Hello! My name is Alexandra Sebastiano. I’m half American and half Colombian. I grew up in Burlington, Vermont. I was at UVM for five years and graduated in 2017. I double majored in Italian Studies & Asian Studies, with a minor in Spanish. I studied Japanese at UVM for about four years. I unfortunately didn’t have the chance to study abroad in Japan due to financial reasons, but I did manage to study abroad in Italy for my spring semester in 2015 and then travel around Japan for a few weeks during the summer of 2016.
Where did you work? How did you find the job?
I currently work in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture as an ALT on the JET Program. I heard about JET from my friends and professors at UVM. Now, I must tell you that you’ll encounter this acronym everywhere in the JET Program: ESID. It stands for Every Situation Is Different. I will be sharing with you my personal experience on the JET Program but do keep in mind that everyone has a different experience.
What was the interview process like?
The interview itself lasted for maybe only 20 minutes. It went by a lot faster than I was anticipating. They asked me questions like, “If a student were to ask you an uncomfortable question, how would you respond?” “If you were to chose one American holiday to explain to students, which one would you chose?” “What three objects would you bring to Japan that would represent your home?” They also asked me questions that pertained to my personal statement that I submitted to JET during the application process. So, I recommend that you read through your statement and think of how you might answer questions about your experiences. I also joked around with my interviewers to break the ice as well. This may sound cheesy, but I believe that being yourself and giving them honest answers is important. Try not to sound super…rehearsed. It can come off as impersonal and stale.The last portion of the interview was conducted in Japanese. If you check off that you know some Japanese on your application, be aware that you will be asked questions in Japanese. I was asked some simple questions like, “How did you get here today?” “Who came with you today?” “What’s your favorite place in this area (downtown Boston)?” etc.
4) What was the placement/moving process like?
Luckily with the JET Program, they pay for your flight! Hooray! Flying out of Boston, we rode on JAL, which was quite nice. When you arrive at Narita Airport and get ready to board the bus to the hotel, they will ask you which of your suitcases you would like for them to send ahead of you to your placement. I brought two large suitcases, a backpack and a purse. I only sent one of my big suitcases ahead which was a mistake. Looking back, I should’ve had both of my big suitcases sent ahead of me. Just imagine being in Tokyo, during the middle of summer when it’s 90% humidity, wheeling around a suitcase. Not a good time. You pay for the fee of having your stuff sent ahead maybe a couple months after you settle into your new placement. It was about $25 for just one suitcase. As I mentioned above, keep ESID in mind when looking things up about the JET Program. If you’re wondering about the living situation, know that it varies a lot between people. I live in the city and am placed in a 3LDK and as of now, my rent is about $150/month. I then pay utilities on top of that, but altogether it’s still quite cheap compared to almost anywhere back in the states.
5) What is it like to work for a Japanese company/school?
I work at one junior high school and three elementary schools. I find that at the elementary schools, people can wear more casual clothing. There are many Japanese teachers who wear tracksuits to work. However at the JHS, you see that the teachers tend to wear nicer looking clothes. Perhaps nicer blouses, sweaters, skirts, etc. I wear skirts, sweaters, shirts, black jeans (not regular jeans though. For some reason even though jeans aren’t allowed, black jeans seem to be okay to wear). Even though I wear sweaters and shirts, I don’t wear graphic t’s or sweaters that have funky logos and stuff on them.
I eat lunch with the students most of the time while I’m at work. At the elementary schools, there’s a calendar showing which class I’ll be eating lunch with that day. At the JHS, I’m free to choose which class I want to join or if I want to just eat in the staff room. Many schools have clubs after school. I’m part of the International Understanding Club at my JHS. I go there for about an hour on the days that I’m at the school. It’s pretty fun and joining clubs, as well as eating with the students, is a great way to connect with them and create a deeper relationship!
I use a lot more Japanese at the elementary schools because during 打ち合わせ (uchiawase) which is lesson planning time, the teachers and I discuss the plans in Japanese. The level of English at the elementary schools is quite low, as elementary school teachers don’t learn English in order to become a teacher. However, most of my lesson planning is done in English at the JHS, where they have actual English teachers (who are Japanese).
My work week tends to look like this: Monday-Friday around 8:15-5:00 I am at work. Other ALTs I know work 8:30ish-4:00. This is simply because our contracts are different. I’m a municipal (city) ALT, so my contract is different from prefectural ALTs.
There are still certain things I’m trying to get used to in regards to the Japanese work culture. I find that the teachers are extremely busy, all the time. There are times when I miss being able to casually chat with other people at work, because I don’t have much of a chance to do it here. I have been lucky with the teachers I work with because if I have a new game or idea that I think we should try out, they’re quite receptive. I have heard of other ALTs who have a really hard time working with the Japanese teachers because most of the time, the Japanese teachers aren’t too keen on changing things up and prefer to keep things the way they are. It can be a mixed bag really.
6) What is it like to work with the Japanese?
When I first started working, I remember asking the teachers at the JHS for a syllabus of the school year. I was really surprised to find out that none of them had one. Not only that, but that they don’t really use them here! Because of that, when planning lessons we usually go at it week by week.
In America, I’m accustomed to talking about my personal life with friends and the people I work with. In Japan, personal life tends to stay out of the conversation. People may ask you questions about your personal life, but they rarely talk about themselves. I will say though, that I feel quite lucky as the schools have all been very welcoming.When I try and speak to the teachers in Japanese, they’re all very patient and let me take my time in trying to spit out my thoughts.
7) Please share any tips for those who are going to teach in Japan or
have Japan-related jobs after graduating from UVM?
To anyone who wants to teach in Japan or be involved in Japan-related jobs, I recommend that you go into it with the desire to try a bunch of new things and immerse yourself. Try to get to know your Japanese coworkers, go travel, take part in events and make sure to also explore the area you’re living in! Remember to be flexible. You may plan for something but when you come into work that day, it turns out that there’s a different event going on and classes are either canceled or that they’re combining two classes for your English lesson. Go with the flow and you’ll be fine!
Before going to Japan, try to brush up on your Japanese as well and continue to study it while you’re here! If you’re teaching English, remember to try and create those good relationships between you and the students. Get to know what they’re interested in, and maybe try to remember some of their names. You’re not only there to teach English, but to also spread culture as well. Share your culture and learn from theirs as well. 🙂
I’m sure you’ll have a good time!
If anyone has any questions for me about living in Japan or the JET Program, I’m more than happy to talk to them about it. My e-mail is: asebastiano77@gmail.com
UPDATE July 2022
Hello everyone. My name is Alexandra Sebastiano and I graduated from UVM in 2017. At UVM I double majored in Italian Studies and Asian Studies, with a minor in Spanish. While at UVM I did not have the chance to study abroad in Japan, however I did study in Italy for half a year. I feel that having had that wonderful opportunity in Italy did prepare me for living in Japan though. Jobs I am currently living in the sunny prefecture of Okayama. My first job here was as an ALT through the JET Program, which I did for almost 3 years. I taught at 3 public elementary schools and 1 junior high school. After almost 3 years on the job, I felt that it was time to move on and challenge myself with a slightly different work environment. I applied to be a homeroom teacher at an International IB nursery school in Okayama. I was accepted to the school and held the position as a Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher. I did this job for 2 years. It was quite the learning experience and I gained some new skills, especially because I became T1 (head teacher) rather than continue in a T2 (assistant teacher) position. I had to lesson plan, meet with parents, help run events, and ensure that the children were safe and enjoying their school life. After completing my 2 year contract at the nursery school, I began my next step and received several part time English teaching positions at the universities in the Okayama City area. This is where I currently find myself working. I was able to have this opportunity due to a couple of factors: my masters degree and having connections in the universities. If you’re interested in someday working in higher education, I strongly recommend networking (yes, this word is certainly used a lot nowadays but it’s very important!) The more connections you build in Japan, the higher the chances are that you can find other jobs besides being an ALT. Education As previously mentioned, I was able to get my part time job at the universities through two things, one of them being my MA. While I was a JET I found that I had a bit of downtime from time to time. I also knew that I wanted to stay in Japan a little longer so I decided to embark on getting my Masters in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Since school in the U.S. is quite expensive (even online learning), I decided to apply for the online program at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. After 2 and a half years of online learning (part time) and working full time, I completed my Masters. If you want to work in higher education, the minimum requirement nowadays seems to be a masters degree. Just know that your MA does not have to necessarily be connected to English language teaching. Usually if you have an MA, that’s a step in the right direction.
Thanks for sticking around until the end. I hope you found some of this information to be useful. Right now, I’m quite pleased with where I’ve ended up. I’m not entirely sure though how long I’ll be in Japan, but I’m just taking it one step at a time. If you have any questions about the JET Program, international schools, higher education, getting an online masters or just general life in Japan questions, do not hesitate to contact me. My email is: asebastiano77@gmail.com Looking forward to hearing from you and best of luck with whatever ventures you choose! -Alexandra Sebastiano
Update September 2023
Now Alexandra-san is teaching at Okayama University and Nortre Dame Seishin University.