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[johncanada24]

No more freggin Raymen cup noodles if anyone offers me some ill smack them silly

I am officially off the NOVA Broke Brotha Diet ! lol......

No more tofu and rice
No more borrowing money
No more 99 yen shops ( although I still shop there out of habit )
No more eviction notices or requests for payment of late rent
No more fighting over privates like hounds fighting over a damn steak bone.
No more saying no to your friends when they ask you to come out of your hole.

Yay my phone wasnt working before but now that I paid........ it works again..... strange ?!

And despite these chains of events that has passed.....
WOW ......this whole experience in Japan .....is still absolutely amazing!

Yes it was a tradegy, but I am happy to say that a lot of people made it through including myself but it was FAR from easy I assume ...for EVERYONE.

Before I continue blabbing on I want to say that the purpose of this thread is to celebrate the success of those who have survived the NOVA catastrophe. For those of you who are still trying...... I hope this thread will motivate the people who honestly have any passion left to stick it out and continue teaching in Japan. Please share your stories on how you survived and maybe provide some advice for others who are still trying. Funny stories or jokes are more than welcome! Dont worry if you went back home everyones situation is different share share share !!


Here are some things you might want to talk about if you feel comfortable.

1. Did you get your unpaid wages yet ?
2. Did you land a new job ?
3. Did you join GCOM and if so did you get laid off from them?
4. Overall How did this experience change you?
5. Has this experience given you a bad image of Japan ?
6. How much longer will you stay ?
7. Have companies tried to take advantage of you or mistreat you because of your Nova situation?

cynical, dark sarcastic, condesending remarks, or insults are not welcome here go back to your troll cave THANK YOU!

Its been awhile since Ive gone on the computer and typed something this long so excuse my spelling and grammar mistakes. My computer broke TWICE but that ended up being a good thing for me in Japan.

Where to start hmmm.....well.....if I were to sum up my experience in Japan I would describe it as bitter sweet chocolate. Tasted great during the eginning but watch for that after taste!

I am so lucky and happy to be where I am right now.

Even before the whole nova mess happened I was smart enough to start looking for jobs but even then it was too late. My reserves diminished quickly and came to the point where my survival mode instincts had to kick in.

I lived near a bunch of fruit famers in my neigborhood and let me tell you I was tempted to snatch a couple of oranges at night but then I thought hmmm... Japan news ` Ex-NOVA employee steals an orange from a Farmer ` .....doesnt have a nice ring to it and I dont want to fulfill the typical profile of a gaijin so Ill play this right.

Anyhow I landed a job with GABA got some privates and that gave me enough to just merely get by. When I went to the GABA interview I swear to gosh......it was like a whole new NOVA club..........All the ex nova people were there staring at each other with evil eyes.....It reminded me of Lord of the Rings where the hobbit says ` My Preciooooooous` .....well you get the idea.

Well....just when you thought that nothing else could go wrong something was about to go wrong! I noticed that my visa was running out soon and Boy ....someone like me having:

1. 2 Year College degree in IT
2. 8 months experience Teaching in Japan
3. and a TESL degree

......Would not have a chance with others that had a BA and a couple years experience. Companies may not want to deal with applicants that are questionable for not clearly fulfilling the minimum standards to get a visa. Did I let that affect me...Heck NO !

I noticed that things became very competitive so I had to ante up and step up to the plate. This was a fight or flight situation

Well.....what did I do ...I went on Gaijin pot and I swear I havent sent so many resumes and emails in my life.

Good news - I got many replies and many interviews
Bad news - time and time again I got rejected because of my visa and haivng no BA degree.

`no we cant sponsor you , you dont have a BA` blah blah blah or　weve found a better suited applicant that fits the position.

Rinse and repeat this dozens of times..after awhile it left me angry but the more angry I got the harder I wanted to try.

Finally GCOM ( the company that bought nova) calls me and says they could re hire me.

I went for that cant afford to say no right?.... I need some damn oranges !!

So anyways if you choose a certain contract with them you could get a large advance which helped people`s situation drastically. I took the advance and thought maybe it was a lie again . " 2 weeks later I checked my bank account at the 7-11.........and I yelled YEEEEEEEEEES then everyone looked at me like I was crazy oh well you get these stares whether your crazy or not right ? Were Gaijin we should all be used to it by now. Couple weeks later I get a letter from GCOM pretty much saying that Ive been laid off...BACK to square 1 again.


Well soon after that I finally got a job offer with a Company called...( I cant say it because the sound of it makes me Gag in shame ) hmmm lets just imagine its called ` We English Lie ` = WEL

The company WEL offered me a short time contract until the end of my visa and assured me that my visa would be taken care of. I was more than relieved and was excited and nervous at the same time to be working at a public Elementary school as an ALT. Whether or not I had doubts was irrelevant because my pickins were scarce.

They clearly knew my lack of experience and training for teaching as an ALT so what do they do !! The very first day I was litterally thrown into a classroom full of 35 -40 children with no time to plan a lesson or no training whatsoever ( NO JOKE)
. I stood there in awe....shaking ...wondering ....is this how it really works are they testing my ability under stress and time management? Well I just went ahead acted naturally like I knew what I was doing I talked to the students and things went on a roll naturally. The kids are Awesome I loved the first day and the kids really enjoyed spending time in class with me. After that first day .....things went by like a breeze. I am definintely a hands on experience learner. Being a teacher is more than just grammar and vocabulary knowledge........trust me!


One kid asked me if I knew what Konchou means, I said no and he said turn around ....I did......and I now know what a Konchou is .......it is unpleasant and is quite annoying I dont recommend it.


Well finally it came the day where my contract was finished and it was time for pay day and the moment of truth for my visa. They also promised a contract renewal


Guess what !!


They day after the contract ended they said

Sorry we cant help you, no contract for you and no visa good luck bye bye!

I was VERY VERY angry but of course I didnt want to be the crazy old mad gaijin that goes to jail and gets deported So i kept my cool and acted very professional about it.

I wrote letters about there promises ...no replies....I asked for certain people.....but apparently they were never available. I leave a msg no replies. ....Wow......


Pay day comes ...oh oh ..they decided not to pay me !
Surprise!

I had to request payment 4 times in the span of 1 week to get my pay I finally got it!

At this point I was close to packing and going home from the stress and shit treatment.

So I was left with the Visa problem　what company would sponsor a guy like me?


After dozens of interviews and many NO`S I almost came to the conclusion that I was fighting a war I couldnt win.

Infact I remember a post from Canuck stating that my visa is 6 months + 6months and after that it was finished I had to go home.

I wanted to stay longer and give Japan another chance so I refused to beleive what companies repeatedly kept saying ` we cant sponsor you because you dont have a BA `

BA SMEE YAAY

I know for a fact there are bad teachers who have BA.
Actions speak louder than Degrees.

I wanted to teach badly and I wanted to stay in Japan because I didnt get to see everything.


Finally got a call from a company in Nagoya and they were willing to sponsor me. They gave me the proper papers to go to immigration I went to immigration and applied with no prolbems whatsoever.

The processing takes about 1 month so Im relieved that I should have another opportunity to stay in Japan.

What lessons did I learn?

Do not beleive what companies say at face value get it on paper

**When it comes to Visa and immigration stuff get it from the horses mouth it is honestly a case by case situation.

Ive taken teaching more seriously and attentively learn from my students Ive even managed to get many privates now and notice a dramatic change about the way students see you if you really try hard.


Now to talk about the good times well..




So far Ive learned so much Japanese I can even start to read kanji now. Ive met many people; travelled to Mt. Fuji; tried many different foods; gone to many different shrines; and of course been to many izakayas and parties.


I love Sake and Syouchu!!


Id like to talk more about good stuff but im getting carpultunnel ( however you spell it ) Id like to hear many people`s stories and how they delt with this situation it would be interesting to hear.

I hope all is well and wish those good luck to those who are still in the rut. Keep your chin up this is the best time to get a job and if you need one still maybe I could recommend a couple of places to work. It may not be your dream job but if your not picky then no probs.

See you everyone Best wishes

John

[dove]

Thanks for inspiring me. And no, I am not being cynical and sarcastic, but I bet you will get some of that here....in Japan, you are almost guaranteed a heaping dose of bitter and glibness from your fellow gaijin. Anyway, it's good to read a success story. You were successful because you didn't give up. You made things happen. Good for you. Thanks for sharing your story.

[slodziak]

Great post. It's good to hear you have made it through - well done. Let's hope you can inspire others. Do you think there are many more out there still battling?

[alexrocks]

I can't believe they gave this guy a visa. Or is it working holiday? I'm not familiar with the ins and outs of that one.