In light of the current attitudes and hate-rhetoric being spread in the U.S., I've come to appreciate the egalitarianism of the ALT industry. In the eyes of the Japanese ALT system, we're all the same.

On January 31st, 2009, I walked into a hotel in L.A. to interview for one of the many teaching positions that my organization was looking to fill in Japan. In the lobby there was also an ex-hedge fund guy from San Francisco, a recent architecture graduate from Portland, a Mississippi native who had previously taught in Japan for 3 years, and a few others. "Wow", I thought. "This is a pretty diverse group. And we're here to interview for the same type of job."

Two months later, I'm sitting in a conference room in Tokyo, training with about 50 other new teachers. We briefly go around the room to introduce ourselves and once again, I can't help but take note of the diversity. There were men and women from all around the world with an assortment of degrees and different levels of exposure to Japan. We represented different countries, religions and races. But we still had one thing in common: we had all been hired to do the same job.

The ALT system in Japan has created an industry unlike anything I've ever known. Nowhere else have I seen this sort of equality. It doesn't matter that I didn't know konnichiwa from oyasuminasai before coming here. In the eyes of the system, I'm exactly the same as the Aussie who speaks the language fluently. We both got hired and are now, in theory, interchangeable.

In the States I had learned about self-promotion. To move forward, you had to wear your accomplishments like Olympic gold medals. Do great work and then strategically shout it from the rooftops, letting others know. And by all means, network, because it's not always what you know, but who you know. These were, and still are, necessary for job security and career advancement back home.

Those same skills are unnecessary with the ALT system in Japan. Smile, be friendly, do your job and have no fear about job security (on account of your efforts, at least). Shouting from even Tokyo Tower wouldn't do much except strain your vocal chords. And networking can help your social life but it won't change much for you at work. You don't have to constantly self-promote because if you're here teaching, you've already done all the self-promotion you needed to do in order to get the job in the first place.

It takes a certain personality to leave their friends, family and familiar land for an ALT position, but we can stop comparing ourselves beyond that. With the rising demand for native speakers, all that's currently required is coming from one of many English-speaking countries with any degree from a 4 year university. It's helpful to have teaching credentials and speak the language but job-wise, the only mandatory skill to have is native-level English. Combine that with the cog-like, temporary nature of the job (the ALT system is modeled after the JET program which had short-term stays; the average ALT stays for 2 years in Japan) and you end up with an egalitarian environment where we're all basically looked at and treated the same.

But that's not for lack of trying. That becomes obvious after meeting enough fellow ALT's. JLPT test levels and aspirations occasionally become grounds for one-upping each other. Fresh-off-the-plane teachers become quickly aware of the high-horse status sometimes held by their slightly more experienced counterparts (I'm unfortunately guilty of this, even after just 1 year!). Cliques even form around different ALT companies and programs.  

However, try as we may to distinguish ourselves with artificial constructs and hierarchies, they ultimately don't matter because we're still very interchangeable. I used to teach at a Japanese HS in Northern Iwate whereas I now teach at a JHS and ES in Central Ibaraki. My Iwate successor has JLPT Level 1 Japanese and I still don't really know the difference between konnichiwa and oyasuminasai (*ahem*). And one need only see the school boards around the country annually switching between ALT-providing companies to see how pointless company-centered cliques are.

That's what I mean when I say there's a certain kind of equality here. In the eyes of the Japanese ALT System, for better or for worse, we're all the same.

It won''t last forever since we're temporary. But it's nice to spend some time in an environment where no matter how hard we try to be different, we're still all seen as equals.