JET Program CIR Report
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(Reports from Werner) |
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CIR Report October 2017 (1)
Hello everyone! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Bert Collin, born and raised in Leuven, graduate of KU Leuven’s Department of Japanese Studies, and I am the new Coordinator for International Relations at Kanazawa City Hall since August 2017. I have been studying Japanese for 6 years now, and I have studied for a year at Kobe University before. This time, my stay in Japan would be very different. I came to Japan not as a student, but as a working man, and it is my first full time job as well! I am extremely grateful for the rare opportunity to be able to work in Japan straight away after graduating from Japanese Studies. I have been wanting to work in international relations for some time now, and this position is the perfect opportunity to learn, build experience and challenge myself. The time of departure approached, and I said goodbye to friends and family. This was hard for me, since back home my entourage consists of nothing but absolutely wonderful and supporting people. Even so, I was excited for the journey to come, a new chapter in my life where I would surely meet equally wonderful people and make new friends. This already happened during the post-departure orientation in Tokyo, where I met both old and new friends.  Tokyo Orientation The Tokyo orientation dazzled me completely. I have never been part of something so well organized. Having lived in Japan for a while before, I knew this was a country that knows how to take care of things, but this was on a whole new level. We stayed in a hotel that was like a mini city on its own, so big I frequently got lost. But the entire staff seemed to be working together to provide us the best experience possible. I guess this is what hotel staff are paid for anyways, but only in Japan do you get this thorough care for your money! Not that we paid for the hotel, courtesy of the JET programme. The info sessions and workshops were well devised and relevant. Even though I was super jetlagged and tired, I enjoyed the first three days of my adventure immensely.  Kanazawa Station Then, the time came to finally go to Kanazawa. The Ishikawa group left from Haneda and a short flight and car drive later, I found myself greeting the great people that would be my new colleagues at Kanazawa City Hall. The first few days were very busy, filling out a lot of administration, introducing myself to the whole floor and getting shown around the office and around town. It was a lot to handle at once, but luckily everyone was very nice, from my neighbour colleagues to mayor Yamano himself.  Kanazawa City Hall As I write this report, autumn has already begun to set in, and two months of work have passed. I now feel like I have a good idea of how this job is going to be. During these final summer months, I have done translations, school visits, interpreting, mailing with contacts in Ghent and other Belgian cities, helped prepare business trips to Belgium, and participated in international symposia, workshops and other events. I cannot believe how varied this job is. Even if sometimes it may feel like translation requests are piling up, there’s still the space to decide by myself when to do what, and there’s always something interesting to do. I loved going to an elementary school to introduce Belgium to young schoolkids, and I’m amazed that I’m allowed to correct or translate speeches, letters and the like for very important people right off the bat.  Balcony View Life is not all work of course, as much as I like the job. Already twice was I able to visit the Kansai region, where so many friends and memories of my exchange year in Japan were still waiting for me. And I just returned from my first longer holiday, visiting another friend from Kobe who is now a CIR like me, working in a small village in Shimane prefecture. I’m very glad that even as a working person I still have the freedom and opportunity to explore new parts of Japan as well as revisit old places and friends.  Nature in Shimane Even when I’m not working or travelling, I try to keep myself busy. Having spent the last 6 years as a university student, I welcome the regular rhythm of working life as an opportunity to exercise, brush up my languages and, of course, to explore Kanazawa and the region! I joined an indoor soccer club, which consists of a very balanced mix of Japanese and foreign players, and it’s a great opportunity to get involved in the community and meet new people. After all, it’s my first time living truly on my own, as even in Kobe I still lived in a big residence with all international students in the same situation as I was. One should not underestimate the importance of fending off loneliness, as together with homesickness, it can easily affect how you feel from day to day. Luckily, it seems I’m succeeding in surrounding myself with nice people, and I have already made several new friends!  Kanazawa Castle  Oyama Jinja  Delicious Tempura Autumn has begun to set it, and it is getting colder. I am really looking forward to winter. I love snow, and every year in Belgium it’s a guess whether it will snow a lot or not. In Kanazawa, I am told, I can reliably expect a decent amount every winter. Though I hope I will be able to climb one of the famous holy mountains around Kanazawa before the weather prevents me to! |
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(Reports from Werner) |
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