Job Discussion Forums

[sonsang]

What are AEON apartments like? Studios? Shared apartments? Square footage? Some better and bigger than others? Also, on a slightly separate note, does the quality of your apartment affect your experience(some companies advertise more spacious living space for their foreign teachers as a lure to work for them)?

[guest of Japan]

Sizes and locations vary. If your are working in Tokyo then expect to get a very small apartment in Saitama or Kawasaki. If you live in a different city you may get lucky and get a spacious apartment (I did), but small apartments are the norm.

Apartments are not shared.

No one can say what will make your experience enjoyable or not. I'll hazard a guess that your manager and fellow teachers will affect your happiness more than your apartment size.

[avahanian]

[guest of Japan]

Nova apartments will actually cost you more than market rate.

I'm not sure about Geos, but I don't think they do.

[avahanian]

[Gordon]

I had a friend who worked for Nova. She shared a house with 3 other people. Each person paid 70,000 yen (280,000 total), however in a small city where we live, the going rate for a similar-sized house in that area is about 100,000 at the most. Great deal for Nova.

[guest of Japan]

You WILL pay over market rate. The advantage is that Nova will pay the upfront costs (as most schools will). If you are only staying one year then this will work out to be cheaper than getting your own apartment or staying in a guest house. To my knowledge most NOVA apartments are shared which means NOVA makes a nice little profit and you have the potential problems that living with another person may entail.

I'll leave it to current or ex-Nova employees to give more exact information.

[viddy]

[General Union]

"The bad thing is that payment of this is part of the contract - you still have to pay for the AEON apartment even if you move out."

Can any current AEON teachers confirm if this is true.

General Union

[BuddhaRhubarb]

General Union:
as far as i know, yeah, because the apartment is subsidized, you actually pay less than 50% in many cases...every teacher pays the same rent all over Japan, since you make the same money, you pay the same rent(42,000 yen starting in may, now only 39,000)...

if you move out, then Aeon has an apartment they most likely paid some horrendous amount of "key money"(no refundable deposit) for and have a lease on etc...someone needs to live there....especially in Tokyo housing is difficult to just "get".

many buildings, like mine say, have annoying really anal landlords who complain about foreigners not understanding the garbage rules etc(even when you get it right) but thats the downside...the upside is that in general the Aeon Apts. are clean and located close to your school...
I am 2 short train stops, or 5 minutes on the train from my school...and my apt is a 5 minute or less walk to that train..very convenient.

[General Union]

The price AEON is charging sounds more than reasonable but they do not have the right to continue charging if you decide to find alternative
accomodation.

We would like to see anything that confirms this is writing eg contract.

Please fax to 06-6352-9619

see www.generalunion.org

[BuddhaRhubarb]

ummm yeah

i dont know if its in writing, and i dont really care, most of the apts are well worth what you pay...as far as i am concerned unless its a roach motel, (ie lots of bugs, really unclean place) only total whiners just move out of an Aeon apt. Why?
Because you can get a new place if you ask nicely/pester your manager, i know of it happening for a fact...
a teacher whose apt was horrible, asked questions, filled out some forms etc... and within a few months she got a nice newer apt, paying same old rent, closer more convenient. (she even found the new place she wanted at an apt rental agency!)
Not so co-incidentally, the building where the old apt was, was demolished just 2 months after she moved out!
I guess it really was a crappy place.

ps i aint sending no faxes...ask aeon do do that