Leaving on a JET Plane

On July 29th, I got what I had wanted for so many months. JET finally called, and I was offered a position on their shortlist.

If you're reading this, you probably heard me talking about JET the last time you saw me, but you might not have known what I was going on and on about. Simply put, JET is an acronym for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. The program's goal, much as the name suggests, is to facilitate an exchange of cultures by hiring native English speakers to assist with foreign language teaching in Japanese schools. (That's a roundabout way of saying internationalization.) Getting into the program is a long and competitive process because the perks, when compared to those of other programs or the eikaiwa, are quite good. A JET position is recognized as the crème de la crème of English teaching jobs in Japan, and only a small percentage of hopefuls are accepted each year.

I was a hopeful who had given up all hope of getting in. In April, I was notified of my status as a JET “alternate” and effectively waitlisted by the program, left wondering whether or not someone would drop out and, by doing so, create a spot for me. JET is all about waiting—the application process begins in September, spanning a minimum of seven months—but those last few months were the very worst for me. It's very hard to keep the hope alive, you see, when others start to get upgraded. Waiting for the call becomes a mind game if you can't distract yourself. (These past four months, I nearly had a heart attack every time I heard my phone ring.) By July, most of the upgrades had already happened, and I was busy applying and interviewing for other jobs; JET had become an impossible fantasy in my mind. But somehow, at the tail end of July, the week after the first batch of JETs had already left, I got the call I had waited eleven months to get—the call I had dreamed of ever since that stupid fortune cookie wished me “a good journey”. For so long, I had wanted that particular non-fortune to come true; when it finally did, I felt like I was still dreaming.

Of course, I immediately accepted the job; reality kicked in later. Now, I'm just left waiting for the very last step—next Tuesday, I'll show up at the airport, get on my JET plane (bad pun, I know), and fly west to the Far East.

So that's the story, in short. The last few months have been tough for me—the last year, really—but it's over now, and I have something to really look forward to. I'm sad to be leaving my family and friends, but I'm excited, really excited, for the first time in a long time. More than moving to a foreign country, I'll be living on my own for the first time, paying my own way and creating my own life. I'm nervous, yes, but I'm more than ready to do this. It's way past time to set out on a new adventure.