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Shakey
Joined: 29 Aug 2014
Posts: 199
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 Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:08 am Post subject: |
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| hdeth wrote: |
| I have never met a Japanese backpacker either...traveled quite a bit in SE asia backpacker style too. |
The Japanese do not backpack as solo travelers. You will see them in tour groups, like you will the Chinese and Koreans, however.
Also, many Japanese are just not interested in the outside world. The number of students who have ambitions to study abroad has been decreasing over the last several years. There is really very little interest in leaving Japan. They are a very insular and inward looking people.
I asked a class of young university aged students about the Paris massacre the following Monday or Tuesday after the attacks. None of them were even aware that it happened. They have no interest in international news and events. They just do not care.
For example, I was also surprised to learn that they think the Rolling Stones with the iconic tongue design is simply a fashion company.
But they are an easy people to manage. The Japanese government have created a population of very passive and unmotivated people who do not question anything. And that's what the political and corporate elite want. They want a bewildered herd that is easy to steer and more interested in Disney Princesses and Micky Mouse than they are foreign policy and politics. Meanwhile, they can fiddle with the Constitution and other things without any real opposition. |
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RM1983
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Posts: 360
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| Posted: Tue Dec 29, 2015 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Shakey wrote: |
| weigookin74 wrote: |
Korea is in a slow decline as wages for your average private school is the same as a decade ago with more things being taxed and living costs rising quickly. You can still save but less than before. In another 10 years, will it be like Japan?
Less of a "foreign devil" mindset nowadays than there use to be.
Korea is pretty modern. Banking is easy, online and such in English. Transferring money home online can be done in 10 minutes. Bank machines open 8 Am to Midnight every day. Convenience stores have ATMs for after hours. You can even do cash advance off your home country's credit card from them. Less pressure to conform as a foreigner as I said. Subways in Seoul, clean and modern and cheap. |
Korea elicits the strongest emotions from TEFL teachers.
Japan, Taiwan or Thailand, for example, do not generally evoke such strong feelings of hatred or contempt like Korea does. I have never seen TEFL teachers get so upset or angry about their teaching experience as I have from those people who have lived and worked in Korea.
However, Seoul is a very modern city. It's convenient, has a great subway system and there are lots of choices for eating, shopping and entertainment. Taxis and the subways are much more affordable than they are in Japan, too. So as long weekend getaway destination, I like visiting Seoul. However, living there and working with and for Koreans is an uncomfortable thought.
Yes, Korea seems to trail behind Japan by a decade or so. The EFL industry in Korea is experiencing what Japan started going through in the early 2000s. The TEFL industry in Japan is pretty much on life support. Some major players went bankrupt and the advent of dispatch agencies have really saturated the market and driven down salaries and benefits.
China is where all the work is now. And, as a TEFL teacher, you have to go to where the work is. It is no longer in Japan, and Korean is heading in that direction, too. |
Have you worked in China? I couldnt see myself being up for it , another new place with a new language and a place less developed than where I've been before.
I've got some friends over there now and it looks a little bit dull to be honest. They're posting pics of their nights out every week much like they were in Korea 5 years ago. They look to be saving a bit of cash , but I'm sure that'll get mostly spent on repatriation. Theres no way in heck theyll be settling down there.
Also, I had some Chinese students back in the UK and they were probably the worst I've ever had. Uni age, acted like they were about 14, just sitting there and literally acting like 14 year olds who didn't want to be there. Unmotivated and (probably unintentionally) quite rude. I'm sure they aren't totally representative. This was in a multinational setting with some of the friendliest classmates you could find. They were a buzz kill, and we used to argue over who would avoid teaching them. |
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mitsui
Joined: 10 Jun 2007
Posts: 1562
Location: Kawasaki
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| Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 6:34 am Post subject: |
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They are called little emperors.
I guess since they are only children they get spoiled.
But it boils down to bad parents. |
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weigookin74
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 265
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| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Shakey wrote: |
| hdeth wrote: |
| I have never met a Japanese backpacker either...traveled quite a bit in SE asia backpacker style too. |
The Japanese do not backpack as solo travelers. You will see them in tour groups, like you will the Chinese and Koreans, however.
Also, many Japanese are just not interested in the outside world. The number of students who have ambitions to study abroad has been decreasing over the last several years. There is really very little interest in leaving Japan. They are a very insular and inward looking people.
I asked a class of young university aged students about the Paris massacre the following Monday or Tuesday after the attacks. None of them were even aware that it happened. They have no interest in international news and events. They just do not care.
For example, I was also surprised to learn that they think the Rolling Stones with the iconic tongue design is simply a fashion company.
But they are an easy people to manage. The Japanese government have created a population of very passive and unmotivated people who do not question anything. And that's what the political and corporate elite want. They want a bewildered herd that is easy to steer and more interested in Disney Princesses and Micky Mouse than they are foreign policy and politics. Meanwhile, they can fiddle with the Constitution and other things without any real opposition. |
Bolded, older Koreans perhaps. Many younger and middle aged Koreans travel with a small group of friends or solo nowadays. Many speak decent enough English to do so and are more independent minded. But up until a few years ago, they would travel in groups and even stock up on their own brands of noodles to take with them before departing and would eat Korean food while travelling and rarely sample the local food. Funny, as Japan has been open to the world the longest, that they are still so insular and shut out to outside influences. |
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weigookin74
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 265
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| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Shakey wrote: |
| weigookin74 wrote: |
Korea is in a slow decline as wages for your average private school is the same as a decade ago with more things being taxed and living costs rising quickly. You can still save but less than before. In another 10 years, will it be like Japan?
Less of a "foreign devil" mindset nowadays than there use to be.
Korea is pretty modern. Banking is easy, online and such in English. Transferring money home online can be done in 10 minutes. Bank machines open 8 Am to Midnight every day. Convenience stores have ATMs for after hours. You can even do cash advance off your home country's credit card from them. Less pressure to conform as a foreigner as I said. Subways in Seoul, clean and modern and cheap. |
Korea elicits the strongest emotions from TEFL teachers.
Japan, Taiwan or Thailand, for example, do not generally evoke such strong feelings of hatred or contempt like Korea does. I have never seen TEFL teachers get so upset or angry about their teaching experience as I have from those people who have lived and worked in Korea.
However, Seoul is a very modern city. It's convenient, has a great subway system and there are lots of choices for eating, shopping and entertainment. Taxis and the subways are much more affordable than they are in Japan, too. So as long weekend getaway destination, I like visiting Seoul. However, living there and working with and for Koreans is an uncomfortable thought.
Yes, Korea seems to trail behind Japan by a decade or so. The EFL industry in Korea is experiencing what Japan started going through in the early 2000s. The TEFL industry in Japan is pretty much on life support. Some major players went bankrupt and the advent of dispatch agencies have really saturated the market and driven down salaries and benefits.
China is where all the work is now. And, as a TEFL teacher, you have to go to where the work is. It is no longer in Japan, and Korean is heading in that direction, too. |
Bolded. You're right about that. It's still not bad, but not nearly as good as it was. I think the 2000's decade was the best time to teach in Korea. The 90's were a time to make money, but it was more of the wild west with no enforceable standards or laws. China, today, perhaps? In the 90's, no pension, health insurance, etc. China, today. You get your own expat insurance if you want medical coverage. In the 2000's, medical insurance, pension, etc. Medicine reasonably modern and cheap. You could still get screwed, but you could hop from job to job with ease. Post 2009, flooded market and wages going flat. Jobs pay lower in relation to the rising cost of living in 2016, but some jobs, like public schools in rural provinces had a higher pay scale and still do. So, staying means climbing the ay scale and making more. But, those jobs pay scales were created when the rural areas were desperate for teachers and now are not. Now, there is a gradually cutting of positions with Seoul area paying less and cutting out certain renewal bonuses. Vacation time has been cutback also. It's still a good gig if you get to the top of the payscale. You can make, including modest overtime, annual bonuses, and housing 3.3 to 3.5 million won a month with a cheaper cost than Japan and easier time renting (no guarantor crap). But a 2.1 million salary in 2004 is prob equal to 2.7 or 2.8 salary today with an assumption of 2% inflation per year. Most jobs do not pay this and are well underneath this (often 2.1 to 2.3 million won a month, plus free housing).
In essence, the higher paying jobs are those who got into the market at the right time and stayed. Over time, those folks will be squeezed out and inflation will also out price them and maybe even have their salaries cut too. Korea is ok for now, but 5 to 10 years from now prob not so much unless there is a huge economic recovery that upends things. China is more high risk, more pollution (heard Seoul had it bad in the past too), less rule of law with contracts, you buy your own health insurance, but the work hours are easy, the pay is high, and vacations are longer. Also, folks in the countryside and smaller cities will stare at you and be amazed to see you. This was Korea up until several years ago. Now, Koreans, like Japanese, don't bat an eyelash at seeing a foreigner.
2,100,000.00 KRW = 204,296.28 JPY (with free housing)
2,300,000.00 KRW = 223,753.07 JPY (with free housing)
Top scale public school with highest pay scale and including the housing allowance in the salary;
3,400,000.00 KRW = 330,626.99 JPY
Deductions in Korea (income taxes, medical insurance, pension) are about 8% to 9% of total salary.
Flight usually free or a flight bonus for public schools. But, that was cut in Seoul and is being debated to be cut elsewhere. Many private schools are cutting down to one way flight paid and the other you pay yourself. Not every school does this "Yet".
Curious if Japan once offered free apartments and flights, say 20 or 30 years ago and cut them out over time? |
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