Eikaiwa work

So why then have I decided just now to start a blog midway through my third year in Japan?  Well, for one thing, the distinct lack of job satisfaction has led me to pursue other venues of employment, and I thought tapping a little rust off the old keyboard would be a good way to get started.  Now, that's not to say that I hate the gig.  Teaching in Japan has opened the world to me.  It has given me a window into a world across the ocean, introduced me to a vibrant culture that pulses with life, opened my eyes to a world where contemporary and tradition co-exist as partners to create a venue unlike any other on the planet.  Which is why I proudly endorse Japan as "best country to visit in the world."

See what I did there?

Not work.  Visit.

No, Japan is not a place conducive to working life.  The term "working poor" can accurately be ascribed to a much larger sector of the population than anyone would care to admit.  In fact, many people in Japan have turned to Internet cafes as a source of housing.  It is no secret that Japanese workers are underpaid and under-appreciated.  The the fact that there actually exists a word--karoshi--literally translating to "death from overwork" in the Japanese language (which can be ascribed to the cause of death of some 300 Japanese workers a year) should be at least a warning light to someone that something is wrong.  People over the age of 50 and women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant (when did this turn into a pharmaceutical commercial?) are screwed when it comes to finding and keeping a job in Japan.  Maternity leave is on the list of "Things That Would Be Nice to Have" most Japanese women keep under their pillows, right in between "unicorns" and "someone to get me pregnant."  But that's a whole different societal problem.

Not to say the whole "death by overwork" thing is my problem.  Or wanting someone to get me pregnant.  Far from it, in many ways, but as a thesis statement, bear with me.

Eikaiwa work (here I go, up my own ass) in Japan is a fine way to get over here.  Sign a year-long contract and enjoy.  For someone straight out of college, it's a pretty sweet deal.  For the low, low start-up cost of having to pay for your own airline ticket over here, you can breathe a big sigh of relief as your work visa, living arrangements, and employment all become someone else's problem.  But, as many will tell you, once you land in Kansai or Narita, every situation is different.  Hell, for some websites,  that might as well be their catch phrase.

But that's only because it's true.

New Eikaiwa employees have a herding instinct.  We travel in packs for safety.  After all, when you're walking around in downtown Osaka well past any reasonable person's bedtime and a 40-year-old woman with a handful of fliers starts chasing you shouting "massage, okay?  Massage, okay?" at you, the lone foreigner's immediate instinct is first flight, not realizing that that was exactly what they were expecting.  He stumbles backward, wheeling away, his legs providing no more support than spaghetti dangling from a fork, although to the massage lady, every bit as delicious.  A few steps in the other direction and, like velociraptors, you never see the other two hunting you from the sides.

Clever girl.

And so now, one very unhappy ending later and your wallet 14,000 yen lighter, you know better.  You stick with the herd.

In our circles, stories of things we've seen or heard about get passed around.  Seemingly fantastical to the average first-year herd-dweller, by the second year, if you still haven't seen people getting promoted through the ranks by being yes-men for the head foreign teacher, or your manager being laid off for having the audacity to get pregnant, or the assistant-manager being physically assaulted by the manager for not successfully negotiating a more expensive contract with a student, or foreign teachers reduced to tears by the head foreign teacher for complaining about the manager verbally berating them from day one, or the area manager reducing your manager to tears when she asks if the school can hire another foreign teacher... then you must not be working at an eikaiwa.

And is there any chance you're hiring?