Jetsetting

The JET program has become such a big deal to my friends that I can’t ignore it anymore. JET means spending one or two years in Japan. JET means making 3.6 million yen a year. JET means my housemate crying over a late transcript and my best friend from Tokyo losing trust in the professor she asked to write her recommendation. So it’s been pretty rough lately, with all the incomplete applications and upset friends, but I still think JET is a great program. If I had the time and the desire to live in Japan again (which I pretty much don’t anymore) JET would be a really good opportunity for me. Of course, you can’t decide where they place you, but that’s a risk you have to take. 

My friend Lauren brought up a good point today. How does JET know what qualifies you to be a good teacher? Simply being a native English speaker doesn’t mean you have the skills to help a nihonjin learn the language. It’s pretty easy to pick up a job teaching English as an American in Tokyo. I didn’t get the chance to do it myself, but I’ve heard if you approach it online, it’s much like couchsurfing or social networking in that you make a profile, and let clients find you from there. You’re supposed to get a work permit to be able to make money teaching English, but it seems fairly easy to go without. As a potentially lucrative career, it would seem that tutoring English is a great side-job and even up for consideration as a full-time job. I was once at an izakaya with a guy that claimed to work for a company that was superior to JET, and on its way to taking over the English-teaching market. Sadly, I don’t remember the name of said company or the name of the guy I talked to, but that company was probably a good option for someone wanting to work in Tokyo. 

Anyway, as of now I don’t know enough about JET to be eager to apply. That and the application deadline passed last week. But what kind of students do you teach? How much of the lesson plans are you responsible for coming up with yourself? I’ve heard good things from friends currently participating in JET, and JET alumni, but it seems to be one of those things you have to do to see what it’s all about. It could definitely be an adventure, if you were placed in some tiny fishing village or something. I used to think I wanted to do JET, until my mom pointed out that even if I did take a year off after graduation, I wouldn’t be able to do any interviews while applying for graduate school. Or it would be crazy expensive to fly out and back. And just thinking of going to Japan now, after spending Thanksgiving break reuniting with friends from Jochi and Tokyo, I feel like Tokyo is a chapter in my life that is over. I’m incredibly glad it happened and would love to go back, but can’t see myself living there. So ganbatte to everyone applying for JET this cycle, and tell me all about it when you get back.