And the waiting begins...
My JET interview was Thursday, February 17th, 2005. It is a day that will always be known as the catalyst for the turning point in my after graduation plans. Perhaps this is overdramatic. But indeed much is resting on the results of this interview. ITs pretty crazy to be building this up so much... I guess I'm setting myself up for a pretty big disappointment if I don't make it but hell, it will be a big disappointment. Just think... this blog could be no more! And then what would eeryone do? For the next year or so it would be blogging about the working world or me lamenting about not taking the GRE's while still in school mode (because as we know this is all just a clever rouse to avoid the GRE's and "getting a real job"). It will be re-named "sutorenjaa who wishes she was in Japan". What a happy thought.OK.. well instead of dwell on what is no longer in my hands (I won't hear back until late April or early May)... maybe everyone would like to know what kinds of things they asked and how I responded? Hooray! Show and Bore!
First, it was held in Little Tokyo in Downtown LA at 1:30pm on a pretty cloudy & overcast, generally crappy day, at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center. I sat in a chair behind a little desk in front of three panelists: a local university representative, a JET alumnus and a member of the Japanese counsulate (I think). So imagine your trying out for American Idol except they're all Simon. Bah. They all had very straight, poker faces. This was serious business. Not to mention the fact that they had probably been seeing interviewees since earlier that morning and from previous days! So now the crux of what you want to know. Here's what they asked me, as far as I can remember and not in order:
- Tell us about yourself and why you are interested in participating in the JET program.
- Wow. This was a long answer and if you really want to know you can email me for the specifics. Basically I explained that I became interested in the program because I am interested in teaching and education and that I have been studying psychology with the intent of focusing on education and psychology or continuing learning about TESL. I became interested in Japan because I had read out it and learned much about the Japanese education system & climate that I was interested in observing and experienceing first-hand. Also I have met many Japanese people and have always enjoyed learning about their culture so this program offers the best of all that I want to learn about.
- How do you think the things you have learned in psychology will help you in this program?
- I think I said something about how learning about human behavior makes me more conscious of my own behaviors and behaviour towards others and so makes me a more open-minded person.
- If you could teach an American holiday, which would you teach and how would you teach it?
- 4th of July because it's a specifically American holiday celebrating our country's independence from colonial rule. I thought that in Japan the idea of colonialism may be something new, as Japan has not been under colonial rule, and I could mention other countries under colonial rule and what it means/ meant to be independent of that rule. Also, I would teach about the things that people do to celebrate e.g. fireworks, American anthems, picnics, wearing red, white and blue.
- What age range is your preferance to teach? (OK sorry I don't know what happened to my formatting!)
- I said any because I have experience working with younger children as well as college level students. There are fun things that one can do with each groups. For kids you can introduce them to the language and let them get used to it and for older kids you can teach more of what they can actually use in regular conversations.
- Are you opposed to living in a small city?
- No. Small cities have many benefits such as getting to know neighbors well, being more exposed to the language and culture in more depth. Also if I want to learn Japanese it may be a good way of really immersing myself into the language.
- Who is your favorite president and how would you teach that to students?
- Jefferson (Washington & Lincoln seemed like something everyone would say). He was a renaissance man which is a personal quality I really value and he drafted the US Declaration of Independence. I said that I would teach what it is to be a renaissance person (good at/ knowledgable of many things) and perhaps tie it in with the lesson on July 4th as he is a founding father of the US.
- If a male teacher asked you to get him tea, how would you respond?
- This was weird but they preped us for such a question at the workshop (Phew!). I said I wouldn't want to be disrespectful of any Japanese customs so I would get the tea but I would also explain to the teacher that in America it is more of a mutual thing to get tea and not expected for the lower ranking/ younger/ female teacher to get tea for another teacher. For example if I was on my way to get tea it would be curteous to offer to bring back tea for you, if you wanted any.
- Why did you choose the areas that you did (Gifu vs. Sendai)
- I suppose this would vary from person to person, but I said that I leard about the academic atmospheres in these two regions and was interested in experiencing what I learned about first hand in those areas.
- Do you want to learn Japanese?
- Hell yes I do! But of couse I found a bit more of a calm way of saying that. Something about yes I do want to learn, that it was part of the cultural experience, learning languages are important to being a citizen of the global community (I can't believe I even thought of that to say! Sounds so cheezy now!!!).
- If you go to Japan and find that things are not as you had expected, how will you react?
- I said that I would not be disappointed at all and that it would be an equally if not even better experience to learn that things are not as you expected.
posted by KidBach @ 7:58 AM
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