Tochigi it is!

Hmm. Only my second post and I've already let it slip for a few weeks. Better get on with it.

Back in late May, I received an email from my JET Coordinator letting me know that I’ll be working in Tochigi Prefecture. The take home info from this is: (i) Tochigi is not out in the sticks (kinda) being only about 1 hour train ride from Tokyo; (ii) I’ll be working in a senior high school for the Prefectural Board of Education (BOE).

Without hesitation I researched as much as I could about the prefecture. Impressive mountains, expansive plains, three UNESCO world heritage sites, temples, onsen and gyoza are some of the items that Tochigi-ken boasts. Struck it lucky there! Also I can’t help but have slight feelings of relief that I'm not going to be cast out in the furthest frontiers of Japan (like the Oki Islands or northern Hokkaido).

Given the structure of the Japanese education system, being employed by the Prefectural BOE means that they have yet to assign me to a high school. This leaves me guessing as to which one of the main towns I’ll be spending the next year living in. Following some JET-related forums online, I found that many other JETs who will be working for the city or town BOEs will be working in elementary or junior high schools, and automatically know where they’ll be based. Still I can’t complain. At least now I know what to expect climate-wise (i.e. cold, dry, snowy winters and hot balmy summers).

A lot more detailed information is incoming in the next few weeks. Currently, I'm waiting to hear from my BOE supervisor and then my predecessor. Apparently, they are the ones who bear the most crucial information: what will the ALT duties entail; what’s the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) like; what’s the accommodation like (and what will they be peddling along with it); what’s the Bavaria equivalent in the local supermarket. You know, vital stuff. 

In the mean time the embassy has posted out a handbook and some Japanese learning materials to supplement my existing study. I'm currently using Textfugu.com to study Japanese and I'm on Unit 4 (of about 8). It's quite good as I've got the kana down, have about 70 kanji under my belt and now I'm exploring the intricacies of Japanese grammar. Fun times. 

I need to pick up the pace though and start into some proper phrases so I can get by on some pidgin Japanese over there. That should pass the time until I start hearing from the BOE and predecessor (they have until 27th June apparently). Ball is in your court guys.

Viva la Vida!

My first blog entry, of course, crams in all the things that have happened over the past few weeks. In a way, it’s a decent indicator of how long I’ve been putting off starting this thing. But really though I didn’t want to start it until I knew I was at least accepted as an alternate on the JET Programme.

Not 100% related (but 100% critical), was passing my Ph.D. viva voce exam way back in March. What entailed afterwards was a night of revelry, a hung-over, palate-cleansing BBQ meat feast in Bison bar with two friends, and a frantic zig-zag across Dublin to catch a train back to The West with one of the said friends in tow.

The following week my girlfriend visited from Lewes and the week after I attended an interview in St. Albans for an engineering company, who were actually offering a real seismic engineering job! Those are hard to come by, making it extra difficult to break it gently to my interviewer that “I would love to work here… about a year from now”. Surprisingly, it didn’t go as badly as I had rehearsed in my mind on the flight across from Knock that morning. The interviewer must have found some value in me and provisionally gave me first slot on the list for next year’s recruitment cycle (that is, providing there are still luxurious hotels and resorts being constructed on fault lines in Montenegro next year).

And last weekend, we had my brother’s confirmation and a host of extended family and friends who came to visit. The following day however was a distressing riot of emotion. After a year of studying English in Lewes, my girlfriend was returning to Japan and we had to bid farewell at the airport. Having arrived in Dublin early, we stopped in my Dad’s apartment for a short while. To my surprise I found my JET interview results letter waiting for me in the post box. It had been waiting there for almost a week, and it was around then that I remembered I gave the embassy the address of the apartment as my temporary address!

Dear Mr Hunt,

It is our great pleasure to inform you that you have successfully passed the 2^nd stage of the screening process for the 2014 JET Programme and are now on the final short-list for ALT candidates. You are now scheduled for placement in a Contracting Organisation, which is possible in almost all cases.

Despite the dubious final clause, both my girlfriend and I were delighted! And so here I am now, having spent the week filling out passport renewal and criminal record forms and getting plenty of passport photos (for the assured incoming visa and International Driving Permit paperwork), I just have an appointment with the doctor next week and get a clean bill of health. All this paperwork has, naturally, has been sprinkled over my existing “heavy-duty” paperwork left from the wake of the viva – my final corrections. They’re not that bad though. I just need to have them all in (along with a satisfactory completion report from the examiners) by the 30^th May if I want to graduate in June. Which I do. As much I enjoy the prospect of walking around the front square of Trinity College in vibrant red robes and a funny tasseled hat for the entertainment of my family and any other bemused passers-by, I am not going to make a journey back from Japan for it.

Apparently, it’s not until after May 30^th that we lucky short-listers hear back about our placement. But now, it’s back to work. Back to the corrections! Head down, ass up, that’s the way we like to… satisfactorily finalise our thesis on the design and analysis of concentrically braced steel frames under seismic loading.