Job Discussion Forums

[Mike S.]

Hello ESL teachers in Japan,

I�ve been teaching in Mexico on and off for the past 15 months. I�m fed up with the lack of respect and/or low wages that I�ve experienced. I�m ready to make the big leap over to Asia. I've never been there and only speak English and rather poor Spanish. However, I have a BA and a TEFL
certificate. Does anyone on this forum, like their job, living situation, etc. in Japan? Thanks in advance for your responses!

[Sweetsee]

Howdy Mike,
I like my life in Japan. Let me know if I can help you out.
Enjoy,
s

[markle]

[AndyH]

I'm no longer in Japan, but the years I spent there (2002-2007) were some of the best of my life.
Was it perfect? Of course not, but I had a great time.

[G Cthulhu]

Also not living there any more, but enjoyed both times I was there 91-95 and 00-03. Not perfect by any stretch, but still the place I've enjoyed the most overall in the last fifteen+ years of wandering the planet.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Did you just copy and paste this from the Thailand, Vietnam, or General Asia message boards, or did you actually run it through MS Access to make a database of different contries? (and then post elsewhere that you will probably be back in California very soon)


BTW, "Do you like your job situation in Asia?" seems a little strange as does "I'm fed up with low wages [in Mexico]" when asking about Thailand or Vietnam (I guess it does say lack of respct "and/or" low wages, but that seems even stranger!).

[TokyoLiz]

GambateBingBangBOOM,

Mikey's busted.

Spammer.

[Quibby84]

It will definitley be better than Mexico...not a question about that...

[Sweetsee]

How would it be better than Mexico?

[Quibby84]

Hmm...lets see...
I live pretty close to Mexico and I have been to Guatemala (the are probably decently similar).
The number one reason would be that the standard of living is MUCH higher in Japan than in Mexico, the money is probably better to. The food is healthier and so is the air. You can drink the water from the tap...ummm...Japan is safer....ummm...and much more.
But I have nothing againest Mexico, in fact I studied Spanish in School because I was interested in that culture, but my husband wanted to go to Japan so...we did...
I like Japan a lot, and now that I work with Junior High I even like my job, the kids are so smart and always (in my experience) well behaved, they are also somewhat excited about learning (well some are).

So Mike, how is teaching in Mexico? I have never heard of a TEFL teacher in Mexico; I am interested in how it is...so could you give us a small rundown of your job?

[flyer]

[AndyH]

When I lived in Japan, I took a six-month break from eikaiwa teaching to manage my mom's bar, in Guatemala City. Although my Japanese wife enjoyed studying Spanish and the novelty to living in a new country, I couldn't wait to get back to Japan, and was very happy when we finally returned.
My reasons for not liking Guatemala? Six day work week for low pay, terrible pollution, high crime, and always being frustrated.

[Mike S.]

Thanks for all your replies. Yes indeed, I copied and pasted my question into the various forums. I�m just a an ESL teacher looking for a better life,
so I don't understand what's wrong with asking about jobs and living situations, both of which I�ve had trouble with in Mexico. And I�m not a spammer (although I like the Monty Python song!) I enjoy the actual teaching when I�m left alone with my students and some supervisor isn�t breathing down my neck. My students like me too. I was never offered a contract in Mexico either, by the way. I assume that in Asia you can actually get one one of those little bits of paper!

[Zzonkmiles]

I lived in Japan from 2003-2007 and generally loved it. I would love to go back, but there are a few goals I want to accomplish in the US first.

The thing I miss the most is the pace of life there. Even though I am working the same number of hours here, I feel like I have far less free time. And even simple things like grabbing some yakitori at the local izakaya and washing it down with a chuhai on my way home are things I miss terribly.

Not much room for advancement though--for most people, at least.

Anyway, I think being able to speak and read Japanese will make a huge difference in how happy you are in Japan. Yes, there are other factors too, but language is definitely one of the biggies.

[flyer]