Via the Chronicle of Higher Ed jobs page:
Position: Assistant Director, International Student Services
Institution: State University of New York College at Plattsburgh
Location: New York
Date posted: 12/26/2008
Assistant Director, International Student Services
Staff members in International Student Services (ISS) at the State University of New York, College at Plattsburgh are attentive to the unique needs and concerns of international students. ISS is looking for an Assistant Director to administer immigration advising and to assist with professional functions related to international student enrollment management. This position requires limited international and/or domestic travel, as well as some evening and weekend work. Read More
JetWit will be on hiatus during the Christmas/New Year’s break. But we’ll be back posting in the New Year.
明けましておめでとうございます!
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!
Happy New Year!
Image by Zi Mei (Saitama-ken, 2002-05) – Copyright 2008
I just found out there’s actually a LinkedIn group called “Translations agencies bad practices.” A JET alum with whom I’m linked recently joined it, according to one of those LinkedIn updates you get that tells you who has done what recently.
In its own words:
“If you had or have non payment issues, or other bad experience, with a translation agency, use this group to tell us about, as it is useful information for all freelances in this sector.”
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1536857&trk=nus_grp
Omedetou gozaimashita to JETAA NY Secretary Meredith Wutz who’s had a rather big week.
- Her fantasy football team, Machine Gun Kelly, defeated Takashi Daito’s Hamamatsu Eel-Dogs by 0.7 points after trailing by 45 points going into the Monday night game to win the first ever JETAA NY Fantasy Football League, consisting of 5 JET alums and 5 football-loving members from CLAIR New York, and…
- She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Kiyora Linda, on December 18. :-)
Me-ri Kurisumasu!
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Today (already yesterday in Japan) celebrated the birthday of two of this country’s fixtures, the Emperor and Tokyo Tower. The former turned 75 and the latter 50, and both have been showing slight signs of aging.
In the customary palace visit open to the general public, Emperor Akihito apologized for causing people to worry regarding his health, as he is still fighting a cold. Because of this, many of the usual events surrounding his birthday will be canceled or postponed.
Tokyo Tower has recently undergone renovations such as a new elevator and new illumination, and author Lili Frank was on hand to offer greetings at its 50th anniversary party. He wrote the 2005 best seller Tokyo Tower, later made into drama and movie versions (which I liked so much that I’m now reading the book and enjoying it just as much).
*News of this year’s nesting phenomenon continues, and two trends regarding Christmas cakes are “mini” and “luxurious.” Mini cakes as small as 5-10 cm in diameter are wildly popular, as people would rather be able to try several different kinds instead of just one. On the other hand, high-end Christmas cake is also selling well. Whereas your typical strawberry shortcake goes for 500 yen, these luxury cakes are as much as 2,500 yen each.
As one consumer explained, “This is something I buy only once a year so I might as well go all out!”
Back in the mid-1990s, a weekly humor/lampoon-style magazine called The Alien began publishing in Nagoya. A lot of the humor was just cynical gaijin jokes recycled in different forms (which of course we loved). But occasionally there were gems like a verse from a song parody they ran at Christmas time that did a good job of capturing at least one relatively common Christmas memory for most JETs.
Workers’ Wonderland (sung to the tune of Winter Wonderland)
Have to work
On Christmas
For lunch plain rice
De-licious!
We’re slaving away
Day after day
Wilting in a workers’ wonderland
Note: I just did some Internet research and found a Wikipedia entry explaining that The Alien has evolved into the present day Japanzine. I also found a blog post on Jason’s Random Thoughts: Yet Another Gaijin in Japan that opines on Japanzine and, more importantly, has various posts in the comments section by a couple former writers for The Alien plus references to a couple of the great gaijin bars from the Nagoya scene back then. Natukashii!
Via Craigslist New York:
Translator Needed (Manhattan)
Reply to: see below
Date: 2008-12-22, 4:32PM EST
Translator is needed to translate website in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Please contact Mr.O’Neal at Staffinstantly.com to schedule a interview. At 917-477-2813 between 9am to 12pm Monday thru Friday.
PostingID: 967378471
WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). In her recent posts, she’s been watching the news in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
The phenomenon of “net café refugees” became a hot topic in Japan last year, when it was estimated by the Health Ministry that 5,400 people with no fixed addresses, mostly those in their 20s, slept at 24-hour Internet cafes for as little as 1,000-2,000 yen per night. These legendary facilities house small cubicles equipped with reclining chairs, computers and TVs, and many cafés allow free soft drink refills. Some even have showers.
In this dismal economy, usage of net cafés has been on the increase. A café profiled in this morning’s news said that it offers a rate of 59,520 yen per month for those staying longer than 30 days, and that out of its 58 rooms, 50 were occupied long-term.
One such resident who volunteered for an interview said that he had been there for over six months. After losing his real estate job two years ago when his company went bankrupt, he has been struggling to make ends meet as a day laborer. However, being 39 prevents him Read More
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.
Welcome to the JetWit Haiku Challenge! The challenge is to submit one or more haiku using the designated word. The best haiku submitted wins the prize.
This challenge is courtesy of Roland Kelts (Osaka, 1998-99), author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., published by Palgrave Macmillan. You can also follow Roland on his blog japanamerica.blogspot.com.
-
Designated word: “Pop” (you must use this word in your haiku; multiple submissions welcome)
- Deadline: Thursday, January 8, before 5:00p.m. EST
Prize: Free copy of Japanamerica + Susan Napier’s Anime: From Akira to Howl’s Moving Castle mailed to you.- Form: Haiku are typically 5-7-5 and have a seasonal reference. (Though the form actually has a fair amount of flexibility.)
- E-mail responses to: jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com
JET alum Lars Martinson creatively updates readers on the progress on his graphic novel Tonoharu: Part 2 in a recent post on his blog (larsmartinson.com):
Progress Bar Key
Scripting/Page Layout: Self-explanatory
Artwork: The Drawing, Inking, and Computer Work for the comic
Final Edits/Incidentals: Post-Production Edits, Designing the Cover, Preparing for Press, etc.
****
When I wrote the first progress report for Tonoharu: Part Two back in mid-July, I was a quarter of the way through the artwork. I concluded the entry saying I’d update on my progress again when the artwork was halfway done. I estimated/hoped that that update would come in “three or four months”,–>Click here to continue reading the post.
Japanese Interpreter (Houston)
Date: 2008-12-18, 11:15AM CST
Day Translations, Inc. www.daytranslations.com
We are searching for a professional Japanese interpreter to work with us on various projects and contracts. We need someone who is very familiar with the oil and business industries in order to interpret in person.
If you are interested and have experience interpreting, please call us at 1-800-969-6853 and email us at hr @ daytranslations. com and shopwood @ daytranslations. com
Please call as soon as possible.
Cordially,
Sean Patrick Hopwood
From Craigslist New York:
Japanese Transcription/ Translation
Reply to: gigs-964954712@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-20, 11:33AM EST
I have a dvd with 2 20 minute interviews in Japanese. I need them transcribed and translated to English in the next 2 weeks.
- it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
- Compensation: Negotiable but looking to pay $20-$25/ hour
PostingID: 964954712
Two stories stand out in my mind when I think about the Japanese practice ethic:
- I used to occasionally play with the ping-pong club in one of my junior high schools. After playing a couple matches with the 2nd and 3rd years, I noticed some 1st years in the hallway adjacent to the gym. I went over to talk to them and realized that they were all standing in a line, holding their paddles, and practicing their swing at an imaginary ping-pong ball over and over for an hour.
- My friend who was an ALT in the high schools in my town decided to participate in the kyudo (Japanese archery) club. He learned that for the first three months the students don’t even touch a bow. They just practice the arm movements with an imaginary bow. Then the next three months they have a bow but no arrow and they practice the movements over and over before they finally learn with an arrow.
These stories always fascinated me. I think they get at some of the fundamental cultural differences between Japan and the U.S. (or most other countries for that reason.
What “practice” stories or observations or memories from JET days do you have?
You can send an e-mail to jetwit /atto/ jetwit /dotto/ com or just post as a comment below.
A JET alum in Seattle shared a link to this interesting article on Salon.com about a guy named Brian Raftery who wrote a book about karaoke called Don’t Stop Believin’: How Karaoke Conquered the World and Changed My Life.
I enjoyed the article, though I think his explanation about the origin of karaoke slips into cultural generalizations, especially regarding the question of how karaoke became so big in Japan before the US. My understanding is that, even before karaoke machines, there was a tradition at enkais of making people stand up and sing a song on their own. Microphones and later karaoke machines were add-ons to the experience.
Any other JET perspectives or comments on karaoke? Post them below.
