted by the fact that we could only find 2 or 3 songs that we actually knew. And we decided to fault that partly to our own limited J-Pop knowledge and partly to Tampa Karaoke’s limited selection.

Getting into specifics, I was able to find “Kampai” (Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi) and “Kimi Ga Iru Dake” (Kome Kome Club). But no “Ashita Ga Aru” or “Banzai” or any other songs by Ulfuls (aka Japan’s answer to Hootie and the Blowfish). Lily, meanwhile, found “Sakura” (Kobukuro), a well-known sappy graduation song as well as “Life is a Boat” (Rie Fu). (Though she regretted not finding “Tegami” by Angela Aki.) Sore demo, we ended on a good note with that Japanese standard, “Take Me Home Country Road” (Jo-n Den-ba).

We realize there is more Japan to explore in the Tampa-St. Pete’s area. But it may just have to wait until next Christmas. However, given that I’m currently “stuck” in Florida due to the Blizzard of 2010 and can’t get a flight back to NYC until Sunday, January 2, I’ve decided to head east in search of more JET-ventures. So stay tuned for….

Japan Fix: Del Ray Beach & Miami!

Tell us where JETs should go in your area to get their Japan Fix. E-mail jetwit [at] jetwit.com.

Prefectural JET Alumni LinkedIn Groups

Nara JET Program Alumni (set up by Savannah Maynard)

Click here for the rest of the interview.

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