CSUS JET Dynasty

IMHO non-of them were useful....and I agree with Brian, the Asian conference must be 45 minutes to an hour of them telling you "Japanese people will think your are Japanese, and may be a little hard on you if you don't under stand them" or "You have more stealth and evasion than your black friend, in Japan".

Basically, if you had anything to do with Japan Club, taken any of Masuyama Sensei's culture classes, or have been to Japan before, you don't NEED to go to any of optional workshops. I think some of the workshops may cause you to have some kind of expectation about your job or placement, when that is the worst thing you could do. If you go to your place expecting shit, then you will probably be one of those JETs who complains about everything.

Sorry for the off topic rant...

I'm just going into the whole program open-minded!

cl wrote:
Sorry for the off topic rant...

Seemed on topic enough to me

Yea, just go open minded. If you don't do something, you won't know what it is like. That applies to anything really. Just get things in order, get your Japanese prepared, and wing it while doing the best you can. So far, it seems like the people from Sacramento are making one hell of an impression on JET. We'll, mine being negative lol

Haha nice title! It's been a long time since I visited the forum.

I agree with Chris and the smaller schools. My jr. high has about 220 students, and it's filled with some of the nicest and fun students. My 2 feeder elementary schools are the same: small student populations. The benefits of being in the inaka, guys.

And yeah, regarding the workshops...NONE of them were really beneficial. A lot of the important things you learn is learned on the fly, when you actually start. They can say this-and-that to prepare for the big transition, but it won't really stick unless you experience it first hand.
And yeah, agreeing once more, Musuyama-Sensei's classes and J-Club are more than enough preparation for the transition to Japan (especially JPN120).

Can't wait to see you guys!

btw...LOL at Peter not wanting to talk about BB!

I might not have any special skills, but I'm good at making enemies　: P

Welcome back to the foruuuumz

I did a short internship at Waseda at a shougakkou and chuugakkou in Saitama near Gunma. Only 36 students in the entire shougakkou, less in the chuugakkou. Everyone was very nice. I wonder what it is about low numbers that does that?

I'm gettin more juiced as the days go on. I won't be finding out about my placement until late May though.

Did you guys end up hanging out with people from your prefecture at Tokyo Orientation? Make a lot of friends that you still visit?

Raybuster wrote:
And yeah, agreeing once more, Musuyama-Sensei's classes and J-Club are more than enough preparation for the transition to Japan (especially JPN120).

JPN120? Oh noooes, the one Japanese class I couldn't take! lol

Yeah I hung out with my fellow Prefecture JETs during TO. It's important to do so because they're going to be your new family for the next year or so, so it's good to make connections (especially with your fellow newbies) early on as possible. You'll meet current JETs from your Pref. (who will be the group leaders) who can tell you bits about where everything is and how your town is like.

Also, it'll give you a head start to see which folks are probably the ones you don't wanna hang out with. =X

I swear I am like the only hermit JET. There is like no JET community in Chiba. We are so spread out that the JET's in each city form micro-communities. Unfortunately, the nearest JET's to me are not desirable. lol So basically, I`m here making friends and contacts with the locals.

Although Ray might be having fun with his JET buddies, I don't think it would be a good idea to get too close with the people you meet, as it might cause you to be sucked into an English bubble; a place where lots of time is wasted and no Japanese language can enter.

Within a year I know most of the Joyo kanji, read books in Japanese, and speak 99% Japanese everyday, etc. That is all AFTER I arrived in Japan. I doubt the other JET's in my area can say the same.

cl wrote:I swear I am like the only hermit JET. There is like no JET community in Chiba. We are so spread out that the JET's in each city form micro-communities. Unfortunately, the nearest JET's to me are not desirable. lol So basically, I`m here making friends and contacts with the locals.

Although Ray might be having fun with his JET buddies, I don't think it would be a good idea to get too close with the people you meet, as it might cause you to be sucked into an English bubble; a place where lots of time is wasted and no Japanese language can enter.

Within a year I know most of the Joyo kanji, read books in Japanese, and speak 99% Japanese everyday, etc. That is all AFTER I arrived in Japan. I doubt the other JET's in my area can say the same.

That's pretty impressive! Maybe you'll start thinking in Japanese soon.

cl wrote:Within a year I know most of the Joyo kanji, read books in Japanese, and speak 99% Japanese everyday, etc. That is all AFTER I arrived in Japan. I doubt the other JET's in my area can say the same.

I hope I can say the same mid-2011! My Japanese has gotten really rusty since I haven't used it much these past two years, and I can't think fast enough to formulate the sentences and think of the correct words.

Shar wrote:

cl wrote:Within a year I know most of the Joyo kanji, read books in Japanese, and speak 99% Japanese everyday, etc. That is all AFTER I arrived in Japan. I doubt the other JET's in my area can say the same.

I hope I can say the same mid-2011! My Japanese has gotten really rusty since I haven't used it much these past two years, and I can't think fast enough to formulate the sentences and think of the correct words.

LOL you got hella nervous talking to Masuyama Sensei.

Masuyama sensei speaks some of the cleanest Japanese language on earth! XD Imagine speaking to a middle age male teacher from the country side. I get sleepy sometimes because it takes 100% of my concentration to understand what some of these people are saying.

Hey guys, I checked my email and I realized it's going to be another month before you find out your placements. lol
We got our placements on May 27th last year.

cl wrote:Masuyama sensei speaks some of the cleanest Japanese language on earth! XD Imagine speaking to a middle age male teacher from the country side. I get sleepy sometimes because it takes 100% of my concentration to understand what some of these people are saying.

The funny part was that it was all in English!

I'm excited about placements, but wow yeah another month! Shar and I will be doing a little bit of travelling in the US before we leave for Japan. Hopefully that will make time go faster.

Good idea. Traveling in the US is something I didn't do too much, and still places I had not been to yet. I had planned too, but i had to save up for Tokyo University in case I didn't get that scholarship.

cl wrote:Hey guys, I checked my email and I realized it's going to be another month before you find out your placements. lol
We got our placements on May 27th last year.

That'll be a sweet birthday present. I hope. haha

Unless Peter wants to take revenge on you all because of me and you all get put on a volcano in Niigata or something.

cl wrote:
Although Ray might be having fun with his JET buddies, I don't think it would be a good idea to get too close with the people you meet, as it might cause you to be sucked into an English bubble; a place where lots of time is wasted and no Japanese language can enter.

I still speak Japanese more than English on a day-to-day basis. I think it's still possible to improve one's Japanese even though they're surrounded by fellow JETs a lot. I say that because I'm one of the better speakers here and am often relied upon to speak on their behalf, so I still get lots of practice. =P

Another reason that it's good to be familiar with your fellow JETs is because you'd want to filter out travel buddies for if/when you decide to start traveling. It's hard not to travel.

But yeah. You make friends where you make friends. I met a lot of Japanese friends through other JETs mainly because there are no folks my age in my small countryside town (they move to the big cities once they graduate high school).

cl wrote:
Masuyama sensei speaks some of the cleanest Japanese language on earth! XD Imagine speaking to a middle age male teacher from the country side. I get sleepy sometimes because it takes 100% of my concentration to understand what some of these people are saying.

I hella agree! Man, there were so many times I had to ask folks to repeat what they said while gesturing that I couldn't hear. A lot of Japanese folks here either speak real soft, real mumbly, or with some dialect that catches me off guard.

ESID x Infinity

hahahaha

Words from the wise senpai. Hey Dym told me that Amy Ring (the girl in the JET video) also graduated from Sac State. INSANITY!

Yeah, so I just got word on who is coming to Kamogawa and it's not anyone I know. Sad day....

Awww man!

It's obvious they aren't going to send you to the same places together. Otherwise you'll pull a Voltron, merge, and take over Japan.

BrianBerry wrote:It's obvious they aren't going to send you to the same places together. Otherwise you'll pull a Voltron, merge, and take over Japan.

"Form feet and legs; form arms and body; and I'll form the head!" hahah