To Re-contract or Not To Re-contract

That’s the big question everyone here has been faced with here.  Some were asked earlier, but around the end of the calendar year is the time when all JETs are approached by their CO (contracting organization), and asked if they would like to renew their contract for the next year.  Seems really early right (for most of us we have been here for only a few months)?  Here’s the breakdown though.

On the Japan side of things, they’re going to start filling out budgets for the next year, and part of that would be fitting in the salary for the JET.  So, the earlier they know the better for them.  It gives them the opportunity to get a head start on the paperwork they would need to fill out.  It also lets them know if they are going to need a salary for a new JET or for a renewing JET (you get a slight raise for each year you renew).

The US (home country) side of things is a completely different matter.  It is around the same time that they will be opening the application process for the next wave of JETs.  It seems really early, but when you think about it, you’re filling out a job application that won’t actually start until the following summer.  So, here is what happens on our side that applying JETs don’t know about.  We have 2 options, “No, I’m done and would like to go home” or “Yes!  I want to stay for another year!”  If you want to stay you get another bonus question.  Do you want to stay in the same place, or would you like to put in for a transfer.  Yes, you don’t have to stay in the same place they sent you if you don’t want to.  So after CLAIR gets the list of how many openings they will have for the next school year, we JETs that are staying and would like to move would get the chance to see where is open to move to (this is my guess at least, as I am planning to stay where I am, I don’t know what would have happened if I asked to move).  Once the tallies of who is returning, who is staying, and who is moving is finished, CLAIR will have a final list of where they have openings to send new JETs to.  I would also assume this would include any openings for locations that may have gained an ALT or CIR position as well.  I think this is why so many people make it to the interview process, but so few would get hired.  They won’t know until that time how many positions they will have to fill, so they will interview more than they need.  Harsh, but makes sense right?

 

So how do you know if you want to stay or not?

For me the answer was quite simple.  I went into this job knowing right off the bat that I wanted to stay for more than a year.  I was also fortunate that I lucked out with such friendly co-workers here.  I’ve heard stories at our Prefecture conference about JETs that get frustrated that their JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) don’t get along with them well when it comes to teaching.  There are many teachers that get stuck in the traditional teaching mindset, and are set to teach only what is written in the book.  I lucked out in that most of my JTEs here see me as the English expert, and often ask for my opinion on what is being taught.  They will tell the students that the textbook teaches one thing, but according to Veronica-sensei it is more common to say something else instead.

Being in a bad situation shouldn’t be the reason you say no though.  Keep in mind that unless you feel completely miserable in your work situation, Japanese teachers will often change schools after so many years teaching there, and you can also request to move and hope for a better situation too.  You do have to also keep in mind though, that this wouldn’t be a guarantee for a better situation.  There are also some other things to consider along with this that affect your decision to stay or not.

What is my opinion for reasons not to re-contract?

First and foremost, you feel like you just don’t belong at ALL.  If the culture is just completely weird, or something you feel you will just never get used to then don’t try to force yourself to!  It’s completely OK!  There is nothing wrong in admitting that the situation is something you can’t handle, in fact I would consider it healthy!  Living in another country is an awesome opportunity, and you’ve had your experience with it, but it is by no means easy.  Now, on the other hand, don’t go home just because you miss being able to drive down the road to grab your favorite fast food joint.  Part of living in a new country is realizing that it’s going to be different from what you are used to back home.  If the thought of being away from that, and getting to know life in a new culture is just not for you, then that’s perfectly ok!

You don’t like the work.  Plain and simple.  Now, this doesn’t mean in regards to your co-workers.  I mean, “I really don’t like being around all these little kids and having to go over the same kind of stuff every day.”  There can be quite a bit of repetition in this job.  Especially in Elementary school, where the schools you visit will be at different levels and places in the text book.  If you find that the work you are doing is not appealing then, again, don’t force yourself to do it.  Going back to the teacher situation.  What if you love being here, love learning the culture, still feel like you have things you haven’t accomplished yet, but the work environment is horrible?  Then that will take some serious consideration.  But remember too, you’re not alone!  There is a whole bunch of support groups for you to turn to.  Your PA (Prefecture Advisor) is always there to give you advice on this kind of thing, there is a Peer Support hotline you can call just to vent, and of course your fellow JETs as well!  There are many people you can turn to for advice on your situation.  After getting feedback, thinking it over, and feeling like the work situation still just isn’t worth it then you’ll have found your answer.

You feel like you didn’t earn enough money yet to justify the job.  This should not be a factor at all.  Yes, the money starts off on the small side, and will get slightly bigger the longer you stay, but this should not be the only reason you want to.  Especially if you don’t like the situation you are in at work or in general.

The only one that wants you to stay is everyone else.  If your friends, family, and co-workers are all telling you that you should stay, but you really just don’t feel like you fit in then don’t!  No matter how sad your co-workers will be to see you go, or how much your friends and family get on your case about wishing they had this opportunity, that shouldn’t be the reason you stay.  Like with any other job, if you don’t feel you can give it your best, if this really just isn’t for you, then don’t force yourself!  Remember, it’s not your friends, family, or co-workers that are doing this job, it’s you.  Your own health and sense of mind should come first.  The only person you should be staying for is yourself.  If you feel like your work here has reached its end then by all means, it is ok to say you are done.

 

The long and short of it all is simply that it is a decision that you should spend time considering.  I may sound like a broken record, but that is how important this point is: Don’t force yourself to stay if you don’t feel like you should!  Take some time to consider the situation from various angles.  Don’t be afraid to ask others for advice, but don’t let their opinion be the only one that counts.  Be sure that this is something you want to do, and that will make you happy!

It's that time of year!

It’s getting colder outside, and here in Japan we’ve already had a day of snow!  Sadly (or maybe not so much) it came and went in the same day…  I woke up that morning (thankfully a day off for me), and the ground was covered in beautiful white!  It even flurried a bit!  So with this colder weather, and the beginning of the last month of the year, comes many things.

First is to add furnishing to the apartment that will make it more winter friendly.  I’d already been using my heating blanket (a wonderful gift that makes sleeping at night pure heaven!), but I’d only wanted to use the little electric heater so much (it can be so expensive!).  One of the first things that I did recently to help make it warmer in the evenings is to purchase kerosene for my space heater (I also gave one to A-san as I had discovered on my first arrival that there was actually 2 in my apartment).  It was soooo nice that first evening that I added kerosene and turned on my heater for the first time!  I still need to figure out what some of the functions of it do (there are various lights and buttons on it, and of course like everything else it is all in kanji).  I’ll tell you this though, it sure makes my little room nice and warm!

Something that I’d found was happening though, as you learn in science heat rises.  This means that a lot of the time, my feet would be left cold.  There are a couple of remedies for this.  One would be to buy this kind of foot cushion that some stores sell that are supposed to keep your feet warm.  However, I don’t fancy keeping my feet in place like that though.  Lap blankets are nice, but as the name suggests they are usually on the small side so they don’t do much for your feet.  The other option was one that I had been toying with for a while, but was still very much on the fence about it.  As it happened (and kind of spur of the moment too), while I was in town the other day to buy a new thicker futon for winter, I found that at the same time they had some of their kotatsu items on sale as well!   The table was the lowest price I had ever seen it (even compared to Amazon!), and some of the basic and simple covers and mats were on sale for a really good price as well!  I was able to get all the items for it I wanted for under 10,000 yen! (a little under $100 at the current exchange rate)  As wonderful luck would have it, there was enough space for it in my living room, so now I keep nice and snug with my feet under the kotatsu, and the space heater warming the rest of me up!  I’m also considering buying a little hot water bottle as well.  The kind of cool thing about it, is that you can use it both to pour hot water in to keep you warm, or ice water in the winter to cool you off.  They also have some cute decorative covers for them too.  I might stop at Juntendo later to see about getting one.

This doesn’t help me much at school though…  Some of my schools are ok (seems like maybe only the smaller ones), they’ve already started using the heaters.  But the one I am typing in right now for example… not so much…  I think since it is just me and one other person (and this is one of the bigger staff rooms), it isn’t very cost affective to have the heater going.  So, I’m sitting here with my little lap blanket trying to keep warm.  I think it also doesn’t help that my desk is by the window side, so the cold radiates through it really easily.  It’s especially noticeable because the side of me facing the window is much colder than the other side…

 

The other adventure I’m in the middle of is getting Christmas preparations under way.  I’ve already bought, signed, and mailed the important Christmas cards; but I’m considering going to get a few more and possibly send them out this week.  I’ve also been looking for little Christmas presents that would be easy to send back home.  I’ve gotten quite a few done, but I’m probably still about halfway there…  I’ve only got 2 weekends left, and both of them have some events that may make going to town to shop a bit difficult.  I may have to do some late afternoon shopping this weekend to try and get most of it done.  If it wasn’t such a far drive, I’d consider going more often during the week, but by the time I’d get there, I’d have maybe an hour or so before the shops would close.  Part of the problem is trying to figure out what I’m going to be getting people.  I know that if I can decide that beforehand then it should make shopping faster.  The Daiso has been a big saver here!  One of the advantages to the 100 yen shop (Dollar Store) here is that a good portion of the items are in very good quality (way better than back home), and it allows me to get some nice trinkets for family back home.  As shipping can be a tad pricey, the other trick is to find items that won’t be that heavy or delicate to send.  There are a few cute and interesting items at the Daiso though that I think will make for some interesting gifts!

First Time at a Japanese Movie Theater!

Sorry this is from November, but I didn’t get to post it yet.  Here’s what I wrote without changes:

So, yesterday was my first time going to a movie theater here in Japan!  I invited A-san to join me, and we made a whole day of it!

The bigger movie theater is in Izumo’s mall YouMe Town ゆめタウン.  While Matsue also has one in Aeon mall, their showings of films don’t seem to be as wide of a selection as in Izumo.  The other advantage is that this bigger selection also often means that the more popular American films are offered in both dubbed Japanese, and English with Japanese subtitles. J  For our selection, we went to go see the final Hunger Games film Mockingjay Part 2!  As it is popular enough, it merited a world wide release which means we didn’t have to wait for it to come to Japan.  Now, ticket prices are much more expensive here, (unless you use a coupon or go on a special event day) you are looking at spending about ¥1800 per person!  But on the other hand, I don’t think it will be a common thing for me to go to since it is an hour drive from where I live.  It will most likely be for special occasions or a movie that I really want to go see.

When you go to buy your tickets you have to use this kiosk that is thankfully also translated into English on most of the buttons.  I did still run into one problem though…. I accidentally bought the wrong showing!  I had though the movie was going to be at 12:25, but actually the first English showing was at 3:20.  A mistake that I am sure I will not make again in the future!  If you ever go to buy tickets at a movie theater, be sure that you look at the showtimes with 字幕（じまく）which means subtitled, and NOT 吹替（ふきかえ）which means dubbed.  Thankfully an attendant was kind enough to help me change my ticket (something that might not be possible normally, but I think he has helping out a poor foreigner), and I was the only one that made the mistake, so A-san was able to purchase the right ticket from the start.  The change in time also meant that we had plenty of time before to go shopping!

We found a Starbucks in the mall (something I was grateful for in that I hadn’t had one in months!) and grabbed a coffee before we made our way around the mall.  I don’t even think we really got to see everything, but we did get to go to a good portion of the main places we wanted to go to.  I got a couple of nice sweaters and some warm shoes for winter.  I also may want to go back later and get some knee high sized socks for winter as well.  I also need to make it a point to check my waist and hip measurements for when I hope to find bottoms.  For the most part I know my measurements for the top (I’m more well-endowed on the top, which makes buying tops for me a bit difficult, but I’ve found some stores online that sell a bigger size), but I think there should be some skirts and such that I would be able to fit into.  It’s just a matter of finding the right size!  One of the things I’m looking into getting is a set of Uniqlo brand Heat Tech shirts.  I want to get a few that I can switch between in different colors, but they’re supposed to be one of the best for keeping you warm.  Hopefully there will be another good sale on them soon!  I want to get at least one or two for now, but they sometimes go down to almost half off!

We also found a really cool candy store that had all kinds of sweets for really cheap!  I might go back soon to get some more, but I managed to get a pretty good sized bag of candy for under ¥800!  My plan is to use them as my gift to the little ones, they can each grab a couple from the bag.  I might even use some of the bags mom gave me, or find some cute ones at Daiso or something, to make the little goodie bags.  A-san was able to check of some things from her list as well, one of the important ones being a new bag to use.  I’m thinking of doing something similar for my brown purse, as it is usually not big enough for weekend outings.  I will continue to be on the lookout though.

So the theater!  It was the 3^rd floor of the mall, which also had a giant sort of game area with crane games, and other video game machines.  The seats were nice, and the theater was very clean, so all in all it was a nice movie experience!  The movie itself was also pretty good, I’m a fan of the books so I was able to spot the big differences right away.  The only thing I was a little sad I didn’t experience was concessions, but there is always next time!

Before we went home we decided to make our way to the food court for dinner.  LOL of course we did get sidetracked by this cute store with stationary and other accessories, but it was hard to resist!  We made it to the food court (which had awesome food!  McDonalds for the non-Japanese food fans, and a good selection of Japanese dishes) right after.  At first I was dead set on getting an Omurice from one place, but after looking around more I found myself drawn to the Okunomiyaki one instead!  I got a green onion and mayo one that was absolutely delicious!  Perhaps I will visit the Omurice place next time!   After that it was pretty late already, so we made our way back to the car to make the hour trek back home!