Off you go to a small country school
with fifteen students one day, a huge urban institution which
seems like a city in itself the next. The variety is exhilarating
albeit at times a bit unnerving. The road which the one-shot
travels is a long and winding one, the scenery both astonishingly
beautiful and surprisingly ugly. As the one-shot ALT scours the
countryside in pursuit of their duties, a diverse group of individuals
will cross their path--the young giggling girl, the rambunctious
overweight boy with better English skills than his teacher, who
quakes in fear at the mere sight of your non-brown eyes, and the
friends, who seem to appear in the most unlikely places. The
one-shot ALT experiences life in parts of Japan virtually untouched
by foreign influence, and consequently, travels at the forefront
of Japan's move towards internationalization. It's an interesting
job, complete with experiences as varied as the individuals who
staff its ranks. This position can be both mentally and physically
draining. You will have both good and bad days.
However, despite the variety, there
are days when the ALT might wish they'd brought their flask along
to help them get through the eight boring hours sitting among
the members of the local Board of Education office. Yes, one-shot,
there will be times when you are tempted to fight off the boredom
found in the office with more than one shot.
Whether a base-school ALT or one-shot
ALT you will have a unique experience, at times bursting with
action, at others full of the quiet pleasure that comes after
a successful team-teaching lesson, or during an evening on the
town with your Japanese coworkers.