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Picture of the Week
Wes with Sonic!
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August 03, 2003 - 12:18 AM
Wes Ehrlichman
For this journal I'm going to take the easy way out and
post up the e-mails that my predecessor Dave and I shared
before I came to Japan. The real purpose of these e-mails
is to give some extra help to the couple of people I know
who are about to head off to Japan themselves. My own successor
Leon, and my friend from college Jacquelyn (Scott's sister).
So here's some help! A few things have changed, but I think
there's still some useful information in here. I hope it's
OK with Dave to put these up!
I apologize for any grammatical mistakes, but these were
fairly informal e-mails and I didn't want to change the tone
by shinnying them up (I'm also kinda lazy). So here they are!
Hi Wes:
Glad to have reached you on the phone just now! My name
again is Dave, and I'm the current ALT who you will be replacing.
First the essentials:
You will be in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is at the
southern end of Kyushu, the southernmost of the main islands
of Japan. You will be living and working in Kedouin Town,
which is a very small town with a population said to be 5,000,
but I think some of the people raised their hands twice when
they counted. Kedouin Town is approximately 30 miles due north
of Kagoshima City. Kedouin is primarily a farming town, with
lots of rice fields. If Tokyo = New York, then Kagoshima City
(population 500,000) = Louisville, Kentucky and Kedouin Town
= a small, small town south of Louisville, Kentucky. Kedouin
Town comes with all the things you would associate with a
small town in the States- a couple of small grocery stores,
only 4 traffic signals, a famous town drunk (ME!), and very
friendly people. The overwhelming majority of these very friendly
people are either schoolchildren or old people. There are
not many young people here, most of the kids leave town after
finishing school to work in bigger cities. You will be the
third western foreigner to live in Kedouin- the guy before
me was here for 2 years, and I have been here for 3 years.
As for other foreigners, there are a couple of Philippinos.
They are not quite as easy to spot as you or I though!
I am the most famous person in Kedouin Town, dare I say even
more famous than the mayor! You will soon be the most famous
person in Kedouin!
Kedouin Town is quite isolated. There is no train service
here whatsoever, and there still won't be 100 years from now.
Bus service is also EXTREMELY limited and very inconvenient.
You should definitely bring an International Driver's License
along with your regular American Driver's license and plan
on buying a car while here. All the major roads that are in
the general area just kind of skip Kedouin. In the town right
next door, also population 5,000 or so, the Canadian ALT who
lives there doesn't own a car because there is regular bus
service to Kagoshima City. UNFORTUNATELY, this isn't how it
happened in Kedouin Town. :( Don't worry though, modest cars
can be purchased quite cheap, about $1500 U.S. or so.
Your job: OFFICIALLY, you are assigned to work at Kedouin
Town Board of Education. However, you will actually seldom
go there. Every Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, you
will instead come to Kedouin Junior High School, where you
will assist 27 year old Mr. Eto in teaching English to 7th,
8th, and 9th grade students. There are approx. 30 students
in each of 6 classes, 180 students total. You will always
go with Mr. Eto, and never be expected to teach alone. You
will also on many occasions visit Kedouin Town's 4 elementary
schools, which together have a total of about 250 students.
I am not certain what schedule they will make for you at elementary
schools, in my case in my first year here I only went about
1 or 2 times to each school, but this changed dramatically
as my Japanese improved. 99% of the kids are really friendly
and fun, and about 50% have genuine interest in learning English.
Before I forget to mention this, I am the one and only
person whom you can ask any question you like. I mean it,
ANY QUESTION! No matter whether about money, vacation time,
or speaking Japanese, or WHATEVER, ask me! I am the only one
who could possibly understand your perspective, so even if
a question sounds stupid or rude or embarrassing, go ahead
and ask. I will keep anything you ask confidential. You will
be expected to do the same someday for the next guy. Example-
when I was in your shoes, I asked the guy before me about
the chances of meeting good-looking ladies here. He told me
to bring my driver's license and international driver's license
so I could drive myself to a place where I could meet such
ladies! I am glad I took his advice. I'm now married to a
wonderful Japanese lady!
Since money is of course important, here's what you
want to know: After all the standard deductions are taken
out, you will be left with about 258,000 yen each month. At
yen 125 to the dollar, that is just over $2,000 per month.
I have been able to easily save $1200 per month, with the
exception of when I bought my car and when I travelled abroad.
There are hermits in the area who save about $1800 per month
and drunken partiers/constant travelers who save about $200
per month.
What to bring: YOUR HOBBY! Whether it is a guitar or
a surfboard or a whatever, bring it with you! You will have
a tremendous amount of free time here. A TREMENDOUS amount.
Your RESIDENCE: You will be living in a small house with
a small living room, kitchen, and sleeping room which all
kind of merge into one. You will also have 1 bathroom and
1 bonus room which could be called a second bedroom. Your
rent is free, but you will pay your own utilities (water,
phone, electricity, gas; internet/satellite if you so choose).
With the exception of Internet none are expensive.
Internet costs about $70 per month, plus rip-off start-up
fees. You have all the basics like TV, fridge, VHS, microwave,
fan, air-conditioner, heater provided for you, but no computer.
You can use the school's computer but don't overdo it!
More later, please answer to let me know you got this
too!
David
Kedouin Town.
Hello again Wes:
Your address in Japan:
118 Shimode Satsuma-gun
Kedouin-cho Kagoshima-ken
895-1501 JAPAN
Written just as above in English is fine, but please
warn those with sloppy handwriting to be careful!
Here is a link to check out Kagoshima Prefecture, for what
it's worth:
link
It will be very, very hot and humid when you arrive.
Think St. Louis. No, wait, think New Orleans. Brutally hot
and humid. But it also gets very cold in the winter, though
there is very little or no snow. You should bring a couple
of dress shirts, tie, and slax for Tokyo orientation, but
don't bother with a sportcoat. As for winter clothes, ship
them seperately by surface mail. It will take about 6 to 8
weeks to reach here. You are welcome to send it now and if
it gets here early I am happy to hold it for you, but it will
be hot until October so there is no rush. No reason to have
a leather jacket get moldy in the heat. If you ship it just
before you leave, it will get here in early to mid September,
that is your best bet.
Okay, I'll just wait for your questions now, but again please
let me know you got this one or the first one!
Later,
David
Kedouin-cho
Ok. I got all of your e-mails. Sounds like it will be
a lot of fun and pretty much what I'm wanting. I'm sort of
planning on staying for only a year. I can't imagine how much
I'll miss my family and friends after a year.
OK questions. Hmm, questions. First of all my girlfriend
will be going to school in Nagoya for the year. I told her
I would probably only get to see her one or twice every two
months so from the sounds of things I might be right. Hmm.
I'm also a little apprehensive about this car thing for some
reason. I'm going to look into an international drivers license
tomorrow, but how far away is this other town with the bus
service that you were talking about? Is it some place that
I could ride a bike to or something? I guess I'll probably
just end up getting a car, but I don't know. Oh yeah. That
web link you gave me didn't work.
I got a laptop just a couple of weeks ago so that I could
use it in Japan and it sounds like that will work out well.
When you're talking Internet are you talking just basic dial
up or broadband? Is broadband available in Kedouin? I don't
know exactly how wired Japan is. I also got a web-site set
up too where I'm planning on putting up a journal of sorts
next year. www.superwes.com is that if you want to check it
up. My site's not quite up yet though.
OK, teaching. Sounds superb! It's probably exactly what
I would have wanted. My japanese is OK, (2 years in college,
3 years in high school) but I'm hoping to learn more while
I'm there and it sounds like I'll definately have the time!
My hobby. Hmmm, actually it's playing video games! I
was planning on bringing a few systems but it sounds like
I may need to bulk up. In Kagoshima I'm assuming they'll have
some pretty good stores to feed my habit too. I'll probably
want to read ! manga to help myself learn Japanese and I doubt
much will be availa ble in Kedouin. I know what it sounds
like now, but I'm not totally a loner. I'll get out and party!
Sounds like I'll know everyone there by the first week.
So I guess that's it for now. I'll write you again later.
-Wes
Hi Super Wes:
I'll answer your questions first before I start rambling.
On visiting your girlfriend in Nagoya: Round trip air
tickets from Kagoshima City to Nagoya go for about $350 US
when booked in advance. Trains are not direct. As there are
no shinkansen (bullet trains) in Kagoshima, it would take
a long time to get to Nagoya by train and cost just as much
as flying. Ferries also take a LONG time just to get to Osaka.
So flying would be your best option, and assuming a Friday
night departure and taking a day of paid leave the following
Monday, I see no reason why you couldn't do so once every
6 weeks without making a bad impression. Maybe even once a
month. What about the possibility of her coming down to Kagoshima?
I'm sure the town would love to meet (read LOOK AT) her. You
WILL need a car in order to get to and from Kagoshima Airport
at your leisure.
Video games/Internet: Well, the ALT in the town right
next to you is a 24 year old Canadian guy who is a video game
and computer expert, so I asked him. No broadband in Kedouin,
just basic dial-up service. He also says he is not content
with the game selection in Kagoshima City. Maybe you can stock
up while in Nagoya.
Please tell me why you are apprehensive about a car so
I can inflame or extinguish those apprehensions! Is it the
costs, the fear of driving in a foreign country, or because
you'll only be here for 1 year? You really do need one here
if you hope to have any level of independence and the ability
to commute to Japanese classes.
Oops gotta run, more later...
Kedouin Dave
Wes:
It sounds like you must at least have down the basics
(hiragana/katakana, greetings) and then some. That is great
for you because starting with a solid base is better than
nothing at all. Your Japanese will definitely improve during
your time here. Actually, on Wednesday evenings from 6:30
to 8:30, I go to a free Japanese class about 30 km east of
here. The other students are other ALT's from the area, foreign
wives of Japanese men (mostly from China), and Taiwanese college
exchange students. It has always been a lot of fun. Soon after
arriving, you will be asked to do a jikoshoukai, that is self-introduction
about 50,000 times. My suggestion is to prepare a modest one
in advance (My name is ..., I am from America, My hobbies
are ...., Nice to meet you.) As you are whisked from place
to place you may suddenly find yourself in some community
center with 250 old farts staring at you and ! waiting to
here you introduce yourself. Yes, it is an odd experience.
I can help if you like but it sounds like you know what to
do. Don't worry about being accurate or anything like that,
all that is really important is that you do it.
I looked at your superwes site. Can I show it to people
here (such as Mr. Eto, the guy who you will be teaching with)?
Oh, and the Kagoshima site can be found by doing a search
using key word "Kagoshima" on Yahoo and just browsing a bit
through whatever comes up. I'm sure you'll find it quickly.
Regarding your co-teahcers: At 23, you will be the baby
of the staff. The next youngest is the English teahcer Mr.
Eto at 27. Other than that, everyone is at least 30. As for
English, the Vice Principal, Mr. Tokumori, is fluent, dare
I say better at English than Mr. Eto. One other teacher, Mr.
Tateoka, also speaks fluent easy English and gets by at more
difficult levels. Two other teachers speak at somewhere between
a little bit and OK level and will probably want to speak
English with you to practice. As for the other 15 or so, they
speak very little to no English. You will speak to them in
Japanese only.
Here are the names of the people most directly in contact
with you and their position:
Mr. Yamaguchi- He is your direct supervisor at the Board
of Education. He is probably the guy who will pick you up
at Kagoshima Airport. He is the guy who speaks directly with
the CLAIR office in Tokyo regarding you. A nice guy as far
as supervisors go. In Japanese his job title is KACHOU. Low
English ability.
Mr. Eto- The English teacher you will work with. He's
a soccer fanatic and newlywed with a recently born baby. On
a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, I'd rate his English
an 8. He knows his grammar quite well and will primarily need
your help with pronunciation. I have found him very easy to
work with and get along with.
Mr. Tokumori- The vice-principal (Kyoutou-sensei) of
Kedouin Junior High School. His specialty is music but he
also speaks English fluently. I'd rate his English an 8 1/2.
A really nice guy. He is the person who will be directly in
charge of you during your time at Kedouin Junior High School.
I will send the names of the rest of the teahcers later.
Does your computer read Japanese? If so, I'll send them in
both English and Japanese.
TWO IMPORTANT QUESTIONS:
1. Is there any food or type of food you do not eat?
If this was on your application, I missed it. And, if you
are a vegetarian, do you eat fish? Please let me know specifically
so I can inform people here in advance.
2. Do you drink alcohol? If so, a lot? a little? ???
Let me know this too so I can give them an idea of what to
expect. A large amount of alcohol is consumed by many men
all over Japan, and here in Kedouin that fact seems more true
than in other places. That said, you are absolutely not required
to drink here if you don't want to. But if that is the case,
it is important that people know this from the start.
Please remember that your answers to the above questions
will not affect your job situation here! It would be awful
though if they prepared a welcome party for you here complete
with food you don't eat and drinks you don't drink. People
here were amazed to learn that I don't drink cola or coffee!
An American girl a couple towns away is vegetarian but decided
to start eating fish once she got here.
Please keep the questions coming! I am actually finding
it difficult to think of what to say because I have been here
so long that I think I might take for granted things I should
be telling you! Again, any question is okay!
OH- international driver's licenses are available at
AAA for about $10, even if you are not a member. Just take
your regular license and two passport size pictures to any
Triple A office. Make sure your regular driver's license doesn't
expire anytime soon either!
Take it easy!
Kedouin Dave
Yeah, my Japanese is OK Im actually really excited about
learning Japanese. I have a question about that though. A
web site I went to said that they speak a unique dialogue,
does that mean its like hick talk? I dont want to sound
a fool when Im talking to Japanese City folk. OK, yeah I
think Ill probably try to get in on the Japanese class. It
wont be for credit so I can actually meet a lot of people
and have fun with my Japanese learning. Yeah, the superwes
site is pretty unfinished right now though. It would probably
be better to show them my old web site. http://php.indiana.edu/~wehrlich/
That one has a lot more stuff. Ill be updating my new
one soon, but for now it would probably be more informative
to show them that one. Maybe the new one as well if you want.
Ok car apprehensions. Driving on the wrong side of the
road. Whats up with that? Car insurance. Whats it cost,
how do I sign up? International Drivers License. Actually
I went to AAA today and found out everything you told me in
your email. So Ill pick it up in a few days. Cost. Well I
guess thats not a big deal, but will it be easy to sell it
when I leave?
Ok, this isnt so good for everyone else, but yes. I
am a vegetarian. So if you could let everyone know what that
means Id be very grateful. Last time I was in Japan I had
a lot of problems with people trying to give me ham thinking
it wasnt niku. So I guess I dont eat Beef, Chicken, Pork,
Fish, or Eel (plus all the other things that go with vegetarianism).
Now that thats been said is there anything Ill be able to
eat? I like Yakisoba, Tempura, and veggie sushi if that helps.
If you can come up with some good recommendations for vegetarian
food that I would be able to eat when I get there I would
really appreciate it.
Drinking too. I drink a little. Usually maybe one or
two drinks. Ive drank more than that before and if I do I
wont be mad at myself for it, but on most occasions I usually
just drink a little bit or none at all. Im assuming that
while Im in Japan itll be a little, but quite often because
of all of the ceremonies and stuff that I will take part in.
By the way, if Im wrong about any of my assumptions let me
know. Ive been trying to get a picture of what it will be
like to be there.
Ok, tell me a little more about you. Where are you from?
Where did you go to School? What made you do Jet? That kind
of stuff.
I think thats it for this email. I have a few more questions,
but Ill write them as I think of them. Like gifts. What would
be good? Anyways, thank you very much for corresponding with
me. Talk to you later.
-Wes
PS- thought of another question. Is there a place that
I could meet my girlfriend that would be relatively cheap
for both of us? Like, is it cheaper to fly into a bigger city
like Tokyo or something? Not that its too expensive, but
Id like to check out all of my options. Thanks.
Hi Wes:
I'll look at your other site and show it to Mr. Eto
and maybe others too!
Easy things first: Me- I'm from the southwest USA, grew
up in L.A., went to Northern Arizona Univ. in Flagstaff, AZ.,
was living in Las Vegas before I came to Japan. I'm now 32
years old. Unlike most JET's, I am actually a teacher. I teach
ESL and Spanish in the USA. I used the JET Programme merely
as a tool to get to Japan. I met a wonderful Japanese girl
from not far from here and got married 1 year and a few months
ago.
Kagoshima dialect: It is unique and yes, it is hick talk!
BUT, thanks to modern things like TV, young people all over
Japan all speak basically the same nowadays. The old people
in Kagoshima and especially in the super rural areas like
Kedouin speak quite differently. My wife's mother is one of
them and it is hilarious how little we undersand each other
without my wife there to translate!
Tokyo and Osaka people of course have a lot more contact
with foreigners and thus also are much better at speaking
slowly and using words that foreigners can easily understand
compared to people in Kagoshima. By the way, yes, Tokyo and
Osaka people do look down on Kagoshima much the same as people
from New York or L.A. look down on people from West Virginia
or Tennesee, but not quite as blatantly. Kagoshima people
are also much friendlier than Tokyo people by a huge margin.
Kids in schools in Tokyo and other big cities have lots of
troubles that you don't want to deal with. Here in Kedouin
we have the occassional fight or kid smoking a cigarrette
but that is about it. Oh yeah- do you smoke? A small number
of male teachers here smoke but they are required to do so
outside.
Imagine this for a moment: A lone Japanese guy in a tiny
town in rural Mississippi. Would people there stop and stare
at him? Of course they would. The same will often happen to
you in Kagoshima. One big difference though- the Japanese
guy in rural Mississippi could potentially be facing harm
in that situation. You will face no such harm here, for the
most part just curious stares. On rare occassions your mere
presence will downright scare people!
We had a rare tragedy here today, though fortunately
no one died. First time anything like this has happened since
I have been here. The PTA chairman's house has burned to a
crisp. Everything was destroyed! His car blew up along with
it. His son is a ninth grader here at the Junior High School
who will soon be going to America to do a summer homestay.
Wow. I'll tell you more as I learn more about this...
As of now it is cheaper to fly round trip between Kagoshima
and Nagoya than Kag and Tokyo. That may change though because
of a new private airline intending to specialize in service
between Kag and Tokyo. It won't get much cheaper though. Domestic
flights in Japan are extremely expensive- it is usually cheaper
to fly round trip between Kagoshima and L.A. by way of Seoul
than it is to fly round trip between Kagoshima and Hokkaido!
DRIVING: Driving on the wrong side of the road takes
about 5 minutes to get used to. The roads are quite narrow
here though and thus often quite slow. Hypothetical situation:
You could buy a car for about $1500 U.S., get 1 year of insurance
for about $400 U.S., and expect to sell the car for $0 at
the end of one year. In Japan, there is a scam known as SHAKEN.
Every two years a roughly $850 fee is paid to the govt. in
order to keep your car eligible to be on the road. This does
not include the registration fee paid every May, which varies
according to the type of car. So, expect to spend about $2000
to get a car and insurance, the scenario being that you bought
a car for which the SHAKEN is not due for a year or longer.
Of course when a year is over, the car will be worthless to
anyone if the SHAKEN is due and the car is an older piece
of shit anyhow!
FOOD and DRINK: I will inform them here ASAP! I am the
type who eats everything, so I am not familiar with vegetarian
food and vegetarian's needs specifically. I will also contact
a vegetarian friend who lives near here and see what she says.
She now eats fish though. As far as drinking, if you only
want to drink a little, establish that right from the beginning
by not going overboard just because of this or that occassion.
I will also inform them of this. Your needs in these areas
WILL be accommodated, fear not!
GIFTS: Don't stress over gifts! I suggest a small something
from Indiana that could be distributed to a group of 25 at
Kedouin Junior High School, and a group of 8-10 people at
the Board of Education. As these two groups are seperate from
one another, any such gifts should be given seperately. Don't
bring anything chocolate though, it will melt! You could also
bring nothing at all and that would be fine too!
RECOMMENDED READING: Lonely Planet Japan Travel Guide.
Priceless! Filled with great travel and other info!
I guess that is it for now. Send more questions when
you have them!
Kedouin Dave
First of all, Im sorry to hear about the tragedy. That
is terrible, but its reassuring that no one got hurt. Material
possessions can be replaced, but people cant
Sooo, I bought that travel guide tonight. I guess theres
some vegetarian restaurant in Murasaki. I didnt even know
that Japanese vegetarians existed. Pretty cool though.
Ive got a bunch of questions, but I cant think of
any right this second. Ummm. Ok, would it be possible to sell
me your car or would that Shaken apply to it? Actually, youre
probably not even coming back to the US since your wife lives
there. Well if youre interested in selling the car let me
know.
Is the Canadian in that Miyanojo town? That sounds like
its a little bigger than Kedouin. I also looked up Kedouin
on the map at Barnes and Noble and I found out that it is
located pretty much directly north of Kagoshima. Looks pretty
secluded too.
Ok. I wear contacts too and I have daily disposables.
According to the literature they sent me I can only take 2
months worth through customs. Should I try to sneak over a
years worth under the guize that I didnt know, or should
I have my mom send me 2 months worth every 2 months?
When I had delusions of being in the big city I pictured
not even having a home phone and just using a cell phone instead.
I heard it was often cheaper than just using a regular phone
since they have the per-minute charges regardless. Should
I just stick with a regular phone?
Also what kind of clothes should I bring? You said I
wont need a suit for too much, but Id like to wear one at
first just to make a good impression. So T-shirts though,
how often will I be able to dress down?
Ok, I guess thats all I can think of for now. Im tired.
Talk to you later.
-Wes
Hi Wes:
Good questions! Well, here goes...
As for my car, well, the shaken expires in August, and
yes, I will still be here after my JET contract expires. I
don't think you will have trouble locating a look-alike cheapie
though.
The Canadian friend of mine, Doug, (who will soon be
your friend too!) is in a town called Iriki. He has been there
for 1 year. Other new ALT's will be coming to Miyanojo, Satsuma,
Kamo, and Tsuruda- all towns near Kedouin. So there will be
a lot of new people in this area with you. By the way, Kedouin
is sometimes spelled Kedoin.
Contact lenses- I wear them too! I wear the kind you
throw away every two weeks. I brought a six month supply with
me and had no trouble, I wasn't even asked. My IMPRESSION
is that you won't be searched when you arrive as part of a
big group (there will be a LOT of you on the plane together).
Emphasis on impression, that is not certain. I don't believe
it will be a problem though. By the way, your health insurance
here will cover an eye exam but not the cost of the lenses
when you go to an eye doctor here. Expect any kind of contact
lenses here to cost about double the price in the States.
Phone- You have a phone provided for you at the house,
but you will be responsible for about $70 or so as a "name
registration fee", and then about $30 per month for regular
service. For international calls, I will give you info about
a good company that charges about 18 cents per minute to call
the USA. TRUST ME, you don't want to pay the Japanese rates
through NTT! Email of course is always cheaper. A lot of ALT's
also buy a keitai (mobile phone), but I personally don't have
one.
Clothes- bring a least one sport coat though I see no
reason for more than two, along with about 2 pairs of suit
pants and 3 or so suit shirts and 3 or 4 ties. At school,
I typically wear kacky pants and a t-shirt in the heat, or
something a little heavier when it gets cold. I typically
wear a short sleeve collar shirt most of the time. At school
you will wear a suit for graduation or opening ceremony, but
that's about it. You may find yourself attending a wedding
at some point, hopefully no funerals. At school, the rule
is do not wear shorts or jeans, though I do occassionally
wear shorts to elementary school if the plan for the day is
games (like duck-duck-goose with the 2nd graders, please don't
tell my friends back home!) Jeans are considered the lowest
class of clothing in Japan. They should be worn when, for
example, changing the oil in your car or traveling informally
something like that. NEVER to work. NEVER. It is okay to wear
them to go out INFORMALLY in cities at night though. I often
wear mine to Wednesday night Japanese classes in Sendai, west
of Kedouin on the ocean, I'm sure you can find it on the map
too. It will get cold in the winter and your house has a heater
but also about as much insulation as a little styrofoam cup,
so bring warm jackets (but ship them when you are getting
ready to leave, you DON'T need them until early November.)
If you have huge feet go ahead and bring extra shoes, I wear
a USA size 9 1/2 and have no trouble finding shoes here. Bring
a bathing suit too.
I sent an email to a vegetarian friend who lives here
to get her expertise on vegetarian needs. She has made the
choice to eat fish while in Japan though. She did make us
all some really kick-ass vegetarian food one night! I'm sure
you will meet here too, she lives in a town called Hiwaki,
which lies between Kedouin and Sendai. I'll let you know what
she says.
Oh, this is out of place but bring a big tube of your
favorite toothpaste.
Keep the questions coming!
Kedouin Dave
How's it going David? I sent this about a week ago, but
you never responded to it so I wasnft sure if you got it.
Or maybe I just didnft get your response. Anyway, here it
is. Oh yeah, I got some official papers so ignore that stuff.
Later!
Ok, I was out of town for the weekend, but Ifm back
so Ifm gonna write a few questions I guess. First, have you
had any problems with shorts in American electronic equipment?
I heard they have 100 volts and America uses 110, so Ifm
assuming there werenft any problems but I thought Ifd ask.
Second. What about Christmas? Will they be cool about letting
me take time off and go home? Will the school pay for that?
Ifve heard that sometimes they do. What about Taxes? Do I
have to pay Japanese taxes? What about American taxes on what
I make in Japan? You said that I should bring a big-ass tube
of toothpaste. What about other toiletries? Deodorant? Shaving
cream? Shavers? What about Shoes? I wear a 10.5 or 11 so they
probably wonft have my size. But how many and what type of
pairs of shoes do I need and do I need them to not be worn
outside? I bought a semi dressy pair that I havenft worn
outside yet, but I was planning on wearing to work every day,
and I also brought a pair of tennis shoes that havenft been
worn outside yet either. Is my school the kind that you take
your shoes off or wear special shoes in? Man. Ifm really
firing these offc What about teaching aids? Ifm going to
try to take pictures of things that are typically American
with my digital camera to make an entertaining slide show
for the kids. What else would be good? Pennies for the kids?
How about teaching in general. Do you think it will be hard
for someone who has no teaching experience? I like kids and
I can relate to them pretty well, but Ifm not sure how well
Ifll be able to teach. Oh well canft turn back now! I guess
Ifm just asking if itfs hard or stressful though. How much
Japanese did you go into JET knowing and how much did you
know after one year? How about two? What about now? Pretty
Fluent? Ok, Ifm sick of thinking of these things so Ifll
just ask you one last one. Whatfs an average day like for
you?
Lastly I want to thank you for taking the time to answer
these questions. Youfre really helping me out a lot.
-Wes
PS: I lied. One more question. Is the contracting Organization
going to send me a packet of stuff or are you the gofficialh
link between us? My friend got some kind of packet. Either
way is ok, but I was just wondering. Thanks again.
Hey Wes:
No, I didn't get this email before, but anyways here
goes:
Never had a problem with electrical shorts!
You are cetainly free to go home at Christmas. You have
either 12 or 20 paid vacation days per year depnding on which
way they decided to go in the end. You can use some of those
days then. This year, the last day of school is on December
20th, and doesn't start back up again until Jan. 10th or so.
Some of those days, like the emperor's b-day (Dec. 23rd) and
a few days leading up to Jan. 1st, and including Jan. 1st
are natural holidays and so they won't count against your
paid leave. Maybe I have misinterpreted but the idea of the
school paying for you to go home is a definite no. So if you
mean using paid leave, in that respect yes they pay, but they
certainly won't buy your plane tickets or anything like that!
I can guarantee you that that does not happen anywhere on
the JET Programme. Expect to pay about $1200 U.S. round trip
from Kagoshima to Chicago for an economy class ticket at that
busy time of the year.
TAXES IN JAPAN- Your income will be exempt from taxes
in Japan for the first two years of the program. In the third
year, you pay Japanese tax but are given exactly enough of
a raise to pay them. Mr. Yamaguchi, your supervisor at the
Board of Education is very familiar with the paperwork you
need for this. It is easy.
TAXES IN USA- Your income earned here will be tax exempt
in the USA unless you do something like quit the program half
way through or go home early permanently for any reason. It
is a pain in the ass the first year! Tax day is April 15th,
but since you will be living overseas you have an automatic
extension to June 15th (assuming you use your Kedouin address
when filing). The law is that you have to be overseas for
at least 330 days out of 365 days of the year to qualify.
Since June 15th is just a couple of weeks early, you have
to file for a 2 month extension, which gives you until August
15th to pay your taxes. It is a long process and a pain in
the ass the first year. It will all work itself through though
so don't sweat it! The IRS is VERY familiar with the JET Programme,
by the way! Do not avoid filing a return, if you do you will
eventually down the road get caught. Remember the old saying
about DEATH AND TAXES!
Toiletries- If you have favorites, bring them. Otherwise,
they are all available here. The reason I mentioned toothpaste
is because Japanese toothpaste does not contain flouride!
Japanese are NOT famous for their beautiful white teeth!
Shoes- It sounds like you have big feet. Buy shoes before
you come just in case. At every school you will ever go to,
you will take off your shoes and change into indoor slippers.
Bring your own slippers to wear indoors at the Juior High
School too. Bring a pair of tennis shoes to wear inside the
school gym for occassional volleyball or basketball games
or whatever, and have seperate pair to wear for outside sports
at the Junior High School.
TEACHING AND TEACHING AIDS: Bring whatever you like,
but don't worry about it. Pictures are nice, but pictures
of people (such as YOU) are much better than pictures of famous
places. Smiling and being informal with the kids is far more
important than anything else.
***** IMPORTANT*****--- You will constantly be told
a very big lie for the first several months you are here:
Japanese adults, especially co-teahcers, will tell you that
Japanese students are all very shy. Nothing could be further
from the truth. Japanese ADULTS are very shy. Most of them
are not shy with each other, but will be shy with you. They
are very afraid of saying the wrong thing or asking the wrong
question or that you won't understand them or they won't understand
you. So, some will seldom talk to you. When they do talk to
you, most will bury you with absurd compliments like "You
are really good at using chopsticks!" or "Your Japanese is
EXCELLENT!" or "You are a very good baseball player!", etc.,
etc., etc. By complimenting you, they feel they are avoiding
saying something bad. Very few Japanese adults will be genuinely
open and honest with you.
NOW THE GOOD PART!- The students are WONDERFUL! They
are genuinely interested in you, they are genuinely interesting
themselves, and will genuinely want to talk to you. Here in
Kedouin, the students are your heroes. If you try to make
your co-teachers the focus of your existence here, you are
certain to fail! None of the teahcers here are BAD people,
but their non-stop superficiality is hard for most Americans
to deal with. I am very glad to hear that you like kids because
I feel pretty certain that they are going to like you!
I think you will find the teaching here to be very easy
at the Junior High School because you will always be with
Mr. Eto. I don't know what they have planned for you at elementary
schools. I always did my own thing, but then again I am a
regular teacher back home too, so I know what I'm doing. VERY
little English is spoken by teachers at the elementary schools.
It will depend on your ability to speak Japanese with them.
JAPANESE LANGUAGE- I came here after 1 year of college
level Japanese. In other words, not very much. I have learned
a tremendous amount while here, though I cannot call myself
fluent. I can explain anything I want or need to, and understand
about 75% of what goes on here. BUT, I have been married to
a non-English speaking Japanese wife for over ayear now, and
was seeing her and living with her family for over a year
before that, so I am CONSTANTLY exposed to Japanese. There
are people who have been here for 3 years and still barely
speak any Japanese, others who come and learn a ton in a year.
It depends largely on your own study habits and personal situation.
As for my everyday life here, it is very incongruent
with what your life will be like. I typically teach at Junior
High from 8 to lunch, the got to elementary school until about
3:30 or so, then go home to my wife's house where her mother
cooks us killer dinner and I walk the dog and drink a beer
and read/study/use the net. Watch TV, do a little exercise,
go bowling, etc. Life for me is not much different than in
the States. In my mind I am far away from the job by 4 pm
everyday. One night a week I meet other local foreigners to
go to Japanese language class.
Let me again stress the need for you to get a car while
you are here. If you don't, you will be dependent on people
whom you DON'T want to be dependent on, and you will have
little chance to see Japan outside of the things you see in
Kedoin. You also run the risk of being treated like a child
instead of a man. This is unfortunately the bad part of living
in Kedoin, that there is extremely limited bus service and
no trains. None of you co-teachers are without a car, and
the overwhelming majority of them live outside of Kedouin!
NONE of them are from Kedouin, by the way.
Hopefully Cindy has given you some tips about being
a vegetarian here by now. Can I ask one question though, forgive
me if I am insulting religious beliefs of personal diet needs,
but can you eat fish while you are here? Cindy made the choice
to eat fish while here and I think it has made things a lot
easier for her. ???
I guess that's it for now.
Oh by the way, sometimes Kedouin is spelled Kedoin.
The o is a long o and so it is invariably written both ways
in romaji.
Kedoin Kedouin Dave
Continue to Part 2 ->
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