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Post by Leilo on Jan 14, 2020 9:03:52 GMT 9
Hello All! I just got confirmed for my CIR interview in the US at the end of the month. I saw in the 2019 that a current CIR is working at a performing arts center and I was wondering if anyone had any information on that? I am studying theatre, so doing international coordinator work for performing arts is my dream and I am wondering if there is a way to ask about it in the interview? I think dr. pussy popper will be the one to tell you the specifics, but unfortunately I don't think there's really a way for CIRs to ask for a specific office placement. I also think performing arts centers etc. are rare, because Jelly's case is the only one I've heard of from another CIR. There isn't a way for CIRs to request a BOE, international association, arts center etc. -- we can only put out preferences for our location. (And even then, most people end up far away from their preferences.) Also, the people who interview you are not the ones who will decide your placement, so even if you ask them or tell them you want to work in an arts center I don't think they can do anything about it. I think it could be good to talk about your passion for arts or theatre and how you want to incoorporate that in some exchange events etc., but I would also be careful. If you talk too much about it they might think that your goals are more orientated for that, rather than international exchange/relations so that could work against you.
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Post by Sparkles on Jan 14, 2020 11:17:30 GMT 9
Hello All! I just got confirmed for my CIR interview in the US at the end of the month. I saw in the 2019 that a current CIR is working at a performing arts center and I was wondering if anyone had any information on that? I am studying theatre, so doing international coordinator work for performing arts is my dream and I am wondering if there is a way to ask about it in the interview? Hi, and welcome to the forums! :)
The tl;dr of my response is: Rather than ask about it at the interview (because as Leita said there probably won't be a correlation between that and your placement), I would recommend talking about how you want to use your studies/passion/dream to get involved in your local community/placement (and maybe how you hope the skills you want to develop as a CIR will transfer to your dream of coordinating performing arts internationally/ideally between your home country and Japan). Even if you get placed somewhere that doesn't initially seem to line up with your dream, it's possible that there will be opportunities waiting to be discovered (or made!) that will help get you there! You can try to use your position or your place in the local community as preparation to springboard into that kind of work in your post-CIR life.
I didn't study theater, but I very much enjoy it as a (kind of intense-level) hobby and mentioned it in my original application -- I said one of the things I wanted to do wherever I was placed was get involved in local performing arts/local theater and was asked a little about it in my interview. In my placement at a 県庁, I was able to get involved with the annual traditional performing arts festival by making fri.ends with people in the 文化振興課 -- I was in the 国際課 and didn't work with them directly at first, but I had been asked for a translation or two by them in the past, and after I expressed a strong interest in what the work they were doing, I was able to get more involved in lots of arts and culture stuff, including doing English supertitles, pamphlets with illustrated explanations, and whatnot for the festival (plus free tickets, haha). I also got involved on an amateur level in the wider community by doing a musical with ALTs, where I played some minor roles and created Japanese supertitles so we could show coworkers/students/non-English-speaking fri.ends (and now in my post-CIR life I'm enjoying participating in another amateur musical with Japanese people).
I was also lucky in that my placement was near Tokyo, so I could go to shows and start making fri.ends there, including a couple non-Japanese people who work in or are trying to break into the industry -- and they're starting as, say, the lowest-ranking member of an 演出部 of a small theater production company. This isn't exactly the international performing arts coordinator work you seem to be dreaming of, but just an idea of what I've heard of people doing. (I'm not necessarily aiming to get into the industry myself, but showing up and starting conversations with similar-minded people can build relationships that can be fun because of your shared interests but also help get you in or connect you to other people later. Professional/paid performing arts here can, in my impression/experience, be a bit insular/hard to break into.)
Even if you're not placed near a big city, there's often multiple performing arts groups of some sort in every region, including some that go on international tours/have international ties (even though they're not technically professional and/or paid groups)! Taiko and yosakoi in particular are two types that exist practically everywhere, are easy to join, and offer domestic and potentially international opportunities. Again, it's not necessarily what you're studying or aiming for, rather ideas that I hope can help you brainstorm how you might want to get involved regardless of placement.
Best of luck with your studies and CIR application!!
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Post by dr. pussy popper on Jan 14, 2020 14:04:34 GMT 9
Well, I work in a performing arts center, which I guess is kind of weird. My official CO is the municipal office of a city, but I actually work 20 minutes away in an onsen resort town ^^" My work entirely depends on who the artists who come to stay at our artist-in-residence program are. If they're foreigners, then I basically spend every single day with them helping out with their project, interpreting, showing them around, brainstorming the project, etc. But that's kind of rare. If they're Japanese, then I might be asked to help out with the performance itself through the ticketing office, help desk, making announcements, etc. (behind the scenes stuff). Otherwise I do translations for our website and Facebook and manage all correspondence with applicants from abroad. Sometimes I'll be informed that a foreigner will be coming in for a tour of the center or just coming to town to do something, so I'll be asked to show them around and explain everything. I haven't done it yet, but in a couple months I'll also be attending some international performing arts conferences with the program director so that we can advertise our center and network with other big artist-in-residence programs. I don't teach English for work (most people have a pretty good grasp of it since they deal with foreigners all the time hue) but I do volunteer for an eikaiwa-esque thing on Fridays. And otherwise I participate in other programs at the center like the music and dance classes as like...advertisement, I guess. **I do not have a predecessor so my job really isn't clearly outlined. I get new responsibilities all the time as people get used to me being there. I also get requests from outside the office after more people get to know who I am/I gain a reputation/ etc. Hello! I’m actually applying this year so I should be posting in the 2020 thread, but I found this and was curious how did you get connected with a performing arts center? I am studying theatre and so doing work like this is my ultimate goal for the future, but I didn’t know there were opportunities through JET. I have my CIR interview on the 31st, so if you have any advice on how to get placed in a place with a lot of interaction with the arts, I would greatly appreciate it. Sorry dude, it’s a ESID. I didn’t get to decide my placement, although me also having a theater background probably is what put me there. That being said, you don’t want my job. My office is toxic and abusive, and I am not allowed to do anything that actually has to do with the arts. I am being transferred to a different office in April. |
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Post by hohoEMIsen on Oct 23, 2020 13:41:06 GMT 9
I received a placement for 徳島県 as well! (No specific city or anything yet.) I never had the chance to visit SHIKOK when I was in Japan before so I'm pretty excited. Hi, sorry I'm a little late but hello from next door!! Edit: I also like petting curry and eating cats eating curry and petting cats. |
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