JETAA UK

http://www.jetaa.org.uk

Up-to-date job listings.  An easy to find calendar.  A “member counter” graphic front and center.  And a friend-finder….by prefecture!

And we especially love the link to… ehhh, chotto matte… JetWit.com link ha doko deshou ka?

Well, a minor oversight that we’re sure will soon be remedied.  Whoever put the site together (and it looks like a group effort) clearly did their homework and put a lot of good thought into it.  So go and have a look around and enjoy the fruits of their hard work.

O-tsukare sama deshita, JETAA UK!

Update: Turns out that JETAA Southern California has also recently updated its website:  http://jetaasc.org (can’t tell if it’s Joomla, WordPress or something else)  (Thanks to JETAA SC Prez Jason Porath for the update.)

This just in from JETAA Northern California:

Hey everyone,

After talking about it at the national conference for I don’t know how long, our new website is finally up (jetaanc.org)! Check it out and let us know what you think.

Rod McLeod
JETAANC President

Meanwhile, JetWit has checked out the new JETAA Northern California website and thinks it’s cho-beri kakkou ii.  We also voted for “Easier Navigation” as our favorite thing about the new site.  But feel free to vote as you see fit.

On the website topic, you may notice that JETAA Northern California is using Joomla (an open source Content Management System) for its website.  Several other JETAA chapters use Joomla as well.  Meanwhile, JETAA NY and a few other chapter sites use WordPress (a blog program which is also a Content Management System for all intent and purpose).  Together, Joomla and WordPress do seem to be the most popular choices among chapters.  The primary reason being that they have nice layouts and, once set up, multiple users can easily participate in adding content rather than having to rely on one webmaster to add content each time.

The issue of websites and content management systems will be further discussed at the end of January at the Regional Conference being hosted by JETAA Portland (which I just noticed doesn’t use either Joomla or WordPress).  JETAA NY and JetWit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang will be there to contribute to the conversation along with several other knowledgeable and tech-savvy JET alums.

What does your chapter use?  How do you feel about it?  Do you have a preference between Joomla and WordPress, or something else altogether?  Share your comments below.  There’s no one right answer, so the more feedback provided, the better we’ll all be served in the long run.

Future JETs?

Thanks to the hard work of JET alum Abigail MacBain, current JET Program Coordinator for the Consulate General of Japan in Miami (and former JETAA DC Newsletter Editor), the Miami Consulate has a wonderfully updated JET Program page.

Have a look at Abigail’s handiwork at http://www.miami.us.emb-japan.go.jp/jet/jetprogram.html

Abigail also reports two big JET Program policy changes as of Monday, August 17:

1. JET alumni can now reapply for JET after 3 years instead of 10

2. The previous requirement used to be that you couldn’t have lived 3 or more years in Japan in the past 8 years. Now it’s 6 or more years years in the past 10.

Great article from the Isshoni London website run by JET alum Vanessa Villalobos (who is also the Communications Officer for JETAA UK).

There’s a welcome lull in frenetic London life over August… time to enjoy some of the finer things in life: food, music and the great outdoors.

If you, like I am, are counting down the days to the Japan Matsuri at Spitalfields this September 19th, you should indulge in a little Japanese cultural exploration over the summer!

1. EAT FOR FREE AT TOKYO CITY

I know! I couldn’t believe it either! Simply book your table in advance at Tokyo City Japanese Restaurant near Bank on any Tuesday in August, anytime from 11.30am to 10pm at night. A tasty offer too good to miss, you simply pay a £2.50 service charge and the cost of drinks you order.

City workers can feast for free on everything from handmade sushi and sashimi to bento boxes filled with Japanese classics, plus other traditional Japanese dishes, and help Tokyo City celebrate their 10th birthday and the launch of their new August menu.

Tokyo City is at 46 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7AY

Call 020 7726 0308 and quote the Tokyo City offer when you book.

2. DISCOVER CONTEMPORARY JAPANESE MUSIC

You’ll be pleased to hear Tsuru Sushi plays host to new Japanese music the last Wednesday of every month! Their 100% Genki events showcase Japanese musical and performance talent.

The events have been running for one year on the last Wednesday of each month, and attract a diverse crowd from the Japanese and local communities. Performers are also diverse, ranging from Wataru Kousaka, a sanshin player, to contemporary electronic composer Anchorsong and many others.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article

JetWit webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) comments after the jump on The Cove, a new documentary about dolphin hunting in Japan.  Please feel free to share your own thoughts regarding this controversial film in the comments section of this post.

Review of ‘The Cove’
by Lee-Sean Huang
Cross-posted on LEESEAN.net

Today, I went to see The Cove, a documentary centering around the annual dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan. As some reviewers have already said, the movie marries spy-thriller suspense with compelling investigative storytelling. Because of the Japanese government and whaling interests not wanting the story to get out, the filmmakers had to secretly (and perhaps illegally) document the dolphin slaughter; in my opinion, a heroic act of civil disobedience. As I learned on the JET Programme, in Japan it is perhaps easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.

I am taking a pledge suggested by the film and now refraining from visiting aquariums and aquatic mammal shows. I will also be sure to buy dolphin-safe seafood. Here are some main points of the film:

• Over 23,000 dolphins are slaughtered in Taiji every year
• When the dolphins are caught, some are sold to aquariums and wildlife shows, while the rest are killed for meat
• Dolphin meat, as well as the meat of other whales contain dangerous levels of mercury, but the mayor of Taiji has tried to give away the contaminated meat for school lunches
• Sometimes dolphin meat is deliberately mislabeled and sold as “cleaner” whale meat
• Mercury poisoning from eating contaminated seafood could result in symptoms similar to those of Minamata Disease

Towards the end of The Cove, former Flipper-trainer-turned-activist Ric O’Barry walks into an International Whaling Commission conference with a video monitor strapped to his chest playing graphic footage of the Taiji dolphin slaughter, exposing the international delegates to the horrors of whaling. In another scene, O’Barry stands with the video monitor playing the same slaughter footage in the middle of Shibuya crossing, taking the message directly to the Japanese people. But how can the filmmakers increase their impact among the Japanese public?

O’Barry’s SafeJapanDolphins.org is accepting donations to help with targeted media campaigns and screenings of the film in Japan, but I don’t think the movie is available in Japan yet. I would suggest that the filmmakers release footage of the dolphin slaughter (or ideally, the entire film) under a Creative Commons or similar open license, that would allow the film to be freely shared on the internet, allowing people to see it even if it is not playing in their local cinema. Certainly this would be a way to get around powerful government and business interests in Japan who do not want the film to be seen by the Japanese people. Images of video of the slaughter “went viral” on the internet. Imagine concerned Japanese people being able to view the footage on their cellphones and sharing the video with their family and friends. That is when real change will begin.

I realize that documentary filmmaking is not cheap. Indeed, I do believe that the heroic people who made the film possible should be financially supported for their work. But we cannot let the complications of copyright stand in the way of promoting an important story and saving the dolphins. Perhaps the film can be freely released online under a Creative Commons license after the theatrical run is completed, or when a donation threshold is reached.

Some have criticized The Cove’s filmmakers and the dolphin freedom activists for being racist or neo-colonialist against the Japanese. Indeed, Japan is not the only country that hunts whales. “White” countries like Iceland and Norway hunt whales too. I think all countries should be held responsible. I lived in Japan for three years, I love the country, but I disagree with the dolphin hunt, that hardly makes me a racist (in any case, I’m Asian too). It is unfortunate though that the film did not give more of a voice to Japanese people opposed to the dolphin hunts. They do interview a few Japanese people opposed to the slaughter, but these Japanese people are not the main protagonists in the film.

It is interesting to note that while whale hunting has been part of Japanese culture for hundreds of years, it was the Americans who occupied Japan after WWII who encouraged the resumption of whale hunting as a cheap source of protein to feed the war-torn country. But today, Japan is a rich country and they don’t need to eat whale meat for protein any more. In fact, most Japanese people do not eat whale meat, and do not consider dolphin to be food. When filmmakers showed people on the streets of Tokyo and Osaka footage of the dolphin slaughter, they were surprised and horrified. Hopefully, the film will be available in Japan soon to raise greater awareness.

Go see the movie and take action!

Links

• The Cove Official Site
• SaveJapanDolphins.org – Take Action
• TakePart.com/TheCove
• CNN – Dolphin slaughter brings charges from both sides
• YouTube – Dolphin Swim Programs & SLAUGHTER Linked!!!!
• YouTube – Dolphin Slaughter in Japan
• Petition – Help Save Japan’s Dolphins
• NY Magazine – The Cove’s Richard O’Barry on Secret Dolphin Slaughter — and Flipper’s Suicide
• NY Times – The Cove: From Flipper’s Trainer to Dolphin Defender
• CS Monitor – Review: ‘The Cove’
• Roger Ebert’s review of ‘The Cove’
• 日本でのイルカ保護にご協力ください
• Whale Love (日本語)

JetWit has become increasingly aware of JET alum artists doing interesting work and making names for themselves in the art world.  Below is a little background on a few of them (though there are many more out there).  Click here for more JetWit posts on art and JET alumni.  You can also see a more complete list of JET alums in the art world in the Art section of the Library.

Zandra Ellis (Nagasaki-ken, 2005-09) – Bronx, NY

• Painter and writer -http://www.flickr.com/photos/zmongoose/

Born in the Bronx to Jamaican immigrants, Zandra Ellis cut her milkteeth on Marley, manga and museums; 17 years later, she emerged blinking in the sunlight, from LaGuardia High School with a diploma stamped “Art.”  Somehow she ended up studying English Literature in college. Nagasaki Prefecture’s Emukae Town (pop. 6,700,) warmly embraced Zandra as an ALT who loved drawing on the board and attending the local pottery class (’05-’09).  Currently working on: freelance gigs/portraits for hire.

Manya Tessler (Wakayama-ken, 1998-2000) – Brooklyn, NY

• Jewelry – www.MANYAandROUMEN.com
• Children’s book illustrations – Yuki’s Ride Home (See interview with her from JETAA NY Newsletter at http://jetwit.com/wordpress/library/profiles/tessler-manya.)
• Read the “engaging” story of how she and her husband met and began designing jewelry together.

Manya’s children’s book “Yuki’s Ride Home” was published by Bloomsbury in 2008. (Read more)  She received an Honorable mention in Category 1 of the Women’s Jewelry Association 2009 DIVA Design Competition. (Read more) She and her husband, Rouman, received the Mort Abelson New Designer of the Year Award at the JA NY Summer Show. (Read more)  And the independent film “Adam” being shown at the 2009 Sundance Festival features several of Manya’s illustrations. (Read more)

Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06) – New York, NY

Lee-Sean Huang is New York-base multimedia artist who explores the creative and social possibilities found in the junction of technology, design and art.  Recent works include:

• A computer-generated portrait of Mao constructed from the text of the Little Red Book
• An interactive music installation consisting of headphones that create a unique listening experience based on the wearer’s movements
• And a Japan-inspired animation and performance piece based on a poem by Catullus

Lee-Sean is a co-founder of Hepnova Multimedia, an interdisciplinary design collective and genre-defying band, and is currently a masters student at ITP, the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  Catch up with Lee-Sean at leesean.net.  (JetWit Editor’s Note: Lee-Sean is also the JETAA NY webmaster, helped me get the JetWit site set up and is the one I call whenever there’s a “JetWit emergency.”)

So far, the only ones listed are Hiroshima-ken and Akita-ken.  There are, of course, many more out there.  So please send an e-mail to jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com to share links for your prefecture’s:

• Website
• Blog
• Yahoo or Google group
• Wiki-site
• Facebook page
• Twitter feed
• LinkedIn group
• Any other crazy new form of media the kids have come up with recently

Thanks and yoroshiku.

Dan Dooher

http://www.akitajet.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Not sure if other prefectures have done something similar or if this is standard, but Akita-ken has put together a fantastic wiki-style site.  When you first arrive you see a map of Akita divided into cities.  Clicking on a city leads to a whole wealth of useful information for any JET (or any English-speaker for that matter) who’s planning on going there.

The left sidebar includes links to topics such as Entering JET, Financing, Travel, Health, Driving, Computers and Phones, Entertainment, Volunteer Opportunities and other extremely helpful topics.  On the right are feeds for “Latest Discussion” and “Events/Updates.”  And scrolling down leads to a Calendar as well as an Article Spotlight featuring “What is the Akita International Sumo Taikai?“  (Note: How come my prefecture didn’t have a sumo taikia?)  (Additional note: How come the internet didn’t exist when I was on JET?)

Do other prefectures have JET sites like this? (We know, for example, that Hiroshima-ken has The Wide Island View, a terrific e-zine for the JET community there, published by Gail Cetnar Meadows and Josh Zimmer.)

If so, please send the link to JetWit along with any other info and we’ll be more than happy to post it on the site for the benefit of readers.

JETAA NY Webmaster Lee-Sean Huang (Oita-ken, 2003-06)

Lee-Sean suggested that the JET community, which already does a lot to share their lesson plans and ESL games, might be a good group to engage on OpenEd site.

Lee-Sean has started a a preliminary Wiki page and says he would welcome any input as well as more links to relevant resources.  Since the site is a wiki, anyone can create an account and edit the site.

http://opened.creativecommons.org/OER_for_JET_Programme_Participants

This is actually the old, PDF version of The Wide Island View. Click this image to go to the new website and prepare to be suitably impressed.

Hiroshima-ken’s Gail Cetnar Meadows and Joshua Zimmerman have announced the launch of Wide Island View, their super-sweet online prefectural newsletter (though “newsletter” doesn’t really do justice to what they’ve put together).

Featured articles include:

• Diving with Sharks in Palau
• JetWit.com: Bringing the JET alumni community together
• Fukuyama Let’s Film Festival 2009
• Homemade Sanuki Udon Recipe
• A Night of Pachinko
• And much much more.

To put it in perspective, when A.J. the JetWit mascot goes to bed at night, this is what he dreams about. :-)

Keep up the good work, Hiroshimites (or whatever the proper term is)!

JetWit is also thrilled to find out that such a beautiful website of a prefectural newsletter even exists.  It’s definitely worth a visit for the articles as well as for the easy-on-the-eyes layout.  And they even pay tribute to the past, posting links to the PDF versions of newsletters past, before everything moved to the web.

By the way, if there are any other prefectural newsletter websites out there, please contact JetWit and let us know so we can post links to you guys.

Suzanne (Borsum) Kamata (Tokushima, 1988-90) is the author of the novel Losing Kei (Leapfrog Press, 2008), a picture book, Playing for Papa (Topka Books, 2008) and the editor of three anthologies – Call Me Okaasan: Adventures in Multicultural Mothering (Wyatt-Mackenzie Publishing, 2009), Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs (Beacon Press, 2008) and The Broken Bridge: Fiction from Expatriates in Literary Japan (Stone Bridge Press, 1997). Her articles, essays, and short stories have appeared in over 100 publications, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize five times. She is also the 2008 recipient of the SCBWI Magazine Merit Award for Fiction. She is currently fiction editor of literarymama.com, and provides manuscript critiques on a freelance basis.

• To learn more about Suzanne you can visit her website at http://www.suzannekamata.com or her blog at http://gaijinmama.wordpress.com (RSS feed here).

• Read an interview with Suzanne Kamata on children’s books and diversity by the blog Kabiliana.

• Go to the Authors/Books section of the JetWit Library to see a complete list of JET alum authors (at least to JetWit’s knowledge).

I have enjoyed my career at Columbia Business School , directing its Center on Japanese Economy and Business with Professor Hugh Patrick.  After 10 years of working there, I was searching in the corporate sector for business development positions but couldn’t find something that really excited me.  So I pushed myself to think outside of the box, and really took a good look at my strengths and skills, work experience and education, and analyzed what I really enjoyed doing.

I was fixated on keeping my career in the international organization/international business arena, but I had to explore all options.  I had solid management skills, a degree in finance and business, international experience (same as so many…but wait!)…liked boating as a hobby…loved baking. Hmm.  I started to put all that together.

Baking has always been a passion of mine and my most basic form of meditation and relaxation.  I learned from my mom and grandma (the Italian-American side of my family) — we always baked things from scratch in my home; store-bought cookies and cakes, even ‘box mixes’ of muffins were second-rate.  My high-school friends still remember coming over to my house and tasting my mom’s fresh-baked cookies. It still surprises me how so many people do not know what ‘homemade’ really tastes like.  And so began my mission.

While director of CJEB, I held quite a few informal baking sessions with wives of Japanese visiting fellows, teaching them basic concepts of making cookies and brownies.  I was always fascinated to learn the differences in concepts between American-style baking and the traditional Japanese way of making ‘sweets’.  Food, and desserts especially, is such a basic part of culture (when I travel the first thing I do is taste the traditional sweets of the region!).  I started to take some traditional Italian cookie recipes, and incorporate elements of Asian flavors I love into them, (like the ‘Green Tea Pizzelle‘ you’ll see on my website).

Last fall, my partner and I formed “DollyBella Bakery” in Jersey City .  The name is a tribute to the truly great bakers of my family, Great Aunt Dolly and Grandma Bella.  During the spring and summer months we sell our fresh-baked muffins and scones to boaters at the local marinas (this was the initial, basic concept for the business, hence the sailboat image in our logo).

All year-round, we are an online retail baking business, delivering and shipping our cookies, muffins and scones to our customers.  Lately there has been a big surge in requests for cookie platters for corporate events, customized cookies with company logos, and individually wrapped cookies for party/event favors.

I encourage you to take a look at the website.  And if you’re trying to make your next job move, I encourage you to take stock of your talents and perhaps take a new risk as well.

I recently learned of the existence of the Society for Writers, Editors and Translators (SWET) (www.swet.jp), a Tokyo-based group that seems to share a lot in common with JetWit and the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group–except that SWET has been in existence for 25 years!  (Read the full history of the group here.)

In 1998 SWET members collaboratively published the Japan Style Sheet as a guide for professional translators

The other day I had the pleasure of meeting Ruth Stevens, one of the founders of SWET who now lives in the NY area.  She introduced me (via email) to Lynne Riggs, the co-founder and current organizer of SWET, who in turn introduced me to SWET webmaster Sako Eaton.

Needless to say, we were all happy to learn of each others’ existence, and I wanted to make sure to let all the JET alumni and Friend of JET readers out there know about SWET (which, amusingly, has “SWET Shirts” for sale on their website).

In addition to a terrific website, SWET also has an e-mail list and RSS feed that are free.  You can also sign up for SWET membership for 5,000 yen or $50/year which entitles you to receive their newsletter containing various info and articles that do not appear elsewhere.

I look forward to future collaboration with the SWET folks.  (You’ll notice there’s already a sidebar widget for SWET with the RSS feed from their site.) And I encourage any readers to suggest and help implement additional ideas to help foster collaboration as well.

Have a look.  I haven’t looked through it enough yet to see if there are any JET connections, but seems interesting and relevant enough regardless.

Since becoming a freelance translator/interpreter/writer, one of the new opportunities that I have enjoyed the most has been interpreting for the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP: http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/ivlp.html).

The IVLP is an exchange program designed to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other countries through carefully designed visits that reflect the participants’ professional interests and support U.S. foreign policy goals. For participants, it involves meeting and conferring with professional counterparts and gaining an appreciation of the ethnic, cultural, political and socio-economic diversity of the U.S.

Participants are established or potential foreign opinion makers in government, public policy, media, education, labor, the arts and other key fields, and they are selected by American embassies abroad. Since its inception in 1940, over 135,000 people have participated in the program, and in 2007 over 4000 IVs came over on 900 projects of various themes. 65 IVLP alumni are current Chiefs of State/Heads of Government, including Taiwan President Ma Ying-Jeou. However, while they are here all IVs are considered “honorary Americans.” This means that no matter how highly ranked they are back home, during this program in our egalitarian country everyone is of equal status. This certainly takes a bit of pressure off the lowly interpreter!

My first assignment was in September for two Japanese men studying the theme of Planning for Crises: Disasters and Pandemics. The duration of each program is three weeks, kicking off with a week in D.C. followed by stops in 2-3 cities in other regions and a final stay on the West Coast. Geographical diversity of the participants is incorporated as well, and one participant worked for the local government in Kobe while one worked for the Tokyo Cabinet Office. They both had backgrounds in disaster prevention, so in a way it was perfect timing as they were coming during hurricane season. In fact, nature derailed our schedule as our planned destination of New Orleans became impossible due to Gustav. We were then redirected to Houston, but Ike prevented us from going there. Finally, in place of these two cities we were rerouted to Dallas. The other stops on our trip besides DC were New York (staying in Newark, NJ), Kansas City and San Diego.

During their three weeks, the men were able to meet with government agencies at the federal, state and local levels, NPOs, etc., as well as visit with average Americans. One interesting aspect of the program is something called Home Hospitality, which allows IVs to have a meal at someone’s house (Homestays can also be part of the program, but we didn’t happen to have any on this trip). We had the chance to experience Home Hospitality in both Dallas and Kansas City. They provided an interesting contrast of what constitutes “Americans,” as the former was with an older couple whose children were grown and out of the house. We had a sit-down dinner served without alcohol, and it was a lovely evening. The visit in Kansas City, however, was at the loft apartment of a young teacher who invited a bunch of his friends over for a more casual potluck party. The guests ranged in age and profession and as the wine flowed freely the IVs got to interact with a variety of people, often without needing any language assistance from me!

As an interpreter, this job was one of the most fulfilling I have ever had. Though three weeks on the road is admittedly a long haul, I was fortunate in that I got to go home as NY happened to be part of the itinerary, so this broke up the trip a bit. This is a job where there are no weekends and you have to be on-call for the IVs round-the-clock. That having been said, they are encouraged to get out and explore on their own, as sometimes the best discoveries can be made without the interpreter’s help. For someone who loves traveling as much as I do, this kind of assignment is ideal! I felt so lucky to be able to go all around the country and meet many kinds of people and see new places that I would not have had the opportunity to be exposed to otherwise. In particular, the Home Hospitality visits were also insightful for me to see how different parts of the country live.

Professionally, I was able to develop a solid base of disaster relief vocabulary which was unfamiliar to me at the start but was like second nature by the end. The first week of the program I spent every night cramming to prepare for the next day’s meetings, leading me to feel like I was back in school! However, this time around the payoff was greater than a high test grade; I was facilitating communication and professional as well as informal exchange to enhance the IVs’ time on the program. An additional bonus was that I came away with a significant awareness regarding a field that I was previously unfamiliar with. One of my favorite aspects of my profession is the chance to learn about a wide variety of topics and meet many types of people. I have a diverse range of clients and I like that as new challenges are what stimulate me, and I really feel that I’m a perfect fit for the IVLP!

Shortly after returning from my travels, I was happy to learn that I was being asked to take a new assignment in November. Beginning early this month I will be interpreting for a female entrepreneur from Hokkaido who was selected to study American economic development and employment issues, particularly those relating to women and business development. Some of her interests are telecommuting, flex time and returning to the workforce after taking time off, issues that are personally relevant to me. I’m looking forward to another exciting trip and the chance to delve into a completely different field!

Stacy Smith

www.stacysmith.webs.com

Particularly helpful are a range of suggested ways to characterize JET experience.