I had a very Zen moment chatting with an acquaintance the other day, in the food court of the new shopping mall that just opened up in our town. She was going on about how she was pissed off at person Q for saying Y about X when etc etc. Normally she talks heatedly about how horribly her supervisor treats her, or how misbehaved her students are, and I guess it’s a form of venting. I just smiled and replied, “Most things aren’t worth getting upset over,” and bought a double scoop of ice cream. She bought an ice cream cone as well but it didn’t seem to make her any more calm. I wonder if she’ll ever really understand what I meant by that.
Anyway, the mall is a major focal point of the town now, and it’s rare that I’m there on an errand and don’t see at least someone I know. Several of my students walked by, and I waved at them and they waved back. One of my first year students came over and I started chatting with him for a bit, in Japanese. My friend seemed bored for a bit, and then tried to talk to him in English. Of course, he didn’t understand what she was saying; nothing out of the ordinary, but she seemed to take it personally.
After he left, we started talking about students and how even though her high school students studied advanced grammar structures like, “I’m thankful to my parents for bringing me to the baseball game,” they might not be able to actually use or understand some of the simpler ones in conversation. I tried to explain to her that they’re just kids, and if she expected them to speak English she needed to show a bit of patience and try hard to work with them. Eventually she said something along the lines of “but I don’t really care about what happens with these kids, I’m gonna be out of here in a year anyway.” The fact that she actually said something like that was shocking, but the nonchalance with which she said it was appalling. I nearly shouted at her, “These are my students, my kids! Of course I care what happens to them!” I feel a very strong sense of personal responsibility for these kids, even more than the fact that it’s my job to teach them, even more than the expectations that go along with being a teacher here. Outwardly I was rather calm, but the feeling that she was masquerading as a teacher really struck a nerve with me.
The odd thing is that this sort of thinking seems to be more of a widespread malady among JETs in this area. Another person in the next town was venting about how her students were such beasts and how the job was so horrible and she hated Japan. I’m not the confrontational type, so I didn’t say anything. But I wondered to myself why a person like that, who can’t adapt to new situations, who doesn’t seem to have any desire to learn the language or patience to deal with people who don’t speak the same language, who can’t seem to understand that some things work differently here– why would they apply to teach here in the first place? Why? Are they running from something? It troubles me.
There’s a sharp contrast with everyone in the international house at Tohoku. I think it’s safe to say all of us jumped into the program pretty much blind, but we stuck it out, we figured it out. What’s the difference? Was it just a lucky coincidence of highly motivated people?
You’ve done a lot of things in your life that have made me VERY proud of you, but this posting is right up there at the top. You’re a wonderful young man, and your head may be a bit battered lately, but it’s sure screwed on right!
I disagree… I don’t think Jeff’s ever had his head screwed on right.
Anyway, this problem isn’t just something apparent in JET. It’s really a problem with people in their 20s from the US who go to other countries to teach English thinking it would be fun, then getting there and realized OMGOSH! They actually have RESPONSIBILITY! Personally, I think Americans are a lot more easy-going than people from other countries. It’s good in the sense that it makes us… well… easier-going (is that even a word?), but it does take a lot away from the whole responsibility and maturity aspects of life.
Ack, I just wanted to say one more thing. When I went to China, a lot of people told me I acted like a kid. For some of us, outward appearances are deceiving, but I do think I grew up a lot in China… not only because I had the responsibility to teach, but because I was immersed in a culture that had higher requirements on how mature people have to act on the outside. When I got back, I looked at all my classmates (who are usually 2-4 years older than me), and think, “wow, they all act so childish.” Of course, going back to the outward appearance thing, I’ve found some of them to be very responsible people, but some of them really are just big children who need to grow up.
It’s not just a country issue though. The person who said her kids are beasts, well she’s from Australia. I don’t want to go so far as to say it’s a maturity issue (mostly because I don’t know who’s reading this), but people who don’t want to teach, or who don’t want to live abroad, shouldn’t apply to TEACH in JAPAN.
Maybe it’s an acknowledgment of limitations. I wouldn’t apply to run a marathon, because while it would be cool to say, “Oh yeah, I ran a marathon once!” I can’t even run a mile without my lungs filling up with crud. On the other hand, I can say with confidence I have no trouble living in Japan for an extended period of time, and I have enough of a sense of humor to handle a bunch of thirteen year olds. Some people have enough patience and enough tolerance to weather the tough parts and enjoy it– and don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of tough parts. But other people should have stayed at home.
I admire you for what you are doing and for teaching with compassion!
Maybe another part of it isn’t just the willingness to live abroad, but the natural propensity for teaching. As you’ve discovered, teaching is damn hard work and takes a lot out of a person. If someone goes abroad thinking, “I’ll get to see the country and then every once in a while have to teach some stupid class”, they have the wrong attitude entirely. Maybe that is the problem with some of the JETs; they didn’t fully realize what teaching entails. As such, they got burnt out, don’t really give a damn about their students, and just wish they could be left alone to tour the scenery.