Study, Work, Travel Talk 2015
Our very first talk was from MEXT Scholarship, presented by Junko Mingawa from the Embassy of Japan. She mentioned about 6 scholarships offered in Japan and specially focused on one which provides research opportunities. Seeing that Singapore does not offer much research opportunities (I mean I can only think of A* of the top of my head), it would be good to consider such a scholarship if your interested in doing research in Japan! The registration opens from April to Early July.
The next talk was by JAC recruitment, presented by 4 speakers, who each are not Japanese locals (though they look very much like one), but yet chose to work in Japan. What I found useful was that they gave numerous tips on interviews in Japan. Due to its reserved “Asian” culture, many things such as the hairstyle and colour of the hair are taken seriously, so only black hair when looking for jobs! Also, after receiving a namecard during interviews, one should place the card on the table and look at it for a while, to indicate respect for the person.
The speaker also kindly shared with us some websites that we can go to to search for jobs in Japan. Daijob, Career Cross and Career Engine are mostly about jobs that require bilingual people who can speak both Japanese and English, while Gaijinpot consists of mostly English teaching jobs. Career forums, such as the one in Tokyo and Boston, are also a great place to find job opportunities!
The third talk was by Japantravel.com, which apparently is the largest Wikipedia-level website about Japan tourism. Like Wikipedia, any user can contribute to the website, earn points after doing so and exchange them for rewards! Due to this, it features a large variety of visit-worthy spots (wait, isn’t that practically the whole of Japan) that are less well-known. I will definitely use this when researching for my next Japan trip! (╯✧∇✧)╯
The speaker, Jerome Lee, also introduced 3 unique places in Japan apart from the usual tourist hot-spots.
Naoshima – great for any art lovers as it boasts 3 museums with outdoor art scattered throughout the island. Furthermore, there is also a Naoshima art house project ongoing in which old houses are converted into art projects.
Kamikochi – suitable for the sporty and adventurous as it has numerous hiking trails amidst beautiful scenery.
Yuzawa Kogen – popular with skiiers and absolutely alluring in the winter when the heavy snow covers the entire town in a blanket of snow. I can just imagine singing the Winter Wonderland song while walking through its streets! （๑✧∀✧๑）
Finally, the last speaker of the day was one of our very own JAC member, who had the chance to participate in our JAC Japan Trip earlier this year in May. There, they visited many must-see places such as the Fushimi Inari shrine and the Kiyomizudera in Kyoto, Asakusa in Tokyo, Dotonburi in Osaka and Nara. They also visited a few Japanese schools, whose students brought them out to sight-see. The numerous interesting tidbits that they learnt in their Japan will surely stay with them for life!
After that, the speakers were presented with a token of appreciation and we headed outside to partake in éclairs (has it become a yearly tradition?) along with other tasty treats. Students who wished to know more could stay behind to ask the speakers any queries they might have.
With that, the Study, Work and Travel talk has come to an end and I hope you have learnt as much as I did! Hope to see you next year, and till then, またね!
Post by Irin Wee
Photos by Kai Yeat, Meldon Wee
Edited by Kai Yeat