The post-graduation perspective

I am very American. My father's family has been in the United States since the 17th century, has fought in every major war and is as American as apple pie. But on my mother's side, rice farmers and shakuhachi musicians abound. My other half has its roots in Japan.\nDespite my mother's best efforts, I have grown up American, the stereotypical laid-back, beach-going Californian. I was Asian in name only, something of which I have been secretly ashamed. I vowed to someday do something to remedy the situation, but someday always seemed a long time away.\nLast year with the prospect of graduation looming, I was in a mild panic, not knowing what career path would offer the best means of feeding myself and keep the specter of student loans at bay. A friend of mine had taught English in Korea a few years ago, so I went online to investigate that possibility and discovered the Japan Exchange Teaching program.\nThe JET Program seemed like just the godsend I had been looking for. It offered travel, excitement and a means of avoiding the cutthroat world of journalism for just a little while longer. Best of all, it paid a ridiculous amount of money, so I would be immersed in Japanese culture while earning $36,000 a year. Not a bad thing for a footloose IU graduate.\nThe application process was not difficult but required a mountain of paperwork. It was, in fact, much worse than applying to grad school. The legendary Japanese bureaucratic love of paperwork was evident. Fortunately, applications were sent out in September and were not due until December, giving all but the most dedicated procrastinators plenty of time to scramble together letters of recommendation and passport photos.\nWorse than the paperwork is the waiting game. I did not hear back from the JET offices for more than two months, finally getting a call in February, asking me to interview in Chicago the following week. Then there was more waiting as the predetermined notification date came and went with no word. I finally broke down and called the office, only to be told that letters of notification had been mailed that day. I was also told to pack my bags, I was going to Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher!\nBeing half-Japanese and a Californian, I assumed I would acclimate to the situation with a minimum of effort. Sashimi? No problem. Trains and buses? Cakewalk. Bath houses? No biggie. Spiders the size of tarantulas that spin webs large enough to snare the neighbor's puppy? Uh oh.\nIn the concern about nudist bathing facilities and raw fish, someone forgot to mention that a bottle of 100 percent Deet is your best friend when living among rice paddies. The insipid Japanese bug repellent just seems to season foreigners to the local insects' taste. What is needed is some \nDeep-Woods Deet, the kind that gives people cancer just by looking at it and probably means their kids will be born with three eyes. Good stuff.\nI wish I had been told that because my third week in Japan, my ankles became insect appetizers. Evidently, I am allergic to the little suckers because my lower legs turned purple and swelled. Concerned friends rushed me to the hospital when I could no longer walk.\nOf course, I'm partly to blame as I chose the backwoods of Japan. I requested the Tohoku (Northern Japan) region because my grandparents were from the north, and I take getting back to my roots seriously. It is the most beautiful area of Japan, full of rivers, tree-covered mountains and green rice paddies. I also heard it would be cooler in the summer, something that I now question.\nThe heat and humidity of Japan makes Indiana look arctic. There is no escape from it anywhere as both my apartment and my schools have no air conditioning. My office swaps air conditioning stories like fishermen describing a 20-inch trout. "My high school in Los Angeles had air conditioning and central heating. And we didn't need it!" That always elicits envious sighs.\nI'm not too worried about the winter, as I've already gone through a trial by ice at IU. My first winter in Bloomington was a learning experience that left me constantly slipping, bruising various parts of my anatomy and staring in blank incomprehension at my iced-over car. The California psyche does not come hardwired with the knowledge of what to do in case of frozen water. I just hope the lack of central heating in Japan won't result in the headline, "Assistant language teacher found frozen. Lack of insulation, central heating suspect."\nIn my two months in Japan I have been pleasantly surprised by almost everything except the humid summer weather. My apartment is large, by Japanese standards. Two rooms are floored with rice-straw mats called tatami, for a traditional look. Best of all is something that makes me the envy of the other assistant language teachers: The apartment comes equipped with a western-style toilet with a heated seat!\nHaving an actual flush toilet was a great relief as I had a nasty childhood experience with my aunt's Japanese-style toilet (a hole in the ground, literally) and a pair of toilet slippers that went missing one night.\nThe schooling system in Japan is a little different than I expected. I had heard horror stories from some cousins about uniform inspections that result in dire punishments. My cousin Keiko, who has naturally curly hair, had to bring a baby picture to school in order to prove that she didn't have a perm! I'm glad to see a certain amount of individuality is now allowed, but some schools have taken it to extremes.\nMy two schools are Senmaya High School and Ohara Technical High School. Senmaya is an academic school, meaning they bow to the teachers before and after each class and the girls' socks have enough elastic to stay up on their own. Ohara is another story, with kids shaving each other's eyebrows in class and jumping out of windows. A typical Ohara student's hair is blond, eyebrows are practically invisible and girl's socks are so baggy that they are glued to legs, the height of cool in Japan.\nBetween my two schools, I am exposed to every extreme behavior imaginable, and I enjoy every minute of it. From the girls who yell "O-hayo" with their special wave, the punks who wouldn't last 10 minutes in an American school, to the shy ones who refuse to answer questions in class but ace every exam, they are all part of my cultural learning experience.\nWill being a participant in the JET Program help me improve my tenuous grasp of the language and become a little more Japanese? Maybe, as the program is what you make of it. But even if I never become versed in Japanese etiquette and my language skills remain feeble, it's still a good opportunity to see the world and pay off a few student loans at the same time.\nJET Program participants must hold a college degree, be younger than 35 years old and be interested in Japan. Applications are available from the Consulate General of Japan in Chicago. For more information.