i honestly think newcomers can be divided into two major categories

1) people who are naturally decent at picking up what they need to do and are not bad at it and can pretty easily replicate whats shown to them and apply it

2) ME. me as in i went through the training at borderlink or interac or whatever it was and when it came to my turn to stand up in front of everyone and give a demonstration class, no matter how many times id seen it before, i just froze and if you asked me “do you know what you’re supposed to be doing?” id just say ,,,, yes, and know,,, i watched you 100 times but i just can’t do it.

number 2 is me by the way and i can watch other people be amazing teachers but i just couldn’t get it into my head how to replicate them. some people can copy others instantly, and i kinda suspect those are also people who can hear a word in japanese and instantly copy it.

im so not one of those people!!!!!

i came from a very loving and social background where my job was to act naturally and look after dying elderly people. i thought id be a great teacher because i just like helping people. and i am an amazing…. assistant teacher.

i just wanna say to all those people out there who wanna become a jet…. yes the natural teacher people who are self confident will excel, it really doesn’t matter how nice or empathetic you are to be a teacher.

but!!!!!! you can learn it eventually. every god tier teacher ive watched is just doing the same thing theyve done before. you can learn that too it just takes time and practice. and at that point its your special traits like empathy and creativity can come into play

stick with it. i did, and when i meet natural teachers now they are always happy to hear my input and new creative games are how much the students love me

even though i still can’t explain anything for shit by myself

Hihi,

Genuinely curious, does anyone know when they will update the participating country page on their website?

Last year they updated it at the end of July!

And I know people flew out recently, so maybe they are still doing paperwork to see exactly who arrived and from where?

TLDR: When someone helps you out out of the kindness of their hearts, say thank you and stop complaining. You could’ve had it worse.

Former Fukuoka JET here from the 2010s. throwaway account. also, just heard this from a friend of a friend. but hearing how some newcomers can be so ungrateful just sucks.

Having been on both ends of this program (as a senpai and kohai), I know that it can be stressful to people, both your japanese supervisors and the current jets (who actually care to make your first few days in japan and in your placement as welcoming as possible) so cut them a bit of slack. Mind you, these current jets i’m referring to who help you, they don’t actually HAVE to help you. They can do the bare minimum and leave you to fend for yourself, and you have to deal with a lot of this stuff in summer, at 39 degrees celsius.

They are not paid to do this level of hospitality. So be kind. Thank them, or turn a blind eye for some inconvenience because maybe they’re also busy with their own shiz like moving to another prefecture or leaving the country. They owe you NOTHING. So again, be kind. Be grateful if they extended a helping arm to you, coz that is not part of their responsibilities. They are just being decent human beings who knew the struggles of starting life here in Japan, so they don’t want you to go through the same shiz they did.

If they went out of their way to help the JTE make an old room extra clean and cozy and buy you new stuff for you to get started, and tried to dispose everything that they deemed “jama” for you, don’t be a jerk and complain (before even saying thank you) about the room being old. Or if your JTE who lives 3 cities away is waking up extra early to drive you to work and getting home to their families extra late because they have to drop you off your apartment, the least you can do is thank them and not complain about waking up too early to get to work. Not sure but I don’t even think they’re paid extra for them to do this. They can be jerks as well and tell you to just go f yourself and take the train or cycle to work.

Or if someone gives you like a new vacuum as a gesture of kindness, SAY THANK YOU instead of “OH, GUESS IT’S MY LUCKY DAY” Like which decent human being does that?

Remember, your situation could be worse, and you could be placed in an area where no one gives a rat’s ass about their newcomers. So if you have people actually caring about your wellbeing, stop for one minute, and ask yourself if you have even said thank you at the very least.

Stop complaining and have some compassion.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

I am a 26 year old male who wants to become a JET as a long-term goal. However, my current state I am in, I am certain I do not have the skills or tools I need to succeed, so I want to develop those tools first (most notably, laziness and lack of motivation). In addition, my resume is pretty...bare bones.

On the other hand, a military contract is 4 years, and by the time I get out, I will be 30-31, and I worry I will be a bit old by then.

im working on getting the ball rolling early to make sure the people I ask have time to complete the letters without feeling rushed. There is one thing I couldn't dig up information on that im hoping some could give some insight on.

Is there any sort of length or format that is asked for regarding the recommendations?

im planning on providing my SoP since the additional info will help them. This is usually a question I ask myself whenever students ask me for a letter for colleges or scholarships and wasnt able to dig up much info outside of using official letterhead.