Sunday, November 18, 18:00, Ageo-shi, Nihon
I don:t know what:s wrong with the spacing in this entry, but I:m too lazy and too unfamiliar with Japanese computers to fix it. Sorry.
I had lots more fun experiences in Gifu after my last entry, including getting drunk at
U.S. Mart with some good friends. That’s right, in U.S. Mart, there is a giant arcade. You
can buy refreshments at the store and then play any game you want upstairs for a fee.
There are pool tables, ping pong tables, air hockey tables, and several video games,
including Dance Dance Revolution. It was quite hilarious. In U.S. Mart they also have
fishing in the basement. I’m not kidding; you can pay to fish for a predetermined amount of
time. U.S. Mart really does have everything. Sadly the night ended with one of my
students getting sick in our bathroom, but, hey, it was a lot of fun before that.
There were also several parties organized by some of the students at my branch for
teachers who were quitting Nova in September and October. These were great fun; I
really enjoyed getting to know some of my students better. I went to an art gallery with one
student to look at work displayed by another of our students. This was a really fun
experience; I really enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful photographs and sculptures on
display. Other students delighted in giving Josh and me gifts of food, tea, and even
Christmas decorations as appreciation for teaching them English.
During the last two months, I became quite close with one of the Japanese staff members
at my work named Mami. She and I socialized a bit outside of work, mostly through the aid
of her trusty Japanese-English computer dictionary that she carried everywhere with her. I
was able to practice my rusty Japanese, and she practiced her English with me as we
sipped cocktails and coffee and she smoked endless packs of cigarettes sold in pink boxes
with appliquéd rhinestones. I’m serious; everything in Japan is available in “cute.”
I also became close with my Japanese teacher Izumi. She invited Josh and me to several
festivals, amusement parks, and restaurants. Sadly time and money constraints kept us
from getting to know this kind lady better. When we left Gifu, she met us at the train station
with a bag of fruits from her garden in hand. I was glad to be able to say goodbye to her as
we rushed off to our new lives in Tokyo.
So clearly we moved to Tokyo-well to Ageo-shi, which is just outside of Tokyo. In
October Nova didn’t pay any of its employees nor provide an accurate timeline of exactly
when anyone could expect to be paid. Most of the teachers started to strike at that point,
including me. However, on my strike day, I realized that I only needed a few more hours
with Nova for my practicum to be complete. As I had applied to several other jobs and
now was just waiting for them to call me back and demand to hire me, I figured that I might as
well wait at Nova-while accruing practicum hours. While it was difficult for me to break the
strike line, I swallowed my convictions and did was best for me financially and logistically.
Working during those days was actually sort of fun because the students were so grateful to
be able to attend lessons and were really supportive. Many of them offered financial
assistance-could they take me out to lunch, or could they pay me to teach their daughter
private lessons?
After about a week of this, Josh and I procured some interviews in the Tokyo area.
Although we only planned to be in Tokyo on our days off, just before we left Gifu to attend
our interviews, Nova announced that it was closing its doors indefinitely. The company
declared reconstructive bankruptcy and proclaimed that if no other company bought it after
two weeks, that it would declare permanent bankruptcy. However, if another company
bought Nova, the new sponsor could restructure the company and eventually reopen at
least some of the schools. All instructors and staff were asked to wait at home until the fate
of Nova was announced. Hmm, we thought. Let’s just use this extra time to hang out in
Tokyo.
So off we went, and it’s a good thing that we planned to stay some extra days because
other companies called while we were there and wanted to set up interviews with us as
well. Soon we each had four days of interviews lined up. Luckily, with our new flexible
schedule since we couldn’t work even if we wanted to, we were able to stay in Tokyo to
attend second interviews with a few companies before we chose our new employers.
I ended up returning to Gifu alone and packing up our place because Josh had more
interviews, and my new employer wanted me to move to Tokyo and start working
immediately. I was extremely glad when Josh joined me in our new home last week.
Unfortunately we missed celebrating Halloween and Day of the Dead because of all of the
job hunting and moving tasks. However, we did make time to visit the Labor Office in
Nagoya, where we learned that if Nova goes bankrupt or the new sponsor refuses to pay
back wages for Nova employees, the government will pay us 80% of our unpaid wages.
This process could take anywhere from one month to one year. If Nova finds a new
sponsor and they do decide to pay us, the process could take even longer.
Not quite reassured by this news-or rather lack thereof-we headed off to our new lives.
Now we are in the tiniest apartment in which I’ve ever lived. It’s really cute though, with a
big bay window and hardwood floors. It’s amazingly Western in style, especially
compared to our apartment in Gifu. However, my boss, who set up the apartment for me,
failed to tell me that the apartment was advertised for only one person or to tell my landlord
that two people would be moving in. This, along with some confusion about which day
trash collectors pick up cardboard (we never imagined our faulty translation of the garbage
schedule would be such a costly mistake!) prompted a call from our landlord (who only
speaks Japanese) to my boss (who speaks both Japanese and English). To make a long
story short, Josh has to move out of our new apartment by February. Of course I will go
with him, but our landlord can’t know this or he would probably request that we leave
sooner. We are unable to leave sooner because we have to prepare for a deposit (which
is about three months’ rent in Japan!) plus key money, which is more like a nonrefundable
gift to the landlord just for letting you pay him rent.
Anyway, despite all the chaos, Josh and I are surprisingly doing really well, and we both
like our new jobs. I really like my students, and the director at my school is very involved
and approachable, something I’m not really used to in a principal! It is quite different
teaching rich kids at a private school, and I really miss my old students, but I’m sure there are
great lessons to be learned here that I can carry back to my future classrooms in the United
States.
Today has been a day of nothing but homework and research, and Josh and I are both sick,
but it’s windy and gray outside, so staying inside and accomplishing things has been
satisfying in a way. I am still behind with my schoolwork, which I guess is understandable
after all the changes we’ve been through recently. I’m just glad to have my practicum hours
finally completed!
This experience has been a lot more challenging than I originally expected so far, but I am
not giving up yet. I feel that there are fun and adventures right around the corner, and I’m
sure that I will learn a lot from both the positive and negative processes with which I’m faced
in this part of my life.
I had lots more fun experiences in Gifu after my last entry, including getting drunk at
U.S. Mart with some good friends. That’s right, in U.S. Mart, there is a giant arcade. You
can buy refreshments at the store and then play any game you want upstairs for a fee.
There are pool tables, ping pong tables, air hockey tables, and several video games,
including Dance Dance Revolution. It was quite hilarious. In U.S. Mart they also have
fishing in the basement. I’m not kidding; you can pay to fish for a predetermined amount of
time. U.S. Mart really does have everything. Sadly the night ended with one of my
students getting sick in our bathroom, but, hey, it was a lot of fun before that.
There were also several parties organized by some of the students at my branch for
teachers who were quitting Nova in September and October. These were great fun; I
really enjoyed getting to know some of my students better. I went to an art gallery with one
student to look at work displayed by another of our students. This was a really fun
experience; I really enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful photographs and sculptures on
display. Other students delighted in giving Josh and me gifts of food, tea, and even
Christmas decorations as appreciation for teaching them English.
During the last two months, I became quite close with one of the Japanese staff members
at my work named Mami. She and I socialized a bit outside of work, mostly through the aid
of her trusty Japanese-English computer dictionary that she carried everywhere with her. I
was able to practice my rusty Japanese, and she practiced her English with me as we
sipped cocktails and coffee and she smoked endless packs of cigarettes sold in pink boxes
with appliquéd rhinestones. I’m serious; everything in Japan is available in “cute.”
I also became close with my Japanese teacher Izumi. She invited Josh and me to several
festivals, amusement parks, and restaurants. Sadly time and money constraints kept us
from getting to know this kind lady better. When we left Gifu, she met us at the train station
with a bag of fruits from her garden in hand. I was glad to be able to say goodbye to her as
we rushed off to our new lives in Tokyo.
So clearly we moved to Tokyo-well to Ageo-shi, which is just outside of Tokyo. In
October Nova didn’t pay any of its employees nor provide an accurate timeline of exactly
when anyone could expect to be paid. Most of the teachers started to strike at that point,
including me. However, on my strike day, I realized that I only needed a few more hours
with Nova for my practicum to be complete. As I had applied to several other jobs and
now was just waiting for them to call me back and demand to hire me, I figured that I might as
well wait at Nova-while accruing practicum hours. While it was difficult for me to break the
strike line, I swallowed my convictions and did was best for me financially and logistically.
Working during those days was actually sort of fun because the students were so grateful to
be able to attend lessons and were really supportive. Many of them offered financial
assistance-could they take me out to lunch, or could they pay me to teach their daughter
private lessons?
After about a week of this, Josh and I procured some interviews in the Tokyo area.
Although we only planned to be in Tokyo on our days off, just before we left Gifu to attend
our interviews, Nova announced that it was closing its doors indefinitely. The company
declared reconstructive bankruptcy and proclaimed that if no other company bought it after
two weeks, that it would declare permanent bankruptcy. However, if another company
bought Nova, the new sponsor could restructure the company and eventually reopen at
least some of the schools. All instructors and staff were asked to wait at home until the fate
of Nova was announced. Hmm, we thought. Let’s just use this extra time to hang out in
Tokyo.
So off we went, and it’s a good thing that we planned to stay some extra days because
other companies called while we were there and wanted to set up interviews with us as
well. Soon we each had four days of interviews lined up. Luckily, with our new flexible
schedule since we couldn’t work even if we wanted to, we were able to stay in Tokyo to
attend second interviews with a few companies before we chose our new employers.
I ended up returning to Gifu alone and packing up our place because Josh had more
interviews, and my new employer wanted me to move to Tokyo and start working
immediately. I was extremely glad when Josh joined me in our new home last week.
Unfortunately we missed celebrating Halloween and Day of the Dead because of all of the
job hunting and moving tasks. However, we did make time to visit the Labor Office in
Nagoya, where we learned that if Nova goes bankrupt or the new sponsor refuses to pay
back wages for Nova employees, the government will pay us 80% of our unpaid wages.
This process could take anywhere from one month to one year. If Nova finds a new
sponsor and they do decide to pay us, the process could take even longer.
Not quite reassured by this news-or rather lack thereof-we headed off to our new lives.
Now we are in the tiniest apartment in which I’ve ever lived. It’s really cute though, with a
big bay window and hardwood floors. It’s amazingly Western in style, especially
compared to our apartment in Gifu. However, my boss, who set up the apartment for me,
failed to tell me that the apartment was advertised for only one person or to tell my landlord
that two people would be moving in. This, along with some confusion about which day
trash collectors pick up cardboard (we never imagined our faulty translation of the garbage
schedule would be such a costly mistake!) prompted a call from our landlord (who only
speaks Japanese) to my boss (who speaks both Japanese and English). To make a long
story short, Josh has to move out of our new apartment by February. Of course I will go
with him, but our landlord can’t know this or he would probably request that we leave
sooner. We are unable to leave sooner because we have to prepare for a deposit (which
is about three months’ rent in Japan!) plus key money, which is more like a nonrefundable
gift to the landlord just for letting you pay him rent.
Anyway, despite all the chaos, Josh and I are surprisingly doing really well, and we both
like our new jobs. I really like my students, and the director at my school is very involved
and approachable, something I’m not really used to in a principal! It is quite different
teaching rich kids at a private school, and I really miss my old students, but I’m sure there are
great lessons to be learned here that I can carry back to my future classrooms in the United
States.
Today has been a day of nothing but homework and research, and Josh and I are both sick,
but it’s windy and gray outside, so staying inside and accomplishing things has been
satisfying in a way. I am still behind with my schoolwork, which I guess is understandable
after all the changes we’ve been through recently. I’m just glad to have my practicum hours
finally completed!
This experience has been a lot more challenging than I originally expected so far, but I am
not giving up yet. I feel that there are fun and adventures right around the corner, and I’m
sure that I will learn a lot from both the positive and negative processes with which I’m faced
in this part of my life.