Job Discussion Forums

[timothypfox]

Beyond the usual culture shock experience by expats of overtime and compulsory after work parties and if you are at a private school - mandatory work as a club teacher, I wondered if others had experienced other demands on private personal time?

For those who have gone on to stay a while like me, I am now a house owner. Or, by North American standards - it feels a lot more like being a co-op owner. That is to say, I have to belong to a neighbor group/committee (not by law - but it is a strongly sanctioned social expectation) which has neighborhood jobs, and everyone is to meet for mandatory social events such as a party or sports festival.

On top of this, once my son becomes school age, my wife and I will have to belong to a school PTA and must also be active in the PTA. The PTA has mandatory jobs, meetings, parties, and social events.

I'm beginning to wonder whether Japanese society is extremely selfish about private personal time? It seems to me a lot of Japanese people do not like these events either, but have a stiff upper lip about them thinking these are a social necessity...

Alright... Thanks for letting me rant a bit.

I guess this post isn't too relevant for many of you on Dave's, so I'll get back to helping with the basic questions of people newer to Japan such as visa's, health care, good housing, and good jobs and so on...

[mitsui]

You don't have to pay or go.
I used to have to pay up to 8000 a yen per year to join my neighborhood
group.
I don't know what I got for my money.
We moved and don't pay anymore.

Welcome to groupthink.

These groups can be organized bullying, but some places are more mellow.

[TokyoLiz]

My partner and I rent a whole house, and we belong to the neighbourhood choukai. There aren't many apparent benefits beyond socializing. It's not much value for your money.

We don't feel obligated to attend events, but we look forward to a few festivals each year with the neighbours.

At school, I don't attend all events, but I try to do as many as possible. I draw the line at the teachers' two-day trip. Neither I nor my non-Japanese coworkers attend it. Solidarity.

The one thing in my neighbourhood that I don't like is the junk collector's megaphone.

[kzjohn]

[timothypfox]

Thanks for the comment kzjohn, but I was just venting - simply that only - and this is a safe and comfortable place to to do that.

I will and do plan to make the most of the PTA and such, but I will have my cringing moments from time to time...

[steki47]

[taikibansei]

Man, do I hear you on this! What's worse is how, say, your PTA duties increase with each kid you have. I.e., you can't just say, "Well, I'm already doing this and that for kid #1, so I'd like to be excluded for kid #2." Which means, for example, that you have to attend two PTA meetings (often happening at the same time) instead of one, not to mention get to clean the school toilets twice a semester and not just once! Oh, and try having three kids...and having to be in three places at the same time....

Indeed, I really think this--along with the lack of daycare options and other impediments to having two working parents--is an important contributing cause of the declining birthrate. Even with those couples financially capable of raising two or more kids, the increasingly impossible demands on their limited "free" time really dull the desire to breed....

[Shakey]

[kzjohn]

[Shakey]