The Language Teacher
November 2001
Homage to Our JALT Central Office
Joyce Cunningham
Imagine that you work in an office in your own country. In addition to running the office, you must negotiate with foreign companies in your second language concerning publications, presentations, billing, and a host of other things. Further imagine that people call for information and ask for help with problems in both languages. Now you have an idea of the daily challenges dealt with by the small, efficient team in our JALT Central Office.
One of the most important words in JALT vocabulary is Junko, head of the office staff. Brendan Lyons, Hamamatsu Chapter President and former JALT Vice President says: "Junko is the 'Jewel in the Crown of JALT.' Even after many, many, many years of hardship, stressful conditions, and difficulties, Junko is known for her loyalty to our organization and the pride she takes in her work. Junko keeps our organization going and provides the strong centre we need quietly, efficiently, and with total dedication." Fujio Junko has been with us for nine years. Prior to JALT, Junko worked as a translator in the nuclear power generation department of a trading company. She still remembers her beginnings with us. Given her background, she was weak in listening and speaking and would initially cringe when the phone rang. She reminisced that when one JALT member phoned to complain, she wanted desperately to finish the conversation and replied: "Yes, yes, yes. OK." Three months later, the same gentleman called again and remarked, "Oh, you speak English very well. The person I talked to before didn't understand me." Junko never revealed her identity to him. Aleda Krause, then National Treasurer and on the hiring committee, writes, "I couldn't believe anyone as supremely qualified as Junko wanted to work for JALT! She thought we were hiring her to manage a well-staffed, organized office -- instead, she discovered no staff, no organization, and no complete conference database. But she didn't quit then -- and what's perhaps even more remarkable, still hasn't quit!"
Junko stresses that cooperation and teamwork among the staff are vital to the office operating smoothly and she constantly strives to maintain a friendly atmosphere. Working hard alongside her are Kato Takako (JALT membership and SIGs), Sanada Atsuko (membership and chapters), Tanabe Yoshiko (Associate members and ads), Nanba Masako (office bookkeeping), and Ito Chie (national bookkeeping). Learning in the office is ongoing; regular meetings are held to mutually train and update each staff member.
Junko said emphatically, "All the people in the office feel that JALT's numerous volunteers are wonderful in their devotion to our organization and the shouldering of its heavy responsibilities." They look forward to meeting JALT volunteers and members face to face at PAC3/JALT2001, our annual conference on November 22-25 in Kokura, Kitakyushu. You may catch sight of Junko at the registration desk, where she will have already trained some 25 volunteers. She will be troubleshooting inquiries into fees and benefits, answering queries from associate members, and so on. Junko's duties also include assisting the conference team to prepare for the big event in anything from information about the printer for the conference handbook to JR passes some of our associate members so graciously help to procure, or main speaker accommodations. JALT is Junko; we can never thank her enough for all the years she has so ably and kindly helped and befriended so many of us.
Another important person working hand in hand with Junko is Ishida Tadashi, our Vice-President. Tadashi acts as a go-between between our Board of Directors and the government. It is largely thanks to Tadashi that our organization recently acquired NPO status. Tadashi assists the Central Office in hiring new employees when needed and is a liaison between outside accounting firms, the Auditor, the Director of Treasury, the Legal Affairs Bureau, lawyers, and so on. He refers to this position as an "expensive hobby," for much of his time is consumed by JALT. He is even interrupted by phone calls about JALT crises when teaching at his language school. However, he feels that he is enriched culturally and has met interesting people in the process. Tadashi makes it a point to learn from both sides and then move on to the next challenge.
JALT is blessed with excellent people in the Central Office who carry the words "dedicated" and "employee" far beyond the call of duty. Next time, please, when meeting any of these multi-talented individuals, thank them for their ongoing endeavours on all our behalves. Thank you Central Office staff! Thank you Junko! And thank you Vice-President Tadashi!
Reported by Joyce Cunningham
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