Shoveling Cultural Snow

I got sent to Hokkaido on assignment. As work goes, it wasn’t terribly exciting, but I wasn’t in a position to choose. And anyway, with the jobs that come my way, there’s generally very little difference…A photographer and I were to visit a few restaurants. I’d write the story up, he’d supply the photos, for a total of five pages. Well somebody’s got to write these things. And the same can be said for collecting garbage and shoveling snow. It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not – a job’s a job.

For three and a half years, I’d been making this kind of contribution to society. Shoveling snow, you know, cultural snow.

-Haruki Murakami, Dance, Dance, Dance

Obviously from these last couple of posts I am a fan of Haruki Murakami. However, this quote struck a more personal chord. Though I have only been in Japan a matter of weeks, I have noticed a few things about the JET program. Initially this post will come across as somewhat negative, but I implore you to wait for the BUT that leads to the main point! Read on…

The first thing that I’ve noticed is that this really isn’t a difficult teaching job. You team-teach only a few classes a day, and depending on the Japanese Teacher of English that is leading the class, you can play either a very integral role in the class or serve as a glorified tape recorder reading from the textbook.

As I look at the program objectively, it becomes obvious that it would be fairly easy to slack off, do the minimum amount of work required, and collect a good paycheck. If a person so chooses, they can show up for their classes, and spend the rest of the day trolling facebook, searching the internet, or just hanging out at their desks. The program is advertised as a cultural exchange, not a teaching job, so I understand that people come here looking to experience Japan, and that team-teaching is merely a vehicle to bring them here.

This brings us back to the Murakami quote. The JETs that choose to “work” this way – along with any other Assistant Language Teachers working outside of the JET program – are merely shoveling cultural snow. We are assigned to these schools, it’s not always exciting, and it could be easy to take the position that “a job’s a job,” enjoy Japan while you’re here, and just shovel cultural snow teaching English at school.

BUT…(I told you it was coming)

The JET program presents an amazing opportunity for all of us here working as Assistant Language Teachers in Japan. The program gives us all of the tools we need to be successful ambassadors from our home countries, and provides an incredible support system to help us not only at our schools, but in our daily lives as well. To present a cliché, JET sets the table, but we still have to prepare and provide the meal.

I am fortunate that the vast majority of JET participants I’ve had the pleasure of meeting are hard working, passionate individuals that will bring amazing experiences to this position, and will share these experiences with their co-workers and students while providing quality lessons. Whether they are in their first year or entering their final fifth year, I am consistently impressed by the passion, joy, and skill that JET teachers bring to their jobs.

I am going to do my best to keep this Murakami quote in the front of my mind for the duration of my time in Japan. I hope that my experiences as a teacher and a human being coming from a different culture can provide an interesting perspective for my co-workers, students, and my community.

If these first weeks are any indication, there is no way I will be able to give back more than I will receive. The teachers at my school and members of my local community are wonderful people that have helped a complete foreigner to feel comfortable and supported in my time here. I owe them all a giant debt of gratitude. They are the fuel that keeps me excited to come to work each day and motivated to be the best teacher and person that I can be.

That being said, we all owe it to ourselves, our schools, and the JET program to be more than glorified cultural snowplows.