Sunday, 30 March 2008

Working in Japan

Probably the biggest downside of working in Japan for a Japanese company is that every now and then they make you work longer hours and longer weeks by throwing contract details in your face.

For almost the past 3 weeks now I've been working six day weeks (Monday - Saturday) due to the company now being in "Sales Period". Instead of teaching classes we get to perform "Demo Lessons" all day to try and enrol new students for the next semester.

While I can see why the company does it, almost zero consideration is given to the employees at the company. The Japanese say "Customer is god" but unfortunately that also means "Employees come last".

To make matters worse most people don't get overtime pay or any compensation at all for this extra work. It seems to be "expected".

If you have any interviews for a Japanese job coming up I highly recommend asking direct questions about any extra work that will be involved in your position and what compensation (if any) you will be getting.

Another great question to ask (and one that I really regret not asking) is "How do you define success in this company?". If you want to work your way up in a Japanese company never assume that you will be. Ask how it is done and if it's even a possibility.

Do you have any questions or advice about working in Japan? Comment away!

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Labels: japan, Teaching English in Japan

Tuesday, 5 February 2008

Love in Japan

Something occurred to me yesterday while teaching a song who's every second lyric was "I love you!" and assigning homework to "Practice saying 'I love you' to your family, etc". ...English teachers sure can be full of crap sometimes.

Of course I always knew this, especially when I was teaching at Nova (R.I.P.) but the topic of "love" and teaching the word and it's "meaning in Western culture" is a great example of just how much language and culture a lot of teachers in Japan can pull out of their arse at the expense of the students' (adult and child) learning.

A lot of teachers seem to present the word "love" as having a lot more meaning and emotion attached to it than the Japanese equivalent, "Ai". They'll say how "Ai" just means to "really like something" because it's used all the time and "Japanese people don't really tell each other how they feel".

But wait a sec! Are you saying you've never "loved" a movie? Never said "I love that tv show LOST"? Saying the word "love" is only reserved for when we mean it is a load of bull. As is the assumption that "in Western countries" everyone tells everyone how much they love them.

Now I'm not saying I don't love my family. I do. But I can't remember the last time I said so in person. Quite simply, it's embarrassing and I'm as "metro" as they come. Of course it's a lot easier to write here or sign a letter "Love Brad" instead of "From Brad" but it's still not the same.

Now I do remember getting a LOT of adult students who would laugh and tell me that they haven't told their husband/wife that they love them in years and visa versa but these same people seemed to be contemplating an affair or have already had several (some with English teachers) and not ashamed to tell a complete stranger about the fact or just don't see their husband or wife due to their insane working hours.

Japan does have a lower than average divorce rate compared to other countries which is mostly due to lack of legal and financial support for divorcees and a massive cultural and peer related pressure. This means more people trapped in unhappy marriages and of course unwilling to tell their spouses how much they "love" them simply because they don't.

Making a generalisation without taking into account the variables is just ignorant.

On a whole you'll really find the same amount of love in Japan compared to other countries and saying otherwise does nothing more than support an aged stereotype that Japanese people are emotionless which is completely untrue and slightly racist.

If a Japanese person loves you, they'll tell you.

Let's try and put a stop to generalisations.

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Labels: japan, Japanese Social Issues, Teaching English in Japan

Sunday, 9 September 2007

A Good Teaching Experience

Teaching English in Japan it's very common to get completely anal negative "feedback" from your students ranging from "The lessons are too hard" to "The teacher is too friendly". Of course to avoid the utterly embarrassing situation of actually telling you in person, the students go straight to the management or Japanese staff and complain which gets the situation on your permanent record and really achieves nothing more than making you frustrated with the student.

Very rarely, if ever, do the students tell your school that they're happy with your work. This can really get you down.

Imagine my surprise then when during my last 30 minutes of a special holiday "Summer School" 14 day program one of the mothers began to cry out of pride as I was showing her and the other mother and father watching what I had been teaching their three sons during the school period.

At the end of the class both mothers and the one father genuinely thanked me and asked if I would be teaching at the school again. Japanese people are famous for lying when it comes to situations like this. For example, they'll thank you after the lesson but then go and file a complaint about the air conditioner not being at the government approved temp of 28 degrees celcius.

These parents were actually really thanking me though and telling me that all three boys had started using English at home now and have been having so much fun in my classes.

The next day at the office a staff member came up to me and told me that one of the mothers (the one that had been crying actually) had called the office to once more thank me for doing such a wonderful job. Just a few days ago I also got a letter which had been sent to the office from one of the other boys in the class thanking me for being such a good teacher and also a photo of the three boys and me which they had taken on the last day.

A lot of customers seem to forget how appreciated positive feedback is with workers in any industry. When I was at Starbucks in Sydney it really made my day when customers would take 10 seconds out of their schedule to come and tell me in person that the coffee I had just made was the best or that they love coming in to see my smiling face. On a hard day and especially on one where you have to deal with anal retentive customers it makes all the difference in the world and in turn gives customers a better experience as we pass the positive attitude back into our jobs.

So today, take the time to thank your language or music teacher, the guy or girl who made your coffee and sympathise with the peeps stuck behind the reg at the convenience store. It'll make their day and they'll go out of their way to make sure you get the best service possible on your next visit.

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Labels: japan, Teaching English in Japan

Thursday, 29 March 2007

English Teacher Murdered

I just read about this seconds ago and am really shocked at this. The full article can be read here and I really recommend you give it a look for all the info.

After the obvious shock and sympathy something occurred. I felt a little confused. How exactly could a man, bare foot, escape from the fourth floor of an apartment building with a police presence? Sure, I don't know all the facts but I find if hard to believe that he got away that easily. I'm actually wondering if the police actually bothered pursuing or simply stood where they were and yelled for him to stop.

It's also just a bit strange that the police are saying that they're not issuing an arrest warrant for the suspect despite the fact that they found the body in his apartment, he had been stalking her and he ran from the crime scene. Come on.

Japanese police have always been a joke for me. From their complete lack of intimidation to their dated policies and racial discrimination I simply have no respect for them. But, damn. They can give directions like nothing else.

For those wondering how safe Japan actually is... well it definitely feels safe but when you sit down and discuss things like sexual assault, stalking and racism you really have to define what "safe" is. Personally I'm a 26 year old man and I've been groped several times on the trains and experienced one of the most traumatising situations of my life; an elderly man physically restraining my arm and licking it several times before yelling racial slurs at me after I turned down his advances. This was just on my way home from work on the train when I was working in Saitama.

I've been stalked by a student who wanted to "be my friend" (I don't think he had any) and constantly emailed and rang me at all hours just to talk. Luckily he didn't know where I lived and his phone number was blockable.

From talking to friends I've heard a LOT of stories of female teachers having Japanese men follow them back to their apartments. Being groped on trains is also very common. I remember one time at NOVA and the topic came up in the staff room with around 12 teachers present. 10 of them had been sexually harassed on Japanese trains.

Don't get me started on police carding and bicycle stopping.

After all this though I still find myself thinking about how safe Japan is.

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Labels: japan, Racism, Teaching English in Japan

Friday, 2 February 2007

Generation Gap

I was remembering on my train trip to work this morning how funny it was last year in the Christmas parties when the the mothers and kids were taking photos of myself and each other. The company I work for gave each classroom cheap disposable cameras to take photos for our own records as well. Funny thing was, whenever I or someone else used the camera to take a photo, all the kids would gather around and demand to see how the photo turned out on the back of the camera. Some of them were so surprised to hear that not all cameras had digital viewing screens and in fact that cameras like that are a fairly new invention.

It was just such a generational gap kind of moment (and I'm only 26!) when kids assume that there will be such a thing on a camera.

Another similar thing that happened several times was when I would blow my nose in class (politely of course) and the kids would go ballistic saying that I was blowing my nose into a towel! Almost all of them had never seen anyone use a handkerchief before. They had all been brought up on tissues.

Kids nowadays.

Labels: japan, Japanese Social Issues, Teaching English in Japan