Job Discussion Forums

louwoo · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 10

I am going to Japan w/ JET in july. From this site and others, I have read both good and bad experiences of JETS.

What happens if my housing sucks (ie: deplorable living standards like no hot water, infestaions, dirty, etc) and/or my placement is not a fit and I want to break the contract and come home. What are the repercussions?

I am not planning on ditching out nor am I really worried about it, and I plan to go to Japan for 1 or 2 years. I am just stressing from some peoples supposed over exagerations about their experiences being crap. Not really worried about the culture shock or change of lifestlye but want to know what to do if its really really bad?
Thanks.

Gordon · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 5309 Location: Japan

Don't worry about something that may be a non-issue. Most likely, you will be well taken care of and have a decent place to live. If not, you can always leave if nothing gets done about it. Japan is a free country, you can always leave if it is so terrible. If I were you, I would not focus on the negatives.

PAULH · Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Posts: 4672 Location: Western Japan

Celeste · Posted: Sat Jun 18, 2005 8:58 am Post subject:

I am just finishing my 3rd year on JET, and the only person I know personally who bailed on her contract did so because of the health of one of her children. Other people have been pretty happy with their jobs and housing. Beware the 6 month mark when culture shock sets in and all of the JETs start finding fault with everything in the host culture and start writing longwinded dramas on big daikon. (As a "mature" JET - I'm 30 and my husband is 40 - I find that most of the complaints that JETs have are as much to do with adapting to their first ever real job as anything else.) If you really do find that something is wrong with your workplace or your housing, you can call CLAIR in Tokyo and get their help in resolving the issue. There is actually a lot of support available for people on the JET programme that you wouldn't find in other teaching jobs in Japan.

stillnosheep · Joined: 01 Mar 2004 Posts: 2068 Location: eslcafe

Only person on Jet that I ever heard of who had unacceptable living conditions complained and got a given a new apartment.

Having said that if you chose to bail you will be the same position as any other employee anywhere in the world; you will probably have to forego your completion bonuses and you are free to leave. It's just a contract, like any other. You break the contract, you lose the bonuses for completing the contract. Period. It's kind of unusual tho'. JET is probably the best-paid, least-stressed, english-teaching scheme in the world; and the pay is good. enjoy it while it lasts.

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

Celeste · Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2005 4:03 am Post subject:

louwoo · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 10

Thanks for the input, i am just being a worry wort! I am also from Canada where is does get +30 in the summer but it is a dry heat so its way different than dealing with the humidity. I am really hoping to talk to my predecessor to see what the dress code is at my school esp. for dressing to deal w/ the heat, like a lined full suit does not seem condusive.
I think I can handle the winters, bundle up I guess, -30 is not uncommon in Alberta, but we do have heating so I guess I will be sending over extra blankets and longjohns! haha.

GambateBingBangBOOM · Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 2021 Location: Japan

You don't need to mail blankets and stuff like that over. They actually have blankets in Japan. I personally would fry if I wore longjohns here, but then I found them uncomfortably warm even in -30 degrees in Canada. I'd rather just wear an extra t-shirt. You also most likely won't need anything warm until at least November anyway.

You will almost definately not be wearing a suit to class every day. Most of the teachers might show up in suits during winter, but ALTs don't. Changing into track suits is pretty common. I personally wear khakis/ dress chinos and a short sleeve sport (as in dressy casual) or dress shirt, and I often wear them throughout winter as well, but with a sweater (it's hard to find shirts with extra long arms here, and regular long sleeved shirts go down to about one and half or two centimetres above my wrist).

-30 in Alberta is cold. Really cold. But the difference here is that although it is only -3 outside it is often only +3 inside. The constant feeling of a little too cold, but without the shock of going from +24 to -30 when you go through a door, can wear you down (it's surprising how much we think of the outside and inside as two very different things in Canada- they aren't in Japan). If you leave a small amount of water in the bottom of a glass when you go to bed, you'll find it frozen in the morning. You can see your breath inside for a few months a year. Canadians often have to go back to the -30 degree weather to get warm, because at least our houses aren't in reality little more than a shed wired for electricity and plumbing (some people leave a tap dripping at night to make sure that the pipes don't freeze over).

The good thing is that the entire "what do I do with my coat" issue that we have in Canada isn't an issue here. The temperature inside is so close to what it is outside that you're normally comfortable in whatever you wore outside (and you won't be wearing a down coat at -3 unless you are truly weak at cold weather- the coats here that look like the 1980's ugly parka in Canada are just nylon with almost no filling and a hood, similar to graduation robes from university).

I think of Japanese apartments as "almost camping". I used to do a lot of camping in Canada in Algonquin forest in Ontario and so I naturally think of sleeping on the floor with the temperature inside and outside being about the same as akin to camping, especially when it's cold enough to be wearing a full track suit under a comforter and a sleeping bag.

Basically, even though this sounds bad (and recontracting papers are due in January when everyone's really sick of being constantly too cold), you have to just not really worry about it. Life in Japan is not life in Canada, it's not life in America, either. You just have to relax and be easy going about it. If you freak out and leave that's up to you, but remember what you're being asked to do for one year (or two or three, if you voluntarily recontract) is to live in a similar situation to the way everyone you teach lives. Plus, there is plenty of warm alcohol in winter, so that's good. You can buy hot coffee in cans on almost every street corner in winter (the same stuff, but cold in summer) and then there's the common Japanese solution to most cold weather (or really any other) problems- "GBBBsensei, you need a girlfriend".