In an effort to better know our members both new and old, we’ll be posting a brief introduction to one lucky JETAADC member each month. If you’d like to be featured as our Member of the Month, please contact Kat Kovacs at newsletter@jetaadc.org.
Name: Sean Pavlik
JET Placement: Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture. I taught at 16 different elementary schools over the two years I was on JET.
Where I’m from: Near Nashville, Tennessee
What brought me to the DC area: I had some friends and family in the area and liked how international DC is.
The funniest story from my time on JET (that’s fit to print!): Probably doing a zumba class in my town with a few ALT friends. The class was a third Japanese, third Brazilian and then other random foreigners. For Halloween, a lot of the other people dressed up in costume which was very random and hilarious. The Japanese woman in a gopher suit was probably my favorite.
The strangest food I’ve ever eaten: At a Board of Education bonenkai, I once ate a sea slug. Well…attempted to eat it. I politely asked my coworker for a tissue after giving it my best.
What I miss most from Japan: Onsen! How you can get practically anywhere in the country by train. The people.
The lesson I learned while on JET: How to balance my desire to travel with the desire to explore the area I’m living around.
The game my classes always went totally crazy for: Other than Fruit Basket, my kids always loved this celebrity game I created where we used Japanese celebrities’ birthdays and ages to learn “How old are you?” and “When is your birthday?”.
The perfect JETAADC event would be: Hanami under blooming sakura or attending a beer or street festival.
I knew I lived in Washington, DC when: I got stuck in traffic due to a Presidential motorcade.
Where you’d find me on the perfect weekend: A day outside of DC hiking and a day in town on a patio or at a beer garden.
The person I would choose to play me in a movie is: When I wore my glasses, I always heard in Japan that I look like Harry Potter so I guess Daniel Radcliffe? (Though I have a few inches on him!)
Two truths and a lie:
-I went to high school with Ke$ha
-I went to high school with Taylor Swift
-I went to high school
The question I’d most like the next Member of the Month to answer is: Who is your favorite Japanese TV personality?
(Pssst. Did you miss our first couple Members of the Month? JETAADC, meet Andrew, Chelsea and Susan.)
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