[anrakushi]

i agree with not worry about your japanese level, you can get by on none at all. In China, a different country but from my experience the people in this area knew far less english than where i was in Japan last year, I met a man who had been teaching english for a few years and he could only speak a few words of Chinese. He was having a great time. I could speak more chinese than him which surprised the hell out of me. On the opposite side of things i met a man at the chinese consulate in melbourne, he was from China but had been living in melbourne for 20 years and boy was his english awful. it took him quite an effort to explain to me that the east coast of China was very populated. luckily i already knew this so i can guess what he meant.

what i will say though, knowing Japanese there sure makes your life more independent. I think the worst feeling I had when i started out in Japan in 2006 was that I had suddenly lost a lot of my independence because i couldn't deal with the internet company over the phone, i couldn't see doctors without a friend helping me, and so on. but if i can say anything about japanese it would be they are very patient and will do their best to make sure you understand. so you shouldn't be concerned.

as for career, well, my future depends on me knowing Japanese as I intend to stay in Japan for a good number of years before possibly moving to Korea. so I see being in JET as a nice way to work, get paid and also have more opportunity to speak japanese than I would otherwise have working in an 英会話 (english coversation school). hopefully i can make a difference in the lives of some students along the way as well ^^ of course that is if i get in ><

thanks ssjup81 for your wishes also. people in Perth are getting notified by email as of yesterday, lucky people.