April 2012 Issue of AJET Connect
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April 2012 image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/pekoism/ Welcome to Connect The monthly e-zine produced for JETs, by JETs, featuring the best news and articles from all over Japan. We are currently looking for inside writers, editors, photographers, and artists who want to create con- March Photo Contest Winner tent for this national publication! April 2012 We need YOU, the JET community, to get involved. 02 The Prez Send us your short stories, news articles, photographs, comics… 06 Life After JET whatever it is that you do best…to [email protected]. 10 JET Effect We’re waiting to see what you’ve got! 14 Culture Corner Make your voice heard! 22 Rosie 24 Sakura 2012 AJET Connect Workplace 28 Out in Japan 30 AJET Volunteer Safety Advisory System 34 AJET Peer Support Group NSFW4 36 Travel SEVERE RISK OF TRAUMA 47 AJET Books CANNOT EVER BE UN-SEEN 50 Food 56 Workplace Tips NSFW3 62 Haiku MAY SURPRISE OR OFFEND EVEN 68 Fashion and Beauty SEASONED INTERNET VETERANS 72 Entertainment 81 Book Review NSFW2 82 The Art of manliness AS PORNOGRAPHIC AS ANY OF 90 AJET Photo Contest THOSE RIDICULOUS EVONY ADS NSFW1 SOME PAGES NOT SAFE FOR PEOPLE WITH SCREENS SEEN BY COWORKERS Signup for AJET Connect Stephanie Stoner - Yasuda-Cho Not signed up for SFW AJET Connect? PROBABLY HARMLESS, SAFE FOR PEOPLE 50+ YEARS OLD Then you can sign up HERE! CEO Matthew Cook PR/MEDIA Cailin Arena ART DIRECTOR Rob Maxwell EDITORIAL Sarah Blenkhorn CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Cailin Arena (News) Annabella Massey (Fashion & Beauty) Amelia Hagen (Travel) Simon Daly (Food) Chris Barstow (Entertainment) Adam Chludzinski (Sports) Lisa Cross & Sarah Blenkhorn (Events) ... (Education) Sarah Blenkhorn (Culture) ... (Short Stories) Melody Wong and Matthew Thompson (Volunteering) ADVERTISING Amelia Hagen, This month’s winners will be entered in the yearly Photo and Miriam Rollason & Genba Bigby ADMINISTRATION/ACCOUNTING Mark Noizumi Haiku winners, where they will be eligible to win a prize. IT Kevin Mitchell for JETs, by JETs www.ajet.net [email protected] April 2012 1 much that can done about it. The Japanese have If you don’t like the way English classes are taught: a saying “しょうが ない” (shouganai), that essentially Say Something. means nothing can be done about a situation. If you want to plan more lessons or have more input: I’m here to tell you now: Say Something. There IS something you can do. If you want to try a new internationalization initiative: Say Something. Unfortunately, many of us may find our- selves in situations and the burden of If you don’t feel integrated enough into your workplace: effort lies squarely on our shoulders. So, Say Something. we have to make some serious decisions about how we approach the situations, projects, and edu- And don’t just say it once. Say it again and again cation initiatives we are tasked with. until you get your point across. We as JETs and guests in this country, are con- In Japan they have a saying: “石の上にも3年”。(Isshi stantly confronted by situations where we KNOW no ue ni mo san nen) from our experience in our own countries that there may be a another way to do some things. Literally, it means you should sit on top of a rock That’s not a broad swipe on Japanese culture or for three years before you see the result you want. a jab that says “we do ________ better than this As foreigners, whether you live in rural Japan or in That said, do you remember what we were told our in our countries”. It’s just a fact, plain and sim- We can learn a lot from this saying. It often takes its busiest cities, we are still by far a small minority. goals were as JETs in this Programme when we ple fact which can easily be applied reversely in patience and time to get the results you want. Not The Japanese government ministries set out, dec- arrived in Tokyo for orientation? our home countries in some situations from what just a cursory question and answer. I truly believe ades ago, to find a way to expose more of its citi- we’ve learned here. in my heart that if you believe in what you are ask- zens to foreign culture and different ways of think- > Share our culture. ing for and it is right and good, if you persist, then ing. What developed after years of planning and > Advise schools on Foreign language education It’s up to us to find a way to influence our work- you can succeed. experimenting was the JET Programme. curriculum/methods. places and those around us. > Act as an assistant in classes. In my time here I’ve been told “no” more In my humble opinion, I believe the JET Pro- It’s up to us to influence our workplaces for posi- times than I care to count. I quickly learned gramme has been the greatest investment When you first hear that, in a room surrounded by tive change and progression. You can do as many that if I wanted things I believed in to actually come of government time, money, and effort other foreigners, all ready to jump into this adven- do (it’s no secret) and sit at your desk day-after-day to fruition, it was up to me to make others under- towards internationalization on many levels. ture together head-first, it’s easy to say to yourself, studying, reading, surfing the net and so on. OR, stand that. The ministries and countless other governments “Yeah, I’m totally going to rock that!”. you can be proactive and speak your mind. and organizations have worked together for over 25 years to give us the opportunity we are now expe- The reality is, when you get to your workplace, no riencing to influence the future of our communities. one is waiting eagerly on your plans and ideas, and Not just the communities we live and work in now, many of your co-workers don’t even know why but also our future communities that we can influ- you’re there or what the JET Programme is! ence based on our experience here and now. I’ve been advising new JETs for the past 4 of my I believe that this puts a great amount of respon- 5 years, and I’ve experienced it myself. Some of sibility in our laps. It is up to us to use this time you are in the worst-case-scenarios, underutilized, responsibly. It would be easy to view your time as and not feeling of much more use than a potted a JET as an extended vacation, or as a chance to plant. You may be stuck in classrooms, feeling like go sight-seeing and have fun with very little stress a tape-recorded and that you’ve said, “REPEAT or effort, because we’re not “required” to go the AFTER ME!” for the bazillionth time! No one lis- extra mile in our workplaces. However, if we take tens to you. You’re largely ignored, and you cer- that route, we not only rob our communities of all tainly aren’t consulted for your “vast experience they could gain from our knowledge, we rob our- from the western world!” selves of the fulfillment that comes with helping our communities become better. In my experience, most JETs aren’t prepared for sit- uations like these and don’t know what to do about it. You may be sitting there in this exact situation, NOW, reading this and thinking that there’s not 2 April 2012 April 2012 3 Yes, as foreigners in Japan, our situations are often hope that you can use my experience effectively in difficult to navigate and it’s tough to be the odd your workplace so that together, we can do more one out, but this same adversity can also be gift to change the world and help it to become a bet- for a better life for those in our newfound commu- ter place. nities. Some may shut you out because you’re for- eign, but in my experience, others are more likely Connect with you next month, to make an extra effort to try to understand where Matthew Cook you’re coming from, because you’re foreign. AJET Chairman I hope that you will all seriously consider what I’ve said here, the next time you are con- fronted with a situa- tion that you know you have the answer to. In my past messages, I’ve told you how “we can help more, we can do more”, but the ball is in your court to make that happen. How you proceed can help or even be life-changing for those around you I’ve made small changes like move my desk around However, I’m telling you, here and now, this would (especially our young the teachers room, created an English room at my be selling yourself short and at the same time, sell- students). school, gone on school field trips, taught the les- ing the ideals of the JET Programme short. JETS sons I wanted to teach. weren’t brought here to be Japanese ad . We were I wish you the very brought here to bring western culture into Japa- best of luck in all that I’ve also made BIG changes like creating a program nese workpalces. We were brought here as west- you set out to accom- to give Osaka JETs regional advisors when we erners to interact in a Japanese workplace, so that plish.