**Note: I originally typed this entry on February 15th, 2011, which was the day of my interview. So this is like a post from the past (*insert ominous sounds*) oooooooooh….

My interview was at 10:30am on a Tuesday at SFU Harbour Centre. Very convenient location considering that was the university I went to for my degree. First you will go to the reception desk and hand them the documents that you have filled out at home (the one that they attached to your acceptance letter via e-mail). Then the receptionist tells you where your interview room is, and tells you not to go there until 15 minutes before your interview. There’s a chair for you to sit and wait outside the door. Some people went there really early (like 1 to 2 hours early), and there’s really no point in doing that. I showed up 30 minutes earlier and even that was a bit too early.

There was a particular person who was also interviewing that day that I thought was dressed a bit ridiculous. A tall Caucasian man, wearing this kind of modern black and white take of Chinese traditional clothing with these black flared spandex-like type pants. No. Do not do that. Get a suit, okay? As for girls, I saw someone wear kind of a summer skirt with pastel purple and beige. I’m not sure how appropriate it is for an interview like this, but, it looked nice on her. To be safe, wear black and white!

I remember my friends who have applied to JET before telling me that their Japanese professors from their university were part of the interview panel. I thought at the time, “Well, good thing I never took any Japanese courses in university!”. However, when the interview before mine finished and the door opened, one of the interviewers told me to keep waiting. That interviewer happened to be the professor from the only Asian Studies course that I ever took. I got a bit nervous thinking he would start quizzing me on random things that I was supposed to have learned from his class.

Anyway, the interview begins. As you have read in other online accounts of people’s JET interviews, there are three interviewers. One was my previous Asian Studies professor, another was a previous JET alumni lady, and lastly someone from the Japanese consulate. My professor actually remembers me too (well, he said he recognized me but I’m not sure if it’s because he saw my transcript and recognized the course he taught, because I actually skipped quite a few classes and never really talked in his class…). Anyway, he was doing most of the talking and asking of the questions.

The seating arrangement was a bit different than those I’ve read about. The tables were in the shape of a small rectangle. I was at one end of the rectangle, the professor was on the left side, and the JET alumni lady and the man from the Japanese consulate sat on the right side. The JET alumni lady and the man from the Japanese consulate didn’t talk much, but I had to make sure when answering all questions that I looked at them too instead of just facing the left to my professor.

The questions were pretty standard. Now me, along with most of you who stumbled upon this, might have read that there’s a “good cop, bad cop” thing going on in these interviews. I am very thankful that that wasn’t the case with my interview. Everyone was nice and cordial.

Here are the questions I remember that I was asked, and my responses.

#1)
Professor: So you’re packing and you have half of your suitcase empty, what would you bring to demonstrate Canadian culture?

(Actually, this was the first question I was asked. This was a question I’ve been dreading since I did read on forums and blogs that people were asked this. I mean, Canadian culture? I honestly don’t even believe such a thing as “Canadian culture” exists, just that Canadian culture is an amalgamation of different cultures. So despite expecting this question, I don’t think I answered it well.)

My answer: I’m not sure if I’m allowed to bring this, but I think I would bring a real maple leaf. Japanese people are so excited about momiji, so I think they would be excited to see a big maple leaf from Canada, it would help peak the students’ interests.

Of course my professor realized I didn’t really answer the question. And he explained to me that part of this program is to share my culture with the students. He didn’t ask me answer again though, instead he went onto another question.

#2)
Professor: You put that you want to be in a semi-urban area, what if you were put somewhere else that was rural and no one speaks any English?

(I expected this question too, basically you just have to show them you’re flexible and fine with everything that they say.)

My answer: I wouldn’t really mind that, that way I get to speak more Japanese and improve on it. The reason why I said I didn’t want to be placed in an urban setting was because I didn’t want to fall into the trap of meeting a lot of foreigners like myself and get trapped into speaking English all the time.

(Actually, my answer was a bit of a lie. I didn’t pick an urban place because urban places are more expensive to live in and it might be a bit noisier. Well, it’s not that much of a lie actually. It’s a bit true considering I studied abroad in Osaka before and I was surrounded by English speakers that I felt like my Japanese didn’t improve as much as it could’ve.)

#3)
Professor: So you picked Osaka. What if you were placed somewhere else that was hotter or colder?

(Another expected question. Just be flexible.)

My answer: That’d be fine. To be honest, I don’t really mind if I’m in Osaka or not. I just enjoyed being in the Kansai area the last time I was there and it would be nice to go there again. I’m not concerned about the temperature, but the only thing I am concerned about is transportation. I don’t drive, so I thought it might be an issue with getting to work in places that only have one bus every half hour or hour.

(I think after I answered this question, the JET alumni lady scribbled down some notes, maybe she wrote “cannot drive” or something, no idea. It was the only time she ever wrote something)

#4)
Professor: How would you teach 9 year old boys about colors?

My answer: I think that young boys really want to move around in the class. I’d probably get everyone to stand up in the class and start pointing at things and asking each other questions like, “What color is that?” “That is blue”, “What color is that?” “That is red”.

#5)
Professor: What if there’s a boy who won’t participate?

My answer: Well, I understand that I’m going to be an assistant teacher, so I want to ask the teacher of the class what she or he would do in that situation. But if he or she were to leave it up to me, I think I would first pair the students up for English practice, then put them into small groups, then we can come together as a class. That should help that student ease into the situation and feel more comfortable about participating with the rest of the class.

(The JET alumni lady liked that answer. She looked at me and smiled and nodded. Also, they did not ask me for any demo lessons. Such bliss.)

#6)
Jet Alumni Lady: Do you think there will be a difference between your experience of studying abroad in Japan and working there?

My answer: Definitely. To be honest, when I studied abroad there, sometimes it wasn’t even like I was in Japan. Exchange students such as myself lived together in the same dorm, and at the university we were isolated in one building. This time I might be the only native English speaker in the school. Also, after school, I could go out with my friends, go to karaoke and not (I wanted to say “not worry about going to class the next morning” because, that’s what I did sometimes, but I thought that would look badly on me that I do skip classes once in a while, so I quickly changed my answer) worry about paying attention in class (I thought this way, at least I’m still at school. Not paying attention is better than not attending at all, right?). Working full time definitely means that there’s a lot more responsibility.

#7)
Jet Alumni Lady: What is your main weakness? Tell us a situation where you overcame that weakness.

My answer: I tend to overthink things sometimes. So when people ask me for a solution to a problem, I end up having a solution that is overly complicated, not efficient and hence not effective. So now I really try to think of what the problem is, and have a simple solution for it, something that I can explain to people in 1 to 2 sentences. I remember to keep things simple and easily understood.

(I know, I didn’t really answer the question. Overthinking really is my weakness, but I couldn’t think of a specific situation where I overcame it. I knew this question was coming, but I still couldn’t think of anything. Nonetheless I think they were pleased with the answer)

#8)
Jet Alumni Lady: How will you teach Canadian culture to your students?

My answer: I want to teach them that Canada is made up of different cultures. They might see me and feel a sense of familiarity because I’m Asian too, but I want to show them that where I’m from it is completely different from Japan. Maybe I will have a powerpoint presentation, and have a picture of different foods, people and places in Canada. Even a picture of a typical Canadian classroom so that they can see in Canada, our classrooms are filled with many different people from different cultures.

(Oh yeah, they ate this answer up. Pat on the back, yes! Cha-ching!)

#9)
My professor: You can speak Japanese, do you think it can be a disadvantage?

My answer: I tutored English before, but I never tell my students that I know Japanese in the beginning. Usually I only let it come out when there are things that I know I can explain in Japanese well, and that it would be more efficient and effective to do it in Japanese than English. Then they’re surprised and I get a lot of respect, since a lot of them think that native speakers don’t understand how hard it is to learn another language. I would say it’s more of an advantage.

#10)
My professor: What if after your students know you can speak Japanese, they don’t speak English to you anymore?

My answer: I had that happen before. Then I just pretend that I don’t understand Japanese again. And I say “What? Sorry, please speak English to me. My Japanese is really bad”.

#11)
(The Japanese consulate man only asked me three questions. I think his English wasn’t very good. Besides the questions he asked me, pretty much 80% of my interview he had his mouth opened and stared into nothing)

Japanese consulate man: Please introduce yourself in Japanese

My answer: はじめまして。エミリーと申します。大学でマスコミと国際教育を勉強しました。カナダの大学で日本語勉強しなかったけど、一年間大阪で留学しました。私にとって、その経験はすごく大切でした。そして、もしまた機会あれば、また日本の生活したいです。仕事の生活と留学生活は違うことがわかってますけど、その経験楽しみしています。どうぞよろしくお願いします。

(I felt like I shouldn’t have ended it with どうぞよろしくおねがいします but it was either that or いじょうです…)

#12)
Japanese consulate man: 大阪の印象をどうおもいますか？

My answer: 大阪はね、東京とは全然違うとおもいます。人はすごく明るくて、会話もいつも面白いです。ファッションも…すごいですね。　なんだか、一年間そこで留学したから、本当にmy second homeになった感じです。

(Okay, I really shouldn’t have compared Osaka to Tokyo. I don’t know why I did it. I regretted it because the consulate man was probably from Tokyo. But really, Osaka is 10x better than Tokyo. Really.)

#13)
Japanese consulate man: 大阪の好きな食べものは？

My answer: ああ、それは、もちろんおこのみやきです。

(Everyone laughed. But really, it was the only Osaka food I could think of on the spot. They are delicious…)

#14)
My professor: If your Japanese is so good, why didn’t you apply for a CIR position?

My answer: I considered the CIR position, but I thought that my Japanese level is not good enough for it.

Japanese consulate man: ええ？　そうか？　でも日本語上手です！

My answer: いいえ、いいえ、そんなことないです！　(*insert right to left hand wave in front of face*)

(Honestly, this made me so happy. I really did think about the CIR position and how awesome it would be to do it. But I really don’t have a lot of confidence in my Japanese. So to hear the quiet Japanese consulate man randomly say that out of nowhere, I was really super happy.)

#15)
My professor: Did you get any advice about this interview?

My answer: I read a few things online, and I have a good friend who I met when I studied abroad who is doing JET now. He gave me a few tips, but basically just said to me “Just be yourself, you’ll be fine”

(True story. And he told me not to worry too much because I’m a worry wart, re: overthinking weakness.)

The Jet Alumni lady asked a few more questions, but I can’t really remember anymore. In the end you have a chance to ask some questions. Just ask anything, even if you know the answer already. It shows your interest.

All in all, the interview was pretty fun. In the beginning I was really nervous. I think I felt a lot better during the Japanese speaking portion. The expression on the man on the consulate was so funny. He just, has a mouth that never closes, kind of shy, and just stares into space. It’s definitely not as intimidating as other interviews I’ve done before. (For some reason, I felt like I was more drilled in interviews I had for like $8/hour part time jobs than this interview)

Good luck 2012 JETS :)

Yesterday morning I woke up to someone purchasing my tomoko necklace, followed by a slew of private messages with people asking me if I had more. I checked google analytics and saw that my tomoko necklace had a lot of hits, but I was unsure why. Thankfully, one of my customers that day kindly told me that she saw my necklace in her Etsy Finds daily e-mail! I usually only have supplies to make one or two of each item that I have in stock in my store, but luckily this tomoko necklace is one where I carried more supplies for!

I couldn’t be more happy with the feature! I was actually planning on taking a break from Etsy since within two weeks time I’ll be moving to another country. I’m glad that I kept fancypop opened for a bit longer.

With that being said, I will soon put my Etsy on a break. I need some time to get settled after I move, and figure out the postal system there as well as getting used to my new job there. Please be patient, I will be back!

Making ice cream even more fun! @Cuisipro

New summer items from the Japanese brand Urban Research. This season their concept is “relux”, a combination of “relaxation”  and “luxury”.

This is the kind of gift that I would hate to receive.

They are so realistic and beautifully crafted that I would never want to use them, yet find it hard to resist the urge to use them at the same time.

These amazing soaps can be found at soapopotamus’ Etsy store!

She offers soaps in other forms of dessert goodness too, including but not limited to, pineapple upside down cake…

…and sweet, delicious looking cinnamon rolls!

Please check soapopotamus’ store at Etsy for more!

Taken from the Cult Orb Collection from designer’s Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection.  Pink and blue enamel on a rhodium base, with hints of gold and swarovski crystal accents.

View the necklace here.
Visit Vivienne Westwood’s site.