Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
I am not sure how this thread I started over two years ago got life breathed into it again, but I still think my original assertion is true. I would never recommend someone move to a foreign country without at least visiting it once. This is especially true when the one moving does not speak the native language of the host country, and the culture is as different as it is for Westerners.
And I do know people that "loved Japanese culture" before signing contracts and moving there sight unseen, and not only break their contracts and go home after a few months, but actually went more than a little crazy.
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I had never been to Japan before going there as a JET, and I didn't speak the language at all. I went because I knew I'd never have the money to travel unless I worked while I was there, and JET was, IMO, the best foreign job out there that I found. I wasn't dead set on going to Japan... I looked at Europe, South Korea, Taiwan, and other places as well, and the JET program's features were the deciding factor for me, not some long love of Japan, which is why I'd never learned Japanese before going. I just knew that I wanted the experience of living and working in a foreign country. If JET had been a creation of some other country, I'd have gone there instead.
That said, I really enjoyed Japan, and I traveled as much of it as I could while I was there. I often tell prospective JETs, most of whom have never been to Japan before, that the most important single feature of a successful JET isn't teaching experience or Japanese language skill or anything like that... it's adaptability, flexibility, and a sense of humor. It's being able to take what work and life in a foreign country throws at you with a smile. If you have that, the rest will work itself out. If you don't have it, you probably won't last very long.