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.

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.

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.

Meanwhile, millions of Vietnamese were preparing to run, to flee their country.  The country that they were born in, grew up in, got married in, started a family in.  The country they fought for, the country that they lost their brothers, their fathers, and their sons for.  Where were they running to?  They didn’t really know.  Some tried to latch on to the American helicopters that were leaving (usually unsuccessfully), others prepared boats or bought places on boats so that they could go out to the sea and get picked up by whatever country they run into first.

Meanwhile in America, middle class kids were getting high on marijuana, tripping out on LSD, experimenting with their sexuality, playing shitty folk rock, bastardizing ancient religions to fit their needs, and supposedly, they brought on some positive social change, but that’s questionable.  Oh yeah, protesting some war in a far off land.  What was that country again?

Today, amongst protesters of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, it’s rare to see the protesters cheer for the Taliban or Al Qaeda (unless they’re radicals), but always in the history books, I remember seeing pictures of those hippies waving the flag of North Vietnam proudly as if it were their own, and seeing pictures of Jane Fonda visiting those misunderstood souls of North Vietnam (she now claims that the event was blown out of proportion by right wing extremists).  I wonder how my parents felt at that time, hearing how the people of a country that was their ally, cheering on for the side that was trying to kill them?

As a Vietnamese-American, I’ve always felt a little uncomfortable talking about the war with my fellow Americans.  A lot of liberals would like you to believe that the Vietnam war was a mistake, and that it was against the will of the Vietnamese people (supposedly, like Castro was the will of the people of Cuba).  Some of the conservatives would have you believe that it was solely the United States that fought the war, and that the reason Vietnam was lost was because the South Vietnamese didn’t fight hard enough.  No doubt many American blood was spilled on this foreign land, but so was the blood of the Vietnamese who fought so that their land could be free.

So never

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!

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).

And I especially want to learn the skills that might help me get my foot in the door for a future in International Business. Despite what people might say about China replacing Japan as the Asian economic power (or rather, China BEING the economic power of the world), I still think Japan is still relevant (as an economic power) and is a vital ally for the United States, in terms of military AND trade.

However, I’m sure everybody who applied for JET has their own secret reasons that they couldn’t exactly mention on their statement of purpose or in the interviews, since it’s probably not the best thing to mention in a professional setting.

My main hobby/fascination in life is Jamaican music, more specifically early Jamaican music (ska, rocksteady, and skinhead reggae). To me, its fascinating to follow the “trail,” so to speak, of Jamaican music, and see its impact on the world and modern day music. From it’s origin as an amalgamation of Jamaican folk music, African rhythms, and of course, the tunes being played in the USA–jazz, country, and the beginnings of rock and roll–all of them forming to create ska music. It’s evolution from ska, to rocksteady, to reggae all the way to present day, where we have ragga music and dancehall. It’s arguable that hip hop would have even been created if there wasn’t a Jamaican population that imported their muzick to New York.

Right now, I’m kinda rambling, but what I want to get at is, the various forms of Jamaican music traveled all across the world, and one of the places it landed was Japan. Japan has a very vibrant scene for Jamaican-influenced music. My favorite band, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, is apparently a huge band in Japan, playing in huge stadiums and appearing regularly on TV Commercials and MTV-type programming. Then there’s the underground scene that, at least from over here, seems to be big.

Once upon a time, I used to admire anything and everything coming out of the Japanese ska/reggae scene, but these days I’m a lot more skeptical, for reasons I won’t go into at this time, but long story short, I want to experience the Japanese ska/reggae scene for myself and even try to get involved with it. Maybe even get a few interviews for the music blog (And I’ve been trying to get in touch with certain people already).

But you know, it’s all dependent on whether I even get INTO the JET Program, and whether I’ll be placed at a location that, you know, has a scene at all (I’ve requested Urban placements, but I realize placements are almost always completely random)!

I also realize that if and when I do get accepted to the JET Program, my focus will be doing my job first…everything else will come later.

But there it is, one of my unofficial reasons for wanting to go to Japan.

To end this post, I’m going to post one of my favorite TSPO videos…a cover of the Skatalites tune, “After The Rain”

MAGNIFICENT!

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:

Statement of Purpose

Japan and the United States, despite our differences, enjoy a long tradition of great trade in knowledge, business, and goodwill. Today’s world is changing at a quickening pace, and this multi-faceted relationship between our two countries must continue to be robust to be able to adapt quickly to the numerous challenges that we face together. In order to further facilitate a stronger and respectful relationship between Japan and the United States, it is important for the people of both countries to advance the mutual understanding of each other’s customs and culture. I believe that the JET Program is a very effective program in fostering cultural exchanges, and I hope to be able to take part in the internationalization of Japan and the exchanging of our cultures.

During the second semester of my freshman year in college, I began to develop an interest in Japanese culture when I took an introductory class to the Japanese language. It was during this class that I was formally introduced to the Japanese culture and learned about the JET Program. I eventually went on to take three more semesters of Japanese and during that time, in addition to learning the language, I was able to learn more about Japanese culture through my teachers and attend cultural events that helped foster my interest in Japan. Though it has been close to three years since I’ve last taken a Japanese language class, my interest in Japanese culture has only continued to grow. Even though I am no longer studying the language in a formal classroom, my pursuit of greater knowledge in Japanese culture continues.

I know that I would excel as an ALT. While attending high school, I volunteered every Saturday to assist in teaching Vietnamese to young Vietnamese kids. I assisted in teaching all aspects of language education, from introducing the Vietnamese alphabet to the younger students to grading short essays that the older students had written. During college, I was involved with Delta Sigma Pi, a co-ed international business fraternity, and was elected as Vice President of Pledge Education. My responsibilities as Vice President of Pledge Education entailed educating the history and purpose of our fraternity to twenty students who wanted to join our fraternity. These twenty students were my personal responsibility; I ensured that their education was complete to help them pass. These two experiences helped me learn the virtue of patience, as well as how to relate with people while keeping my composure and sense of humor under pressure. These are qualities that I feel will make me an asset to the JET Program.

There are two main reasons why I want to go to Japan. On a personal level, I hope to become an ambassador of the American culture and share with my students, as well as my co-workers, the diversity that is American culture. Being an Asian-American, I don’t fit the stereotypical Caucasian, blonde hair, blue eyes American, and I hope to dispel some stereotypes my students may have about American culture by being a bridging personality. On a professional level, I will always be a student of business and I hope to gain skills that will help me flourish in the business world after JET. While I am being an ambassador for my culture, as well as teaching English, I hope to become more familiar with the business culture in Japan and use this knowledge to help strengthen trade ties between the United States and Japan in the future.

I am excited at the prospect of not only being a teacher of the English language and an ambassador of the American culture, but a student of Japanese culture as well. I feel that with my skill set, I would be a valuable asset in the internationalization of Japan and more importantly a valuable asset for JET. I am prepared to take on any challenges that I may face as an ALT while with the JET Program and I welcome the chance to do something out of the ordinary and life changing.

© 2009, Brian Dao [bdao/daoster]. May NOT be reproduced without written permission by the author.

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!