[Gakeincidoniac]

I've edited your text for punctuation and some grammar issues. I didn't change content since that's your business.


My reason for participating in the JET program is to experience the Japanese way of life and to share my culture with the people I come into contact with.

My interest in Japanese culture began around two years ago when I started practicing Kendo. In order to understand my sensei better, I took a course in Japanese language. And from there, my interest in Japanese culture developed. I am by no means fluent. This year, I am sitting the examination for JLPT level three; however, I can maintain everyday conversation in Japanese and am comfortable in situations where the person I am talking to can speak little or no English.

At first, my interest was only in Kendo, but as I started learning the language and making Japanese friends, I was exposed to more and more of the culture and became very enthusiastic about going to Japan. Later, I was very impressed with all of the usual things that get a gaikokujin's attention, the food, the history, the media and things like that. The differences between east and west were always made apparent to me by my Japanese friends I had made in the dojo or a language exchange, and by my non-Japanese sempai who would tell me stories about their visits to Japan. I was fascinated by concepts like the focus on the group rather than the individual, the social hierarchy clearly manifested in the language, and the strong sense of identity as a Nihonjin that Japanese people have. After learning about all of these facets of Japanese culture, I slowly came upon an important realisation.

The concept in most westerners minds about Japan is that it is a place that is completely alien to them, and few really ever take that image any further. If they do, like I have, the differences in the way people do things, the food they eat, the work habits, the social norms and values are all completely fascinating. To someone new to the culture, Japan is a neverending source of new, wonderful, interesting differences that can be experienced. However, focusing on the differences alone can only get you so far. It's my belief that celebrating our differences and recognising the similarites between our societies is, for a foreigner, the starting point for a real understanding of Japan, it's culture, and its relationship with the rest of the world. It is my intention to explore this in my time with the JET program.



This is not just an observation of Japanese culture and western culture, but more a statement about human nature in general. Having been brought up in many different cultural environments meant that looking for the similarities was the only way I could preserve a sense of cultural identity for myself.

I was born in the UK but soon moved to Pakistan, the country of my family's origin. Due to part of our family already settling here, my parents decided to move to London when I was six years old. Three years later, my father decided to work as an expatriate, lecturing at the Riyadh College of Health and Science in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A year later, the rest of the family followed. Moving to Saudi Arabia was a difficult experience, as I was very used to the way of doing things in the UK. However, being ten years old meant that there still wasn't much I had to do for myself. At that point, I was already bilingual (Urdu/English) so picking up Arabic without actively studying the language was quite easy for me.

My parents wanted me to be educated in the British system, and so four years later, they sent me to do my GCSE's at a boarding school in West Sussex. It was here that the combination of being put into another new culture and for the first time having the responsibility of taking care of myself provided for a challenging two years. In London, there is a mix of nationalities and people from all over the world. However, in countryside areas like the area of West Sussex I was in, the population is almost entirely Anglo-Saxon. In a way, this was my first experience of being a 'gaijin' as there was nobody at the school that had the same kind of background as me. This meant that it was difficult for me to integrate myself into or create a social circle. Though I didn't consciously think about a solution, the way I ended up solving this problem was by diving head first into an activity that is rich with history and culture. Namely, the Army Cadet Force under the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment where I reached the rank of Lance Corporal in the signals platoon. This activity had me meeting people from all over the county and I eventually made a wide circle of friends, some of whom I am still in contact with today. Also, in the later stages of my time as a cadet, I was instructing those below me in areas such as First Aid, map reading and leadership.



This is the only real classroom teaching experience I had. However, a lot of the time, the young recruits could be undisciplined and not very motivated. What I found motivated them was relating exciting stories of using the skills I was teaching, and I would imagine that the same kind of approach might work in an English conversation classroom. By sharing my experiences with, for example, a classroom full of Japanese schoolchildren, I would hope to bring to life some of the English they learn so that they have the motivation to learn more not only about foreigners but about the world outside of Japan. I also think it's important to try and relate the subject matter to the lives of the students and would encourage participation from the students at every opportunity. Failing that, especially if it's a very, young group of students and the topic is a bit dull, sometimes, you just have to do something fun with them. This could be teaching them a song or creating a game where they have to use their English vocabulary.

I'm very excited about going to Japan and hope that my experience with the JET program will be a mutually beneficial one. Thank you for taking the time to consider my application.

With Love,

Dave