Boring but informative

This entry is geared for friends and family states-side. My mom recently asked what ESID and ...(teeth-sucking noise) meant. So I thought I'd do an entry about the boring bureacratic side of JET. Here goes:

ESID stands for Every Situation Is Different. This handy catch phrase is used to explain why some JETs have itty-bitty apartments, some have veritable palaces, some pay no rent, some pay high rent, some have loads of vacation, etc. The primary reasons for the differences can be summed up by location and contracting company. In Hyogo prefecture, all Senior High School JETs are hired by the prefectural Board of Education. Junior HS and Elementary School JETs report to their local "city" BOE. From what I've seen, the local BOEs have more money, so JHS and Elementary JETs seem more likely to have houses or larger apartments. Location seems to be the major factor for your housing- rents are higher and living spaces are smaller in the big cities. Essentially, ESID really means "Suck it up and stop whining." Ahem. At least, that's my impression from what was drilled into me at Tokyo and Yashiro. So while some JETs are barely allowed to open their mouths in their English classes, others [like me] are totally responsible for all of their classes, from lesson planning to tests. ESID, indeed.

My Experience: Aaron and I live in Wadayama town, Asago city, Hyogo prefecture. We're in the northern part of Hyogo which is called the Tajima area. Our town has 17,000 people. We're lucky enough to have a Jusco, which is a lot like a Fred Meyers. Without the Jusco there wouldn't be much here. Wadayama is a transportation hub, with 2 train lines, so travelling to bigger cities is pretty easy. Smaller towns are a problem, as we don't have a car. We live in a teacher's housing apartment. Our apartment has two 4 tatami mat rooms upstairs, a small shower room, a toilet room [just big enough for the toilet], a 3 tatami mat sitting room, and a decent sized kitchen. I really like having the toilet in a seperate room, and our toilet rocks! We are super lucky and have a robo-toilet. The seat is heated [fantastic in cold weather!], there are strong or weak flushes, a bidet function, and a bidet-for-lady's-anatomy function. Some robo-toilets have motion detectors and will lift/close their lids for you. Ours isn't that high tech. We are super lucky to have the robo toilet because the alternative is a squatty potty. Yep, a hole in the floor you squat over. Much stinkier and harder on the knees, although I've heard that position is better for your colon.
My school is about a mile or two away. I can bike there in about 10-15 minutes, depending on traffic signals. I have 16 classes per week and am completely responsible for 13 of those classes. I'm pretty lucky in that my English teachers all speak very good English. I am less lucky in that I do most of the work with little advice or feedback from most of those teachers. My school is a low academic school, so they're very lax about using the textbook- in fact, I was told that my classes don't have a textbook. So I try to enjoy the academic freedom; I teach the kids handy slang [crash, cool, kosher, hang out].


...(teeth-sucking noise): Japanese men [I haven't encountered this from any women yet] forcibly suck air in through their teeth to mean "I disagree with that" or "That is not convenient for me" or "mmm, found some mochi between the canine and incisor." I hear this noise all the freakin' time! I thought I would get used to it, but like the slurping of hot liquids, this noise really creeps me out. Maybe in another 3 months I will be immune.

No school today- it's National Culture Day. Sadly, I have finally caught a cold [I managed to avoid the Yashiro bug, and other JET community illnesses], so my culture day entails of napping, reading, coughing, and drinking tea. Aaron is currently searching for noodles at the grocery store- chicken noodle soup tonight! I am super thankful that I got sick on a free day, as taking sick days require a note from the doctor. That's right- if I miss a day due to a cold and want to use my sick pay, I have to go to the doctor and convince him that I was sick a few days ago. I really don't want to deal with more bureacracy than I already do, so let's hope I heal fast. More good news: Friday is a light day for me with only 2 classes.