Job Discussion Forums

originaloli · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: New York - Peckham - Tokyo

Hi,

My girlfriend is going to work on the Tokyo Olympic bid for 2016. We've decided to take the opportunity for an adventure and move out there. Obviously she's pushing hard for relocation assistance etc (the advantages of proper jobs!) so we should be skipping past all the apartment nonsense. With a bit of luck the bid director will know someone who will take me on and all will be well. Right, back to the real world then. I realise the hoary old chestnut regarding 'job to move to'/'come and jobhunt' has been gone over about a hundred times. It seems to me, looking around online, that most jobs want people currently resident in Japan. Given that I won't be having to cart enormous sums of money over in order to survive, would it really be best to come over and go from there? I wouldn't know where to look or who was reputable. My second query here is about the likes of say, Shane. I realise if you employ lots of people some will get hacked off and will bitterly slag off the company at every turn - are they really that bad? My feeling would be that I can probably shoulder most things for a year. The other thing is - how much better can the smaller schools be? I essentially want time/conditions over pay where possible. If small schools offer that then that could be a deciding factor. I have a BA from a proper English Uni and a CELTA completed 1 month ago but no experience. We'd move around October time.

In terms of living in Tokyo, how true are all the cliches? It strikes me that most metropolises are roughly similiar. I live in London now, so I'm used to crowded streets and a lack of green spaces. I'm used to traffic jams (buy a bicycle) and noise. I don't expect a palatial home and a 90ft garden. I suspect that Tokyo will be a lot less cosmopolitan than London although politer and safer. It irritates me to read books written by over-American writers who complain about things like asprin being in powder form or having to wash before bathing. I'm a big believer in 'when in Rome...' and so we'd fall into most local practices and be respectful and polite. Tokyo is often quoted as expensive and cramped but the prices of most things seem cheap compared to London. One specific question - does anyone know about bicycle parts or indeed cycling in general? I'd like to continue racing in Japan and I'd certainly be getting out into the mountains.

Finally, I have read a lot of negative posts here. Is it that bad? It seems vibrant, exciting and hip over here in the Western Hemisphere (just). I'm really looking forward to it.

Oli-san

slodziak · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 143 Location: Tokyo

Hi original Oli - welcome to the Japan board!

originaloli · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:37 am Post subject:

Thanks - that's a good start for replies. I did take note from one poster who pointed out that the teachers with good experiences of big schools rarely bother to post, only the disaffected ones. I didn't want to assume too much beforehand. I've found it's dangerous to just take things for granted because you think you know best using common sense. On that note - are language schools clustered in the Central area or spread out. I'd assume the former but I'm ready for a wake-up call.

It sounds as though you have some knowledge of london so that's good. While I'm sure there are plenty of differences, I'm equally sure there can't be that many. Besides which, that's half the fun. From what I see, the things I used to like about London are still there in Tokyo and the things I don't are either absent or I can ignore through language incomprehension. Christ on a trike, we don't want to spend a day's worth of travelling to end up in the same place.

PS my girlfriend not my wife. Not that I have both, just we're not married.

slodziak · Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 143 Location: Tokyo

maya.the.bee · Joined: 23 Sep 2005 Posts: 118 Location: Stgo

Quibby84 · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 643 Location: Japan

Of course people post more negative than positive...but I am beginning to feel that there is more negative than positive in the English Teaching scheme. The hardest part for me is Japanese culture in the workplace. So if you go to a factory you will talk to the people and find that they work like 12 hours a day, and no one/the boss cares that they are killing themselves working. English schools sometimes have the same mentality. For example, my last job was junk, the school was horrible and english teaching was horrible...so I wont count them. But then I got a new job this year at a really good English school that has success stories (kids who can actually speak english) and has about 500 kids. The owner claimed all this stuff about how it would be before I got the job. I figured it would be great...boy was I wrong. They are nuts! They require me to work 40 hours even though the school is 30 min away and I have morning and night classes...which means that I either stay there for 12 hours a day or go back and forth (by train)...they are not crooked but they dont care much about their teachers and much more about the money that the students bring in....the students always come first...and if I think I have it bad the Japanese teachers have it much worse (which make them hate us)...anyways, its a mess...and I am beginning to see that its not really the schools that have the problem but the entire culture of working here....
anyways, Japan is beautiful though, and the people are very helpful...I am sure that you will love it. Just dont jump into a job blindly, ask EVERY SINGLE question you can think of and get it in writing...
good luck!

Apsara · Joined: 20 Sep 2005 Posts: 2142 Location: Tokyo, Japan

Hmm. At the company I proofread for the factory workers are all out the door at 5.30pm! Many of the office workers tend to stay longer (I'm one of the exceptions, I leave with the factory workers!), but even though it's a very traditional Japanese company they all mostly leave by 7.

Remember the stereotype of the overworked Japanese salaryman is just that- a stereotype. Sure there are plenty of people who do work ridiculous hours, but don't buy into the stereotype too much.

It sounds like your situation is not so wonderful, Quibby, but not all schools are like that- some of my friends have quite cushy situations actually. Maybe you should be looking for something else if you plan to stay much longer?