JETAA Chapter Beat 7.29.09
JETAA Chapter Beat, JETAA Chapters 
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Freelance writer/editor Jonathan Trace (Fukuoka-ken, 2005-08) takes us on a walk around the JET Alumni community for another edition of JETAA Chapter Beat.
- Happy Hour – Wednesday, July 29th, 6:00 at Whiskey River. There will be a Wii available, so come relax and play some games with gang at JETAANY.
- Summer Bonfire at Bolsa Chica – Saturday, August 8th, 3:00 at Bolsa Chica. Potluck style BBQ with smores, snacks and drinks provided. Spend the afternoon relaxing with JETAASC.
- 69th Nisei Week Festival – Saturday, August 15th and Sunday, August 16th. This year’s event includes three mini Nebuta floats from Aomori Prefecture and the 1st Annual Los Angeles Tanabata Festival.
- 2009 JET Send Off Nomikai – Friday, July 31st, 8:00 at O! Izakaya Lounge. Don’t miss this last opportunity to celebrate with the new JETs before they head out for Japan.
- Japanese Discussion Group “Taboo” – Saturday, August 1st, 3:00 at Sakurai’s. The topic of this month’s discussion is “The Month of World War II Part I: The beginning of the war: Attack of Pearl Harbor.” Join in for this interesting discussion.
- Movie Night: Tampopo – Friday, July 31st, 7:00 at Narrabundah. JETAA Canberra will be screening Itami Juzo’s classic film “Tampopo” with pizza and popcorn.
- O-Shaberikai – Wednesday, August 5th, 5:30 at the Holy Grail in Civic. Join in and meet Japanese people living in Canberra and other locals interested in Japan.
- JIC Book Club Returns! – Tuesday, August 11th, 6:00 at the Japan Information Center’s library. This month’s selection is “Asleep” by Banana Yoshimoto. Give it a read then drop by for the discussion.
- 2009 JET Program Pre-Departure Reception – Friday, July 31st, 6:30 to 8:00 at the Ambassador’s Old Residence. Come share a few last minute bits of advice to the soon departing 2009 JET Participants.
- J-Lunch – Saturday, August 1st, 12:00. This month’s Lunch is being held on Yukie’s rooftop and is a potluck party.
What happened at your chapter’s event? If you attend(ed) any of these exciting events, JetWit would love to hear about them. Just email Jonathan Trace with any info, stories or comments.
Bankruptcy Bill #17: BAPCPA Man (cameo by Roland Kelts)
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Bankruptcy Bill is a cartoon created by Steven Horowitz (Aichi-ken, 1992-94) and Gideon Kendall. For more cartoons, original bankruptcy haiku and even a bankruptcy country song, go to bankruptcybill.us.
A twist in the plot! (Also, note the Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99) reference as the esoteric worlds of manga and bankruptcy find a rare intersection.)
*BAPCPA = Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, i.e., the 2005 Bankruptcy Law.
Thanks to Mia Simring for passing this along:
Junior Specialist, Japanese Art
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Apply on their site or using this link. Japanese and Korean Art, New York PRIMARY FUNCTION/POSITION SUMMARY: |
JET alums in the art world?
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Botodesigns by Chen Reichert
If you’re a JET alum and you’re an artist or connected to the art world, e-mail us at jetwit [at] jetwit [dot] com and let us know about yourself. And if you know of any JET alums in this category, feel free to get in touch as well.
Here’s the most up-to-date list of JET alum artists and JET alums connected to the art world (which will continue to be updated): https://jetwit.com/wordpress/library/art/
Summer by Dawn Mostow (Gifu-ken, 2003-06)
p.s. Make sure to let us know prefecture and years on JET, current location and any links to your work.
Roland Kelts on Australian radio
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Check out this interview on Australian radio (ABC) with Roland Kelts (Osaka-shi, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica, about the anime industry in Japan, financial foibles and hentai habits.
Roland recently finished a speaking tour in Australia where made several appearances.
- July 13-16th, Sydney, AU, JSAA Conference, University of Sydney
- July 17th, Sydney, AU, The Japan Foundation: Panel w/Susan Napier and Rebecca Suter
- July 20th, Brisbane, AU, The University of Queensland: Panel w/ Susan Napier and Rebecca Suter
- July 22nd, Melbourne, AU, The University of Melbourne: Panel w/Susan Napier and Rebecca Suter
He also hosted a talk with Hayao Miyazaki in Berkely, CA on July 25. Click here to see video clips of Roland speaking at the JETAA NY Alumni Author Showcase event held back in March 2009, here for photos from the event and here to read a review of the event.
Japan Society of NY: Weekly eNewsletter
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J-News Mini-Roundup: Record High Suicide Rates Suspected in Japan
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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.
The latest victim of economic recession in Japan is people’s lives
Background: During an economic recession news is usually filled with how corporations are posting losses, or how smaller businesses are filing for bankruptcy. On a more personal level news stories are filled with how the unemployed are finding new means of income, and how families might deal with parents having to work night jobs. The social impact as a whole during a recession is rarely commented on, probably mainly because there are no easily interpreted indicators that measure social well being. Deaths could possibly increase, but usually in America this is due to murder rates.
Take a society like Japan, and unfortunately one of the easiest indicators to measure happiness in the country as a whole is the suicide rate. Today the newspapers each reported differently on the news that Japan this year has had record suicide rates.
Nikkei “Suicides break 17,000 in the first half of 2009”
(CLICK HERE for the rest of the article, that includes Japanese News Summaries)
James Scanlon-Canegata returned from JET last year and, in addition to pursuing research on religious studies, he’s also started working as a professional translator. Recently, after taking a freelance job from a large translation company, he learned that he was expected to use translation software to aid his work. This led him to the honyaku Google group to seek advice and perspective on the software issue.
JetWit thought it would be interesting to hear what James has learned so far and share it for the benefit of the JET and JET alum community. Read on for his experience so far:
I was also completely unaware that translators used any kind of translation software when I first started thinking about doing it. I have a friend who does English-Portuguese translation and I first found out from her that this is something most professional translators use. When I did my first paid translation I just worked on Word and excel and it was very slow-going and tedious at some points. That’s when I started to wonder if translation software could help move things along.
I have a Mac and so I tried a couple of free translation programs that I saw recommended on online forums. I ended up feeling mostly confused about, well, everything. But specifically, I had the most trouble with the actual interface of the applications. The program would isolate a small area to be translated automatically and the idea is that you would go along and translate the parts until you’re through. But, with Japanese of course you have to start from the tail-end of the sentence and translate backwards a lot of times and it seemed like the application just wasn’t programmed for that type of translation. The same would go with sets of sentences where the meaning just won’t come out right if it is translated into English word-for-word in its original order. The program also seemed to break sentences up into seemingly random segments without any regard for periods or commas or common sense (on terms of a Japanese-English translation type of common sense).
This may just be because I’m an inexperienced translator, but my theory was that the software was geared Read More
Event: NYC Japan Street Fair – Sunday, August 23
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For a big, 15-block New York street fair coming up, one stretch will be devoted specifically to things Japanese. Further indication of how much Japanese culture has become part of the New York scene. (Rumor has it that New York-ken might even soon have its own ALTs!) Demo majime ni, read the press release below for more info:
The NYC Japan Street Fair Debuts at the Daytop Madison Avenue Festival!
NEW YORK, New York, (July 22, 2009) – On Sunday, August 23, 2009, the NYC Japan Fair will make its debut at the Daytop Madison Avenue Festival, one of New York’s largest street fairs that spans 15 blocks – from 42nd to 57th Streets – and attracts 10 million visitors annually. Hosting a diverse array of companies specializing in distinctly Japanese products and food, the NYC Japan Fair invites New Yorkers to immerse themselves with the rich culture of Japan for a day, while using the event as a test market to introduce new Japanese products to the U.S.
The Fair’s approximately 40 booths offer everything tangible about Japanese culture: food, merchandise, Read More
Learning to Bow…in Iraq?
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Just heard an NPR interview with Wesley Gray, the fluent-in-Arabic author of Embedded: A Marine Corps Advisor in the Iraqi Army, and it struck me that it might be the Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan for current day Iraq. Learning to Bow by best-selling author Bruce Feiler (Tottori-ken, 1989-90) was the original “JET book,” describing the experience of living in Japan and making sense of the cultural differences.
I think it would be interesting to hear some JET perspectives on the book, perhaps contrasting Gray’s experience with their own cross-cultural experience in Japan. Please feel free to post your comments below. Also, if anyone wants to write a review of the book, just get in touch.
Here’s a summary of the book from Amazon:
From Publishers Weekly
In this illuminating memoir, Marine Corps 2nd Lt. Gray recounts his eight-month tour as part of a Military Transition Team, working as an advisor to the Iraqi Army on location. Gray was fluent in Arabic prior to deployment, giving him enormous insight into the culture and worldview of Iraqis as citizens and soldiers and obvious advantages over colleagues (and competing memoirists) relying on translantors On many occasions, Gray encounters an Insh’ Allah philosophy, a mantra of “If God wills it” or “God willing” can strike Americans as lazy or unmotivated. Among other startling lessons, Gray discovered that loyalty to tribe supersedes duty to the state; the Iraqi Army soldiers he was training were spending their monthly leave in the ranks of local tribal militias. Gray details the cultural nuances and interpersonal relationships of occupied Iraq with such care and clarity, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in the the reconstruction, especially those set to deploy.
With healthcare legislation front and center in the U.S. and many JETs set to leave the womb of JET life, not to mention the tough job market and high unemployment rate, I thought this might be a good time to ask the JET and JET alum community (and not just the U.S.):
How are you feeling about health insurance and healthcare these days?
Do you have it?
Are you worried about it?
What are your options?
What challenges or problems have you faced or do you expect to face?
Post your comments here for the benefit of the JET alumni and Friend of JET community.
Yoroshiku.
The Japanese Doctor: Learning Language Effectively – Choose Your Own Goal
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The Japanese Doctor 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 and Chinese language learning options. Their main service is private one on one language lessons in the NYC area.
The easiest way to measure how effective education is is test scores. When students score high on tests it not only makes teachers look good, but schools overall will be more likely to get government funding with higher test scores. Traditionally tests are the easiest way to measure the abilities of a student, but are they effective when learning a language?
Take the case of Japanese, and for simplicity’s sake we’ll refer to the main test administered by the Japanese government, the JLPT or Japanese Language Proficiency Test. It’s actually a great and simple goal to work towards, passing the JLPT. The benefits are numerous…
(CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article)
Job: Openings at Asia Pacific University
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Via the Oita JETs Yahoo group:
APU (www.apu.ac.jp) is currently recruiting native English speakers as translators/ interpreters, who can start this Fall (ie. asap). They are hiring for the following types of positions:
1. Technical/Administrative translator/interpreter – Most likely working in the Administration Office and translating University Regulations and contracts, etc. This position is for those with strong translation ability,
who are able to compose technical documents & business letters, etc.
2. Student Advising – Provide advice to students in both English and Japanese. Counseling students regarding topics which range from student credits, Thesis screening, and graduation assessments to dealing with life in Japan, Student Clubs, etc.
3. Alumni Association -I think this is a new position, but I am guessing that you are recruiting APU alumni to join the association… and other various networking duties using English and Japanese.
If interested please contact Emiko (former Fukuoka CIR, now working under position 2 above) at eoo61761@apu.ac.jp or 080-6431-9683.
Benefit-wise, the position pays the same as JET, but with a bonus, so in the end the yearly income is a bit more. I think you’ll get moving expenses paid, 21 days nenkyu and summer/winter holiday, health insurance, pension… basically it’s the same as JET, but the pay is slightly better. Working hours are 9-5:30.
Applications are here:
http://www.apu.ac.jp/administration/modules/opportunities/content/keiyakusenmonE.doc
Please don’t hesitate to contact Emiko if you need any help or have any concerns. The Administration Office is notorious for poor service when it comes to HR, so she’ll do what she can to help move things along.
On the July 22 episode of “I Survived a Japanese Gameshow,” the contestants have been sent to sumo houses to where they’ll work as cooks and cleaners. What’s not clear is why they keep blurring over the wrestler’s oshiris, even from the side! It’s not like anything’s hanging out. And they’ve been showing full butts on network tv ever since “NYPD Blue.” Can anyone explain what’s with the blurring in this instance?
Jobs: English School in Matsuyama
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Via the Ehime JET Yahoo group:
Amic English School in Matsuyama has two job openings that they need to fill. The contract starts September 1st, but successful applicants will need to do a week long training/orientation course before this. If you are interested please contact Ms Tamai on 09043320703.
