僕らの目指す未来 一つになる

[xanithofdragons]

Hello new friends from the Johnny's friending meme! It's nice to meet you all. ^_^ I never really know what to write for intro posts, so I'll try to cover some information that I think is important about me, do something I've been thinking about doing for a little while, and then open the floor to questions.

I recently graduated from college with a BA in Japanese Language and Culture and am currently working part-time as a bakery clerk in a grocery store. The kind of job I want to do in the future is pretty much anything where I can use Japanese in my work, maybe as a translator or an interpreter or just someone who works in a company that does business in both Japan and America or other English speaking countries and occasionally has reason to use her bilingual skills.

I studied abroad in Japan my junior year of college and left my heart in Japan, in that I fell even more in love with Japan. I want more than anything to have a reason to go back in Japan and live there at least another year. I'm applying to the JET program and maybe to one or two similar programs. As for my Japanese fluency, I passed the N2 of the JLPT and am going to take the N1 this year and haven't studied nearly enough yet.

I think that's pretty good as an introduction of where I am right now in my life. The other thing I want to do in this post is a list of how many Johnnys singles, albums, and DVDs I have, by group and then total. ^^ When I have multiple versions I'll include a count not including multiple versions of the same release.

A.B.C-Z
DVDs: 3
Please release an actual album, please, ebi!
Arashi
Singles: 13 (not including multiple versions, 8)
Albums: 5
DVDs: 7
Kanjani8
Albums: 1
Kis-My-Ft2
Singles: 16 (not including multiple versions, 8)
Albums: 3 (not including multiple versions, 2)
DVDs: 2
V6
Singles: 5 (not inclduing multiples versions, 3)
Albums: 5
DVDs: 1

Total
Singles: 34 (not including multiple versions: 19)
Albums: 13 (not including multiple versions: 12)
DVDs: 13

And that's just for Johnny's groups... And just the current count... xD I have other Jpop CDs, too, but not quite as many. ^^;

And lastly, I'll open the floor for questions. My introduction may have left out a lot of things you'd like to know, so ask me about what you want to hear about. Ask me any questions and as many questions as you like. New friends, friends who've been here longer. If I get enough questions, I'll make another post answering them. If I don't get many, I might just answer them in comments. Possible topics include (but are not limited to) my favorite x, how I got into x hobby or activity, what other hobbies I have, personal questions, stories from Japan (do not expect me to be a good story-teller), whatever you can think of. If it's something really personal, I might post about it in a locked post, but I definitely want to know what you all want to know about me.

Comments

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

I didn't know you were applying to JET! That's awesome. Do you have a placement preference? What consulate are you applying through?

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I haven't really posted about applying for JET this year yet on lj. ^^; I'm actually curious about suggestions for a placement preference, although my first choice is Osaka Prefecture. By what consulate, do you mean what country's consulate?

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Generally, it seems like if you request a place with a lot of open spots (Hokkaido, Hyogo, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Fukushima, Aomori, Gunma, Ishikawa, Kobe-shi, and Shizuoka are the top ten) you'll be a lot more likely to get it (I know that seems really obvious, but that's based on people I know, not just common logic, I promise XD). I think Osaka and Kyoto are the two most requested prefectures in the whole program, so the chances of getting them are pretty low, but you never know! Personally, my advice would be to choose to pick your second and third choices strategically so that you can get most of what you want even if you don't get exactly what I hoped for. I put Chiba as my first choice, since I know people there and would be close to Tokyo, but then Gunma as my second, and it's worked out really well being in Gunma, since it's still only 2 hours out of Tokyo. ^^

As for consulate, sorry, I saw on your userinfo that it says you're located in the US. So I meant what consulate within the US (I went out of New York) or, if I assumed incorrectly, what country? Sorry if I made a stupid mistake. ^^;;

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

Mostly I want to go to a place in the Kansai region, so I was thinking about having Osaka as my top choice and then another Kinki prefecture for my second choice, but then I'm not sure what to put for my third choice, since so many other prefectures sound interesting. Or if I should put the Kinki region in general for my first choice.

Ah, no, it's okay, I just wanted to be sure whether you meant which country or which city. I'll be going through the Chicago consulate.

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

I didn't put any regions so I can't say how effective that is, but I think putting what you really want first, a more reasonable nearby prefecture or city as your second, and then someplace you like in a different region as your third choice sounds good (since that's what I did |D;;) If you just put Kinki you might end up pretty far from Osaka, but if you don't mind that then it might help, since you'd be flexible to anywhere in that region? XD;

Oh, okay, awesome~ Someone who was in my city last year went from there, and I think she had a good experience. ^^ New York is the worst, since it accounts for a huge portion of the JETs from the US, so there's a million people who go through there, the interviews are a hot mess, and your chances are lower. XD;

At any rate, I hope you get in! I'd love to meet up sometime. ^^

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

I know someone who actually ended up getting his first choice for placement, and his first choice was Osaka prefecture, so it seems worthwhile to put what I really want down first. If Hyogo is one of the places that usually has more open spots, that would probably make a good second choice. Thank you for your advice.

I'll probably have more questions about the process if I can get through to the interviews.

Yeah, it'd be really nice to meet up sometime. ^_^

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Yeah, no, there definitely are people who get their first placement... I remember my first year, someone coming in with me got the one mainland Tokyo placement and everyone was super jealous. XD; It can often really depend on what they're looking for... if there's only one Osaka (or wherever) placement opening and they're looking for a 30+ man from Australia with no Japanese, then you're just screwed. XD; But if they're looking for a young woman from the Chicago area (they actually can get specific, what with sister cities and stuff) with high Japanese skills, then you're home free, you know? XD; Both Hyogo the prefecture and Kobe the city have a really high number (if you add the city placements to the prefectural placements, I think they'd almost have as many as Hokkaido, though I don't remember now), so they're really good safe choices.

But I'd be happy to give any help I can! Please do let me know if you have any other questions, because I'd be happy to answer. ^^

Good luck!

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

There's this: http://cal.dpi.wi.gov/cal_ie-chiba-ss my college advisor told me about, and apparently Chiba and Wisconsin are sister states? xD So it really seems like there's all sorts of things different schools would request that I probably wouldn't even think of.

Even though I tried applying last year and didn't get in (but I applied for the CIR position, which may have lowered my chances), I'm still pretty last on what sort of experiences and skills are good to write about on the statement of purpose, so if you have any advice about that part of the application, it'd really help!

Thank you!

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

There you go XD; Depending on what Chiba is looking for, you might be requested there. XD; It really depends. I know my city prioritizes Japanese ability above everything else, so sometimes we end up with really weird breakdowns depending on who applied that year. Last year we had almost all girls, and this year we have almost all Americans. So... yeah. It can be really surprising XD;

Obviously since I don't work for the JET programme, I really can't say for certain, but in my experience, they're looking for someone who studied abroad and has teaching teaching experience. I think that in the past, they had a lot of people who got to Japan and then bailed because they couldn't deal with living abroad or with being in front of a bunch of kids all day, so they want to know that the candidate can do those things. The people I've known who didn't get in are the ones who emphasized their general knowledge of Japan or their love of Japanese culture too much, rather than more relevant, less esoteric qualifications. Personality wise, I also think it plays to your advantage to seem versatile and flexible rather than confident. They almost always ask something in the interviews about what you'd do if you were placed in the exact opposite placement as you wanted, and they don't seem to like people who present themselves as people who would know what it will be like without going first. They rather seem to prefer someone who seems up to a challenge and realizes that every part of Japan and every school system is different, and the experience may be different than their own abroad or previous Japan teaching experience, and they're ready to tackle that.

But that's just my way-more-than-two-cents worth based on the people I've known who got in and didn't get in (I've known quite a few of both from college, so that's my compare-and-contrast pool XD). I'd be more than happy to read your SoP if you want, and give you my opinion, if you wanted ^^ Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help~

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

It's probably one of my biggest disadvantages in applying that I don't really have teaching experience and I don't have experience working with children. orz I'll definitely consider your advice while I write my SoP, though.

In a way, I don't have much of a compare and contrast pool, since pretty much everyone I know who applied (and with whom I'm still in contact)got in, so it's hard for me to tell what doesn't work. I don't really know what kind of writing style works for something like a SoP, or what phrasing works well, so I probably do need to have someone read it over (even though I'm always embarrassed to think about people I know reading things I've written.)

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Well, I think if you play that off in enthusiasm for working with kids in the future, it will be okay. I basically feel like reg flags go up when it seems like the person isn't focused on the job of working with kids and instead is just focused on Japan at large (even if they really are looking forward to the teaching bit and just didn't say it enough in the SoP).

Yeah, in the past three application pools (so the 2011, 2012, and 2013 intakes) I've known five people who got in and three people who didn't, so it's not exactly a hugely wide sample pool. XD; But in my experience, what they want is something pretty straightforward and honest. I hate showing my writing to people, too, but I think having someone who was already in JET and someone who was in a hiring position for an education job really helped mine a lot. Good luck! ^^; I'd be happy to read it if you wanted.

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for all your advice. I'm going to pm you with the text of my statement of purpose. I'll probably also ask my mom to look over it since she works in education.

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

No problem! Seriously, feel free to ask me anything. And I'll take a look at your statement of purpose when I get a moment! Do you have a deadline? I'd like to really take the time to look at it next to the JET programme website and stuff like that, so I don't want to rush, but if you need it by like tomorrow or something, I can just give it a quick read-over, too. ^^

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

I'm planning to mail it out Thursday (I'm still waiting on one letter of recommendation that I should get tomorrow.) Yeah, I'm sorry that I'm not giving you a lot of time. I was hoping to have a draft done earlier, but I know myself and I know it takes me longer to write things than it probably should. ^^;

[faded-lace.livejournal.com]

Oh wow XD Okay then, I'll try to look over it either today or tomorrow. Hopefully I can still give some helpful feedback. ^^;

[fluidcomplexity.livejournal.com]

Ah, question! What should I call you by? (:

You've taken the N2? That's amazing! A couple of my friends did JET this past year and loved it (I was in Japanese class with one of them this year). It's something that floated around in the back of my mind, but I think I'm on track to pursue graduate studies at the moment so I probably won't... at least, not now.

If I could practice my Japanese with you, though, that would be awesome. I'm kind of rusty since I'm not taking it in university this year and I don't want to lose what I've gotten (given a bit of studying I could probably pass the N3 I think? that's about how much I've learned).

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

Yeah, everyone I know who's done or is doing the JET program has had really positive experiences, it seems like. I was sort of considering graduate school for a while, but I think I need a break from the stress of academics. ^^;

I always love more opportunities to talk or write in Japanese! I can pm you my skype id if you want to chat on skype, or you can message me or whatever in Japanese anytime.

[fluidcomplexity.livejournal.com]

Yeah! I'm actually probably going to go to graduate school next year... I'm finishing this term, so I'll have a bit of a short break at least. (:

本当？じゃ、よろしくお願いします n_______n

(I'm so out of practice - and only after half a year? - that this almost feels weird and that I'm doing something wrong...)

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

よろしくね！

A fair warning that I learned what I know about communicating on the internet in Japanese through emails with one friend and Johnnys fans on twitter. xD

I'm always a little worried that I'll phrase something wrong when I use expressions I don't use often. >_

[1111-am.livejournal.com]

Ooh I think we've been friends on here for a while now, but I guess I have a few questions!

- What made you decide to study Japanese and major in it? Did your interest in Johnny's have anything to do with it or was that just kind of an added appeal? (I love studying languages and like hearing people's background in what made them want to study about a particular language/culture).
- Where in Japan did you stay when you studied abroad? If this feels too personal or anything you don't need to say. I know some people are iffy about revealing their locations or where they've been.
- Biggest "culture shock" experience while in Japan?
- What's some of your favorite english speaking groups/bands/singers to listen to?
- Um, idk what's the meaning behind your username?

lol sorry some of my questions suck.

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

No, those are good questions! Some of the answers for them might end up a bit long, though. xD I might end up doing multiple posts for answers...

[justironic.livejournal.com]

I wish I could apply for JET :(
I think maybe I'd want to do it in the future, but Sweden's not good enough apparently.


... I don't think I want to do a count on my CDs. XD

[xanithofdragons.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it sucks that a lot of abroad programs are not available to people depending on their country. T_T But if we ever end up in Japan at the same time, I'd really love to meet you in person!

And the CD count only grows. orz

[justironic.livejournal.com]

It would be so awesome if we did! :D

[megamisama-ann.livejournal.com]

What is your first Japanese single/album ?

which one is the most difficult to get?

Good luck for your career! I hope you're doing well! :D