Went today to the Japanese embassy for the JET interview. Got up nice and early (9:30am (hehe)), donned my shirt, tie, nice pants and nice shoes and off I went expecting to be grilled and questioned for ages. How wrong I was!!
After waiting in the foyer for 5 minutes, I am called in to see the panel. Entered a nice room with plush leather couches and marble coffee tables. Four people are in the room, one the First Secretary of Cultural Affairs (the only Japanese person in the room), one ex-JET, one of the JET coordinators, and some other guy who for whatever reason, I can't remember very well! I think he said his name was Jasper Jasperiton or something equally bizarre. That's why I can't remember it!
So I sat down and they started asking me questions in turn. They were pretty easy actually and I was feeling OK about everything. Questions like "Why are you interested in the JET program?" were very simple to answer. Some of the later questions were a bit tricky though - "How would you characterise the Australian identity in Japan?" or "How would you deal with a situation where you are not being informed of important school events because you are not Japanese?" I answered with suitably 'Australian' answers and I felt like I did ok.
One of the questions towards the end was "Why did you choose Chiba city as your first preference?" I answered truthfully - that I have a friend who lives in Tokyo, but moreover, I have already spent over a year living in the Kansai region of Japan, and am interested in the Kantou region for a change! The First Secretary then replies: "Actuarry, you made a good choice - my home shitty (city) is Chiba shitty!" Perfect.
In the end, the whole thing only lasted about 10-15 minutes! I was out of there lickety split. Now I just have to wait till April for them to tell me whether I'm in or out. I feel pretty good and I meet all the qualifications and more - if they don't take me, they're crazy!!
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