To the Young Foreigners Working as ALTs

Abby, a great helping hand for my blog, is leaving Japan this summer. I'll miss her a lot, but I won't stop her from leaving because she needs to leave. She is so talented and her ability wants a greater field to work. It's time for her to find another place or field that needs her, or, to follow and deepen her vision.

I worked with many ALTs. I learned a lot from them, not only English. You jump over the borders so easily to the other side of the Earth. You are open-minded to accept a quite different culture. You are positive and active in many things here. I enjoyed working and talking with you, young foreigners.

But some of the ALTs I worked with seemed not to be interested in children , or bored in teaching. You may say your aim here is not working or teaching. We, Japanese teachers know that you are not trained as teachers, but we expect you are interested in education, or you like children, at least. And we see you as co-workers, not as guests.

To tell the truth, the work as an ALT is boring, I think. You are talented and curious, but your work is not always creative. You have to repeat the same dull things many times. Sometimes you are like a CD player, sometimes you have nothing to do in class. When you are not going to be a real teacher, all these things seem to mean nothing, I guess. I feel sorry about it.

The JET program started nearly thirty years ago, I think. The reason why Japan started the program is that we had too much foreign currency holdings in those days. Japan was expected to decrease it, and the program was one of the ways to use money. So it was not the idea of the Ministry of Education, but of the Ministry of Finance! So the program was a little strange for us from the beginning.

A New Zealander I worked with once said, " What a stupid program this is! Business class flight, gorgeous hotels, and more pay than Japanese teachers... to us, just young English speakers. We enjoy the life here for one or two years like a vacation and leave. It's no use for your English education. One of your problems is the English ability of the Japanese teachers. When you have this much money, you should send the teachers abroad to study English. Then it works for a long time. But this is a good program for us. We are lucky. Thank you!" I'm sorry, but I almost agree with him.

I want to say one more thing. Many of the ALTs are the people sent by the JET program, but there are ALTs who are hired by personal service companies. Their working conditions are far worse and the pay is far less. They have no chance to communicate with other ALTs or learn about their jobs. I once worked with one of those ALTs. She was one of the best ALTs I worked with, but she was dismissed by the city and she left. JET ALTs, you are so lucky, and please be friends with people in other situations.

However, I see many good points in this program. Children can have a chance to talk and live with foreigners and to know they are the same human beings. For children, you are the windows opened to the world. (It's a problem, however, that all of you are English speaking Western people.) Children listen to real English and know the power of language as a tool of communication. Also, many of you young foreigners live near us in small towns and villages all over Japan and learn our local lives and cultures. On your TV or newspapers, most of the news from Japan must be about Tokyo or the big cities, I think.

Some of you will finish your stay and go back home this summer, like Abby. I hope you enjoyed your days in Japan, and get interested in our life and culture. Please be ambassadors between your people and our people. As this many young ambassadors start working for understanding each year, we can understand more, and some day we can make better world.

Good luck, young people!

Thank You for Your Comments

I'm happy to know you are interested in my blog.

To Abby,
I always check the producing districts when I do shopping. You can read them on the packages or the notices on the shelves. (I'm sorry but they are written in Kanji.) Some supermarkets have a place for the local products JA shops usually sell the local products. And on the roadside, you can sometimes find small shops to sell local products. For example, "Nanairobatake" and "Nonkimura" in Tatashina-town, near Ysuruya. I will tell you the best way to get the local food. When you walk beside a vegetable garden, say hello and give some ompliments or ask some questions on the vegetables to the garden owner working there. I'm sure you can get some fresh cucumbers or tomatos. Good luck!

To Hudson,
Thank you for your appreciation I don't know what PEAK OIL is. What is it? How and where can I read about it?

To Pete,
I hope you enjoyed your stay here and you are interested in our culture, both good and not good. And I believe you will be an ambassador to connect both countries and their people Good bye.

To tell the truth, I wrote a responce just after I read your comments and I posted it, I thought. But it has been lost! I can't find it anywhere. So I will publish this as my new blogI'd like to say thank you for your comments again.

LET'S GROW CROPS BY OURSELVES, NOT TO TAKE FOOD FROM STARVING PEOPLE

The price of gasoline is increasing terribly, and it is causing a price increase of other things. The price of crops is also increasing all over the world, and as a result, the poor and starving people are suffering. I've heard that the reason for this is the speculation of crops and oil. This "speculation" is difficult to understand, but it means some companies and individuals are getting a lot of money through the starvation and suffering of poor people, doesn't it? Isn't it evil? Capitalism can do this. There are no rules. People do anything to get money.

The world is worrying about this situation, but they can find no effective ways to change it. Our government seems to have no visions about this problem and is not doing anything to help its people. There seems to be no way to stop this movement or protest it.

My family has a small vegetable garden around our house. When I came to live here, I didn't care about the garden and its crops, but while I was raising my children, I learned about food and farm chemicals. I wanted safe food for my children. Later, I learned that this is a problem not only for our health but also for the environment… for all living things.

Now, my husband grows almost all the crops my family needs, except rice. He uses no farm chemicals, so our crops have to live with weeds and worms. Growing vegetables is hard work, but it's also a lot of fun and joy. He goes to the garden and takes care of the crops almost everyday. When they grow well he seems happy, and when the weather is bad, he worries. In the afternoon before dinner, I walk around our garden and pick some crops while thinking about the dishes for our dinner. I think it's very natural to eat what we can get from our own garden, or from local products. Why do we need to bring food all the way from the other side of the Earth? Why should we have tomatoes in winter? The season's vegetables taste the best. We buy rice from our friend's paddies and get some fish and meat through COOP.

We can live like this because we have a garden and enough time now, fortunately. But it's not enough that only we can get good food. Most of the people have to get food at the stores, and the healthy foods and foods that don't use so much energy and don't pollute the environment should be served to them. Is growing crops for the family a selfish way to live?

No. A few days ago I found the words, "Let's grow crops by ourselves, not to take the food from starving people, not to submit to the countries that have food." I'd like to add one more thing: "not to submit to the evil that makes people starve for money." Why don't you grow vegetables on your verandas and buy local foods?

The Problems of Medical Care in Japan

I watched Michel Moore's "Sicko" the other day. It was very interesting. I laughed and was touched, but over the laughter and tears, I saw horrible images. The worth of life was decided by money: how much he/she can pay for insurance. People believe that the United States is the biggest and richest country, and it considers itself as a leader in liberty and democracy. However, in this movie, Americans didn't seem to be enjoying liberty or democracy.

The show was not in a movie theater, but held by people who worry about the problem of medical care in Japan. Japan is following after the policies of the United States with this issue. So, this movie gives us a chance to see what will happen when we go in the same direction as the U.S.

We have a system of health care insurance in Japan, and it covers all the people, either working for companies or not. However, the system has been changed for the worse many times, and now we have to pay 30% of the money needed for the care. The government is trying to decrease the money for the health care, and it causes a lot of serious problems. For example, people have to pay a lot when they go to the hospital, hospitals need more money, doctors and nurses are working too hard, and some hospitals don't have enough doctors. The insurance companies threaten people who are worrying about their health care costs.

A new health care insurance system for the elderly has started recently. Its name begins with the phrase "late elderly," and insurance tax is charged directly from the old-age pension account of everyone over seventy-five years old. It means that the people who live long have to pay a special tax, instead of being celebrated. It is clear that the old people who live with a small pension will face difficulty. All the old people are angry and depressed about this system.

The government of Japan doesn't want to use money for the health care, welfare, and education, though it uses a lot for weapons, building roads, and so on. In short, this is money to benefit big companies and powers. It seems the same as the U.S. What are the people doing about this problem in the U.S? It seems difficult to change the situation because the insurance companies have a lot of money and power. However, making this movie and watching it is to do something about it. In Japan, the Government's party lost the elections of prefectural council members in Yanaguchi and Okinawa. One of the reasons must be the politics of "the health care system for the late elderly." This could be our answer…