A good four or five months ago I piled into a conference room at the Kabuki Hotel in SF with all the other JETs who would soon be departing for Japan from Northern California and Nevada. The reason: the pre-departure orientation.
Throughout the day, there were several speeches and workshops to attend. But today, I am reminded of the opening speech that was given by a former JET/author whose name I cannot remember. During his speech, he mostly talked about his theory that our experience in Japan will largely be shaped by the "allies" that we make during our time on the JET program. At the time, I thought this was a little corny, thought nothing of it, and was quick to shrug it off.
Today, there is no possible way that these words could be more relevant.
I can comfortably say that I've made several allies already, and some of them are so unbelievably nice it's not even funny. Their willingness to go so out of their way to help me with problems that really don't concern them has been a life saver to me. A lot of the times they help me with the simple little things that I as a foreigner am not aware of or cannot manage on my own.
Other times, they are willing to get involved in potentially explosive/time-consuming situations just for the sake of helping me. I am of course speaking about my housing situation. Although it took some time for me to figure out who to tell, after being here for three months I chose to share my woes with a couple different people.
Needless to say, I only told them about it a few weeks ago. They gave me the assurance that they would back me up if it turned into a potentially sticky situation with my Board of Education. With their assurance, and with a small speech prepared, I was able to build up the courage to bring it up with my supervisor. I did this by deploying a decoy maneuver to get him out of the office (so as to avoid the rest of the BOE staff and any potential awkwardness that complaining in front of a dozen or so people could create). I quickly gave my speech, listed the problems I have with the house, and made a special point to emphasize that I am willing to pay for all moving associated costs. My supervisor took all this so well that it was almost shocking.
I gave that speech to him yesterday. Today, I went to look at an apartment. Earlier tonight, some of my "allies" went to the BOE to talk with my supervisor about the entire situation. Shortly thereafter, my supervisor came to my house with said "allies" and we really began to set things in motion. I was asked how soon I want to move (the place is available NOW!), what furniture I want to bring, if I want to buy a western bed for the new place, and we even discussed how much of the rent the BOE is willing to cover. Believe it or not, but there was even talk of my current house being demolished once I move out. haha.
I can only but wonder how much of this is the work of these "allies" that I've made, but I'd be willing to bet that they've played a huge role in convincing my supervisor and BOE that it's the right thing to do. I'm still pleasantly surprised at how fast things appear to be moving.... I wasn't expecting to look at a new place until some time next YEAR. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that it would be the next DAY.
Of course, all this said, I have not moved yet. Things could fall through for any number of reasons and I'm trying not to get my hopes up. After seeing the apartment today though, it's hard not to. The idea of staying inside to shower (and not having to risk being seen naked by my teachers or kids at my big Elementary School), the idea of having a place outside to hang my laundry, the idea of having a kitchen with a regular floor (and not just loose planks loosely covered with linoleum), the idea of having a toilet that isn't just a glorified outhouse.... Even if I don't get this place. I WILL move.
And I'm pretty sure it's all thanks to the allies I've made here in Japan.
