JET Programme Series: Going Off-Script - Rondell Mungal
2022/10/10
JET Programme Series: Going Off-Script - Rondell Mungal
“𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚. 𝘼𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 ‘𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜’ 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙭𝙞𝙚𝙩𝙮. 𝙃𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜—𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬.” (𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 – UWI Today)
In 2021, I was thrust into the limelight having graduated as Valedictorian for the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies. During my two minutes of fame, I felt like a bite-up shilling, but under the surface, a battle between the fear of the unknown and a faint yet daring sense of hope raged on. My inner turmoil marched to the bombarding beat of an external barrage of questions: “What’s next?” “Ready for post grad?” “What can you do with a theatre arts degree?” “Have you started looking for jobs?”
To everyone that asked, I finally have a response: I’M MOVING TO JAPAN!
*Cue confused faces* That’s right, I’ve decided to pack up my life and move 9,158 miles away from everything I’ve ever known and loved. Here’s why:
As a theatre arts student at the UWI, I was immersed in the richness of Trinbago culture: playing traditional mas at the DCFA’s Ole Yard, witnessing tadjahs ceremoniously parade through St. James while hordes of tassa drums vibrate my soul during Hosay, attending an Orisha Feast at midnight in Central Trinidad, and experiencing the lived realities of Trinbagonians through the eyes of our incredible local playwrights. These encounters created an insatiable thirst for cultural experiences and a desire to know what else is out there.
It seems fated then, that while exploring Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe (Indigenous) music, rituals, and theatre during a student exchange programme in Canada, my interest in Japanese culture would take root. What began as a casual greeting between fellow foreign exchange students blossomed into a language and cultural exchange where my Japanese friends and I shared stories, food, and our respective cultures.
A mutual obsession with traditional theatre forms, world religions, and all things Pokémon sparked hours of stimulating and laughter-filled conversation. It was in these moments that wistful fantasies of a distant land kissed by the rising sun tickled my mind. However, visiting Japan was too expensive to even dream about, especially when balling on a student budget. Not to mention, I had a degree to complete at home. The kabuki theatre, Shinto shrines, and hanami under the exquisite sakura blossoms would have to remain an uncharted adventure. Of course, the flames of wanderlust, dwindled by the harsh winds of practicality, were completely stomped out by what came next.
𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳: 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋-19 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 (𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘺)
Like most students, I was confined to online classes in my PJs and found solace by exploring other cultures through the pages of books... and Netflix (K-dramas and J-dramas are sooo good!). Graduation came, part-time jobs came, and the pandemic and its restrictions remained an unwelcome guest. All the while, my hunger for something new kept growing amidst the disconcerting stagnancy of the new ‘normal’. I needed an inciting incident (a plot point in the script that disrupts the exposition and unravels a pattern of suspense), and by what can only be described as divine providence, I stumbled upon the JET Programme.
This summer, I moved to Kobe City, one-third of the metropolitan trifecta of Japan’s Kansai region (Keihanshin) alongside Osaka and Kyoto. Through the JET Programme, I will be living and working as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in this beautiful port city nestled between the Rokko Mountains and Osaka Bay. Needless to say, I am brimming with excitement and anticipation to experience the cultural wonders this Design City (a title designated by UNESCO as part of their Creative Cities Network) has to offer.
I am equally eager to begin working as an ALT. Over the past year, I pursued TEFL and TESOL certification and began teaching English online to Spanish speakers in Madrid. Though teaching was not my primary focus, it was an ever-present undercurrent during my journey. My tertiary level studies began in 2016 with a certificate in drama in education at the UWI, and this motif further developed through studies in creative play for education and community development during my semester abroad. Through the JET Programme, I will be diving head-first into the Japanese education system, and I can’t wait to begin teaching English and sharing stories about my beloved Trinidad and Tobago with my Japanese students!
Moving to Kobe City through the JET Programme will undoubtedly rewrite the ‘one-way, no turns’ Broadway-bound script for the future that my younger self clung to. It will be a journey riddled with uncertainty but also hope, swaddled in the promise of freedom. Amidst my preparations for the voyage ahead, memory gifted me with my opening quote – an excerpt from my valedictory interview with UWI Today. It reminded me that, having lived, breathed, and studied the text, the time has come to embrace going off-script. For in doing so, we find the freedom to experiment, play the moments, and discover new possibilities. Thus, with deepest gratitude to my family and friends, the Ambassador and staff at the Embassy of Japan, and all those who have cleared the path I now walk, I am choosing freedom. I am boldly pursuing adventure. I am daring to go off-script!
JET Series: Going Off-Script (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
In 2021, I was thrust into the limelight having graduated as Valedictorian for the Faculty of Humanities and Education at the University of the West Indies. During my two minutes of fame, I felt like a bite-up shilling, but under the surface, a battle between the fear of the unknown and a faint yet daring sense of hope raged on. My inner turmoil marched to the bombarding beat of an external barrage of questions: “What’s next?” “Ready for post grad?” “What can you do with a theatre arts degree?” “Have you started looking for jobs?”
To everyone that asked, I finally have a response: I’M MOVING TO JAPAN!
*Cue confused faces* That’s right, I’ve decided to pack up my life and move 9,158 miles away from everything I’ve ever known and loved. Here’s why:
As a theatre arts student at the UWI, I was immersed in the richness of Trinbago culture: playing traditional mas at the DCFA’s Ole Yard, witnessing tadjahs ceremoniously parade through St. James while hordes of tassa drums vibrate my soul during Hosay, attending an Orisha Feast at midnight in Central Trinidad, and experiencing the lived realities of Trinbagonians through the eyes of our incredible local playwrights. These encounters created an insatiable thirst for cultural experiences and a desire to know what else is out there.
It seems fated then, that while exploring Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe (Indigenous) music, rituals, and theatre during a student exchange programme in Canada, my interest in Japanese culture would take root. What began as a casual greeting between fellow foreign exchange students blossomed into a language and cultural exchange where my Japanese friends and I shared stories, food, and our respective cultures.
A mutual obsession with traditional theatre forms, world religions, and all things Pokémon sparked hours of stimulating and laughter-filled conversation. It was in these moments that wistful fantasies of a distant land kissed by the rising sun tickled my mind. However, visiting Japan was too expensive to even dream about, especially when balling on a student budget. Not to mention, I had a degree to complete at home. The kabuki theatre, Shinto shrines, and hanami under the exquisite sakura blossoms would have to remain an uncharted adventure. Of course, the flames of wanderlust, dwindled by the harsh winds of practicality, were completely stomped out by what came next.
𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳: 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋-19 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 (𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘖𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘣𝘺)
Like most students, I was confined to online classes in my PJs and found solace by exploring other cultures through the pages of books... and Netflix (K-dramas and J-dramas are sooo good!). Graduation came, part-time jobs came, and the pandemic and its restrictions remained an unwelcome guest. All the while, my hunger for something new kept growing amidst the disconcerting stagnancy of the new ‘normal’. I needed an inciting incident (a plot point in the script that disrupts the exposition and unravels a pattern of suspense), and by what can only be described as divine providence, I stumbled upon the JET Programme.
This summer, I moved to Kobe City, one-third of the metropolitan trifecta of Japan’s Kansai region (Keihanshin) alongside Osaka and Kyoto. Through the JET Programme, I will be living and working as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in this beautiful port city nestled between the Rokko Mountains and Osaka Bay. Needless to say, I am brimming with excitement and anticipation to experience the cultural wonders this Design City (a title designated by UNESCO as part of their Creative Cities Network) has to offer.
I am equally eager to begin working as an ALT. Over the past year, I pursued TEFL and TESOL certification and began teaching English online to Spanish speakers in Madrid. Though teaching was not my primary focus, it was an ever-present undercurrent during my journey. My tertiary level studies began in 2016 with a certificate in drama in education at the UWI, and this motif further developed through studies in creative play for education and community development during my semester abroad. Through the JET Programme, I will be diving head-first into the Japanese education system, and I can’t wait to begin teaching English and sharing stories about my beloved Trinidad and Tobago with my Japanese students!
Moving to Kobe City through the JET Programme will undoubtedly rewrite the ‘one-way, no turns’ Broadway-bound script for the future that my younger self clung to. It will be a journey riddled with uncertainty but also hope, swaddled in the promise of freedom. Amidst my preparations for the voyage ahead, memory gifted me with my opening quote – an excerpt from my valedictory interview with UWI Today. It reminded me that, having lived, breathed, and studied the text, the time has come to embrace going off-script. For in doing so, we find the freedom to experiment, play the moments, and discover new possibilities. Thus, with deepest gratitude to my family and friends, the Ambassador and staff at the Embassy of Japan, and all those who have cleared the path I now walk, I am choosing freedom. I am boldly pursuing adventure. I am daring to go off-script!
JET Series: Going Off-Script (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives