Tobin Kaestner-Life in Japan
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Hi Everyone,
ようこそ!
Hope this finds you doing well.
These emails will be a way for me to share what life, work, and travel is like while I’m in Japan.
I’m tentatively planning to send these out every other week. Knowing life can get busy, I’ll try to keep these (realtively) short ;)
This first update is about why I’m interested in Japan, how I’ve been learning the language, and what the process of landing the job has been like.
But first...
Why write a newsletter?
To share what I’m learning with friends and family (that’s you) To get in the habit of writing semi-publicly on a consistent basis To feel connected to home To recommend places to visit along the way
My Interest in Japan and Japanese culture
Two influential people in the startup worId I admire, entrepreneur Kevin Rose and Author Tim Ferriss, are serious Japanophiles.
Kevin sparked my interest in Japanese loose leaf green tea, a drink which is hugely popular Japanese culture.
Tim often shares stories from his year abroad living in Tokyo during high school. Hearing about how much he enjoyed his experience, helped motivate my own interest in moving to Japan.
Like a lot of kids, I grew up playing video games on Nintendo handhelds and consoles (though at the time I wasn’t aware of their Japanese origin). Eventually I learned that many of the most iconic video game brands and characters, like Zelda and Mario, were made in Japan.
In high school my family and I traveled to Tokyo and Kyoto. I remember Tokyo feeling just as high-energy and neon-lit as I imagined, while Kyoto felt much more serene, reminiscent of “Old Japan”.
In my final year of college, I became hooked on a Netflix reality show called Terrace House. Through the show, I watched people my age use casual, everyday Japanese. The house members share relatable hopes and struggles around their careers, friendships and dating lives. In the show, a panel of celebrity comedians and actors often give their international audience insight into Japanese holidays and culturally-specific social dynamics that play out on screen. Terrace House inspired me to start learning the language as a hobby, while exploring ways to work in Japan.
Over the last couple years I've made progress with the help of some great resources:
Japanese Language Tools
Japanese from Zero! book series
This is a well paced, very approachable series of workbooks made by a husband and wife team. Co-author Goerge Trombley posts video lessons on his YouTube channel that accompany every chapter of the book, giving extra nuance and real-world examples from his time in Japan.
These apps have been helpful for learning vocabulary words and phrases in short bursts, and memorizing the Hiragana and Katakana writing systems.
How I got the position with Interact
An Assistant Language Teacher or ALT supports a full time Japanese English Teacher by offering conversation practice to students, teaching and pronouncing new words for the class, and sharing American culture.
After researching different organizations, I applied to Interac, the leading private company that hires assistant language teachers around the country.
I applied online, did a screening interview phone call, and attended an in-person interview session in Los Angeles. There, each applicant gave a short, video recorded lesson on English vocabulary that included a short self-introduction in Japanese. A few weeks later an offer arrived in my inbox for a position with the Kansai Branch of the company.
What’s Next?
I’m heading back to LA soon to exchange a certificate of eligibility for an Instructor Visa. In the next few weeks I’ll receive an email about the prefecture where I’ll be living. It will be Mie, Aichi, Ishikawa, or Gifu, all near Nagoya. That’s a huge area on the map, so I’m eager to find out what my surroundings will be like, what I can expect in terms of weather, and how far I’ll be from major train lines. I'm also keeping an eye on the Coronavirus situation as it develops. As of right now, according to both Interac and the US State Department's Travel Advisory, I'm safe to travel to Tokyo in Mid-March.
If you've been to Tokyo and have any great reccomendantions, let me know!
That’s all for this update.
Thanks so much for reading,
Tobin
P.S. You can subscribe to future emails here:https://buttondown.email/tobinkaestner