JET Programme Series: One Year in Japan - Michelle Amoroso
2020/10/5
JET Programme Series: One Year in Japan - Michelle Amoroso
One Year in Japan – the first year.
It’s been one year! What?! Already?? Didn’t I just get off an airplane with my fellow Trini JET friends?
I’ve been placed in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Due to my interests in animation, drawing and music, I’ve been rather pleased by my location. To me, Tokyo offers both the lights and sights of a big city blended in harmony with beautiful nature preserves and historic areas.
I’ve been awed by magnificent views from Tokyo’s skyscrapers and towers and giant robots, and soothed by beautiful green spaces and parks. Here we find both modern day and future tech in massive electronic stores, and fascinating history in carefully preserved shrines and museums.
As part of our orientation programme we stayed with local families. This period was both a helpful and unique opportunity to observe and experience daily life while they showed us some of the sights of Tokyo. Not only did we learn how to get around the city, we learned how to get along in daily life, learning necessary phrases and habits. I could never have gotten such a sincere cultural experience just by visiting as a tourist.
During the Autumn and part of early spring, I had some wonderful opportunities to travel around the city, and as well as enjoy the cultural festivals held in my school. Included in our teaching programme were special lesson presentations and traditional culinary snacks as cultural exchange sessions.
However, in, as they say, an unprecedented time, during the spring and summer we experienced the phenomenon of the 2020 Covid -19 pandemic. The exciting buildup and events leading to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games were instead replaced by uncertainty and, for some of us far away from home, anxiety. In an area where the infection rate has affected event schedules, business closing times and travel, nearly half of my year here has been involved in social distancing and working from home.
This has not stopped life and learning from happening. Some experiences became virtual, and these were also fun, educational and interesting opportunities. I’m intensely grateful to my fellow Trinis, fellow JETs and Japanese co-workers and friends for their support and introductions to different aspects of Tokyo and Japanese culture.
And still, so frequently, I pause, looking around me at different things, and think : Wow. I’m in Japan. I’m really in JAPAN. It’s been a long journey in more ways than one. But we are here! :D
Michelle Amoroso
JET (Japanese Exchange & Teaching) Program Assistant Langauge Teacher
Tokyo
JET Programme Series: One Year in Japan (Japanese Embassy Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
It’s been one year! What?! Already?? Didn’t I just get off an airplane with my fellow Trini JET friends?
I’ve been placed in Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Due to my interests in animation, drawing and music, I’ve been rather pleased by my location. To me, Tokyo offers both the lights and sights of a big city blended in harmony with beautiful nature preserves and historic areas.
I’ve been awed by magnificent views from Tokyo’s skyscrapers and towers and giant robots, and soothed by beautiful green spaces and parks. Here we find both modern day and future tech in massive electronic stores, and fascinating history in carefully preserved shrines and museums.
As part of our orientation programme we stayed with local families. This period was both a helpful and unique opportunity to observe and experience daily life while they showed us some of the sights of Tokyo. Not only did we learn how to get around the city, we learned how to get along in daily life, learning necessary phrases and habits. I could never have gotten such a sincere cultural experience just by visiting as a tourist.
During the Autumn and part of early spring, I had some wonderful opportunities to travel around the city, and as well as enjoy the cultural festivals held in my school. Included in our teaching programme were special lesson presentations and traditional culinary snacks as cultural exchange sessions.
However, in, as they say, an unprecedented time, during the spring and summer we experienced the phenomenon of the 2020 Covid -19 pandemic. The exciting buildup and events leading to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games were instead replaced by uncertainty and, for some of us far away from home, anxiety. In an area where the infection rate has affected event schedules, business closing times and travel, nearly half of my year here has been involved in social distancing and working from home.
This has not stopped life and learning from happening. Some experiences became virtual, and these were also fun, educational and interesting opportunities. I’m intensely grateful to my fellow Trinis, fellow JETs and Japanese co-workers and friends for their support and introductions to different aspects of Tokyo and Japanese culture.
And still, so frequently, I pause, looking around me at different things, and think : Wow. I’m in Japan. I’m really in JAPAN. It’s been a long journey in more ways than one. But we are here! :D
Michelle Amoroso
JET (Japanese Exchange & Teaching) Program Assistant Langauge Teacher
Tokyo
JET Programme Series: One Year in Japan (Japanese Embassy Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives