Job: Executive Director – OpenCourseWare Consortium (multiple locations)
Jobs 
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Via the Chronicle of Higher Ed international programs job page:
2/20/2009
- OpenCourseWare Consortium ( Multiple locations) : Executive Director
JETAA Florida Gets a New President
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JETAA Florida has elected Tom Gregorich (Tokushima-ken, 2001-03) to be its new chapter President. He has been the regional coordinator for the Orlando area for a couple years now and regularly travels to JETAA events around the Sunshine State. Here’s a snippet from Tom’s platform:
I was a JET from 2001-2003 in Tokushima-ken on the beautiful island of Shikoku. I went to Japan speaking no Japanese, and with little previous knowledge of the country, but I left three and a half years later (I stayed a bit longer after my time with JET was finished up) a permanent Japanophile. Now that I am living in Florida I am constantly on the look out for Japan related groups and activities. My goal for JETAA is to create a community built upon this shared enthusiasm for Japan.
Tom says he would like to set up a monthly group to get together to speak Japanese and practice. He also mentions that for the past year fellow alum John McGee has had a monthly tsudoi, which is a little get together at Panera bread to meet and discuss ideas for JETAA over coffee and suggests continuing this tradition, with perhaps the location alternating between Orlando and Tampa, and possible Miami as well.
JetWit says welcome, Tom! And ganbatte kudasai!
WIT Life #29: International Recognition to Wipe Away Domestic Woes
Article/Journalism, Blogs, Career, Cartoon/Illustration, Celebrity, Japan Trends, Translating/Interpreting, Uncategorized, WIT Life, Writers Comments Off on WIT Life #29: International Recognition to Wipe Away Domestic Woes
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
For those of you who didn’t tune in to the Academy Awards last night, Japan cleaned up in all the categories in which it received nominations. Going against heavily favored Waltzing with Bashir from Israel, Director Yojiro Takita’s Okuribito (Departures) took the award for Best Foreign Language Film. Since the establishment of this award in 
1957, Japan Read More
Spread the love for Jetwit
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Spread the love for Jetwit. Now you can have your very own Jetwit virtual button to put on your website or blog. Or use it to pimp your MySpace profile. All you have to do is copy and paste the HTML code below into your blog or site:
<a href=”https://jetwit.com/wordpress/”<img src=”https://jetwit.com/Documents/jetwitbutton.jpg” width=”150″/></a>
AJ, the elephant by Zi Mei. Button design by Amber Liang.
By Kirsten Phillips (Niigata-ken, 2005-08)
This rant is in reaction to yet another Gaijin in a Strangeland vehicle starring Brittany Murphy. Ramen Girl. The mythicization of Japanese culture or should I say, Tokyo. “Put tears in the broth.” Augh!
I suppose there is some part of us that wants it to be true. After all, we don’t want the Japanese to be “just like us”. Noooo. That’s buzzkill for the exotic hard on. Barred behind a wall of cultural differences, a needy bitch of a language barrier and a society oft coined as “repressed”, it’s downright fucking magical to buy into the wax on/wax off charms of the Floating Kingdom. Where there are question marks, there are bound to be intrigue and lies and after all, what is Hollywood for?
Ohhh, Mr. Keisuke (yes, you have a first name) Miyagi:
You have forever damned your race with your awesomeness! Your humble janitorial exterior and invincible hidden dragon have created fantastical expectations for Japanese everywhere in cinema. Japanese people must all have two identities now. Every ramenya san must be a tough yet secretly kindhearted sage, every high school girl a porn star, every businessman a casual ninja, every sushi artist a contraband swordsmith for the likes of vengeful blondes. Come now. Let us stop making a fetish out of the entire nation. I propose some indie film maker focus on the truly lethal demographic of Japanese society:
Obaasans.
These dames are not. fucking. around. Read More
Writing Opportunity: Japan Society Round-up
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JetWit is seeking someone to write a new periodic feature called “Japan Society Round-up.” The feature will be similar to JETAA Chapter Beat in that it will give a listing of events going on at various Japan Societies around the U.S. (and even elsewhere).
Please send an e-mail to jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com if interested.
Volunteer Opportunity: April 2009 in India with Building Communities
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Via the JETAA DC email grouplist:
April 2009 Volunteer Opportunity in India with Building Communities
Join us in “Building Communities” with the Dalit (Untouchables) of India. We are dedicated to providing the means and resources to build communities, both the physical structures and the support and compassion necessary for a community to thrive.
- April 2009. See: www.golongitude. org/www/JET_ April_2009. html.
- Contact: Volunteer Group Leader, Emma Parfey (emmaparfey /at/ mac /dot/ com) for details.
- Exact dates: March 26 – April 6, 2009.
- Cost: US$575.00 / JPY52,500.
Thank you, or in the Telugu language of the Dalit villagers we are helping, WANDANAMURU!
Rick Mickelson, Longitude Director of International Volunteering
NYTimes article: When Consumers Cut Back: A Lesson From Japan
Japan Trends Comments Off on NYTimes article: When Consumers Cut Back: A Lesson From Japan
I noticed this artice in the NY Times today by Hiroko Tabuchi titled “When Consumers Cut Back: A Lesson From Japan.” It was interesting to read and contemplate the impact of the lingering “depression era” mentality that the article suggests many Japanese people still carry.
However, in addition to starting with anecdotal evidence (i.e., one or two examples of frugal Japanese people) and extrapolating to a more generalized, anxiety-inducing trend, I was also a bit bothered by the implied conclusion that Read More
JETAA NY Quarterly Magazine (JQ) Interviews JetWit
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From the 2009 Winter Issue of JQ, the JETAA NY Quarterly Magazine:
JetWit.com: Taking the JET Alumni Community to Another Level
After spending the last several years growing the JETAA NY Quarterly newsletter into a full-fledged alumni magazine, Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) began focusing his efforts on JetWit.com last fall. JQ caught up with Steven to learn more and see how he’s doing.
JETAANY Quarterly: Hey, what is a JetWit, anyway?
It’s just “JET” plus the acronym for “Writers Interpreters and Translators.” I started the WIT e-mail group last May to find more writers for the JET alum publications and also to help freelance translators find more work opportunities. I wanted to create a sort of public face for the WIT group to be able to do these things on a more consistent basis. I also wanted to create an online archive of newsletter articles that editors from other JETAA chapters could easily access and copy and paste for their own chapter newsletters.
JQ: Then why does JetWit look like an elephant?
[Laughs] I knew I wanted a Japanese-style mascot, so I went to graphic designer and Web developer Zi Mei (Saitama-ken, 2002-05) because I’d seen some of the excellent characters he created on his site (sugarcloud.com). I told him I wanted a cute little furry animal, and he somehow he came back with an elephant that he named A.J. which I love anyway. Read More
Bankruptcy Bill #11 – Organic Bankruptcy
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Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. To see more strips as well as original bankruptcy haiku, go to bankruptcybill.wordpress.com.
By Kirsten Phillips (Niigata-ken, 2005-08)
Dudes, I have a confession.
I am scared shitless of the yaki-imoyasan.
Granted, I am a petit pussois and many things creep me out. But I will chalk this up to sheer cultural ignorance and unexplainable skeevies. The potato man is out to get me.
For those not in the know, a yaki-imo is a roasted sweet potato and a yaki-imo ya san is the elderly chap designated by some hellish force to peddle it. Oh, the sweet potato man ain’t lookin’ for your money or to warm your cramped fingers, friend. Nah-uh. He wants your soul. You’ve been warned. Read More
From the 2009 Winter Issue of JQ, the JETAA NY quarterly magazine:
A JET Alum’s Experience Makes its Way to the Stage: JQ Catches Up With Playwright Randall David Cook
By Lyle Sylvander (Yokohama-shi, 2001-02)
Three years ago, the Gotham Stage Company produced the terrific play Sake with the Haiku Geisha by JET alum Randall David Cook (Fukui-ken, 1991-93). The entire evening consisted of five one-act vignettes, all involving cross-cultural conflict among expatriates in Japan. As I noted in my review for JQ at the time, what made the play so successful was its exploration of the psychological issues confronting the main characters.
At first glance, Randall David Cook does not fit the profile of the typical playwright. As a human resources specialist with an international MBA, he was working in a corporate capacity at Newsweek magazine when two random events set him on a play writing course.
“I was dissatisfied with most of the new plays I was seeing at the time,” Cook says in his native South Carolina accent. “I kept insisting that I could do better, and one of my friends set me up on the challenge. At the same time, I was heartbroken over a relationship that had just ended and writing seemed like a good way for me to channel my emotions into a more productive pursuit.” Read More
Job: Bilingual admin at intellectual property law firm (D.C.)
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Via the JETAA DC email grouplist, posted by Marc Hitzig of the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C.:
Bilingual Admin for Intellectual Property Law Firm
We are currently seeking to hire a person for our legal assistant/administr ative assistant position having the following qualifications:
· – Fluent in Japanese and English to assist DC intellectual property lawyers and Japanese staff in dealing with Japanese and U.S. clients.
· – Experience in English and Japanese word-processing software.
· – Interest in intellectual property issues (preferred).
· – Bachelor’s degree desired, but not required.
· – Technical/scientif ic background is a plus, but not required.
Job Description: Read More
A JET alum shared with me a very moving and thought-provoking column by Haruki Murakami on Salon.com. Murakami recently decided to accept a literary award in Israel despite the potential for controversy and a boycott of his books. He addresses the issues in his column.
JetWit Blog Beat by Crystal Wong (Iwate-ken, 2002-04) is a recurring item featuring posts from the blogs of various JET alumni. Crystal is a former English-language writer for Kyodo News. She now works as a media planner in Chelsea and sorely misses all her favorite midtown ramen joints.
Robert P. Weston (Nara-ken, 2002-04) is pleasantly surprised to find out about the Green Book Award, which is designed “to promote books that inspire a child to grow a deeper appreciation, respect and responsibility for his or her natural environment.”
Current JET Jody Godoy (Fukui-ken, 2005-2009), brings a taste of inaka life to her readers as she prepares to leave JET.
Still trying to make it up to your sweetie for a less than stellar Valentine’s Day? Rack up bonus points by sending him/her this sweet tune found on Lee-Sean Huang’s (Oita-ken, 2003-06) blog.
Happy Friday, everyone!
