It's a good thing I'm used to this by now...
Because it looks like we're about to get screwed again ^^; I've reached a kind of zen about it, I suppose, although my colleagues are for the most part freaking out.
As I've mentioned previously, there's way too many teachers at work and not enough lessons, simple as that. It's gonna take a while for the students to get back up to the level they were before. For two weeks there we had three lessons out of eight a day, tops, and the rest of the time we just sat around. Now they've decided that if we're there, we might as well be productive, so they have us making up new lessons. I've already worked up a topic lesson on Destiny and I'm about to start one on Literature. The thing is, these are pretty involved lessons that need research and facts, and they won't give us the internet to get said information. I was granted the net to look up info for perhaps 30 seconds today while the boss whose computer I'd borrowed hovered over my shoulder looking annoyed. This leads me to think that most likely, this is just busy work, which is kind of sad.
Anyway, the point is, there's too many of us, which means that January and February contracts aren't being renewed by the company. The way that works is the company brought us back on, in theory, to finish out our NOVA contracts, even though those contracts are all null and void with the bankruptcy. So technically we're all working without contracts for now. There's not a single person there on a real GCom contract. The Union, of course, had a fit, and the company let 200 more instructors in. Which raises our numbers to an even more redundant level. So now our March contracts are also in jeopardy of not being renewed, which means me.
So, my obvious goal would be to find another full-time job. Problem is, I have to find one that starts before my visa actually runs out on March 28th. The trouble here is that the hiring companies usually don't like to see an almost-expired visa when they're hiring. In reality I could stay here for another three months after my visa expires and hope someone would responsor me. But most of the jobs, even the part time ones, demand that you have a valid visa in possession to work at all. So eh.
Of course, I'm going to apply for jobs, and I have a shot already at a marketing position. It sure would be nice to break out of teaching english...not sure if my Japanese is good enough for that position, but it's worth a shot. I'm working part-time at a factory that trains its workers in English. It's a real classroom with a face to face experience, and 10x better than teaching over the computer. Kind of far out, but it pays very well for being only once a week for an hour and a half.
We're also getting another roomie. My old roomie, Robin, was informed today that GCom isn't renewing the lease on her apartment and she has to be out by next Tuesday. So she's moving in with us until her contract expires in February/she moves into the house she and her other friends have lined up in April. Sounds good to me...I know I can live with her and it makes the rent lower ^^
I don't know, I really don't feel like wasting energy freaking out. I did that too much through October and November. I'll apply for jobs, and if no one will renew my visa I'll cut my losses and come home. Even if I get let go in March, I'll have been paid three times by then, which gives me time to recover. I'm also about to start doing private lessons, so if I came home hopefully I'd have a little bit of money in store to start off with again. Not what I had planned, but it's not like it's the end of the world.
In other news, it's freakin' cold here, and it was actually snowing on Monday. Which is why it cracks me up that Japan has decided it's strawberry season. Across the board there's strawberry themed desserts out. Even McDonald's has a strawberry/oreo flurry. The strawberry Kit Kats are out too and quite tasty. However, I think Cherry Blossom Kit Kat is the best I've seen yet. It has all of these encouraging phrases about the coming of spring. "Don't worry, for the sakura will surely bloom" and "Let's all wish for cherry blossoms" and finally "Searching for sakura through the snow". Genius. Tastes kind of funny though...vaguely reminds of Pepto Bismol or cherry cough syrup >.<
I'm finishing off Dennou Coil. That show is good. It's so whimsical, though I saw one ep that was downright creepy. I'm looking forward to how it turns out. Also watching Scrubs...always nice to have something to laugh at. The new Sarah Brightman CD comes out in just a few more days! I listened to the samples on amazon and it sounds awesome! I've given in to my demons and I'm writing a fanfic that has turned into something very large and is eating up an inordinate amount of my time. But it's been fun. S'pose that's all from me for now tho. I really need to change my profile background on Myspace.
As I've mentioned previously, there's way too many teachers at work and not enough lessons, simple as that. It's gonna take a while for the students to get back up to the level they were before. For two weeks there we had three lessons out of eight a day, tops, and the rest of the time we just sat around. Now they've decided that if we're there, we might as well be productive, so they have us making up new lessons. I've already worked up a topic lesson on Destiny and I'm about to start one on Literature. The thing is, these are pretty involved lessons that need research and facts, and they won't give us the internet to get said information. I was granted the net to look up info for perhaps 30 seconds today while the boss whose computer I'd borrowed hovered over my shoulder looking annoyed. This leads me to think that most likely, this is just busy work, which is kind of sad.
Anyway, the point is, there's too many of us, which means that January and February contracts aren't being renewed by the company. The way that works is the company brought us back on, in theory, to finish out our NOVA contracts, even though those contracts are all null and void with the bankruptcy. So technically we're all working without contracts for now. There's not a single person there on a real GCom contract. The Union, of course, had a fit, and the company let 200 more instructors in. Which raises our numbers to an even more redundant level. So now our March contracts are also in jeopardy of not being renewed, which means me.
So, my obvious goal would be to find another full-time job. Problem is, I have to find one that starts before my visa actually runs out on March 28th. The trouble here is that the hiring companies usually don't like to see an almost-expired visa when they're hiring. In reality I could stay here for another three months after my visa expires and hope someone would responsor me. But most of the jobs, even the part time ones, demand that you have a valid visa in possession to work at all. So eh.
Of course, I'm going to apply for jobs, and I have a shot already at a marketing position. It sure would be nice to break out of teaching english...not sure if my Japanese is good enough for that position, but it's worth a shot. I'm working part-time at a factory that trains its workers in English. It's a real classroom with a face to face experience, and 10x better than teaching over the computer. Kind of far out, but it pays very well for being only once a week for an hour and a half.
We're also getting another roomie. My old roomie, Robin, was informed today that GCom isn't renewing the lease on her apartment and she has to be out by next Tuesday. So she's moving in with us until her contract expires in February/she moves into the house she and her other friends have lined up in April. Sounds good to me...I know I can live with her and it makes the rent lower ^^
I don't know, I really don't feel like wasting energy freaking out. I did that too much through October and November. I'll apply for jobs, and if no one will renew my visa I'll cut my losses and come home. Even if I get let go in March, I'll have been paid three times by then, which gives me time to recover. I'm also about to start doing private lessons, so if I came home hopefully I'd have a little bit of money in store to start off with again. Not what I had planned, but it's not like it's the end of the world.
In other news, it's freakin' cold here, and it was actually snowing on Monday. Which is why it cracks me up that Japan has decided it's strawberry season. Across the board there's strawberry themed desserts out. Even McDonald's has a strawberry/oreo flurry. The strawberry Kit Kats are out too and quite tasty. However, I think Cherry Blossom Kit Kat is the best I've seen yet. It has all of these encouraging phrases about the coming of spring. "Don't worry, for the sakura will surely bloom" and "Let's all wish for cherry blossoms" and finally "Searching for sakura through the snow". Genius. Tastes kind of funny though...vaguely reminds of Pepto Bismol or cherry cough syrup >.<
I'm finishing off Dennou Coil. That show is good. It's so whimsical, though I saw one ep that was downright creepy. I'm looking forward to how it turns out. Also watching Scrubs...always nice to have something to laugh at. The new Sarah Brightman CD comes out in just a few more days! I listened to the samples on amazon and it sounds awesome! I've given in to my demons and I'm writing a fanfic that has turned into something very large and is eating up an inordinate amount of my time. But it's been fun. S'pose that's all from me for now tho. I really need to change my profile background on Myspace.