But just like that, as I just wrote an entry yesterday about thinking about no longer applying for JET, but then I read this article on Forbes.

Basically, an article saying how experience abroad is a big boost to one’s career. Something that is obvious, but also something that I’ve forgotten.

It seems like things don’t always go as one plans for, which…should be just as well. Life is unpredictable, and as such, the best plans we lay out for ourselves are often thrown out the door.

Despite writing a cryptic message about wanting to try for JET again this year, I ended up not applying to the program after all. I didn’t have time to write a new Statement of Purpose, I didn’t have time to ask for letters of recommendations, didn’t have time to meticulously dot every single “i” and cross every single “t” that the application seems to call for. So I held off on applying for it this year, with a semi-goal of applying for JET for the 2012 year.

But now I’m re-thinking that position of even applying to JET in the first place. After all, I have nothing to do with teaching English, and one of the main reasons why I want to do JET is to help me be more competitive for a global workplace. It’s now almost 2 years since I’ve graduated, and I’ve been thinking of getting an MBA already, and if I want an edge, I’m thinking about getting an MBA abroad. It looks though as MBA programs in Japan are pretty much…well, shoddy.

BusinessWeek reported that Japanese companies still don’t care much for MBAs, and that seniority still reigns supreme in Japan companies…

…Why do I want to go to Japan again? Is it because I’m attracted to Japan because of my interests, or am I attracted to the whole hustle and bustle of a booming Asian country (of which, Japan has fallen when compared to places like China and Singapore), and I’ve just latched on Japan because it’s something I’m somewhat familiar with. I need to re-examine why exactly I want to go to Japan.

But as I was mentioning….Japanese companies seem to not see too much value in an MBA, and MBA programs in Japan don’t seem to be very worthwhile. No Japanese schools appear on the Financial Times’ worldwide ranking of MBA programs, and only one school (International University of Japan) appears on the Economist’s ranking (#83 out of 100). International University of Japan isn’t even accredited by either the Association of Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) or the Association of MBAs (AMBA), which kinda also makes me question the Economist’s ranking.

Of course, FT and the Economist are not the be all end all list of B-school rankings, but these are two highly respected publications and their rankings have some merit (to me at least).

To end all this incoherent rambling…rethinking my JET aspirations, thinking about the future (might an MBA program abroad be in the books for me?), and just thinking about life.

For the mean time, the focus of this blog will probably warp into something more…I’ve always made this blog as a kinda double blog…part to write about my experiences trying to apply for JET, and part to write down my views. With my plans for JET maybe on hold (at least for now), this blog will probably be more about my views…my views about politics, culture, and anything I damn want! There’s a lot to write about, so we’ll see what happens.

Things have changed.. but I think I still want to try again for next years Jet application…

Full post to come soon

35 Years ago (well, 35 years last Friday), Saigon, the capital of the Republic of Vietnam, fell.   The North Vietnamese rolled in on their tanks triumphantly, the “leader” of the Republic of Vietnam surrendered unconditionally (in truth, he was the leader by chance), the last of the Americans left on their helicopters, and thousands of Vietnamese civilians came out to cheer on the North Vietnamese as they proceeded to “liberate” all of Vietnam from the American imperialists.  Or at least that’s what was shown on TV.

So one of my New Year’s resolution, write on this blog more often, has completely failed, haha!

The reasons why I haven’t updated this blog are the result of compounding problems…depression (sorta), laziness, and simply being too busy! Regardless, here’s an update on my life (and more specifically my JET application process) since my last blog:

• I didn’t even get an interview with JET! This pretty much made me depressed (at first), since I felt that my application, essay, and letters of recommendation were strong enough to at least warrant an interview. Apparently not! Though I understand the problems…thanks to an unsavory jobs outlook in America and budget cuts to the program in Japan, the JET Program was probably extremely competitive this year. STILL, I wasn’t expecting to be an automatic shoe in to the program, but at least an interview! Ah well, in my last entry, I said pride was the fall of man…cockiness is the fall of man too!

• I’ve finally gotten a job. More than a year after I started looking for a job, I’m finally an Account Executive at a small company called Yelp.com. You might have heard of it!  Technically, I don’t start till next week, but let’s not sweat the small stuff

Well, that’s about it so far…as my life since college has been pretty tame (another word for boring).

So what now?  Do I try to look for another program, or do I try again for JET next year?  Maybe I should drop the idea of teaching English abroad?  I know in one of my early posts, I said that if I don’t get into the JET, I’d probably try for another program, but thinking back on it, as far as Japan goes, its JET or nothing for me.  Now that I’ve gotten a job at Yelp, maybe I want to actually work on my career for awhile, and what about getting that MBA?

Maybe I should try again for JET after a year or two working for Yelp–but do I want to lower myself to being essentially a teacher’s assistant after 2 years of working for Yelp?  (Not to mention a probably pay cut, unless the Yen gets considerably stronger).

Regardless…it’s no use worrying about what I want to do or what might happen a year, or 2 years from now.  In the back of my mind, I know I’ll probably try for JET again for the 2012 year, but who knows how I’ll really feel or what’s happening in my life at that point, eh?

I’ll probably still be updating this blog more often…no more 3 months hiatus for me!

The year 2009 was an interesting year for me, full of ups and downs. Graduating Cal State Fullerton was probably one of the proudest moments of my life so far, but after graduating, the realities of this downturn economy has hit me, and I’m still jobless. Part of that is my fault; I know I can probably get a retail job, but I’m a little too prideful to get a retail job because I have a bachelor’s degree…but pride is suppose to be the fall of man, so I think I’m going to learn to swallow my pride for this year. (The notion that bachelor’s is the new high school diploma kinda makes me want to cry too)

But despite that, 2009 was a year of new friends and new experiences, always good things for me. And even though I’ve encountered some tough times this year, I know that I have been much more fortunate than a lot of people

I would list my New Year’s resolution, but I wonder if I’d even keep them? Regardless here they are:
- Score well on GMATs
- Get a decent job (at least for the first half of 2010)
- Get into JET (hence the “first half” part in my last resolution)
- Read more…I haven’t read much in 2009 at all!
- Save more money
- Be more positive
- Meet more people
- Reconnect with old friends
- Lose weight
- Cook better
- Write more in this blog (and the other blogs I’m suppose to be working on)

Should be simple enough…2010, lets go!

Sorry for the absence. We are busily processing ALL of your applications! We received a record number this year: 5300+ total!

That’s from the JETProgram twitter. It seems like the JET Program will be a competitive program to get in this year!

Some on the various forums have said that the probabilities of getting into JET are about the same as getting into an Ivy league school, but I usually think to myself, “that can’t be true, can it???” I haven’t taken a look at the numbers though (and I don’t even know the probablities of getting into an Ivy League), and I don’t want to think about it. It’s probably better not to.

I mean I feel relatively confident in my application…not “shoe in” confident, but confident that it was strong enough to get me into an interview. We’ll see.

But…it can’t possibly be as competitive as it is to get into the Anderson School of Business MBA program at UCLA…I just found out they only accept classes of 350…and who knows how many people apply to THAT each year?

Ah well, more things to worry about (later).

There are many different reasons why people want to go to JET, and I’m willing to bet that for some of those people, their reasons probably aren’t the best of reasons (though who am I to tell them that, right?). What I said in my Statement of Purpose was all true…I really do want to be an ambassador for the American culture, whatever American culture is (because let’s be honest, it’s so very varied).

So I was reading some of the SoPs that were posted, and all of a sudden, I’ve lost faith in my own essay? Not that my essay is bad, or anything like that, it’s just…a lot of the other essays are pretty good, and the competition seems to be stiff this year…

But whatever, it’s not like I can do much now, I purposely went on a blackout the month the essays came out so I wouldn’t steal anybody’s ideas or keep on changing my essay too much…an English teacher once told me to limit myself to 3 revisions (other than simple grammar and spelling errors), otherwise, your work ceases to really be your own (in the “soulful” sense, not in the copyright sense…though if I had plagerize other people’s ideas, that’d be a copyright issue too!)

Anyways, enough of my rambling, here is my third and final draft of my Statement of Purpose which I turned in:

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated, but there really hasn’t been much to update about (and I’ve been lazy, and I kinda forgot about this blog, so…oops!

So let’s summarize the last month or so:

-  Got my second letter of reference which I had to write myself and send it to my teacher…honestly, this was harder than my SoP, just because it feels embarrassing writing about yourself for somebody else

-  Finished my third draft of the SoP, and I am very happy with it.  Some people told me it was the best SoP they’ve seen, and I don’t want to brag but…it’s pretty well written…I’ll post it up for the world to see when the deadline has passed (next Tuesday).

-  Today (November 19th), I sent in my application via UPS, getting the next day mail option…yes, I know I have till Tuesday to turn in my application, but better safe than sorry, I say.

What’s next for me?  Well, next comes the unfortunate wait to see if I even got an interview, and I’m praying that I my application is strong enough that I do (personally, I believe I do).  I’m also going to start gearing up to take my GMAT to get into an MBA program (I’m thinking about UCLA, but I don’t know if my GPA is high enough =\).  The GMAT scores are suppose to be good for up to 5 years, so if I do get to go to Japan, I don’t have to worry as much on what I’ll be doing after that.

Other than that…time for the wait and to start worrying about the interviews…good times!