Life in Japan (JET and language info)

Blogmaster’s Note: Since this is exactly what I’m hoping happens to me next year, I am super excited to read this article. For anyone who is planning on doing JET, applying to JET and the like, read on...

SONI-MURA, Japan - Oolitic's Aaron Rio is realizing a dream - living in Japan.

The 2000 graduate of Bedford North Lawrence High School has been teaching English to students in a wide age range for the past 18 months. His experience was facilitated through the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme, which worked to place nearly 6,000 foreign teachers in Japan this year.

He's home this week for a brief break before heading back overseas, where he will stay until August, and spoke to the Times-Mail about his experience thus far.

Why did you want to do something like this?

I guess I've always had a fascination with cultures other than our own, and when I started actively studying foreign culture in college, I very soon had the urge to study and/or live overseas.

What are your teaching responsibilities?

I teach all six grades of elementary school basic English conversation once a week and all three grades of junior high school English conversation, grammar, writing, reading and translation three times a week. I also teach two advanced courses at the junior high school, a weekly adult conversation class for local residents, and coach an English speech team at the junior high. There are about 120 students in the village.

I also am responsible for helping to create the English curriculum for all six elementary grades for the 2007-08 school year. The Ministry of Education is compiling all of the curriculums and teaching plans from model schools to create a nationwide standardized curriculum.

Describe a typical school day.

I usually arrive at school between 7 and 7:30 a.m., but my official work day starts with a staff meeting at 8:15. Classes begin at 8:40, and typically run until about 4 p.m. I teach anywhere from three to seven classes a day, and then help with club activities every day after school. My work day officially ends at 5.

Most people will be reading this around 6 p.m. Wednesday evening, Bedford time. What time is it over there?

It's 8 a.m. Thursday.

What are your living arrangements like?

Unlike most JETs, and almost all urban Japanese, I have a house that, although small to American standards, is seen as huge in Japan. It has a bedroom, kitchen/dining space, two traditional Japanese tatami rooms, a traditional Japanese entryway called a genkan, and then separate rooms for the toilet and shower/bathtub. Even my “yard,” which is about one meter around the perimeter of my house, is seen as somewhat exceptional in Japan.

What do people do for entertainment over there?

Drinking alcohol, especially Japanese sake, is a very important part of Japanese life. Although the Japanese try not to get too drunk and never talk about it the next day, many business meetings and most social events take place at a Japanese pub, or izakaiya, over drinks.

The Japanese also love karaoke - a Japanese creation - shopping, baseball, movies, and are also very active in sports, from soccer to karate to basketball.

How do you think Americans are received in the area that you are in?

I am living in a really small, really rural village in the mountains - Soni-mura, population of about 1,200, about 100 kilometers east of Osaka. It is not on a train line and only has a one-lane mountain road. The nearest town, train station or shopping center is 35 kilometers and several mountains away.

Because of its isolation, most residents of Soni may have only seen a non-Japanese in person one or two times in their lives, let alone spoken to one. For this reason, I am America to many residents of the village.

The standard American is blonde-haired, blue-eyed, tall, loud and eats steak for every meal. Most Japanese people are very anti-war and very commonly anti-Bush, and since I've been here, I haven't heard one person say they support the war in Iraq or think it was a good idea. However, the Japanese usually make no connection between American politics and Americans.

READ MORE