JET's in Japan

(click on me to read larger text)
--- JET Calender, August 2007.

So, ol' Pavlos' goal is to "change some of his student's lives". I thought it was interesting that he only wants to change "some" of their lives - why not all? Take a look at his accompanying photo and consider which students lives Pavlos wants to "change".



"I often [...] feel as if others are lacking in some way. Even though they are doing their own best, I tend to think differently and force my own opinion. But in fact, everyone is an existence in the universe and the universe is already perfect."
- David Titternington, "Ten People, Ten Colors" essay.
--- Jet Journal, 2007

Hi David. Unfortunately, you're a bit- well, a lot - wrong. Some people are lacking - such as stupid hippies who believe that "it's all objective, maaan" and actually attach their name to such rubbish as is marring my page above.

I went to a JET conference with my JTE. A cool guy, his opinion of many of the JET's was, "too much confidence". I agreed. There were a lot of, in my esteemed colleague Pavlov's words, "grand prize winners".

But lets start at the beginning... After I arrived here, the group of us (new JET's and the old hands (those who had been here one whole year) went into Kyoto. They showed us a foreign foods store. They showed us an Irish pub. They showed us another Irish pub. They brought us to a salsa dance place. They mentioned the "great French food restaurant" in our city and made plans to go to an Italian place in another city.

As I'm from Canada, where I can enjoy that kind of stuff anytime, and I travelled, you know, around the world and all to come to Japan, I was eager to do Japanese things, eat Japanese food, meet Japanese people. So, as Steve Miller played in the smoky background, and the room full of foreigners (meaning us) drank their Seabreezes and their Guinesses, I suggested to our "leader", a largish girl of Indian descent (mentioned only for context), that maybe it would be fun, you know, next time or whenever, to go somewhere Japanese. Seeing as we were in Japan, and all.

She (let's call her Sharon) was not happy. "You may think all these Japanese girls with their high heels and short skirts are so great now, but we have to stick together!" she shouted at me. Her line of thinking was interesting, especially considering I had never mentioned anything about Japanese girls, girls at all, or their relative modes of dress. "As foreigners, we are like a team and we have to support each other. Nick (another JET) used to be just like you, but now he understands". She was clearly pissed.

Later that evening, this "support" was demonstrated to me. As we were in the traditional capital of Japan, Kyoto, we were of course now enjoying the strains of salsa music, surrounded by Brazilian people. One of the other JETs was telling me she thought I was a "9" (out of 10) in looks, which I mention only to brag. After I went to the washroom for no more than a minute (only drinking beer), I happened to notice that everyone was gone. Yes, every single person from our group was no longer in the place. Not knowing Kyoto well, after some wandering about, I was forced to take a taxi to the station, catch one last train, then another taxi (about 40 bucks) to my city. So, I somehow wasn't feeling that loving foreigner vibe Sharon was promoting.

When I saw her next (at an Italian restaurant, natch), she quickly began defending her actions even as I approached the table: "I didn't leave you, you know! We had to catch the last train! I wasn't the leader of the group or anything!". I heard from other people that she had suddenly remembered about the last train and quickly brought everyone to the train station, where slightly more loyal people noticed that I wasn't present. Though they offered to come back, she reminded them that it was the last train. Where's that supposed solidarity, sister?

Actually, I don't have any hard feelings. A friend of mine once told me that people are doing you a favor when they show you right away that they are assholes, so you don't have to find out when you really need them. So, thank you Sharon (bows).

A lot of the JET's were pretty smart people. However, quite a few of them were like Sharon in that they didn't seem to have much life experience - never lived alone much less lived or even traveled to a foreign country, never even worked before much less worked in Japan (where a lot of what we know as "logic" doesn't apply), so they can be forgiven if they try to handle it by retreating into their foreigners-only bubble world. I only ask that you understand that I don't want to hide in there with you.

An almost opposite situation is the "big fish in a small pond" factor. A guy - and it's usually a guy - comes to Japan and starts to believe the "You can use chopsticks well! Nihongo jouzu (you speak Japanese well)!, You look like Brad Pitt!" hype (which you really do hear all the time). The aforementioned "Nick" is a good example of this. Near the beginning of our time here, I saw him at the station. "Hey, Nick!" I shouted. He trudged over, "Yeah?""What's going on?" "Whuddya want?" "Uh, nothing - just saying hi, I guess". He trudged away. Another great example of Sharon's foreigner kinsman-ship. We probably didn't exchange more than 10 words in my year in this city. Needless to say, Nick re-contracted for a third year, despite - like Sharon, who didn't re-contract - not even being able to order a meal in Japanese. A (Japanese) ex of mine once gave me some advice, "If you go to Japan, remember who you are". There's a whole series of cartoons about these cartoons: Charisma Man. I don't blame someone like this for wanting or appreciating attention, I blame them for believing it. Just the other day, a friend of mine's dad told me I look like Brad Pitt. Perhaps not coincidentally, I was the first foreigner he'd ever met.

I don't want to give you the idea that all JET's act like this. Michael, the guy from the Thailand trip, is on the ball. The other JET's in my city were cool, one of whom stopped talking to Sharon after Sharon "supported" her by trying to kiss her (Japanese) boyfriend. Another was a cool girl from Ireland. The last was a guy who also didn't re-contract but will move to Kyoto to be a normal size fish in a normal size pond (or river, in Kyoto's case). I am also pursuing this course. I think JET is the best way to come to Japan, and loved my school, teachers, and students. I honestly didn't have any problems whatsoever. However, the location was a bit remote for me: I felt like I was wasting my life on those slow, expensive train rides. My city didn't have any concerts, movie theatres, cool hangouts, young people, or really that many people at all. I am a city guy, so I'm looking forward to Kyoto. JET pays well and is fun and private schools (likely my only option for work in Kyoto) pretty much suck from what I've heard, but you can only re-apply to JET after 10 years. There aren't many jobs for foreigners in Japan other than English teaching, so we'll see what happens. I want to have confidence, but not "too much confidence" like Pavlos and Nick, or not enough like Sharon. Or lose my mind like David. Ganbarimasu.