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2015 JET-MIP ESSAY: TAYLOR-ANNE KIM

DECEMBER, 2015: BREEZE ISSUE #98
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESETAYLOR-ANNE KIM
Mililani High School
Mililani, HI
The JET Memorial Invitation Program was a life-changing,once-in-a-lifetime experience. Just as the U.S. is a melting
pot of world cultures, Hawaii is a melting pot of Asian andPacific people. I’ve grown up with Japanese culture aroundme since the day I was born, simply because it’s embedded
into the local culture of Hawaii. However, determining thingsof Japanese origin may be difficult, and is often blurred by
how we determine things of Chinese or Korean origin.
Visiting Japan, or as some people like to call it here inHawaii, the “motherland,” was an eye-opener. I was able tolearn more about Japanese culture, and then compare real
Japanese culture with Hawaii’s altered version. It was sort offun always thinking about how things were in Japan andthen thinking about how it might be similar or very different
to how things were back home. Some places, especiallyplaces within the Tohoku region, reminded me of Hawaii andit made me feel at home. Although some days felt unbearably hot, I enjoyed all of the time I
spent in Japan. I made so many new friends both within the program and with the many
Japanese students we met throughout the trip.
The efforts that the Tohoku region has taken thus far to rebuild and recover from the 3.11
disaster are amazing. It was amazing to see everyone there was trying their best for the sakeof their hometowns and with a smile on their faces on top of that. I was moved by everyPrivacy - Terms

anecdote I heard throughout the Tohoku tour about the disaster and the measures taken sincethat day to recover. Each person there had such hope for the future; it brought a smile to myface to see everyone working collectively towards a better future.
After coming home from the program, I felt that my Japanese had improved a lot. Even though
there are many native Japanese speakers in Hawaii, I never really took the time to try and talkto them for the sole purpose of practicing Japanese; they always knew how to speak English
and usually preferred just speaking in English. During this program, however, there werecountless times where I had no choice but to speak in Japanese. I think practicing myJapanese and trying to keep a conversation with Japanese people was one of the most fun
aspects about the trip. Getting first-hand speaking experience, I felt, helped my Japanese
speaking skills to improve a lot, even if it was for just a short amount of time. It was fun, andeven became something like that of a game at times when I totally couldn’t say what I wanted
to and had to resort to hand motions and what not.
In Hawaii, taking Japanese as a world language class is extremely common, and therefore
everyone pretty much knows a little Japanese to some extent. Whether it’s a greeting or justsaying thank you, Japanese is not completely foreign to us. “Us” soon turned into “me” when I
landed in LA and was all by myself with 31 other students from all over the nation. It wasinteresting, and very new, to be around people that didn’t grow up surrounded by Japaneseculture. What was normal to me may have been very abnormal for everyone else, and it was
through that that I broadened my horizons and even learned about other states’ cultures.
Before participating in this program, I had an idea of what I wanted to study in college. But
now, after everything I’ve experienced, I know for sure that Japanese is something I want tocontinue studying in the future. While in Japan I noticed that if language barriers didn’t exist
between countries, then it would be very easy for everyone to get along. Even with culturaldifferences, I found that the Japanese people I met were very similar to anyone you would
meet in America. If I can become better at writing and speaking Japanese, then making andmaintaining relationships with Japanese people would be much easier. Even with the otherparticipants, we all had very distinct differences from one another, but Japanese is somethingthat we all had in common and it’s part of what brought us together. Because of this program, I
feel more compelled to practice Japanese because I’ve realized that I’m very privileged to bein this situation where, if I want, I can just go to school or the mall and have a conversation witha native Japanese person.
It was an amazing feeling to act as bridge between two countries. Not only was I able to learn
about Japan, but I was able to teach Japanese people more about America. It was very fun toanswer questions that Japanese people had about America. It was even more interesting tosee some of their reactions to my answers; I’m glad that I was able to clear up some of thestereotypes that they had about the U.S. Just as I cleared up some stereotypes that Japanesepeople had about America, I resolved many stereotypes that the other program participants
had about Hawaii. For example, there is very big difference between being from Hawaii andbeing Hawaiian. Meeting so many different types of people from so many different places was

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the most fun I’ve ever had; I was able to both learn and educate others about my own country.
Making the collages before the program started and bringing them around with us was veryconvenient. It was fun showing other people the place I come from, and it was equallyentertaining being shown the places that the other participants were from.
The time in which we did homestay was one of the highlights of the trip. Not only was I given a
personal tour of some parts in Japan, I got to meet an amazing and extremely welcoming
family. I’m thankful that they were so open to the idea of having me stay over at their houseand spend two days with me doing whatever we wanted to do. I had a lot of fun with my hostfamily, and they were very interested in American culture. Because of this, they wanted me toteach them a little bit of English, and for the rest of my time with them they would use theEnglish words I taught them in the middle of their Japanese sentences.
Everything planned in the program had a purpose, whether it was learning more about
Japanese culture or language, getting to know the other students in the program, or visitingand spending time with Japanese people to make new friendships. The memories I madeduring the JET Memorial Invitation Program are some of my best.
To Taylor Anderson and Montgomery Dickson, words cannot express how thankful I am for theefforts both of you put forth to bring together two countries. Throughout the program, it wasclear that both of you made a lasting impression on the people of Japan. They truly appreciate
everything that you had done for them, and everyone appreciates the amazing examples you
have both made for the future generations to come. What you did in Japan transcended justteaching English to Japanese students. You both forged strong bonds between the U.S. andJapan, which is something I aspire to do in the future as well.

NIPPON THROUGH MY EYES PHOTOSUBMISSION“We’re Always Here for You”
The amount of support that Japan has for eachother seen on the blackboard was extremely
moving, and is what I would like to see in thefuture for the relationship between the Japanand the U.S.

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Breeze #98

JF National Survey

Japanese Langauge Education Update 252015 J-LEAP Report: Kasumi Tago

2015 J-LEAP Report: Tamaki Yoshitome

2015 JET-MIP Essay: Angela Li2015 JET-MIP Essay: Taylor-Anne Kim

2015 JET-MIP Essay: Bridget Keeney

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