Job Discussion Forums

[denise]

Yeah, it was a joke. Sorry--I should have added one of those little winking smiley-dealies.



d

[Sherri]

I lived in Japan for 14 years. I used to be in charge of recruitment for the school I was working for. I would say that about two thirds to three quarters of the applicants were men. Many had been here for the long term and had a Japanese wife. I think that many non-Japanese men do get married and stay on perhaps longer than they originally intended. I know I stayed longer because of my relationship and marriage to a Japanese man.

But don't worry, there are plenty of opportunities to date and have fun. I had a great time!
Sherri

[jello1]

There are other "skills" you know,

num chuk skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills...

[jello1]

Denise,

Do you think you will take a big pay cut in LA? Everything I read seems to suggest wages are very low there....

[Sody]

[denise]

Yeah, I am certainly expecting to have a lot less to send back home and a lot less to live on. I'm not happy about it, but I am willing to accept it to live somewhere that appeals to me a bit more.

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[Lynn]

In 1996 I worked for middle schools, in 1998 elementary schools. Both BOEs had requested a female who can speak Japanese.

We are hard to come by. After a year, I threated the city counsel woman and said,"I can't teach 10 schools anymore. You must hire another teacher."

She was really pissed that I threatened her. But in the end they ended up hiring another teacher.

[sethness]

"Iwantmyrightsnow" is right, there are more opportunities for women ESL teachers here. THis is true for at least 3 reasons:

1) because they're in shorter supply & schools want to balance their numbers (I've heard it's closer to 10:1 proportions, foreign men:women, in Japan.)

2) Sexism, in that they want women for working in kids' classes, particularly with very young kids who might be scared by big gorilla-like men

3) Sexism again, in that the boss who does the hiring may feel that women in general are more manipulable.

(Dont' shoot the messenger because of the message he bears ! I'm delivering the data, not endorsing it !!!)

I personally have been the top candidate for 3 einglish-school positions, until "a woman, any woman" came along. "Any woman" was considered a better candidate than the best male candidate. Harsh for me, great for you women.

Now, about WHY there are so few foreign women coming to Japan. Hmmmm. Japan's got a reputation of sexual harrassment, dirty old men groping in the subways, glass ceilings for women in employment, harsh age-ism that starts at 30 for women and 40 for men, and a host of other things that might make Japan less desirable for a woman than, say, walking naked through a bar filled with drunken men. *grin*

On the other hand, Japan has a well-deserved reputation for paying English teachers well, and being one of the safest countries in Asia (as far as street crime goes).

On the ..er...THIRD hand, there's the MILITARY stationed here. Tons and tons of fire-breathing, tanked-up, barely-20, us-against-them, adrenalin-junky foreign men. Dumping all those male soldiers into the equation certainly reduces the percent of women here.

So, it's not a simple equation, but I suspect that Japan's sexism and Western men wanting little doe-eyed women with 12-year-olds' bodies may have something to do with the imbalance between "imported" men & women here.

[malcoml]

I think that we really need to look at this topic straight in the face. The reason that there are so many western men there is because Japanese women are so damn pretty.
I was sitting at a barbecue one night with a group of guys and we were all complaning about our jobs, girlfriends and other life matters. The topic came up of teaching in Japan and I can tell you that the topic of women was high on the list for all the guys. Money was a distant second and culture or language didn't even come into it.
My mum said to me one day why dont you get a Japanese girlfriend. Go to Japan and teach English were her words. So it is not just the guys that know about this big secret. The secret is out.
I honestly do not know of any guy who went to Japan to teach English and did not have women on his mind. What other reason is there, you can earn more money staying at home.
Ask yourself how many couples turn up to Japan to teach together. Not to many and of those how many go home together.
The fact is that the whole ESL industry is made up of guys who are looking to earn enough money to live and meet exotic women in exotic locations. At least when they start in the industry anyway. I mean who in their right mind would teach in Brazil for $600 per month. Just guys.
When I was young holiday plans were quite often based around good places to go where the beer and accomadation were cheap and the chances of meeting women was good. This is what young guys do and lets face it when many men turn up to Japans door step they are young guys.
Some good topics were made above in regards to the problems women face in Japan. Men grabbing the womens *beep* and men openly playing with themselves in front of the women. Would you want to be in this environment as a women.
On a lighter note about the grabbing of *beep*. My mum went to a Japanese wedding and she has larger *beep*. An older Japanese man approached her at the wedding and he had clearly been drinking quite a bit. He got this big grin on his face and made a noise like a school boy who had just been given an ice-cream before he grabbed her on the boobs. He then continued to laugh as he tried to sqeeze them. My mum was so shocked she hardly realised what had happened. Dad wasn't impressed and the Japanese guys wife had to rush over and say sorry whilst dragging him off by the ear. The funny thing was the Japanese guy never said sorry and he still had a stupid look on his face and was laughing like a school boy as he was being dragged off.
The women were all sitting together with their heads down, all clearly embarressed by the situations that were starting to unfold. My parents gut feeling from looking at the girls was that this was something they were used to and the night had just started. Clearly a good time for them to exit the party.
Dosen't everyone have a embarrassing story about Japanese men ?

[Gordon]

[denise]

Malcoml:

You are wrong. While meeting women may be a factor (as meeting men is for me; dating is part of a healthy adult life, after all), it is not the only factor. The men of whom you speak are caricatures. Sure, they exist, but I have met men who, believe it or not, are teachers. Meaning they care about their jobs.

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[malcoml]

Gordon

Yeah I'd say there is a few. That is just a few.
If you take a look at the recruits that companies like NOVA are taking I think you will find that most are not there to become great teachers of the English language. Ask the average male NOVA teacher to fill out a private survey on whay they joined and I beleive to teach the world english will be low on the list.
Your a professor, why dont you put forward a proposal for some research into the topic.
I mean how can the average Joe take the English language teaching profession seriously, there is no money in it except for a few that have made their way to the top.
People rely on a few basic needs. Food, water, housing and companionship. Japan language schools directly and indirectly supply all these things to the average labguage teacher.

[Mike L.]

Who says you can't be serious about teaching and meeting Japanese women at the same time?

You can do both!

I didn't realize teaching EFL in Japan is like joining the priesthood.

[PAULH]

[PAULH]