"After a Brief Intermission..."

A Brief Note:

So, I’ve been in Japan for a while now, a month, to be exact. There’s a lot to cover… a WHOLE lot. One would think I would have updated my blog by now. Normally, I would have, but here’s your first Japanese tidbit: It takes over a month to set up a new internet connection.

Hooray!

Yes, the land that has invented some of the wackiest, most up-to-date technological gizmos and doodads has the SLOWEST internet installation process that one can possibly dream up. Go fucking figure, right?

So, sitting in my apartment squinting at my new Japanese iPhone (which took three hours to get after waiting three weeks for multiple appropriate cards and pieces of paper that prove I now live in Japan to be delivered to my doorstep WHILE I am home) is not exactly the ideal place to update a blog. Anyone who has ever used an iPhone keypad will shrug and agree with this. You are probably shrugging and agreeing with this.

HOWEVER, now that I am all settled in and comfy-cozy in my new workplace (or at least my desk in said workplace), I can begin uploading entries again… mostly because I’ve realized that if I look busy, no one is going to bother me, no matter what it is I'm actually doing. I would feel bad, but I learned this from my coworkers, who are fucking BADASS at it (they call it “the isogashii.” “Isogashii” is Japanese for “busy.”) So, I have a few entries completely typed up and neurotically edited. I will begin posting them on Monday.

That means you have the entire weekend to get the fuck ready. Use your time wisely.

Love,

Bobbles

"But Bob, how do you occupy yourself without any internet???"

Here's your fucking answer, kids.

"Testing. Check. Check. Check. Is This Thing On?"

Hello.

Err, "hey."

I mean, "heeeey."

Getting into blog voice has to be one of the most painful experiences for me, period. I always feel like I either sound too crude and douchey or too apologetic and vanilla. It sucks. In fact, it sucks a lot. Therefore, I am making the conscious decision to say, "fuck it," and just write. You, dear reader, will hopefully be able to make do.

Anyway.

Welcome to, "Hey, I Guess I'm in Japan and Stuff," which, as you can probably tell, is going to chronicle my journey into the world of Japanese English Education and living abroad as a "gaijin" (general term for "foreigner," which will, I'm sure, be a major recurring theme in this blog.) With any luck, I'll do a decent job.

To get a little background (see also: tedium) out of the way, I'm a 25 year old, brand spankin' new English teacher, fresh out my first long term substitute assignment, which I got fresh off my year-long, unpaid internship (big ups to Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, NH). I've put in my work, if I do say so myself. While I am absolutely pumped on a lifelong career in teaching the chillun', I came to a realization after securing a job interview at the high school I went to in the town I grew up in.

I really need to expand ye olde horizons.

Now, that isn't to say that my old high school is no good and would not have provided me with tons of professional development opportunities (it was awesome and it would have,) I just saw that I needed to get out to do and see some more "stuff" before I chill out and settle down. Teaching abroad seemed to provide such an opportunity.

Anyone who knew me back in the days of "I Was a Teenage Nerd" (not an actual film,) could tell you that Japan was a hot spot in my interests. If that conjures up images of the proverbial shut-in, protected by walls of his favorite anime DVD's, munching on manga, please do your best to flush said image from your head. I was always elbow deep in console RPG's, granted, but I did have some actual interest in the culture of, you know, the non-fictional people that populated the country.

This interest kind of laid dormant for most of my high school career as jobs, cars, and girlfriends got in the way, but I got a chance to channel my inner Nihon-jin (Japanese person) in college (here is an awkwardly-placed shout out to Pam Ikegami, my professor and good friend). The more I learned about the language and culture, the more I started to realize that, despite some of my distinctly western quirks (tattoos and punk rock don't really fit into the vision of Japan's ideal citizen, but we'll get into that later), I may have a bit of a Japanese heart: polite, somewhat shy, implicit and indirect (sometimes painfully so,) more concerned with the general good than the individual, and so on. Basically, while I may fall under the category of "Beta Male" (not a good thing) here, I could possibly scrape the middle ground on the Japanese personality test. Perhaps it was time for a change of location.

Flash forward another few years, and I seemed to have nothing tying me down... and I also seemed to have a teaching degree. Seeing as my Japanese is still far from fluent, going through an established agency like the JET program seemed like an obvious choice. These folks really have your back on everything, and they've been nothing but accommodating and helpful. This format would also give me the opportunity to team teach under a Japanese Teacher of English (JTE, that's a buzz word) and gain more ground in my language ability. Seems like a win/win, right?

Granted, it has been and will be a lot of hard work to get my speaking and reading up to snuff, but I want more than anything to adapt. I made a promise to myself that I would not be a glorified tourist. It's cliche, but I want to learn just as much (maybe more) than I teach.

And so, here I am, "alright" at some really basic conversational Japanese, half-packed for my placement in the rural town of Hino, and pretty ambitious about my prospects in the Far East. I know this entry is pretty slow-going, and some of the more nitpicky elements of the coming entries (packing, cultural concerns before one leaves) may get a little tedious, but is my hope that it'll at least be informative, and those of you planning to travel and/or teach abroad will find it useful... or at least entertaining.

So, again, welcome to "HIGIJAS" (looks cooler abbreviated than I anticipated.) I hope you are entertained and occasionally amused by my adventures (and misadventures) in teaching abroad. Kanpai!

(That's cheers)

Love,
Bobbles


PS: Just to throw this out there. This blog is not affiliated with the JET program and does not reflect the opinions of the program or its administrators in any way. In fact, this blog is not even geared specifically toward those participating in JET. This is simply a way for me to get information and stories about my journey out there. However, I am more than open to any questions about the nature of the JET program, placements, and etc. Do not feel afraid to ask me questions in the comments.

IF you are looking for information on applying to JET, how to prepare to be a JET candidate, how to pack for your JET placement, and so on, there are plenty of wonderful sources for you. Here are a few:

The Official JET Programme Forums (http://www.jetprogramme.org/forums/) - As the title states, this is the official web forum for the JET Programme. It is largely useful, but do be careful not to feed the trolls. A friend of mine, who eventually coordinated her own Boston JET Facebook group, had a few run-ins with the local trollolololers. I do suppose they are everywhere these days.

"myargonauts" on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/myargonauts) - This man, Jason, is the absolute best. I would have been so utterly lost without his video advice. I wish I had the guts to tell him how much he helped me personally. It is time-consuming, but please, if you are a JET candidate or even are thinking about it, watch ALL of these vlogs! ALL OF THEM!

"MostAwesomestJes" on Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/user/mostawesomestjes) - Another series of YouTube vlogs that detail the exploits of Jessika, another very successful JET. These blogs have become more scattered, but they still offer a very good base of knowledge on everything from the JET interview process to the trials and tribulations of JET life once you are in Japan. Again, very useful.

I know I'm blanking on a bunch more, and perhaps I'll just pepper them in as I keep this updated. However, in the meantime, you, sir or madam, have a brain... and the internet! Type "JET Program" into Google... or Bing... or whatever the fuck you use, and watch the vast world of information appear in front of you! Hooray!