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Mr. Pink
Joined: 21 Oct 2003
Location: China
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 Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| Zulethe wrote: |
I applied for the jet program back in '93 when I first graduated from college and failed miserably.
There was this 40 year old white lady who sat in her sit and did her best imitation of 13 year old miko and this totally freaked me out.
This coupled with my disasterous mock teaching demonstration that consisted of teaching idioms that I didn't and still don't understand.
One in particular, that to this day I've never heard used by anyone - a stitch in time saves nine - I tried to bluff my way through it but Miko wasn't having any of it and kept saying "me no understand" in a submissive, girly Japanese voice.
Needless to say, I didn't get hired but I did get a letter from some law firm. There was a class action law suit filed against JET and I was invited to participate in it.
Apparently, JET had been engaging in discrimitory hiring practices. I certainly wasn't discriminated against. I wouldn't have hire me either. |
Never ever apply for japanese teaching companies that do interviews in large cities unless you live close to one of the cities. They invite huge numbers of applicants to attend and hire only a few at each interview session. Its an inexcusable ripoff. NOVA does this. |
I agree. I also think there was definitely discriminatory hiring practices going on. It was a 3 day interview. I made it to the last stage: I think there were 5 of us left, 2 girls, and 3 guys. 1 guy had taught in Asia for a couple years, 1 guy was a certified teacher, and me. They hired the two girls. That waste of time put me off of Japan, as I figured, if I tried with someone else, what would the society at large do to waste my time? Thus I headed to Korea. Now that I remember, the thing that REALLY pissed me off was having to do it in winter and it snowed everyday, and I was commuting from outside the city!!! |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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Mr. Pink: JET certainly doesn't have any three day interviews(it's a single 20-30 min. interview). But you're spot on about the other non-JET gangster outfits(eikaiwa, dispatch cos., even some universities)and the crap they pull in their "recruiting" efforts. Suffice it to say that a fortyish, experienced, qualified EFLer will get thrown by the wayside while the 22ish blonde bimbo/himbo will get offered the contract. In particular, anyone with Jap. lang. ability and "in the know" about Japan is at a disadvantage. Then these Japanese employers/authorities will blame the gaijin when students still don't get the Engrish. An E. Asian phenom, to be sure: blame the waygookin, gwailo, laowai, farang, etc., etc.
Bottom line for me: these days, there are very few non-JET contracts I would accept in Japan. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:23 pm Post subject: |
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This thread's OP makes me so angry that I'd seriously lay into him if he hadn't written his little fluff piece a year ago. I doubt he would read it if I wrote it now.
Anyway, most other posters summed it up. JET was great but is now being scaled back. To get accepted into JET, you have to be in your home country for a year and have a budget to fly around to various interview locations. That means JET is only really an option for people who are in their last year of university or just people who want a taste of Japan but are in no hurry to get there. Also it helps if you only want to spend one year in Asia as most JETs aren't signed on for a second year.
JET doesn't hire the best and the brightest. They hire seemingly randomly. The truth is, their hiring scheme changes year to year and after meeting JETs who could barely speak English (Hong Kong nationals) and after meeting people who were rejected from JET despite majoring in Asian studies, graduating top of their classes and being fluent in Japanese... it's safe to say that there hiring process is seemingly random from the outside.
Also take into account the fact that JET is shrinking pretty steadily. It might not exist in ten years. Budget conscious local BoEs are digging into dispatch companies far more than they used to. Dispatch companies in Japan make horrible PS jobs in Korea seem like cake walks. Trust me on this one.
I find it really annoying that people who did JET a long time ago go around advertising it like it's the best gig in Asia. It was, years ago but it's definitely not now. There are better jobs in Korea for better money if one digs. JET pays well and has a lot of perks but most JETs live in the middle of nowhere and act as nothing more than tape recorders at their schools. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Well Comrade General Secretary/Generalissimo/Passionate Leader of a Glorious Socialist Future, it's more than a tad ironic you prattled on about how I wouldn't read your imaginary post when it's clear you didn't really read my various posts closely. Otherwise, you would've realized I've already refuted some of your claims and agreed w/others.
First, I agree: JET is certainly being scaled back...thanks in no small part to the saps who take non-JET ALT contracts. From a one-time high of c.7000 JETs to a current roster of about 4000, JET is shrinking. And as such, as I've asserted on this thread(and on other threads), JET could be toast within a decade. That should make the "sour grapes" anti-JET crowd tickled pink. 
And as far as dispatch cos. go, I'm glad you pointed out to me what a bunch of 'tards they are. In my above post, what part of "gangster outfits" did you not understand?
OK, to disagree: Where do I start? Well, firstly, you DO NOT have to be in your home country for a year. You only need to be in your home country, if and when, you get invited to an interview. And what's this horsehockey about having to budget to "fly to various interview locations"?! I lived a loooooooong way from a Japanese consulate but my cost of going to the interview, in my jalopy, and staying at a hostel, eating a hearty breakfast the morning of the interview, all tolled, was about a hundred bucks.
And "most JETs aren't signed on for a 2nd year." Where are you getting this shyte from? In my prefecture, about half of the first years requested renewal-all of them got it.
"JET doesn't hire the best & brightest." Really, my Mensa, Nobel Laureate, Bolshevik friend? JET's admittedly drawn-out application process ensures, to an astonishingly high degree, that suitable candidates are admitted to the programme. With JET, the 'freak factor' is drastically cut down. Quite the contrast with non-JETs and "teachers" in Korea. I found the "snotnose" factor was more of a problem on JET, because candidates were often quite impressive in their Jap. lang. & cultural knowledge. Sure, I met a guy in Korea who majored in Japanese and was rejected by JET. Guess what? He was a freak. And where did you meet these HK nationals who were on JET?!  If true, did it occur to you that they WEREN'T serving as as English-speaking ALTs? JET hires speakers of other languages as well as CIRs, SEAs, etc.(you look up the acronyms, mate).
JETs serve in "the middle of nowhere"?! Eye of the beholder. I was posted to a school in a "town" of 120,000 and locals often said it was "inaka". So, there aren't many postings to Minami-Namba or Shinjuku. Tough-titty. I'd take a JET contract in a NY minute if I could get one.
As for the ''tape recorder'' syndrome, I found that phenom was fading, even when I was serving a fair no. of years ago.
The Griffith book I mentioned above has recent glowing recommendations re.: JET. It's outdated only if you regard 2009 as "ancient history".
Finally, Uncle Joe: did you not note my 3 common charas. of the "How dare you be positive about JET!" crowd, in my post on the previous page?
Maybe you were a rejected JET applicant, too.... |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
| Well Comrade General Secretary/Generalissimo/Passionate Leader of a Glorious Socialist Future, it's more than a tad ironic you prattled on about how I wouldn't read your imaginary post when it's clear you didn't really read my various posts closely. Otherwise, you would've realized I've already refuted some of your claims and agreed w/others. |
I don't recall ever arguing this with you.
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| And as far as dispatch cos. go, I'm glad you pointed out to me what a bunch of 'tards they are. In my above post, what part of "gangster outfits" did you not understand? |
I have experience there so it couldn't hurt to bring it up.
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| OK, to disagree: Where do I start? Well, firstly, you DO NOT have to be in your home country for a year. You only need to be in your home country, if and when, you get invited to an interview. And what's this horsehockey about having to budget to "fly to various interview locations"?! I lived a loooooooong way from a Japanese consulate but my cost of going to the interview, in my jalopy, and staying at a hostel, eating a hearty breakfast the morning of the interview, all tolled, was about a hundred bucks. |
The nearest interview location for me and other people from the same area would have been a three hour plane ride. When I was considering applying for JET and doing the research, the documentation I read lead me to believe I would have had to fly to other parts of the country for interviews. I've also confirmed this with a few friends who were JETs. You could drive there but it's three provinces over and thousands of km.
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| And "most JETs aren't signed on for a 2nd year." Where are you getting this shyte from? In my prefecture, about half of the first years requested renewal-all of them got it. |
I lived near Takasaki and hung out with quite a few JETs from that area. None of them were renewed for a second year and most of them switched over to dispatch. Many people in my dispatch were in JET for their first year and they had to switch.
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| "JET doesn't hire the best & brightest." Really, my Mensa, Nobel Laureate, Bolshevik friend? JET's admittedly drawn-out application process ensures, to an astonishingly high degree, that suitable candidates are admitted to the programme. With JET, the 'freak factor' is drastically cut down. Quite the contrast with non-JETs and "teachers" in Korea. I found the "snotnose" factor was more of a problem on JET, because candidates were often quite impressive in their Jap. lang. & cultural knowledge. Sure, I met a guy in Korea who majored in Japanese and was rejected by JET. Guess what? He was a freak. And where did you meet these HK nationals who were on JET?! If true, did it occur to you that they WEREN'T serving as as English-speaking ALTs? JET hires speakers of other languages as well as CIRs, SEAs, etc.(you look up the acronyms, mate). |
Again, I think you're talking out of your ass. The HK nationals I met that were teaching on JET did hold Canadian citizenship but couldn't hold an English conversation to save their lives, nor did they know any Japanese. I've also met some JETs who made my fellow dispatch employees look like the ambassadors of sophistication. It wasn't common to read emails from my dispatch saying "because a JET did ______ in ______, we want to strongly advise you that you can't ______." We had personally known a JET that got fired for showing his students pictures porno magazines, just to name an example. I wouldn't call many of the JETs I met to be of the high caliber you insist they are.
I am well aware of the different positions that are offered within JET. the people I'm referring to that couldn't speak English well were definitely ALTs.
| Quote: |
| JETs serve in "the middle of nowhere"?! Eye of the beholder. I was posted to a school in a "town" of 120,000 and locals often said it was "inaka". So, there aren't many postings to Minami-Namba or Shinjuku. Tough-titty. I'd take a JET contract in a NY minute if I could get one. |
Most JETs aren't even in towns of 120,000. You know that. Most JETs end up in places that would considered inaka even by Canadians.
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| As for the ''tape recorder'' syndrome, I found that phenom was fading, even when I was serving a fair no. of years ago. |
I call MAJOR BS right here. Most JETs are nothing but tape recorders. Of all the JETs I've ever met, inside Japan and former JETs in Canada, all of them who described their jobs to me were even more tape recorder than I was (apparently I wasn't a tape recorder because they let me run activities now and then). It depends if they're working at an ES or a JHS. If they're at a JHS or above... definitely a tape recorder.
| Quote: |
| The Griffith book I mentioned above has recent glowing recommendations re.: JET. It's outdated only if you regard 2009 as "ancient history". |
JET is still a great gig if you can get it. I didn't mean to imply that I thought JET was a crap gig. There are a lot of perks to be had. I can say, confidently, though... that JET is no longer the best gig in Asia. There are better gigs in Korea if one puts their nose to the ground. Also, in Korea you'd have a lot more job responsibility. Your job wouldn't solely consist of being a human tape recorder that sat in the office all day being ignored by the Japanese staff, only to be pulled out to say "apple" a dozen times or some such nonsense.
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| Finally, Uncle Joe: did you not note my 3 common charas. of the "How dare you be positive about JET!" crowd, in my post on the previous page? |
Not quite sure what you're referring to.
| Quote: |
| Maybe you were a rejected JET applicant, too.... |
I am but that has little to do with it. I know why I was rejected and I'm comfortable with it. I was rejected because I ran too close to the application deadline.
The reason I dislike JET because I think it's a programme that should have been disbanded years ago. It should have ended the second dispatch companies began placing ALTs in Japanese public schools.
As it is, the government turns a blind eye to dispatches despite their being many more dispatch teachers than JET teachers. Dispatches are almost illegal and act illegally often. They are the scum of the earth, for all the reasons that we're both aware of.
The government continues to prop up JET, despite the expense and despite the complaints about the amount of taxes used to fund the programme from the Japanese public. JET pays white foreigners lots of money to go back to their home countries saying nice things about Japan. Said white foreigners don't have to do any real work while they're in Japan, either. It's like a vacation.
Knowing that dispatches can get away with murder and the government won't regulate them or do anything about it because it might cost money otherwise reserved for propping up the JET programme is saddening. Since we all know the JET programme is on the decline, why not just shut it down, specifically the ALT portion of it and regulate the dispatch companies?
In time, 100% of ALTs in Japan are going to be dispatch ALTs, anyway. Either regulate it or make it illegal.
Last edited by Stalin84 on Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:09 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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olsanairbase
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
Well Comrade General Secretary/Generalissimo/Passionate Leader of a Glorious Socialist Future, it's more than a tad ironic you prattled on about how I wouldn't read your imaginary post when it's clear you didn't really read my various posts closely. Otherwise, you would've realized I've already refuted some of your claims and agreed w/others.
First, I agree: JET is certainly being scaled back...thanks in no small part to the saps who take non-JET ALT contracts. From a one-time high of c.7000 JETs to a current roster of about 4000, JET is shrinking. And as such, as I've asserted on this thread(and on other threads), JET could be toast within a decade. That should make the "sour grapes" anti-JET crowd tickled pink.
And as far as dispatch cos. go, I'm glad you pointed out to me what a bunch of 'tards they are. In my above post, what part of "gangster outfits" did you not understand?
OK, to disagree: Where do I start? Well, firstly, you DO NOT have to be in your home country for a year. You only need to be in your home country, if and when, you get invited to an interview. And what's this horsehockey about having to budget to "fly to various interview locations"?! I lived a loooooooong way from a Japanese consulate but my cost of going to the interview, in my jalopy, and staying at a hostel, eating a hearty breakfast the morning of the interview, all tolled, was about a hundred bucks.
And "most JETs aren't signed on for a 2nd year." Where are you getting this shyte from? In my prefecture, about half of the first years requested renewal-all of them got it.
"JET doesn't hire the best & brightest." Really, my Mensa, Nobel Laureate, Bolshevik friend? JET's admittedly drawn-out application process ensures, to an astonishingly high degree, that suitable candidates are admitted to the programme. With JET, the 'freak factor' is drastically cut down. Quite the contrast with non-JETs and "teachers" in Korea. I found the "snotnose" factor was more of a problem on JET, because candidates were often quite impressive in their Jap. lang. & cultural knowledge. Sure, I met a guy in Korea who majored in Japanese and was rejected by JET. Guess what? He was a freak. And where did you meet these HK nationals who were on JET?! If true, did it occur to you that they WEREN'T serving as as English-speaking ALTs? JET hires speakers of other languages as well as CIRs, SEAs, etc.(you look up the acronyms, mate).
JETs serve in "the middle of nowhere"?! Eye of the beholder. I was posted to a school in a "town" of 120,000 and locals often said it was "inaka". So, there aren't many postings to Minami-Namba or Shinjuku. Tough-titty. I'd take a JET contract in a NY minute if I could get one.
As for the ''tape recorder'' syndrome, I found that phenom was fading, even when I was serving a fair no. of years ago.
The Griffith book I mentioned above has recent glowing recommendations re.: JET. It's outdated only if you regard 2009 as "ancient history".
Finally, Uncle Joe: did you not note my 3 common charas. of the "How dare you be positive about JET!" crowd, in my post on the previous page?
Maybe you were a rejected JET applicant, too.... |
JET is much more designed to put a pretty young (because you have to be under 42) barbie or ken-styled body in front of a classroom. While JET process is longer they don't have any serious qualification requirements to be in the program. Most of its participants are going into it for other reasons than teaching English--because they want to do business or learn Japanese--very few--if any are even credentialed teachers.
The best gigs in Japan (as well as in Korea) are teaching at one of the Department of Defense base schools where you get free base housing, you get paid well, on-time and you get full access of the base--and you get to work with other teachers who are not being hired because they look like Ken or Barbie but because they ALL have proper teaching credentials and are serious about teaching as a profession.
Even if you don't have a teaching credential you could get in on a support position that usually pays better than most off base teaching jobs and then take classes on the bases toward earning yourself a credential, since most bases have agreements with recognized universities back in the States.
http://www.japan.pac.dodea.edu/ |
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silkhighway
Joined: 24 Oct 2010
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
First, I agree: JET is certainly being scaled back...thanks in no small part to the saps who take non-JET ALT contracts. From a one-time high of c.7000 JETs to a current roster of about 4000, JET is shrinking. And as such, as I've asserted on this thread(and on other threads), JET could be toast within a decade. That should make the "sour grapes" anti-JET crowd tickled pink.
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Call me a cynic but a good program has to be more than profitable for the participants, it has to be efficient. JET obviously isn't and the trend of replacing them with ALTs speaks for itself. AlTs suck too but at least they're cheap.
Of the major programs, it seems Hong Kong has the best thing going. They want professional teachers, they're paying them a living salary, and they must be getting the results they're looking for because the program has been going strong for a long time. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| silkhighway wrote: |
| Mosley wrote: |
First, I agree: JET is certainly being scaled back...thanks in no small part to the saps who take non-JET ALT contracts. From a one-time high of c.7000 JETs to a current roster of about 4000, JET is shrinking. And as such, as I've asserted on this thread(and on other threads), JET could be toast within a decade. That should make the "sour grapes" anti-JET crowd tickled pink.
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You can rave on about JET all you want. Call me a cynic but a good program has to be more than profitable for the participants, it has to be efficient. JET obviously isn't and the trend of replacing them with ALTs speaks for itself. AlTs suck too but at least they're cheap. |
I like how Mosley thinks that JET is shrinking because people are signing dispatch contracts. JET is shrinking because it's vomitting money and taxpayers don't want to pay for it anymore. I can't blame them. It is ineffective as a programme.
Also, people want to live in Japan. Is that such a bad thing? Japan appeals to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, some good and some bad. Many people sign dispatch contracts because they want to live in Japan. They would much rather work for JET but dispatch companies are really the only places hiring. Eikaiwa aren't even really hiring anymore, just go to Gaijinpot and submit a resume to a bottom-of-the-barrel eikaiwa like GABA. There are hundreds of people applying for one entry level position there and some of them are experienced/ex-JETs.
JET is essentially a bubble that needs to be popped. Dispatch company employees aren't all desparate saps... many of them would have been fine JET candidates. The dispatch companies need to be heavily regulated by the government and I think this won't even begin to happen until after JET is gone. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:12 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Stalin84 (and others) for giving reasonable responses to a thinly veiled attempt at trolling.
I had typed a rebuttal to one of Mosley's posts that directly addressed me a few days ago, but I deleted it because I didnt want to feed the troll.
Mosley seems to think that people who refuse to worship JET only do so because they were rejected, arent eligible, or have/will never work for the programme. Well that narrows the list down to BILLIONS of people. Not everyone in the world hates on the program, we just know it's not the best gig in the world to be had anymore (and I'm not saying Korea is).
To me the original post just seemed pointless. We already know that EPIK has issues and that JET is well organized (and apparently REALLY expensive). What's your point? Tell me something I dont know.
I wonder how Mosley would feel if someone from the HK NET Scheme came here and told him how much he's missing out on by doing JET instead of NET? Oh wait...we already know from reading this thread. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject: |
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Comrade "Discredited by the 1956 'Secret' Speech": Come now. The sticking point was, where I nailed it, the fact that you were a failed JET applicant. Kudos to you for admitting it but it proves my point: all the anti-JET crowd has an axe to grind w/JET. Hmmmm?
"JET is still a great gig...." Your words, mate. Of course it is. You denigrate it while praising it. Typical. You had other "arguments" but I've already addressed them. READ the previous posts.
So Shosta "deleted" a reply to one of my posts! Come on, tough guy! Give us your post!
And someone said people want to live in Japan. Fine. But at what cost? Taking a non-JET job & living like a dog?
Finally, someone said that Jap. employers are looking for those "over 42". Well, over 40 is the true scenario. For JET, you must be under 40 when you apply. I don't like it but there it is.... |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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That's some nice trolling you have going on there.
I'm not mad at JET because I got rejected on the first try. I know my application was rejected and I'm sure I'd have as good a chance as anybody if I were to apply for the program now.
I'm not really mad at JET period. I just think it was a great programme maybe ten-fifteen years ago when there weren't that many foreigners in Japan. Now that there are too many foreigners in Japan and the market is clearly showing them that there is no room for many of them. Still, the government continues to prop up JET way past it's natural expiration date.
What is JET even for? To expose Japanese people to foreigners? There are plenty of foreigners in Japan. Kids only need to go outside or go to the nearest Eikaiwa/Juku to talk to them. Is it to teach English? Well, it fails spectacularly at that. Is it for foreigners to learn about Japan and then talk about how great it is in their perspective home countries? It's 2011. Japan is not a secret anymore. People know so much about it that going there isn't even considered "exotic". It's the tip-top of the first world for crying out loud.
JET is still a great program if you're in JET, even now. That's besides the point. The programme as a whole should be wiped clean and the conditions for non-JETs teaching in Japanese public schools should be regulated and improved. I've heard time and time again that the government won't even begin to address the plague of dispatch companies until JET is out of the way. Their logic is that if the government actually starts improving the conditions for dispatch teachers, then they're going to have to take on the responsibility of all dispatch teachers which is something it can not afford to do seeing as how JET is barely sustainable.
You're an annoying troll. Also, the reason my alias is "Stalin" has to do with the fact that all my other aliases were in use on this site and at the time I signed up, I was playing a civilization type game where my login was Stalin84 (of the USSR), making it easier to remember  I don't worship Stalin or anything. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Mosley wrote: |
| Comrade "Discredited by the 1956 'Secret' Speech": Come now. The sticking point was, where I nailed it, the fact that you were a failed JET applicant. Kudos to you for admitting it but it proves my point: all the anti-JET crowd has an axe to grind w/JET. Hmmmm? |
The biggest complaint I've seen (in this thread) is that some think JET could be more efficient. I havent read any posts saying that anyone has anything against JET. You on the otherhand... And whats up with your hatred for the NET Scheme? You said some really nasty things.
| Mosley wrote: |
| So Shosta "deleted" a reply to one of my posts! Come on, tough guy! Give us your post! |
Umm...no. Why bother giving you more material to say absolutely nothing about (like your original post)?  |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Depths of My Soul wrote: |
I'm still way below 40, but am also wondering if I'm 'unofficially too old' for JET. I heard a rumour that around 25 is the age cut-off point (off the record) and that if you're older than this your chances of getting a placement are pretty bad (though you might still get a gig in the boonies). |
Just going back through the thread...
I used to go to JET hosted shindigs in Saitama/Gunma. I met a lot of JETs that way. Of course no one was walking around wearing their age on their sleeves but of all the JETs I know relatively well and am sure of their ages (about ten JETs)... none are over 25. I'd say the average age of the JETs I met was around 23, with the majority being 22.
To be honest, while you could do JET as an older person, I don't really think it'd be a great social opportunity. The vast majority of JETs are in their early 20s. That's one of the things that made me really self concious living/working in Japan... I was 25/26 at the time and the oldest person I knew (by a couple years in most cases). This might also be explained with the fact that I worked in a highly sought after area near Tokyo though I don't think there is a huge amount of age variation in other areas. |
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olsanairbase
Joined: 30 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
That's some nice trolling you have going on there.
I'm not mad at JET because I got rejected on the first try. I know my application was rejected and I'm sure I'd have as good a chance as anybody if I were to apply for the program now.
I'm not really mad at JET period. I just think it was a great programme maybe ten-fifteen years ago when there weren't that many foreigners in Japan. Now that there are too many foreigners in Japan and the market is clearly showing them that there is no room for many of them. Still, the government continues to prop up JET way past it's natural expiration date.
What is JET even for? To expose Japanese people to foreigners? There are plenty of foreigners in Japan. Kids only need to go outside or go to the nearest Eikaiwa/Juku to talk to them. Is it to teach English? Well, it fails spectacularly at that. Is it for foreigners to learn about Japan and then talk about how great it is in their perspective home countries? It's 2011. Japan is not a secret anymore. People know so much about it that going there isn't even considered "exotic". It's the tip-top of the first world for crying out loud.
JET is still a great program if you're in JET, even now. That's besides the point. The programme as a whole should be wiped clean and the conditions for non-JETs teaching in Japanese public schools should be regulated and improved. I've heard time and time again that the government won't even begin to address the plague of dispatch companies until JET is out of the way. Their logic is that if the government actually starts improving the conditions for dispatch teachers, then they're going to have to take on the responsibility of all dispatch teachers which is something it can not afford to do seeing as how JET is barely sustainable.
You're an annoying troll. Also, the reason my alias is "Stalin" has to do with the fact that all my other aliases were in use on this site and at the time I signed up, I was playing a civilization type game where my login was Stalin84 (of the USSR), making it easier to remember I don't worship Stalin or anything. |
Any aspect that once (if ever) was tied to JET has long since gone. It's primary objective is to throw a 21 year old into the classroom to be the class monkey or mobile zoo exhibit to show that Ainu are now not the only "hairy people" living in Japan anymore. Anyone who joined JET to "teach" I think would be severely disappointed. However, if your goal was to have your ego stroked as a kid out of college who can relive being popular all over again because you are young and naive then I think that person will fit right in.
The sad thing is the OP wasn't even probably either of these and therefore feels the need to prop up the JET program to its former levels back when there was a Cold War still going on somewhere in the world. |
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Mosley
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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Sure, I'm a troll. I always thought trolls were the ones who posted negative posts about someone/something. God forbid I post about something regarding EFL gigs in E. Asia that's (gasp!) GOOD for the EFLer. The attitude of those who've launched personal attacks against me is "Let's not aspire to JET standards of excellence...let's hope JET bites it so we're all in the same boat and will never be all that different." "If I can't have the goodies, I'll attack those who did/do." That's what it boils down to. The most vitriolic of anti-JET posts(and anti-Mosley posts)come from those who've missed the gravy train. That those posts come from non-JETs(past, present and future)is simply not a coincidence to any reasonable poster. Indeed, the attitude of the anti-JET sentiment from non-JET EFLers reminds me of what H L Mencken once said of Puritanism: "The nagging, persistent fear that someone, somewhere, is somehow enjoying himself." Envy & resentment.
So JET treats its participants well. What's so GD wrong with that? I first got into the EFL-in-E. Asia-racket almost 15 years ago & I've witnessed a general overall deterioration of contract terms since then...Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc. JET still stands its ground, albeit in reduced numbers. What would truly make some of you happy? JET bites it? Or it becomes like NET(I stand by my original account of NET on this thread, BTW Scott)or the "prestigious" SMOE?! Yeah, that's the ticket: have JET become like SMOE. You know, where 100 barbarians go through a bizarre, convoluted, expensive and time-consuming application process; are offered contracts; fly to Korea at their own expense; and are told at Incheon that in fact there are NO JOBS and they'll have to high tail it home...again, at the hapless barbarians' expense? Would that tickle your fancy?
Stalin(God, I feel disgust at having to type in that scumbag's name as a moniker...but I digress): you know mate, I've no desire to enter into a flame war w/you and for all I know you might be a great guy to have sashimi and sake with. But your posts are so dripping with sour grapes that I swear I'm in a vineyard.
First, JETs not being renewed!? What, did JET one yr. accidentally recruit the Trailer Park Boys? Recently, JET upped the length of service from 3 to 5 yrs. So i'm calling BS on that one. "HAD to switch" to dispatch? Ain't buyin' it.
Hong Kongers, who can barely speak a lick of English, end up working as JET ALTs teaching EFL. Uh huh. JET offers a great gig(your claim) and Japan is flooded with NS of Eng., but can't attract enough applicants so these goofballs from HK are team teaching EFL?! Let that one sink in! LOL!
Next: here's the doozy, and I've been at Dave's for 8 yrs. and this is a doozy. If JET bites the dust, the Japanese powers that be will all of a sudden be terribly concerned about the indentured servitude conditions of dispatch co. barbarians and make things all tickety boo?! Bizarre and illogical doesn't even begin to do justice to this "thesis". Can you cite even ONE "credible" source to support this fantasy? Nope....
Freaks? My prefecture, among 80 or so JETs, had only ONE guy who could fairly be called a "freak". And by the standards of EFLers in Korea? He wouldn't even rate a blip on the ole "freak-o-meter" scale!
And what was this horsehockey about "10-15 yrs. ago there weren't many foreigners in Japan"!? What a crock! Not only was JET at its peak, Japan was chock-a-block with barbarians at eikaiwa, direct hires for public schools(before the yakuza dispatch cos. muscled in), etc., etc. I was there, sunshine. Where were you? In grammar school in Boise?
Finally, your uninformed(God, I can be polite in my choice of adjectives!) codswallop about your assertion that the... ahem...elderly(so to speak) can't have a ''social opportunity" with JET should cause your cheeks to redden. Hell, I was one the oldest EVER JETs to serve during its 23 yrs. of operation, I rarely socialized with other JETs and I...had the grandest social time of my life! I suppose you might think that I'm saying "Put that in your pipe & smoke it" ... and you'd be right.
Long live JET! |
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