Placement Patience

It's been almost 7 months now of waiting. Deadlines and waiting. Waiting and deadlines. Each period of waiting is marked by a climactic hurdle, followed by another phase of waiting. Each hurdle offers a glimmer of hope, a carrot on the end of a very long stick. I am almost there. The last hurdle is in sight.

What am I talking about? The JET Program. JET is an exchange teaching program that brings native English speakers to Japan to promote "cultural exchange". I had the pleasure of working for JET a long time ago, in fact, it was my first teaching job. I had a great experience for the three years while I was there. So great, in fact, that I've decided to give it another try.

I applied way back in November. I was fed up with the educational environment I was working in. I was burned out with coaching football. The exchange rate made working in Japan very lucrative and I definitely wasn't getting any younger. So I applied. In my mind, I was at a distinct disadvantage. I wasn't right out of college. JET likes to promote a younger image. I had also been on the program already. I thought they might want someone "fresh"and hip. In the back of my head, I tried to make myself believe that I had positives; I was familiar with the culture, I can speak Japanese, I have teaching experience, and my age would make me a little more "mature". Haahahaaa

Anyway, I waited to see if I would get an interview. I did. Then it was a wait until the actual day of the interview. I bought a CK suit just for the occasion. Stress built in the days before the interview. What would they ask? Would they play good cop/bad cop? Would they ask me things I knew nothing about? Lots of phantom worries that I ended up not needing to even stress about. Afterwards more waiting to see if I was selected. My consulate, Los Angeles, was one of the last to announce. It was painfully frustrating. But I was selected and now the wait for placement is almost at an end.

Where will I go? I'm still not sure. As of today, LA hasn't been notified. Maybe tomorrow? Next week? Who knows. I know where I would like to go. I made the following requests:

1) Fukui
2) Niigata
3) Kagawa

Why? Well, priority #1 was coastline. I wanted somewhere near the ocean. I think that would be cool and a nice change from the dry dusty desert. Priority #2 was snow. The first two places get a crap-ton of snow. Another nice change. Finally #3 was location. Each place is out of the way, but close enough to major cities for convenient travel. Other important factors were things like good food, zen, dinosaurs, art, and the best rice in Japan.

It's been a long wait. I'm tired of waiting. My job is ending, happily. Summer is coming up. I need a direction. Knowing where I might end up will give me a purpose. Then I can start stressing and waiting for take-off.