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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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 Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:10 am Post subject: |
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It's heartening to hear that some people (ripslyme and quibbers at least) are doing OK (one could be forgiven for thinking that Japan had become an impossible place to work in, especially from some of my posts LOL).
I think what did it for me was getting chewed up and spat out by a particularly snooty and unpleasant private high school (as you may recall, ripslyme - you once gave people, by way of a reply to me, some advice about the importance of networking to get better, specifically private high school jobs, whereupon I mentioned my infamous 'whinger' thread. It would be interesting actually to hear what you make of the workload and conditions - horrendous? - that there were at that particularly crap school at least). I was so desperate to get back to work (after getting "fired") that I took up with one of the crappier dispatchers, and it was all slowly downhill from then onwards (oh, I did still get the odd call for interview for private schools, but it was hard to act enthusisatic about what sounded like being worked to death again, and the recruiter kept changing the job(s) for which I was apparently being so "seriously" considered). I should've stayed with Interac (gasp!) and just taken that bit longer to sort out decent accomodation.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=639370#639370
Oh, about health insurance, I thought that kokumin kenko hoken (health insurance only, without the pension plan payments too) was also linked to your previous year's earnings (but still worked out cheaper - despite "skyrocketing" from the second year onwards - due obviously to the aforementioned lack of the need for pension scheme payments). Am I wrong?
Last edited by fluffyhamster on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:08 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| fluffyhamster wrote: |
| Oh, about health insurance, I thought that kokumin kenko hoken (health insurance only, without the pension plan payments too) was also linked to your previous year's earnings (but still worked out cheaper - despite "skyrocketing" from the second year onwards - due obviously to the aforementioned lack of the need for pension scheme payments). Am I wrong? |
Cheaper than what? You are obliged to pay around 2500 yen/month in the first year. There is no record of you earning anything in Japan. After that, there is, so they base the payments on that, which amounts to making roughly ten times higher payments. Depends on a few factors, but this is a rough average. |
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fluffyhamster
Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 3292
Location: UK > China > Japan > UK again
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:47 am Post subject: |
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| Glenski wrote: |
| Cheaper than what? You are obliged to pay around 2500 yen/month in the first year. There is no record of you earning anything in Japan. After that, there is, so they base the payments on that, which amounts to making roughly ten times higher payments. Depends on a few factors, but this is a rough average. |
Glenski, I thought the meaning was clear enough (especially in the context of my earlier 'and for the first year at least, the costs are very low and could be easily borne by just the teacher'), but here's for anyone "hard of reading" (addition in bold):
| I wrote: |
| I thought that kokumin kenko hoken...after the first year was also linked to your previous year's earnings (but still worked out cheaper - despite "skyrocketing" from the second year onwards...). |
But thanks for answering my "question" (I got hazy on the details, from not having Japanese NHI for yonks since JET, then a small reasonable eikaiwa), and it's good for any newbs reading this to see the ballpark 2,500 yen figure and realize that they won't be needing to sell a kidney or anything in their first year at least.  |
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ripslyme
Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 481
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject: |
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| fluffyhamster wrote: |
| I think what did it for me was getting chewed up and spat out by a particularly snooty and unpleasant private high school (as you may recall, ripslyme - you once gave people, by way of a reply to me, some advice about the importance of networking to get better, specifically private high school jobs, whereupon I mentioned my infamous 'whinger' thread. It would be interesting actually to hear what you make of the workload and conditions - horrendous? - that there were at that particularly crap school at least). |
I'm sorry to hear about your experience working at that private high school. I'd have to find the 'whinger' thread. I've been away from this site for a while and don't remember exactly what happened. Private schools are not all terrible. Here's what my private school is like:
It's somewhat of an elite, richie-rich elementary school. (I'm not there at the moment, but will return in April so I'm going to refer to stuff in the past tense.) I taught 1st and 3rd grade English. I can't remember the exact number but I believe I taught 18 (or 20) classes a week. I was a solo English teacher, not an ALT. I created my own lesson plans and taught the classes entirely in English. The kids were wonderful. A fair number of them were spoiled brats, but they learn their place soon enough... most of the time anyway. The other teachers were nice enough, although hardly any of them knew a lick of English. (At least it was good for studying Japanese.  ) There was one other English teacher from Canada and 2 others (USA/Canada) that did an after-school immersion program.
The working hours were M-F 7:30-5 with occasional half-day Saturdays (7:30-12). I was also an instructor for one of the after-school music clubs. The pay was 300,000 a month plus a summer and winter bonus (the exact amount varies, it might even be performance-based. I never got a clear answer about that). All time between semesters is given as fully paid time off. I was enrolled in Shakai Hoken. They acted as guarantor for my apartment, but I had to find it and pay for it myself.
| Quote: |
| Oh, about health insurance, I thought that kokumin kenko hoken (health insurance only, without the pension plan payments too) was also linked to your previous year's earnings (but still worked out cheaper - despite "skyrocketing" from the second year onwards - due obviously to the aforementioned lack of the need for pension scheme payments). Am I wrong? |
We're about to enter beating-a-dead-horse territory here. Kokumin Kenko Hoken is linked to your previous year's earnings and skyrockets in year 2, that is correct. Shakai Hoken is linked to your current earnings. I don't know the exact details but your Shakai Hoken payments are based on a percent of your salary calculated in the same way that income tax is. It doesn't go up in year 2 (well, that is unless your salary does). |
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EvilBunny
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:16 am Post subject: Hmm..cool |
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Thanks for everyone's input. All this has really helped me get a perspective on how to approach the daunting task of addressing Japan (I wanted to know the time, and now I know how to build a clock... haha).
I was thinking of going to Kyoto or Tokyo and staying there for a year to enjoy the country and then go from there. I'll check out JET, since it seems to be the one of choice. If anyone has specific names they recommend, that would be cool. Thanks again for everyone's help. |
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poohbear
Joined: 01 Mar 2005
Posts: 46
Location: Toronto & Tokyo
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| Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 2:40 am Post subject: |
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| with JET you won't be getting Kyoto or Tokyo, they're mostly rural positions, and i mean rural. one lucky guy i knew got saitama, just outsie of Tokyo, but even saitama is NOT tokyo. |
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EvilBunny
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 1:02 am Post subject: Hmmm |
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Good to know.. I will keep looking,  |
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