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2014 JET-MIP REPORT: JAY GILLISSEPTEMBER, 2014: BREEZE ISSUE #83
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESE

JAY GILLIS
Las Vegas Academy
Las Vegas, NVMy visit to Japan was not my first international venture,
however, it was the first time I left the country for thepurpose of study. Although I had a dream prior todeparture about going to Japan and becoming a MagicalGirl, that, regrettably, did not come to be. However,traveling as a student, I believe, allowed me to recognize
and identify aspects of a culture different from my own
while I enjoyed a trip to Japan.
So thank you Japan Foundation and Lin-san especially!
To begin, Japan is a country dominated in equal parts romanticism and practicality. The music, art, andpoetry are probably the most well-known romantic arts and the machinery and social organization being
the more famous of the latter category. And although no judgement is correct without going to the locationand experiencing the events firsthand, I have to say many of my pre-landing expectations andanticipations were not far from correct. The modern Japanese sales-clerk, waiter, or child does not havethe time to wait for someone to dwell on a response, especially not a 6’ foreigner. Not to portray thecountry as uninviting, it’s that it’s not like in an RPG where you can linger for a while trying to decide how
to answer. Furthermore, I very much appreciated this. There is no better way to practice the language
you’ve been studying (whereas in my case six years) than being thrown into an unrestricted conversationin which you are expected to be able to fully comprehend and respond in real-time. Arriving in Customs atTokyo-Haneda airport at 5:20am on a Wednesday morning to be blandly greeted and apologized to by aobviously-tired employee was for me a golden learning experience. Of course I’ve had experience withcommands in my time studying, but to finally hear someone request something in Japanese, completely inJapanese and not repeating in English, was something I’d been waiting for. I was a little suspicious withmy eagerness to show the attendant my passport and scan my finger but hearing him speak was theconfirmation that I really needed to let me know I was really in the country I had longed to visit for such along time. Not to make it seem as though every conversation I had in Japan was a cake walk; I personallybelieve that no amount of foreign study can replace going to the country of lecture and experiencing its
amenities first hand. Of course I met people with whom I had a remarkably difficult time communicatingwith and even those whom I was ultimately incapable of speaking with (a 4th grader being among them)Privacy - Terms

but that did not mean I lost all confidence and wanted to end my studies of the language. If anything it did
the exact opposite! I want to continue studying Japanese to gain such a mastery of the language that I
never again have to suffer the embarrassment of saying “gomenne wakaranaindesu” to the McDonalds
cashier or lie and say “jya kikemasen” to an 8 year old just because he uses common slang I’ve simply
never heard before. And while that goal is for all intents and purposes unachievable, I plan to aim for that
platform and see how far I can get. Being selected as a participant in the JET Program would be the mostfortuitous event I can possibly imagine at this point in my life. Being able to reside in Japan and study thelanguage while also being able to teach English to other students and expand their capabilities issomething I doubted was an achievable dream before this program. Now, however, my goals are withinsight.
Being in Japan inspired my desire to socialize as well as study. Awaiting the arrival of my buddy at East
Sendai High School was a nerve-racking 3 minutes. In addition to my worries about my communication
abilities, as the Watanoha Elementary School visit resulted in me LYING to a child whose words I was
unable to comprehend, I was also afraid my buddy and I wouldn't have anything to discuss. My own
personal ice-breaking tactics rely on making jokes, and I still don’t understand Japanese jokes very well.
ON TOP OF THAT, I didn’t expect that my extensive knowledge of both Mahou Shoujo anime and what waslabeled as “bad J-Pop” by friends to be of much assistance either. Boy, was I wrong. The friends I madewere thoroughly impressed by my knowledge of Japanese pop culture (esp. Happiness Charge Precure!,Perfume, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and Shoujo Jidai) and I found it all too easy to initiate conversation. I metbarriers every once in a while, specifically when talking with my host family that spoke Kansai-ben at its
fullest, but I endured. Before these exchanges, while the Japan Foundation informed us of all the ins andouts of the ALT program, I was interested, but turned off by the idea that I wouldn’t be able to relate to thestudents and thus be some boring foreign teacher no one really cared for. After the final exchange, thehomestay, I can firmly assure that I now feel the exact opposite. My friends from all the schools we visited
seemed so excited to talk with me and exchange emails I was a bit taken aback. I felt like an idol,honestly. My continued relationship with all of them via LINE and email makes me feel confident about
going back to Japan alone and being to fend for myself. I could have never gained this confidence without
this program. Thank you again Japan Foundation you held give me confidence and a goal to aim for in life.
Dear Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickinson,
Based on the videos of your time in Japan I feel we are the same in being fun-loving people so I try tokeep this from being overly dismal. I just want to let you two know that you’re my role models, from yourefforts to make it into the JET Program, to your relationships with your students I aim to become an ALT
like the both of you. While you are gone now, I can assure you, though you must surely know by now fromtheir prayers, that your actions touched the hearts of all the people you met. Simply put, I want to do thatto. Not in a self-important manner, I want to help people and have educational exchanges not justconcerning language but all aspects of life. I want to strengthen the bridge you two and all ALT’s, JapanFoundation members, and the citizens of both Japan and America have worked so hard to establish. I wantto lacquer the handrails with knowledge and polish it with mutual understanding. I don’t know if that’s
cliche or just overly complex but it’s how I feel. So please, rest peacefully knowing that your lives have
impacted everyone you knew and even those you have yet to meet.
Yours Truly
Jay (Dekai) Gillis

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NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTO SUBMISSION“Mourning Glories”
A single Morning Glory plant grows at the Ishinomaki
Disaster Site were so many people lost their lives during
the 3/11 disaster. While these flowers can be viewed as areminder of those who lost their lives, it can also be seen
as a symbol of hope, as the denizens of Ishinomaki work
to rebuild their town

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2014 J-LEAP Orientation2014 JET-MIP Report: Darrian Boyd2014 JET-MIP Report: Sierra Dunn

2014 JET-MIP Report: Jay Gillis

2014 JET-MIP Report: Elizabeth Hawkins

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