Job Discussion Forums

[bluetortilla]

Yes I can take brow beating. Humility is your friend.

First of all, I would have to agree that Fukuoka is dismal as far as jobs go. But a very nice city to live in.

I won't go into all your advice (though I'll just say it's sound), but I'm wondering how in the hell you're making over 500,000 yen a month? What do you do exactly in a market where 260 a month is typical? 500 was my peak as a school.

I can't see much money to made in eikaiwa. You need to be damn good in business to be successful here. I'm not.

Now, have you ever tried to save on 300 with two kids and a condo? Pretty challenging.

Actually, it's not like there's no savings going on. My wife (together with her mother) have Prudential Japan insurance/savings funds for the kids and ourselves. We also have a college fund. And we have equity in the condo (it's paid for, and I've paid for about 30% of it and could probably successfully sue for it if she tried to sell it). The reason it's not in my name is that being a small business owner and a gaijin made it impossible for me to get a loan.

So I guess I do have a bit of a pension, though I'd have to pay a penalty if I cashed in on it. I never went for nenkin. Tell me that thing isn't either going to go under or become so riddled with new regulations that getting your money back will be like getting blood from a stone.

Years ago there was a struggle in my family on where to invest our money, here or the US. I wanted to go with an IRA or mutual fund but after all the fighting I just finally gave up and let them handle it. Yes, it was stupid. But only from my respective, not theirs. They have no idea about investment in the US after all.

So it's not AS bad as you make it out to be, and it's not too late (but very close) to turn things around (for myself anyway, probably not the marriage- and no, I wouldn't be the guy in the little room- I know all about ways around that. Just be sure to save for your kids in a place your wife can't touch. Also, as I said, I'd never sign a divorce paper here). And let's face it- as far as money matters goes, I had a choice a long time ago and gave in. I sheuldn't have but tough cookies. I don't feel sorry for myself, I just hope other gaijin might learn from my mistakes.

[bluetortilla]

Oh, and yes, I'm a PR.

[ironopolis]

[Glenski]

You have PR yet cannot get a small business loan? Weird. Why? Others have.

Making 500,000 a month is not hard in larger cities. Heck, I was making almost that much in Sapporo as a full-time private high school teacher after being in Japan only 3 years. Other people who work in larger cities have claimed that 500K is very easy to make with a string of part-time work. You may have to work a lot (6 days a week), but they also claim they are not working 8 hours a day sometimes.

It's your choice not to "go with nenkin", but I'm surprised your wife has not pressured you for it. Having "a bit of a pension" -- what does that mean anyway?

[SeasonedVet]

I have no intentions of speaking for the OP. He can speak for himself but I was just wondering:

[Sherri]

I don't think it is as easy to make the big bucks as it used to be. At my peak in the late 90s (before kids) I was making almost 600,000 a month as an academic administrator (DOS). It was a good job which I really enjoyed but my options were limited as a non-Japanese. I reached the highest I could go without becoming a board member.

To the OP, what do you want for your future? Do you want to return to the US? How old are your kids? Do they want to come? Can they speak English well enough to integrate? I think the general standard of living and quality of life is better where I am now than when I lived in Tokyo, I earn less here, but I have more and work less--so does my husband.

[Glenski]

[bluetortilla]

Yes, I meant 級. Damn ワッポロ's. lol

Glenski, I've regarded your advice to be pretty solid until now, but frankly those examples you give are ridiculous. Nobody around here is earning over 4500 max unless they own their own school and even people with Master's degrees are making about that much, and not getting so many hours either. 7000 is outrageous; I haven't heard of that in years. I will admit though that I recently landed a posh translation job for (worked out to about 10000 an hour), but only through old connections and government funding.

And the hours! Unless you're a bonfide workaholic, who could put up with that schedule without going nuts in months, much less years? I've run my own school for nearly ten years- it takes a lot of tenacity to consistently put in 12 hour days, and makes ya kinda grim after a while to boot. So I can't imagine teaching eikaiwa, psychologically taxing enough, plus all that running around in a crowded environment, at those hours (even if you could get that pay) unless you were one thick skinned bot. Those guys, if they really exist, are definitely eating the breakfast of champions.

Where I live I have NEVER heard of such wages nor such availability of hours. Every ex pat here who I know is struggling, and many are becoming the proverbial rats fleeing the sinking ship. How do you compete with 25 year olds willing to take 2000 an hour salaries and doing 1500 yen private lessons on the side? I still get 5000 an hour for my private lessons based on my reputation but recently have been forced into also accepting 30 minute lessons for 2500. People here are definitely much more tight belted in their spending. Hasn't Sapporo heard that there is major recession occurring in this country? Or maybe you've just been extremely lucky enough to get into a magic network. I'm not being sarcastic here- every gaijin I know is having a hard time, even Ph.D's.

By the way, I said I couldn't get a loan on my condo, not a business loan. But now that you mention it, my father-in-law had to co-sign my 3,000,000 yen business loan too. I find it hard to believe that gaijin can get any loan here(well maybe sarakin) without excellent collateral.

[Glenski]

I knew someone would say they thought I was lying. Tough. Those were what people reported. Without naming names, including the employers where they worked, I can't say more.

Yes, those people seemed like workaholics, but I told you such people worked long hours. The second person actually said he had plenty of time to spare during the day, so it wasn't like he was working 24/7; in fact, he got 3 months off (paid!) in some of his jobs. Or at the very least, the money he earned over 9 months averaged out to the figures above, and he got the other 3 months off.

Where did they find this work? Well, it wasn't Sapporo or Fukuoka. It was Tokyo and Osaka. Can someone do that in Fukuoka? Heck, I don't know, but your own situation is even more unbelievable to me.

[J.]

but your wife sounds spoiled to the nth. I'm really not sure how women in Japan got the idea that men should be the sole breadwinner a la the 1950's back in the west. Women here need to realize that the lifestyles of all but the wealthiest families nowadays mean that there are two wage-earners. Those are the "facts" that her family needs to hear.

That she is using her backing from her in-laws to maintain this out-dated stance is unfair. I do feel sorry for you as your story sounds like you have been doing your level best to provide for your family, even starting a business and sticking with it for 10 years, when it was something outside your natural inclinations. I don't feel you should internalize the blame they (or anyone here) is laying on you. Marriage should be an equal partnership, taking account of the abilities and responsibilities of the family members, including paid and unpaid work like child raising and care.

You are right not to sign divorce papers in Japan. The situation seems unreasonably one-sided from what I've read. if you ever do move the children abroad, it seems very dangerous to allow them to return here for visits.

Good luck. I hope you will be able to work out something that makes you happier.

[bluetortilla]

Thanks J. I'm pretty much ready for the what seems the inevitable, but I also have a 7 year old son who worships me- that's the real heart breaker and I don't want to traumatize his life by leaving him. Yes, my wife is very spoiled, and accepts no blame or responsibility for our situation. One might sympathize that I'm fed up I think.

Glensky I did eikaiwa for 10 years (and senmon gakkou) because I had a great boss, easy hours, and great pay. Went to Hawaii to try to get a Master's but found I made too much money! So I'm giving it another shot at Temple I think. I figure this is probably my last chance.

[Glenski]

[bluetortilla]

Glensky,

Are you suspicious by nature or did you just take too many science and business courses in college?

Seriously though, I appreciate the interest and hey, I have nothing to hide. But let me ask you too, since you've been somewhat evasive on the subject, what exactly do you do, how long was it before you got out of eikaiwa, and what are your retirement plans? I already said 5 posts back that I wanted an IRA or mutual funds but was overruled by the matriarchy that financially dictates in this family. Now we have Prudential, which I don't find, ahem, all that prudent.

When I say my first decade, you have to consider my first three years in Tokyo were spent at Sophia University. So my eikaiwa was a part time job. I then worked at a good school here in Fukuoka for five years (the nice boss), and decided that if I was going to make this my actual vocation, I definitely needed a Master's. We went to Hawaii because they are reputed to be the best school in the country for TESOL.

Yes, poor planning on my part. I took $20,000 with me, but soon realized that with the cost of living in Hawaii, I would need student loans (U of H doesn't give scholarships to just anyone). But the kicker was that we made too much money just getting by in our tiny apt. to qualify for loans.

Well, I pretty much sank into a heavy depression for a while, went back to Japan and started looking into correspondence courses. Six months later I got cancer (won't say where). It was easily cured, but rather distracted me from the retirement/job security thing (believe me, you're going to die- and no matter how much you think about the way you'd like to go, deep inside really you don't want to go at all and I doubt you'll have much say in the matter anyway. So much for The Golden Years. And I don't mean that negatively. Really I don't. They are certain realities you must face, and without spirituality a pension isn't gonna do much for you- especially as you get older- as I am sure you've already realized.

After cancer, thought I'd try my hand at business and opened my school. Had plans of opening branches and all that jazz too and for a while we did pretty well. Then finally the recession hit us too and running the business became like flogging, well, not exactly a dead horse but definitely a 'put him out to pasture horse'. Frankly I want out or at least just float the business while I try for something better and finally get that long coveted Master's. And after I get it, I kind of doubt I'll be teaching here in Japan anymore. I have no idea- I might get great satisfaction out of teaching English to refugees in the States.

In the meantime, pardon by French, I'm stuck with a lazy spoiled wife who can barely lift her pinky without groaning, controlling in-laws who think that as long as there is a school, everything is fine (and make things worse by pouring money into the place during red months). It would be easy just to walk away without even bothering to fight for my share of the condo but I have two kids including a 7 year old boy. It ain't that easy. It's a frustrating heart breaker. All I can do is try to convince my in-laws on the benefits of a Master's and that the school most likely will just continue to flounder. But since they only listen to their daughter I guess she's the one that needs convincing. And the one who would have to work as well as me if I went for Master's.....

Glensky, for whatever reason, some of us are not as organized as you. My father was, but I'm not. Go figure. But I'm not an idiot either and think I could do well in academics (which is why I started this thread in the first place). And as we all know, 'bad things sometimes happen to good people.' lol That's true.

[Glenski]

bluetortilla,
Could you look just a little more carefully at my name and learn to spell it correctly? I'm not asking much here.

Am I suspicious by nature? No. Just my science background coming out. Yes, I'm a scientist by nature and training, so I work on facts (things you have not provided completely or well enough for me sometimes) and accurate statements. Forgive me for trying to deal with the whole situation, but it makes life easier when one has that in hand. Your latest post seems to have filled in a lot of gaps that could have been filled a long time ago.

Me, evasive? Hardly. Ask a direct question and you'll get a direct answer. I don't recall any. Now that you've asked, here goes.

[fat_chris]

Bluetortilla,

It's surprising how many very personal details you have posted for this topic. Wow! But if you`re comfortable doing so...

This has been a good topic for me because I have just arrived in Japan as an ALT on JET. As I already have an MA in TESOL as well as several years of teaching experience, I`m hoping to use JET as a springboard into bigger and more lucrative TESOL opportunities later in Japan.

I know, I know, get that Japanese language ability up to speed, publish some articles, and do some presentations at some conferences--I'll have a go at it all and see what happens.

Thanks to all, for all of the advice on what to do and what not to do to gain financial stability and vocational satisfaction as a TESOL professional in Japan.

Regards,
fat_c