Job Discussion Forums

[rxk22]

Wow, Nights, some nice detective work there. Looks like the guy is looking to take an almost 50% paycut to come to Japan. Interesting, or better yet BS on the 10m yen salary

[weigookin74]

[RM1983]

I thought itd be obvious that if youre gonna be an English Teacher you GOTTA marry a girl from a rich family. Now teaching is my hobby, but you know Japan isnt known for the cheddarz

[Maitoshi]

[mateacher]

sorry you are all jealous and dont believe my salary. If you had read closely it said an equivalent of 10 million yen. I work at a university and I get free rent for a 3 bedroom and utilities. I also get healthcare. Sometimes during the 5 months off I teach some summer or winter sessions for overtime pay. Due to the lower deductions in Korea, my total salary works out to about 10 million yen equivalent.
Sorry if you don't like it, but that's what my salary is and I am not ashamed of it at all. It pretty good for ESL. Probably better than anyone on this board I guess from the hate.
I was also looking for positions in Japan since I lived there a long time ago and enjoyed it. I was looking at positions paying between 5 and 7 million because that's all I could find. I was thinking of working part time at another university during the research days to top up the salary to something close to 7-9 million. And some of those university positions I applied to in Japan had subsidized housing which would further top up the salary close to 10 million if you take into account a 2 or 3 bed in most major cities is at minimum 100.000 yen per month.

[rxk22]

HAHAHAHA, no. No one is jealous of you. Wow man, seriously, you sound like an awful person. I really hope that you are a troll. Otherwise, work on getting a personality.

[RM1983]

To indulge this a little bit, I have huge doubts about ever having a baby here, but not especially because of money. People, everywhere, often have kids when they arent enormously financially secure and they manage to get by. The wife can get a job when te kids are old enough, and that is just for starters.

Id also say most people dont come here expecting to get rich. I know Korea has many people who go solely to make a quick buck so it's a slightly different situation.

The reaction you got though is cos it is a bit of a personal question isnt it? Would you go up to someone back home and needle them in the same way?
It might be an American thing (?) but in the UK it is considered really rude to start questioning people's life decisions like that, especially when you dont know them. Also boasting about your own salary isnt a good look usually. I think that it is a valid question but id advise you be more aware of cultural differences between expats when you post in future.

[mateacher]

yeah, your right I am an awful person for trying to save up enough money to be able to retire when I hit 65. And it is a sin to want to have a salary that is enough to send my kids to an international school and a western university in the future. If you say those kind of things, it implies jealousy. I guess in your book it is an honorable thing to be poor and an ALT and have no ambition.
to address further points, I wasn't poking fun at the guy! who happens to be my friend but I was trying to understand what goes through his head! I thought I would address a similar audience on the Japan forum since most people here are on entry level positions. I know this myself from being in an entry level position about 15 years ago and being quite active on the forums, since I started working at universities I posted less and less. Now the only time I post is to ask genuine questions! I.e. salaries and working conditions at universities or other questions Facebook friends who used to be eikaiwa colleagues in japan have either asked or I have been curious about.
And yes, I am bored at work, most people are bored at work. When I am bored I look at esl cafe forums like most people working in esl to get a general picture of what is going on. There is a lot of animosity toward me which is obviously due to my salary, which in fact is not that much. Most of my colleagues have similar or higher salaries and are not rich by any account, they have old cars, cheap clothes and do not do much. They are generally struggling to send their own children to university or trying to build up a retirement fun. They say to retire at 65 you need a million dollars,so my alt friend basically is in denial and is continuing on this path of apathy and my question was not only to him but obviously other forum members about what are their plans due to the above. Or are most of you like him, kind of in blind denial and future blind? And he is not a dumb guy, far from it.

[mitsui]

If you make that salary then stay in Korea.

For people with a kid I would say go move to the UAE and go to an international school.
Things are getting worse in Japan. Wages have dropped.
People stay here if they have a Japanese spouse or can`t get a better job somewhere else.
Some Japanese partners really do not want to live overseas.

[rtm]

[rxk22]

LOL, you sound like you have a mental disorder. Yes we are all haters and are jelly of you,

I have a nice permanent teaching job, that I may keep, or go else where. Not sure yet. Not entry level at all.

BTW a million to retire? Did you hear that, or do you know? I know quite a bit about stocks, and with your crazy spending habits, I hope you do as well.


BTW, doesn't matter the topic, if you come off as an abrasive jerk, people will respond to you negatively. Hope you aren't quite the *beep* in real life, as you are here.

[nightsintodreams]

I for one just want to make it clear that I do believe you earn the equivalent of 10 million yen, and yes I would love to be making that much myself.

My Salary is actually very close (perhaps a little more or a little less) to the salary you claim to have been making in your late twenties a long time ago, and guess what?! I myself am in my late twenties, so no I'm not particularly jealous of you, especially when you consider that today's TEFL job market is a very different one (not only in Japan but globally) to the the one you experienced.

That is not the reason I am criticising you though.

I am criticising you because you are a "BEEP".

I would not go onto the forum for Brazil (or any other for that matter) and start a comment saying "My friend is working in Brazil and only earning 1500 dollars a month, how can he live like that? I earn 50 million dollars and am struggling" while knowing full well that many of the people on that forum earn a similar salary.

Its just a dickish thing to do...

... and if you cant see that then it is you who has a problem. You're a fully gown man for Christs sake. Take up sewing, golf...masturbation or whatever it is that people do when they go through a late midlife crisis.

Leave us alone and stop judging people publicly by your standards of what it means to be successful or to lead a fulfilling life. My sister is working in another country and earning about 1000 dollars a month, but she lives good life, is happy and a decent person which is more than can be said for you.

[mateacher]

I think you are critical of me, and it must be due to jealously.

I never went on the forum to brag, I went on it because I actually asked my friend what will you do in the future and he said to me he has no idea. I wanted to see if this was the general way ALTs and eikaiwa guys think. All I got was abuse, obviously due the fact I am marginally successful.

I am telling you the truth, if you want to live what most people would call a middle class American lifestyle in Japan you need to earn at minimum 6 million without children.

I am offended that you are saying I am a dick or going through a mid life crisis, that is not why I use efl cafe forums. The normal way I use the forum as you well know is to find out peoples salaries and work conditions and then apply to those jobs.

[rtm]

[rxk22]

Oh we must be Jealous Why are you so pathologically fixated on that part? No one cares! We think you come off as a jerk.

And RTM just crushed you and your misplaced pride