leaving the country

[jamjar]

I'm going to Japan for a year, in approximately one month, one the JET scheme as an ALT (assistant Language Teacher). Which basically means I'm assigned to a Junior High School, although I may also be visiting Elementary and High schools as well, to help Japanese English teachers teach English.

This is pretty terrifying when I think about it, although I've been trying not to think about it too much. Not the work- I've been teaching English for a year, and most of my classes are 16-19 year olds, although I have one student that's fourteen, and an adult class as well. I'm a satisfactory teacher, I guess.

It'll be very different over there, though, since a) the sts will have less immersion in English, b) will probably be less motivated and c) will all be Japanese. And I strongly suspect I won't have sick-notes from them, dealing with PTSD from torture in their homeland, or the cultural issues between the, generally pretty bolshy, and more inclined to argue or be a bit stroppy, students from the Congo, Senegal and West Europe, compared to the, generally a lot more reserved, Somalian girls. I doubt I'll be able to get the same debates going on government-business responsibility vs personal responsibility, without the Ukrainians and the Nigerians.

It's such a mixed bag of students I have. There are several who, I suspect, are functionally illiterate in their own language. There are others who are well-educated, and seem pretty well off. There are those here on, what is basically a gap year. There are those who miss several lessons because they're explaining to Immigration why they can't go back to their home country. There are students with a cultural background that dictates quiet, total obedience to the teacher, and others who will argue with you over every fifth word.

The system is set up so you're given subsidised accommodation, they help set up all the bank account, direct debit stuff. That doesn't scare me much either.

The two things that do are being so far away from my family- half a world away from my nearest and dearest. My little brother- I love my whole family, but I think I have the most uncomplicated feelings towards my little brother. My big brother and I are very different in personality, and while we now can get on really well, and have some really great times, there's also the fights we used to have, the things that irritate us about each other. Too close in age, too different in personality, I guess. I get on well with both my parents, but (probably more with my mum than my dad- my dad and I are too alike) there's also that same bit of frustration. My little brother is ten years younger than me. While he annoys me sometimes- to his great misfortune, he inherited the family sense of humour and the family joy in winding other people up- but he's my baby brother.

The other thing I worry about, of course, is computer access. I'll need to get a laptop, and set up Internet access and... argh. Scary stuff. I can do without a phone, but I need the modem as a line to home.

Especially because I'll have to leave most of my books behind.

Comments

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

I am way impressed - that's very very col and very very brave!

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

Less bravery and more dedicated not-thinking-about-it-too-much. In this day of chat shows, therapy and kiss-and-tell, the ability to repress or ignore things that would otherwise stress one out is a much undervalued skill.

[klgaffney.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* good one. i am also a proud graduate of "denial/repression/just don't think about it too much" school of thinking. =p

but that's excellent. i rather envy you. and i have an lj friend over there too-- uneide. i suppose i should run an intro as well?

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

Y'know they found out that people who have counselling immediatly after a disaster (airline crashes, I think, was what teh study was based on) tended to have worse after effects then people that didn't, and they reckoned it was that teh people that didn't have the counselling, tended to get over it- push it to teh back of their minds, deal with it by whatever means, including repression, wheras the people that had the counselling remembered it more, were more used to thinking about it, analysing it.

And an intro would be great.

[klgaffney.livejournal.com]

so repression is good? i think it could very easily have it's basis as a survival function.

let's say your group was attacked by predators, and you witnessed lots of your friends and maybe kin killed. well, that sucks, but yeah, if there's family to tend to and other possible predators to fight off, it does your species no good if all the survivors are left curled up against a tree, like so many quivering balls of jelly. so at least if it's repressed a bit, you can deal with it little by little, at your own pace, at a sensible time. *nods* yup, makes sense to me.

cool. i'll post one in my lj, then.

[ephemera.livejournal.com]

PS : realise now that you don;t have me on your friends page : just posted an introduction between you and a friend of mine who's currently *in* Japan on JET.

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

Hajimemashite. Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

You're probably going to end up saying that a *lot*. Translates as "Nice to meet you. Please like me!" or something to that effect. ;)

Do you know what ken you're going to be in? You mentioned that you know you're teaching at JHSs, so I'm assuming you got your placement. Do you speak Japanese?

If you've got any questions about JET I'm happy to attempt to field them, but the company motto is Every Situation is Different and they really, *really* mean it. So don't let any, um, cynicism about the job you may find in my lj put you off. ;)

As for internet, I've got a high-speed ADSL connection for a very reasonable rate and customer support in English through Asahi.net. There's a very nice lady (who works on commission and therefore doesn't cost you a cent) who can do all the hook-up stuff for you at http://www.bricks.co.jp once you determine what kind of connection you can get in your area (cable and ADSL aren't available everywhere) and your ISP (I recommend Asahi, personally). I love my ADSL and wouldn't recommend going with cable unless it's already installed, 'cause the initial costs are sky high.

And... yes. That's it. Nice to meet you, hope I don't scare you - my livejournal is unedited (and something I'd prefer you didn't share with the rest of the JET community, in that I tend to talk about other JETs in a way that might make them identifiable to people who know them) and I tend to overshare.

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

Well, I started Japense lessons, two or three times a week, at the beginning of May, and there's the JET English tapes, so the answer is- no, I don't speak any *real* Japanese.

I've exchanged a few emails with the girl I'm replacing. She reckons I'll be helping with around 10 classes a week (though as many a 18 some weeks, and as few as four others), as well as few classes a month at an Elementary school and a Special ed. school, so it sounds pretty varied.

I'm all but drooling on my keyboard at the thought of ASDL, my area, well, let's just say the company's aren't in a rush to put broadband in. I don't know, we have the worst crime, worst teen pregnancies, worst STDs in London- you think they'd be doing everything in their power to get us off the streets and wasting out time energy and emotions on a computer, instead of inflicting them on each other.

A desk top probably is a better idea. I think I could deal with the keyboard- I've struggled away on Dutch and French keyboards, so I can probably adapt.

The thing is- moving to a different country, well, that's one kind of exile. I don't want to be an expat from my online community as well.

[jack-pride.livejournal.com]

The thing is- moving to a different country, well, that's one kind of exile. I don't want to be an expat from my online community as well.

As long as you buy the comp quickly it shouldn't be a problem. If you're actually in Sendai (a *city* - funky: I'm middle-of-nowhere Nagano-ken) then you'll probably be all right for ADSL, but Japan is just plain odd sometimes so don't take my word for it. You can probably find out somewhere on http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/en/ now that I think of it.

The keyboard's not too bad - I regularly switch between two types and hardly notice anymore - but make sure you know how much room your place has; one six tatami mat room is pretty damn small if it's your entire living space (I'm lucky and have 3 rooms). Not alot of room for a full-sized computer (though you could get a flat screen *g*).

Your work schedule sounds great - hope you have a hobby, though, 'cause you may end up with a lot of free time at work some weeks. A good time to study Japanese (what I *should* be doing with my free time...)

You sound all set!

^-^V

[uneide.livejournal.com]

Kammy sent me over, she is good that way... *g* well, I think that honestly you sound like you've thought a lot about the difficulties you may encounter... from my experience here in Mie-ken, Japan by far surpassed my expectations, and I've no regrets about my time here. ^-^ Internet is actually not all that difficult to set up. If you are having problems, just drop me a line. :) You're bound to miss family... I missed the most my baby sisters (17 and 13) but usually there is a lot of support from other JETs and the community. CLAIR also has some, if you are stuck, and hey, now I'm introduced, so whenever you feel a bit overwhelmed, just let me know. :D

Re: ^-^V

[jamjar.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's reassuring to know that internet shouldn't be too difficult to set up- I don't want to be a double expat from my two cutural homes.

I think I'll miss my little brother the most because he's not just my little brother- he's my baby brother. My big brother, I'm used to living in a different country with, and since for about three generations, every child in my family has settled in a different place (usually a different continent) to their parents, I'm really just following in the family footsetps by moving across the world from my um and dad.