Feb 3

What Student Loan Reform Means for the Law Student

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Andrew R. McCarthy (Akita-ken, 2005-08) is a law student at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law focusing on international trade, business, and tax. He currently runs the blog JETs with J.D.s, an information source for current JET alumni law students and prospective law students for career paths and approaches within the current legal market. For those considering law school and trying to comprehend the costs and the risks of such an endeavor, he also recommends The Law School Tuition Bubble.

When you’re graduating with a great legal mind, $100k in student loan debt, and the best job offers you have are all tossing you $50k or less, what is there to do? Roll over and die, perhaps? This JETs with J.D.s post looks at the basic structure of student loan reforms, particularly the expansion of income-based repayment, and why it’s going to be an often consulted resource for the law graduates in the “Lost Generation.”

Full post is available here.

Feb 3

Visit Japan: February in Japan

Travel/Tourism, Uncategorized

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The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) provides rather helpful travel information for JETs and non-JETs alike, whether you’re traveling to or around Japan or helping a friend or relative plan their trip. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look at their website at www.japantravelinfo.com.

Below is a recent item from the Visit Japan Facebook page:

Kisaragi, the old Japanese name for the month of February, is a contracted form of kinu sara gi, which means “wear still more clothes.”

Setsubun – celebrated on February 3 or 4 – is a favorite annual celebration among Japanese children. On this night, children fill a wooden cup with roasted soybeans and run around throwing them at an oni, or devil, (usually played by the dad) and shouting “Oni wa soto; fuku wa uchi!” This translates as “Out with the devil; in with good fortune!”

The only national holiday in Kisaragi, though, is National Foundation Day on February 11. This is the date calculated to be the day on which Jimmu – the first emperor of Japan – was enthroned, according to the Nihon Shoki (Chronicles of Japan).

Feb 2

WIT Life #152: Kaga Maki-e

Art, Events, Food & Drink, 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.

Recently I had the opportunity to interpret for a delegation from Kanazawa that was here to promote the city in general and especially its ancient craft of 蒔絵 (maki-e), a lacquerware technique that uses silver and gold powder. This art form actually originated in Kyoto which has its own style known as Kyo Maki-e, but the Kanazawa version is called Kaga Maki-e, Kaga referring to the area of Kanazawa where it originated. This picture, courtesy of fashion blogger Alice Chin, shows two delegation members at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Kaga Maki-e display.

On the left is native New Yorker and long-term Kanazawa resident Evelyn Teploff-Mugii, a designer who has modernized the thousand year old maki-e process to make breathtakingly beautiful accessories. Her Evelyn Claude line will be offered in the US for the first time. To her right is Read More

Feb 2

Fluent Chinese Speaker wanted for Live Japanese TV News Program

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via Jet alum Rosa Sobrino. 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.

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

Live Japanese TV news program looking for a fluent Chinese speaker to help us with our report in Manhattan Chinatown this Thursday, February 3 from 1p.m. to 5p.m. (4 hours). We’ll be reporting on Chinese New Year and we need someone to help us with production and to communicate with the local community.

If you are interested, please contact Rosa anytime at 917-755-0955.

Jan 29

What I like about JetWit (Part 2)

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What do you like about JetWit?

Please take a moment to share your response for the benefit of potential supporters and sponsors of JetWit, JETAA and the JET Program.

Here’s a link to the comments section of the original post from April 28, 2009 where the question was first asked: https://jetwit.com/wordpress/2009/08/09/what-i-like-about-jetwit/#comments

Thanks for your help and yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

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

Jan 28

JET alum Bruce Feiler’s TED talk on The Council of Dads (video)

Books, Celebrity, Notable JET Alums, Uncategorized, Video, Writers

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JET alum Bruce Feiler, author of Learning to Bow, Walking the Bible and several other best-sellers including his recent book The Council of Dads, recently spoke in connection with the TED lecture series:

Jan 27

FoxHound87: Great Day!

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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 am having a great day today!

First Class: English Conversation for Juniors (2nd Year’s)

The topic of today’s class was “Future Hopes/Dreams.” I borrowed the idea for the warm-up game from Rogue, the ALT in Tenri.

Warm-Up: Pairs of students come to the front of the classroom. Students stand with hands poised in Western style as though they are about to draw guns. I show them an occupation picture card. The first student to shout the occupation on the card and raise their hands like guns is the winner. Sounds silly right? The kids LOVED it! I called on volunteers who could then challenge another to “combat.” The boys got really into it. Instead of drawing simple pistols, some drew bazookas, bow & arrow, etc. Even the losing player’s death was dramatic. Some kids did a simple “touch the chest” move. Others fully acted like they had gotten shot. My favorite moment was the last fight. The winning student “shot” the losing student after yelling the right occupation. Except this time, the losing student did a matrix-style maneuver to dodge the “bullets.” HYSTERICAL…

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the post.

http://snorlax87.blogspot.com/

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)?

Uncategorized

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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)

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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