I headed to Chicago early Saturday morning for my JET Program interview. I rolled into town with plenty of time to check into my centrally-located hotel, changed into my snazzy black skirt suit and grab a two-hour lunch with a friend (and his mom) from my study abroad program in Nagoya, Japan. I made my way, leisurely-like over to the Consulate, right off the Magnificent Mile--how perfect is it that Japan's Consulate is right next to the biggest consumer thoroughfare outside of New York City?--and headed up to the Japan Information Center which I knew quite well from my visit over the summer.
I arrived plenty early to chat with a few other interviewees, ask some questions of the desk workers (who were former ALTs) and generally calm down a bit before I went into the first portion of the interview at 4:25.
The interview was everything that I expected it to be presented in a totally different format. I was lulled into a false sense of security talking to the panel in English about the questions that I'd come to expect from reading hundreds of forum posts on the topic (Why JET? Why CIR? What if...?). I actually really liked the people who interviewed me, and whatever they choose in the end I will maintain that the English portion of the interview was a good experience. The Japanese portion, however, was another story entirely. I had been waiting for the English part to really throw me off-guard with tough questions but it was the simple act of reading some short passages that really got to me in the next portion. I sat in a room with a very old Japanese woman who called me out on my etiquette (apparently it's extremely rude to hand a paper back to someone backwards. Who knew?) and reprimanded me for not answering in full sentences (back to third grade reading comprehension tests, anyone? The answer is "David" whether I says "David" or "It was David."). I was already stressed out because I couldn't even read many of the words on the page for the second passage, let alone answer questions about them, so I did my best to apologize for my errors, tell the interviewer that I would remember her advice about handing people papers and bowed before making my way out. I was very shaken, which I'm sure is the point of the exercise. In retrospect, I could've been more diplomatic than afraid, but I did what I could and that's all I could do.
Fortunately for me, unlike some participants, I have other options on the table. Although getting the CIR position would be an amazing honor and a great experience, it's not the only experience I'm banking on. I'll let you all know in April how it turns out!
