CIR Training 11/25-11/27

This week I had to go to Tokyo for the Mid-Year CIR Conference at the Pastoral Hotel in Toranomon. When we first arrived in Japan in July we had a couple of days in Tokyo for our orientation, but since all JETs in group A were there, and the majority of JETs are ALTs, there wasn't much that could really help prepare me for my new job.

I have been working as a Coordinator of International Relations in Kameoka for 4 months now. But what does that really mean? I still can't really tell you. My job, is different from every other CIR in Japan. No one does the same work as I do. So I didn't really think this conference would be helpful. Also, since only about 20 CIRs were in Tokyo with me, I barely knew anyone there. So it looked like it was going to be 3 very awkward days.

I was surprised by how effective and helpful I found the conference. When I finally got to my hotel, I got really lucky because some other JETs were checking in. I went up and introduced myself and we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to check in for the conference. On the first night I was so exhausted from playing with the kids and trekking across Tokyo and a bunch of the JETs I had met had plans so I just went to Starbucks then to bed.

The next day I ended up sitting next to one of the girls I met at the hotel in the morning and we went to all the seminars together. This ended up being a good thing because she invited me out with all the Hokkaido JETs so I got to hang out with some new people.

It was really a strange experience though, attending seminars with non Japanese people where the only language we had in common was Japanese. It is more intimidating to speak Japanese in front of other foreigners who speak Japanese. It was validating to be able to compare myself to other people and find that while I'm not the best, I'm not the worst.

The best part of the conference was when we got to split into groups and discuss our experiences. It was nice to find out that I'm not the only one who feels completely insecure half the time but still loves their job. It also made me very grateful for what I have. Some of the other CIRs have to pay for their own events or aren't even appreciated. One guy told us that his boss essentially told him that he was there as an office decoration. In the end I feel like I learned a lot about what I should do to improve and about what is good about my job.