Have you guys heard anything on your end about placements?

Wow, thank you everyone for all the comments! it was more than I had anticipated and helped me very much in my decision process.

Although I was unable to get in touch with my predecessor, thanks to you guys, I was able to find info on what work I would be doing, and find much more information about the city and people. And although it kills me a little on the inside to do so... I have come to the conclusion that this placement while not matching up with my tastes in location, also does not match up with my career goals, giving very little to no work that I was hoping I might be able to do.

I also worry that perhaps the quality of my work would suffer as well were I to go in with a negative attitude. I would hate to think that someone else may have enjoyed this placement when I could not give it my all. Maybe I would enjoy it, but maybe I would not. Hopefully whoever my alt is will have a blast!

Thank you all again for your comments, and I'm sorry I won't be able to get to know any of you better, it seems like a very nice community!

Aaah you posted that while I was typing.

I'm sorry that things didn't work out for you. I hope that your next step, whatever it is, is more in line with your career goals. And I hope the alternate has a great time

Thanks for the post eckstein ! Ever since I got my placement I've gone through stages of disappointment and excitement; it really depends on how I feel on any particular day. Not only was my placement inaka to begin with, it was also mostly destroyed during the tsunami, and rebuilding efforts are still underway, so it really seems like there won't be much of anything there entertainment-wise. No mall, no アーケード, probably no kaitenzushi or yakiniku or coco ichiban-ya, (I already checked and there's not even a McDonalds). So I know already that a lot of things I loved about Japan in the past won't be a part of my life in Rikuzentakata. Plus I'll be a new-position CIR and have to figure a lot of stuff out on my own. And it seems like public transportation will basically be a non-factor in my life, and that I'll have to drive everywhere. Sometimes I dwell on these factors about my placement and feel down on myself.

But then other times, I'm a lot more positive. I am glad to have been placed somewhere that seems like the truly need my help (in terms of doing my best to attract foreign visitors and boost the local economy, etc), and I know that I will be greeted with much 感謝 and おもてなし. I think this position will push me outside of my comfort zone, and force me to grow and adapt, and that's honestly something that I need. Also, I am excited to explore a new region of Japan, having lived in Kansai and Kyushu previously. I am excited to try all the 名物　food from the area, especially all of the seafood, and I hope to take advantage of the inaka-life and learn more about farming and fishing firsthand.

I do have down days, but overall I would stay that I do have net-positive feelings about arriving at my placement and starting my life in Japan. And part of that is due to posts like yours that help me feel less alone and to put my experience into context.

Just one more month to go~~~

OMG

I want to ask so many questions...but I'll wait. I'm still waiting on an email from my CO that will hopefully give me more info. 

But it's nice to hear that there will be a support system, and that my position seems like it'll be super rewarding and challenging. 

Also, I've been cruising the #陸前高田 tag on instagram, so I'm not surprised by the food stuff ;D

Edit: Wait i will ask one question: how long is the bus to Sendai?

i've skimmed through a lot of this and there's a lot of talk about inaka vs urban placements. everyone is always a bit worried about inaka placements and i think that's fair. i think i would have been too.

but i have been lucky enough to live in the middle of kyoto for 4 years now. it's a wonderful place and i got plenty of awkward looks and reactions from people at tokyo orientation when i told them where i was going and how i maybe "stole" their placement preference.

anyway

living in the city has been great, but let me talk about some of the downsides of living in a city too


1. too convenient
it's super easy to spend money. if you're like me and need to save, and need to send money home, and just aren't good at budgeting, this can hurt. people in the inaka have many more opportunities to save money. also higher rents etc.

2. cities are cities, and there isn't much difference between them, while countryside regions can have their own unique 魅力.
even living in kyoto, kyoto just feels like a city. it just feels like a city in which i live. sure it's different, and there's tangible history everywhere which is awesome, but ultimately i don't spend my weekends meditating in some temple garden, or drinking sake from a saucer with my shrine maiden hulemdos or anything. it's just a city, and there are similar cities with all the convenience they provide all over japan and all over the world.

3. what does my work really count for?
is a question i have asked myself before. i have very much moulded my work to fit me, and myself to fit my work, but there are times in which i feel that there has been so little opportunity for me to feel like i've contributed. most of my work is translation, or interpreting, and although i have met plenty of very cool people, gone to america on a business trip, and learned a lot about a lot of things through translating, none of this has really affected many people on an individual level. i have my things that i feel proud of, and a real sense of achievement with some, but a large urban placement will just never offer the same sense of "identity" as what i imagine an inaka placement can provide.

4. the city is busy, and i'm no longer a 留学生
living in tokyo was amazing when i was on my study abroad. i had in my mind before coming that JET would just be a replay of all the silly things i got up to with my hulemdos in tokyo, but now this time with a salary!
but it's not always like that. i would go out and slam back drinks with hulemdos every friday and have so much fun, but then i still need to go to work on monday, or take the crowded bus to get around, or squeeze on to the train to osaka or something. i feel like i have kind of fallen into that "salaryman trap" a tiny bit, and i have no hobbies apart from nawty banter and playing video games at home. i imagine an inaka placement to offer much more in terms of freedom, ironically, or at least forcing me out of my comfort zone.

5. complete anonymity
maybe this is similar to 2. i have enjoyed my JET experience so much, for the most part, but when i hear about people living in the inaka, being invited to festivals, hanging out with locals, being given vegetables for free by the obaachan nextdoor, etc etc, it's something that i know i'll never really experience ever in my life.

JET is the only way you will ever realistically get to live in the middle of nowhere in japan, really feel part of a community, and perhaps make hulemdoships and bonds that last many years. a lot of people move to the city after JET for work anyway, so there is that opportunity to get out if you don't like it. however, a part of me is a little sad that i won't be able to enjoy those kinds of relationships, and i'm a little sad to say that i've not really made any meaningful hulemdoships with many japanese people since being here.




living in the city has been great for having fun, travelling around the country, seeing hulemdos, but it hasn't perhaps challenged me as much as i could have wanted. looking back and listening to others talk about their rural placements, there is a slight pang of "huh, what if" that goes through me. i think on paper i would have disliked the idea, but who knows, maybe i would have loved it too? the city doesn't really challenge you, or broaden your horizons, or offer you something different from your 留学 experience. maybe you want the exact same experience as your 留学, which is kinda what i was like, but remember that it will never be the same anyway.


that's just some personal thoughts on the matter from an urban perspective.

Pro tips for making hulemdos in the inaka (or the city I imagine):

DO A THING.

Seriously, don't make your life all about work and saving money (Jesus that would be awful). If you're thinking that your budget is not going to allow for much wiggle room for whatever reason 1.) Make a budget spreadsheet and 2.) Spend your first month or two scoping out your area for things you might want to do.

In my case, I spent hours on the interwebs looking for a boxing gym so that I could continue training as I was on my uni's team. I happened upon a martial arts gym reeeally close to my apartment one day and got lucky cause it's the best place ever. If I had to pick a second home in Okinawa, it would be my gym. An added bonus of having a hobby like martial arts is that it draws a younger demographic inherently, simply due to the nature of the sport, so I don't have to worry about suffering through a hobby with stuffy old inaka folks. Because I keep a tight budget (and have from pay check numero uno) I have since been able to invest in other hobbies that are not cheap, but for a while, the 1man per month I paid to my gym was my only big time leisure expense.

I think this advice works for both inaka and city placements. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to each. For example, city placements will probably be able to offer a wider variety of activities. While an inaka placement might offer less variety (i.e. you may not be able to find a modern dance studio), the inaka offers perhaps a more unique experience. As CaptainSeery brought up, sometimes there are problems with making real hulemdos. I think this is because a lot of us are coming to Japan and leaving behind hulemdos and family who we have known for years and consider to be best hulemdos or whatever. The fact is, you're probably not going to be able to find that exact sort of relationship in your placement. That is not to say that you can't make really really good hulemdos. These are just things to consider and prepare yourself for.

So, TSUMALI, find something you like to do and people you like to do it with, and don't be afraid to spend a little money on it! Also, don't be afraid to STOP doing a thing if you don't like it or if there's 嫌な奴 that you just can't fuking stand! Just make sure you do a thing! Doing a thing is awesome! Don't forget to find a thing, and do it!

Yes, this! Even in the deep deep inaka there is SO MUCH going on if you look for it. If I didn't have taiko I would go crazy.

Hm, according to my mom it actually got easier when she had kids because she could behulemdo other moms with young kids/hang out while the kids play together etc. Church was also a big help for this apparently.


Then again my dad's hulemdos are mostly just the husbands of my mom's hulemdos, and they're probably not as close, so maybe it's more of a gender thing?

I sort of think this sometimes but then i also wish i was in this kind of city but also near to the TOKAI places/a shinkansen or something

I think I would prefer living in a small city. I genuinely liked Hondo, a city of about 40,000 and the center of Amakusa. The only issues I had with it were A) too far from anything else and B) no movie theater. But in terms of daily life and as a place to live it was great - everything was close, it was inaka enough that everyone was super chill, there were plenty of options for things to do. Current city of ~23,000 feels much much much smaller.

(Although to be fair I think the only reason Hondo is as great as it is is that it's the only city of any size for at least an hour and a half in all directions. I doubt an average city of that size would have an Aeon or a Uniqlo, even one as small as Hondo has. It's kind of a hub for the area.)

So, yeah, my ideal placement would be a small city within an hour or so of a big city.

This is super late, but I'm actually a new CIR from New Orleans! (I'm not in Island Root though)

ohhh. wow.

my KA won't be impressed by this. I will not mention you exist haha.

our sister city is new orleans. I dont know if youve ever heard of it on the new orleans side. Mayor and peeps are going to new orleans tomorrow as well.

TrickPhoenix 

...just belatedly realized there was a whole thread for this when I just did an effortpost about placements in the はじめまして thread hue


(though apparently it hasn't actually been used for 2 years)

maybe my successor will be on here...! (I mean Raulsen was so maybe we'll go 2 for 2)