Job Discussion Forums

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Hello, I was just wondering what the Xmas holiday deal is for other BoE ALTs across Japan. I work for a BoE and while last year the ALTs (I wasn't one then, how typical) had three weeks off, no questions asked, full pay, no mention of it coming out of nenkyu. This year, we were given a two week break in the calender and told this was 'personal training', by which we could apparently do what we liked as long as we stayed in Japan. Leaving Japan meant it had to come from our nenkyu. Now, despite having said that, the administrator guy is going all out to farm us out to elementary schools to 'make the best use of our free time'. I've just been asked to work Xmas day despite informing him two weeks ago that I was going to visit Kyushu during this period. Neither, apparently, are we allowed to take it as unpaid leave. Slightly piss ed at how the bubble seems to have burst (just as I came on to the scene!) I am wondering how the situation compares to other BoEs across the country. Is the same thing happening, have you never had Xmas holiday, do you have four weeks, no questions asked?

I'm just interested to know.

To eikawa teachers - please know that I am fully aware that a BoE job is much more cushy than most eikawa jobs where teachers sometimes don't get any xmas holiday at all. I'm not asking you the question so please don't ransack this thread bit-ching about how good we have it and other things that I already know. I've been there, done that. I'm not complaining about my lot rather trying to compare it to the lot of people in a similar situation.

Thanks.

ripslyme · Joined: 29 Jan 2005 Posts: 481 Location: Japan

As a private school English teacher, I have full pay and no responsibilities for the winter break. I am off from Dec 23 - Jan 9. It doesn't matter if I leave the country or leave the planet - just as long as I'm there for the opening ceremony. Bubble still intact here... Cool

(edit: added some info)

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Thanks for that Glenski, I'm fully aware of that. I know of some eikawa teachers who have two weeks off, others who have to work Xmas day. But that's not what I asked, now, is it? Can always count on you, can't we?

Now, back to what I actually asked about.......

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

cornishmuppet,
No need to get snooty after I showed you are wrong about something. It's been a week and not a soul has answered you with the specs you asked for. That just shows there aren't a heckuva lot of BoE ALTs around. Good luck in getting what you "asked for".

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

I'm wrong about what, Glenski? There's no mis-information in my post.

However, if you actually look at the date of my original post, you'll see it was yesterday. Hardly a week, is it?

Now, I'd like to ask you to please resist the urge to pollute my thread with your sour posts and your nit-picking and post somewhere where you have something useful and relevant to say. Why the need to stamp your authority everywhere?

24601 · Joined: 25 May 2006 Posts: 75

Dear SourCornishMuppet:

You said

Sweetsee · Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Posts: 2302 Location: ) is everything

Nice post Cornishmuppet, wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an answer.
If I were a BoE ALT, I would have loved to have contributed to your thread Cornishmuppet.
Enjoy,
s

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

Refer to my original post please. I asked BoE ALTs about their Xmas holidays.

I can not quote you figures on how many eikawa teachers have Xmas holidays and how many don't, but I DON'T CARE. If I wanted to know that I WOULD HAVE ASKED THAT. I have been living in Japan for two and a half years and have worked for three different companies. I am fully aware of the situation in Japan because I have friends that work at a dozen different schools and I have been reading this forum and many others for even longer.

What I don't have, and here's the reason I asked the question, are friends who work at other BoEs.

I asked a question on a forum which I hoped might be answered. I asked that question of BoE ALTs and I put this in the thread title so that no one could possibly get confused. If no one has anything to share, so be it. Or if someone else in the public system has something interesting and topic related to say, then fine. But I wrote the part at the bottom because I was hoping against hope that my thread wouldn't be highjacked and ruined by typo-hunters and nitpickers as so many are.

I should have known better, shouldn't I? I guess I'd better think about what I post in the future.

Thanks to Ripslyme and Sweetsee for your comments. And 24601 and Glenski, have a nice day. If you or anyone else wants to throw some more mud at me for trying to use this forum to find out something useful and helpful to me, please PM me and keep it off the forum.

I'm off to play in the sunshine.

furiousmilksheikali · Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 6:25 am Post subject:

Well, Cornish muppet, I used to work as an ALT and I can tell you I never had any Xmas holidays. Why? Because Xmas is not a holiday in Japan!
You told Glenski you are fully aware of the fact Japan is not a Christian country and reacted in the most puerile way. Why didn't you just acknowledge your error and change your question to Winter vacation? This would at least avoid the confusion you caused with your sob-story about working on Christmas day.
Also, I don't want to high-jack (sic) your thread, Muppet, but a word of advice: next time you get the kind of advice that your poorly-written thread deserves ignore it. By trying to flame other posters you just make the situation worse for yourself.
Muppet, you are the weakest link, goodbye.

yamanote senbei · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 435

If you want those days off Cornish, get your friends and coworkers organized and collectively bargain with your employer. If the BOE won't budge, get the PTA involved and go on strike when it will do the BOE the most damage.

Glenski · Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN

Others have already pointed out how cornishmuppet was wrong (as I did in my own post, and which he/she ignored), so I won't rehash that one.

As for waiting a week, I'll be big enough to admit that I was wrong on that one, but I could've sworn the OP was dated a week earlier when I read it the first time.

Now, any direct BOE hires here wanna answer the OP? I can think of only a couple, but they are out of jobs because of dispatch agencies...

canuck · Joined: 11 May 2003 Posts: 1921 Location: Japan

bluefrog · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 87 Location: Osaka

When I was an ALT (I have long since been replaced by W5) I had 3 weeks off during winter vacation and I could spend it anyway I liked.
However, during the month of August (which is typically all holiday for most ALTs) I couldn't leave the country until after the first week for some reason. Nobody could give me a satisfory explaination for this...

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

my apologises to the flamed people. I've been sick this week and was having a bad few days. Gomenasai (sincerely).

By Xmas holidays I meant winter vacation. Its one and the same to me. I didn't realise people would think I meant anything else. I would have thought it was obvious.

Anyways, thanks to those people who've posted.

Just for the record, as I said in my original post, my BoE used to give around three weeks in December as unofficial vacation. The ALTs had other nenkyu, and it was kind of a trust thing, where nenkyu was used for sickness and emergencies as the amount of time off was so sweet. This year they've tightened the system and have decided that we have to use nenkyu if we leave the country, otherwise we can sit on our as s for two weeks if they have no work for us, or travel to Okinawa, or whatever. Many people are spewing over it because we have to use up all our paid holidays over a period we'd otherwise be doing nothing. While we could say nothing and go overseas anyway, its not really worth getting caught out over. So I've folded and taken it as nenkyu.