Hello. In the interest of helping folks have a smooth, not-anxiety-fueled, pleasant experience existing alongside other people during JET\*, I have compiled a list of achievements to try and “unlock” during your first six-or-whatever-months on the program.
*EDIT: I’m a high school ALT, so these wound up being geared to people who go to the same school every day.*
Basically, you know how in Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley and games like that, you can get an early achievement by introducing yourself to, say, 10 villagers/townspeople/sentient animals who will then randomly burst into your home and refuse to leave, thus rendering you unable to rearrange your house, because don’t you have fucking manners, you rube? What is this, the fucking real world?
Ok, I got off track. That first part–the achievements for introducing yourself to people and other social goals–*that* is your life on JET. *Lean in.*
And also remember to be nice to yourself and other people, and remember that Japanese people are not robots. They have like, shit going on in their lives that isn’t you. (Crazy.)
Anyway, here are the achievements (which are specifically for your day-to-day work life, not extracurricular life): [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v109dR0ZbQZUtXYS-SN-4lIf7lUOU\_UcawnmlvPeAuo/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v109dR0ZbQZUtXYS-SN-4lIf7lUOU_UcawnmlvPeAuo/edit?usp=sharing)
Feel free to discuss.
*^(\*And in the interest of having more people to have pleasant, not-soul-crushing interactions with…)*
11 comments
ESID kinda buggers some of this up, like I don’t have a cafeteria….so no staff intro. 😂
Pretty cool! Thanks for this!
This is a neat idea and it’s sorely needed. The similarities of being a JET and being dropped in an Open-world RPG are pretty uncanny. Can I make a suggestion:
1. Active and passive questlines. There are things the ALT can take the initiative for, but then there are things which are like passive rewards for being involved (such as being invited to things, or being asked to run special classes.) I’d probably categorize them into quests and achievements.
Some questlines I’d add:
1. Join a traditional Japanese institution (Kendo, Kyudo, Taiko, Shakuhachi) and attend every week for at least a year.
2. Bake a loaf of bread, cake, or other delicacy from your home country and bring it into the office for your coworkers.
3. Learn a traditional instrument from your home country and do a warm-up demonstration in class (I completed this one this morning.)
5. Have a beach party or campfire with some temporary farm workers (Inaka only)
6. Host a dinner party at your house. 7
7. Work on a farm for a day. (Inaka only)
8. If you see someone who looks unusually traditional: Like a Samurai, Komuso, or Monk – drop what you’re doing and go and speak to them.
9. Join a Contemporary Sports club (Badminton, Soccer, Boxing, w/e) for adults and consistently participate for a year.
10. Hire a bicycle and do a 15-20 kilometre lap around your placement. Assisted pedal bikes are allowed.
11. Volunteer for a community event in your town. Anything from cleaning public spaces, to participating in the Christmas float festival.
12. Learn your area’s traditional song and participate in the competition for it.
Achievements:
1. Get invited to 5 Nomikais or BBQ’s with parents/locals.
2. Get given five pieces of food or cooking from your neighbours.
3. Get hugs from a toddler.
4. Get “Ohashi Jozu”‘d 20 times.
5. Get invited to explore the local area – skin diving, mountain climbing, or cave exploring.
6. Get some positive comments on your appearance from the elderly.
I could go on, but really, life as an RPG really makes you realize how much you’re missing by doing thing but going to work and coming home every day.
My two cents, it’s pointless putting kanji in basic phrases you’re trying to teach people. The people who don’t know the phrase don’t know kanji. The people who know the kanji already know the phrase. I suggest putting hiragana with romaji instead! 🙂
Focusing on school-related goals feel a bit misguided to me. School is the least productive place to overachieve, because we are essentially clowns, and taking on heaps of responsibility ‘to fit in’ or ‘contribute’ isn’t what anyone wants us to do. Offering help generally just makes people embarrassed, our fun JET working holiday is their life, they got it covered already. The teacher’s room can be nice for a chat, but it’s probably the least worthwhile investment of social effort.
My advice to newbs is, save the energy you’d waste learning about the geography teacher’s grandchildren, and focus on the people who actually want to know you. New young school nurse, teacher who approaches you to talk, friendly secretary, awesome student, great. But I don’t bother putting effort into impressing strangers I’ll see once every month or two, just to be social. Save that energy for local events, clubs, bars, travelling. There’s no trophy for trying to imitate the job description of real teachers, their workload is theirs, they can handle it.
HOWEVER, having said all that, I actually agree with the idea 100%, just mostly in an outside of school context.
Why is no one talking about the “Receive the mystical “best octopus you’ve ever had” from that one sensei”? This is why I scrolled the comments lmao
Though in doing so, I did see some more great tips!
Can I ask what “skin diving” is?
Edit:
I just want to say that this is an awesome list and I will go for 100% completion of JET achievements.
This is amazing!!
I’m obsessed with this
They’re very general, but that’s what makes them achievable and great! Just one suggestion, seperating them by an additional category such as social, physical, cultural, etc would help others out!
In the Doc, JJBeeston’s suggestion of “Make friends with someone under 10.” should be removed. That’s 110 waiting to happen there. Make friends with people your age.
I love this because going down the list makes me realize I’ve done more goals than I thought I would’ve.
There are a few I wish I could do like greet cafeteria workers if they existed at my school.
Where are the achievements for trashing a koban or taking a dump on the floor of the teachers’ office? Those are JET classics.