Enna wrote:

Oooh must I? Its been a long time since I've been anyone's idol!!!! Sooo you are a lover of fashion also Akakage?

Yup..indeed..I am a big fan and I like to observe people and the fashion they wear..lol..
just ask bmwracer to confirm..hehehe

dochira wrote:

You do have an eye for fashion. I've read your comments in the Ryoko thread.

Do I??? Yeah I guess it comes with the territory dochira. I am a former garmento.

Enna wrote:

Do I??? Yeah I guess it comes with the territory dochira. I am a former garmento.

And it shows.

Akakage wrote:

Yup..indeed..I am a big fan and I like to observe people and the fashion they wear..lol.. just ask bmwracer to confirm..hehehe

Oops sorry I almost missed your post Akakage. So we can sit on our fashion bench here and watch all of the wierd & wonderful fashions go by in the posted photos. That is great we have a front row seat at the jdorama fashion show!

Enna wrote:

Oops sorry I almost missed your post Akakage. So we can sit on our fashion bench here and watch all of the wierd & wonderful fashions go by in the posted photos. That is great we have a front row seat at the jdorama fashion show!

Oh yeah..and make the scale 1-10 who has the worst fashion sense in this world...hahahhaa.. (glaring at bjork and her notoriusly awful swanlake frocks..lmao)

I'm thinking of majoring in Japanese but I'm not sure how that would fare considering how far away I live from Japan. Does it really help understand the culture and master the language?

Akakage wrote:

Yup..indeed..I am a big fan and I like to observe people and the fashion they wear..lol.. just ask bmwracer to confirm..hehehe

Yup, I can confirm.

Aka-chan is j-dorama's resident fashion plate...

pumpkin puff wrote:

I'm thinking of majoring in Japanese but I'm not sure how that would fare considering how far away I live from Japan. Does it really help understand the culture and master the language?

Honestly I was considering doing a minor in Japanese, but I was short a few history and upper division language courses. I believe kitakaze is majoring in Japanese (I think) so he might be a better resource for this question.

dochira wrote:

Honestly I was considering doing a minor in Japanese, but I was short a few history and upper division language courses. I believe kitakaze is majoring in Japanese (I think) so he might be a better resource for this question.

Actually, K has a degree in Japanese History... I think he mentioned that he's going back in the fall for the language and to get a Masters...

bmwracer wrote:

Actually, K has a degree in Japanese History... I think he mentioned that he's going back in the fall for the language and to get a Masters...

I see. I knew it had to do with Japanese. I should have figured it was Japanese history.

Personally I think majoring in Japanese is only useful if you plan to teach it in school. Other than that it would be good to do a minor or at least learn the language. For example, majoring in political science and knowing Japanese would make you valuable as a translator. Or being an engineer might give you an opportunity to consult for a Japanese firm.

dochira wrote:

Personally I think majoring in Japanese is only useful if you plan to teach it in school. Other than that it would be good to do a minor or at least learn the language. For example, majoring in political science and knowing Japanese would make you valuable as a translator. Or being an engineer might give you an opportunity to consult for a Japanese firm.

My cousin didn't know a lick of Japanese, but she was an engineer, and that somehow landed her a job in Japan to teach English for a couple of years... Right time, right place, I guess.

bmwracer wrote:

My cousin didn't know a lick of Japanese, but she was an engineer, and that somehow landed her a job in Japan to teach English for a couple of years... Right time, right place, I guess.

She got the job with her engineering degree?

dochira wrote:

She got the job with her engineering degree?

Yup. Don't know how she did it.

The two of us were working a Hughes Aircraft at the time... Then she bailed out and was on a plane to Tokyo (Osaka? Kyoto?)...

bmwracer wrote:

Yup. Don't know how she did it. The two of us were working a Hughes Aircraft at the time... Then she bailed out and was on a plane to Tokyo (Osaka? Kyoto?)...

You'd be surprised how easy it really is (perhaps slightly moreso 10 years ago) to get an English teaching job in Japan as long as you're an American, Canadian, British or Australian with native-English-speaking ability and a college degree. This is all that is essentially required for most English teaching jobs.

It helps if you're not of East Asian descent though, from the experiences I've heard from other teachers I met, hahaha. There is a staggering difference in the way Japanese people give jobs to Caucasians vs. Asians (or others argue non-Caucasian period ).

international baccalaureate...know it?

yume wrote:

You'd be surprised how easy it really is (perhaps slightly moreso 10 years ago) to get an English teaching job in Japan as long as you're an American, Canadian, British or Australian with native-English-speaking ability and a college degree. This is all that is essentially required for most English teaching jobs.

I'm there. Where do I sign up?

Look up the J.E.T. (Japanese exchange teaching) program which is who I'll be teaching through; or NOVA which my friend KK is teaching through. JET applications are due this month I think, so you'd better jump on it. NOVA, however, is always looking for people, so you can fill out an application anytime. Both programs allow you to teach for 1 and in some instances 2 years. NOVA (if I'm remembering correctly) will create opportunities in which it will be possible for you to start a solid and long career in Japan unlike the JET program. You need bachelor's degrees for both programs. With the JET program you are not qualified if you have been to Japan in the last 4 or 5 years. NOVA doesn't care though. You don't have to know how to speak Japanese to qualify for either program. You just have to be "Willing to learn, understand, and appreciate the Japanese language and culture and all that they have to offer." You can have a degree in anything...just as long as you have one. Look at me, I have a freaking Biology degree .

There are like 4 more programs that you could go through. I only know about the preceding two in detail though. I've also been told that the JET program is one of (if not the) most highly respected exchange teaching programs in Japan. NOVA is pretty widely used too.
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oops double post ><;;

shoujo22 wrote:

With the JET program you are not qualified if you have been to Japan in the last 4 or 5 years. NOVA doesn't care though. ... I've also been told that the JET program is one of (if not the) most highly respected exchange teaching programs in Japan. NOVA is pretty widely used too.

That's a strange requirement since my university has a JET recruiter come out every year to recruit graduates who can come the following year, so they give them information about the interview. Maybe we have a special agreement or there is a misunderstanding, or more unfortunately, the rules have changed within the past few years.

Yes, JET is one of the more distinguished and respected programs. There are plenty of seedy and less-than-flattering ones. Not as bad as Korea (which is on the American Gov't's list of "Beware" list...to put it in layman's terms). There are Japanese schools and companies, even more popularly known ones, that do not follow the exact stipulations of the teaching contract. Most Westerners are not used to being expected to work overtime for up to 4 hours, buy all class materials and have shortened lunch times for these things (though, Westerners who are not used to this probably haven't worked in an American public school system where some of these things happen all too frequently, but not without a fight, ha). A lot of people also complained about living situations being dramatically different from the contract or that the student ages they were assigned were not compliant with contract. Overall though, I think most people had fairly good experiences with JET.

While I was in Japan, I noticed a lot of NOVA commercials and a lot of people taking NOVA classes (my friend was in one). They are expensive, so I think a lot of people automatically assume the teachers must be top-notch. If they only knew the requirements... Not to knock all the teachers.

Aeon is another program, but I think it's requirements are stricter. Though many of the students of Aeon English schools I met said to feel it was too much money and they still couldn't speak better...

I'm still in Highschool Grade 10
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