The Japanese view of World War II.

I once sat in on a High School History class in Japan, 

The teacher asked me to talk about how Americans Understand World War II, It was.. .awkward, but I was prepared for it.

Teacher: "Did any of your family serve in world war two?" 
Me: "Many of them about a Dozen. My grand father served in Normandy." (Everyone is impressed) Teacher: "He helped stop the Nazi's he was a hero." 
Me: "I suppose. But he never talked about it much." 
Teacher: "Did any of your family fight in the Pacific? Did any die?" 
Me: "A few yes, My great Uncle was killed on the Arizona." 
Teacher: "That's very unfortunate. How do Americans think about the war?" 
Me: ~Long Pause~ "Most consider it 'the great war' most don't know much about it. many don't remember that we fought the Italians." Teacher: "Why do you and other Americans think the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor?" 
Me: ~Gives a long a detailed explanation of the events leading up to the attack, making it rather clear that I consider it basically a politically pissing contest over who got to be in charge in the Pacific.~ "But most Americans have no ideal why the attack took place. Most didn't know even at the time..... How do the Japanese view the war?" 
Teacher: "We think that the world collectivist lost its mind. Part of the world believed that you could get what you wanted with force and violence alone. And the other part thought that you could reason with people who believed you could get what you wanted with Violence." 



To this day that is the Single best explanation of world war two I have ever gotten...

Japan, Weather and Wild Life.

Japan is by some standards a small nation, about the same size as the state of California. But it is actually rather very diverse in its climate. (Much like California) because of differences in elevation you can have to different climates in the same prefecture.  The town I lived in was much cooler the Hiroshima which was only about 90km away. Because it was at the highest point in Hiroshima Prefecture.

It can snow much later in the year in the Japanese Alps then one might expect. And most of Japan below Tokyo IS Tropical. It will get very hot and very wet in the... well wet season. And like wise if you live in Hokkaido it is very cool and can be very cold in winter.


The wild life is a bit of a issue for some.
The insects are really then only thing that I think might be dangerous. Of coarse giant wasps and Centipedes should be watched out for, there are also some spiders that are worth noting. Over all the best bet is to do some research on the area you are going to.

Dancing bear, A.K.A. Genki

For those not in the know.
Genki, is a Japanese term which translates roughly into "High voltage" It is used in reference to people who are highly active and animated. As a English Teacher your going to be told that you need to be Genki.

Now that being said, if there is one term you would use to explain me, it is not "High Energy" Maybe Animated but certainly not high-energy. I can be charming, authoritative, intellectual and funny but for the most part I don't go into high-energy. Throughout my first few months of teaching English my only criticism by my peers and fellow teachers was that I wasn't high Genki enough.

Now why is it important to be Genki? Two fold, #1 they expect it of you to keep the interest of the students. #2 they expect it of you because... your a Giajin, It's simply a stereo-type. So much so that my Japanese co-workers constantly thought I was actually British. (Because of this and my love for long sleeved shirts and suit vests)

We in the ALT group refer to this stereo type as. "Dancing bears" but on the up side, I can say this. After a while the Japanese English Teachers I worked with got over it. Or rather my personality grew on them enough that they understood that my lack of near manic energy was not a problem. If anything I was told by some of them that it helped that I could keep children attention while not having them super hyped up.

And it seamed to be much less of a problem with Jr. High and High School students.
The down side is that, if you cant convince them that it is important... its going to be a sticking point.
To the extent that it caused one of my co-workers no end of trouble.
Now it does not hurt if you actually like your job, and enjoy the time you spend with your children. If that is the case then for the most part your going to do fine.

My schools. (Where you will be teaching)

So one of the questions you're going to ask yourself and your prospective employer is where am I going to be teaching. If you like me are going to be teaching in Japan I can give you a short list of like leaves and then some advice overall. The short list of likeliness is that you're going to be teaching elementary and junior high, you will very likely have multiple schools between five and 10 is pretty standard resource and tell. And you're most likely going to be teaching in a more rural area, thus some say the reports in the city it's just much more likely that you'll be put in a rural area your first year or so.

Using myself as an example I taught at six elementary schools one junior high after one of the teachers in my area had to return home I taught at a kindergarten through high school private school. The elementary schools run a once every two-week rotation and the junior high and private school from Monday and Friday.