I love reading JET blogs. They’re especially good when there’s lots of complaining.
An ALT in Osaka wrote this great post about why her job basically sucks, which you should read if you are applying to the JET program. She doesn’t usually complain on her blog, but it sounds like the situation at her workplace is really bad.
I have a much better situation. I’m lucky. I want to write about some similar complaints, especially about “the system,” but I would like to describe my situation, in mostly neutral or positive terms, first.
I get self-conscious when I post about JET. Am I a typical JET? Will my coworkers read this? Am I just complaining? I hope people – especially potential JET applicants – read this and get an idea of how JET sometimes works.
What I do
The work itself is mostly pretty fun. Fortunately, I’m usually not too busy. I work at two schools with mostly good students. I’m in the classroom about 3 hours a day. Between two schools, I teach five kinds of classes and repeat their lessons several times, so there’s not too much planning by the end of a semester. Usually I plan a lesson mostly by myself, I work with a JTE to figure out if the plan is any good, and I refine it as I repeat it. I love it when it goes well. The first day I teach a class, the students are “guinea pigs,” and it can be an emotional day for me if the lesson goes bad. However, the lesson will usually get better and better with time. If I play my cards right, I will do a lot of planning for 3 weeks, and then the next 6 weeks will be all repetition, and I can mostly relax during my free time.
I don’t do very much marking. I dislike marking (in the US we call it “grading papers”). Of course I will happily do it, if asked, but somehow I have managed to avoid it thus far and I hope my cheerful attitude does not inadvertently invite more marking.
I don’t have a club. There is an ESS at my school, but the students kind of never show up. Some ALT’s like to do baseball or Japanese arts with the students, I guess? I wouldn’t really like to do that. It’s too much of a commitment. And I would feel weird just “showing up” after being at school for a year. The only club I am interested in is the tea club. Maybe I will join that in the future. Yeah… hmm…
Free Time
I have a lot of free time at work and I use it shamelessly to pursue my own hobbies/alternative career path, so I’m seldom bored. When I am bored, there is Facebook. Some of my friends look at Facebook all day, which I think is terrible, and which is why I recommend bringing a hobby to work. I often bring out an A3 piece of paper and a ruler and pencils and ink and a brush, and draw comics at my desk. Some teachers will comment quizzically, or positively, but no one has suggested I not do that.
Jackie (my coworker) and I used to feel weird about sitting at our desks, not doing work, when everyone around seems rather busy. However, now that we have a sense of how things work, and teachers’ attitudes, we don’t worry about it too much. We are somewhat discreet: we don’t watch full-screen movies on our computers, but occasionally we will watch the latest episode of LOST. We do not do this between classes or at lunch, when a lot of people are running around.
My attitude is to accept the fact that we are not as busy as the rest of the teachers, and to take advantage of that without rubbing it in everyone’s noses. I am aware that other teachers know I’m not so busy, but they don’t give me a hard time about it. Unless I’m friends with a teacher, I just don’t bring it up. I think it is very common in Japan to “try and look busy,” but I don’t like doing this and I think JET’s shouldn’t feel pressured to conform to that silly custom. Just be polite about it.
Teachers
I work with all kinds of teachers and I love the diversity. I teach with old teachers, young teachers, cool teachers, square teachers. I have better relationships with some than others. The best situation is when we respect each other, have patience for each other, and communicate well with each other. The worst situation is when we don’t respect each other and we don’t/can’t communicate. Some of them I never chat with, outside of class and brief lesson planning, but I get along with most of my teachers, and we can make small-talk about anything, anytime. I would only call one or two of them my “friends.”
At my home school, everyone in the office is very friendly, even the ones who are shy. They say “ohayo gozaimasu” and often smile. It is a nice atmosphere and I feel generally welcome. I don’t speak Japanese with them, and many of them cannot speak English, but that’s okay. Sometimes I make stupid small talk in Japanese, and I feel retarded, but they do the same thing.
At my visit school, many teachers do not say hello to me. They are busy and not too friendly. They make me feel weird. When I make an effort to reach out to them, this situation often improves. That’s great. But for some teachers — even English teachers!!! — it hasn’t improved, so I strongly dislike the atmosphere there. I frequently wonder if I am doing something wrong. ESID = Every Situation is Different.
Students
I really love my students. It’s great figuring out who likes English, and seeing them get really really good at it over the years. I’ve been here two years and have been really surprised by everyone’s progression but definitely there are a few at each school who outshine the rest. It’s really fun having conversation with them at lunch or after school. I know a lot of students by name – mostly the ones in the English course in Nishinomiya – but among the rest there are a lot that I just say hi to between classes a lot. I really like walking around between classes or after school when they’re doing their clubs and talking to them as they warmup. This isn’t “important,” but it’s “important.” I mean, I shouldn’t get paid to just walk around and chat with students; but, if I’m going to get paid, I really ought to walk around and give students opportunities to use English with a native speaker.
Bad things
If someone asked me, “what is the worst part about being an ALT in the JET Program,” what would I say? I think “culture fatigue” generally is the worst pain in the ass. It comes in cycles and really wears me down. Not speaking Japanese really sucks sometimes. Another bad thing that every ALT finds issues with is the Japanese education system as a whole. I want to write and complain about this. I’ll write about it in a future post. I’ll try not to “bitch.” “Constructive criticism.” Coming soon.