or "How I made it out of the Eikaiwa Ghetto !"

Well its now no secret; I have finally returned to the bosom of IT and gained what I would consider proper employment in Japan. The company is in Shibuya, which is quite a distance from where I live in Chiba (the burbs hick town of Tokyo). Commuting is going to take about 2hours a day each way, so thats 4hrs travelling everyday. Core time is 10 till 7, hour for lunch, half Japanese and Foreign staff (about 50/50 mix).
Its quite an interestign mix as the development team are all foreigners; American, Australian, English,French & Scottish. Very multicultural ! Sounds like there could almost be a punchline or a joke some where in there.The staff are really friendly and easy going and its great being able to speak and practice Japanese with my co-workers.

The work is mainly PHP and its quite tricky learning the ropes again. 1 year and 6 months of teaching English can crush those core skills ! Its been 3 weeks now and seems like I'm settling in.

At the moment look like I will be here for a good while after many months of surfing for job vacancies, many of which seemed inapplicable I was invited for interview and passed after 2 weeks notice. I'm finally FREE from eikaiwa !

or so I thought, until I tried to hand my notice in.....flame on

1) What about the kids !? I have to admit some of the schools and the kids were an absolute joy to teach (some were murder) but the majority were very friendly, the classes were fun, the kids adored me, I had been featured on TV just weeks before for being a "super sensei" for doing lessons for mothers, and here I was"sneaking out the back door", without any notice to any of them, no goodbyes or apologies.

2) Eikaiwa management It's bad to bite the hand that feeds you, the ALT position I had was a gift, I would have been lost without it.The manager I reported to refused to acknowledge I was leaving. He persistently said I couldn't leave until they found a replacement. This was typical of eikaiwa management making false claims, some I've heard personally; We can take away your visa, We can stop your housing contract, We can contact the embassy that your working illegally,We can refuse to pay you, You cannot quit due to your contract.  In the end after daily phone calls and fax's of pleading to let me break away and start the new job I eventually opted for not turning up at work which lead to...

3) That guy really let us down やっぱり外人に頼れないYou just cant rely on foreigners
When working at the elementary schools, even though it was a short time, I really warmed up and warmed to some of the staff. I was a rarity; I was a fresh ALT who spoke Japanese in and out of the class, I was bristling with energy and enthusiasm and the kids seemed to think I was from a cartoon world.Two of the 4 schools I worked for called their their Board of Education authorities to say "This guy is the best ALT we've seen, this is the kind of guy we need in our schools !"

I'm usual modest to a fault, but I loved the praise and its a little selfish to think it, but almost true; I was a "Golden Boy". Due to my manager frequently tolling me "Don't tell the schools you are leaving" I did as I was told. Right till the last day, ashamedly to which I didn't go to; just to get the point across to the manager, I just "disappeared" without word or warning.

My mobile phone rung off the hook for a day, with lots of messages from the schools; various teachers, headmasters, co-workers, etc. Some were angry, some were confused, some were encouraging, though the majority seemed very,very disappointed.

I admit I wrote an inordinate number of handover notes and left a huge pile of resources for my replacement; a lot more than I received when I started the job i.e. zero. but still feel pretty guilty.

Starting this new job with these worries and feelings has been really tough but I've written the following to keep me sane:

I spent 1 whole year and 4 months doing something that was a dull, tiring, repetitive, mind draining experience with no respect.This is a new experience, embrace it.

 

This job pays well and eventually I can start living the lifestyle I used to live when I worked in the "real world".The pay in Eikaiwa is peanuts and kept me in a perpetual state of "student lifestyle"; non independent and reliant on the company.

Some Eikaiwa people here are happy with their jobs, lifestyle, etc. Its not my cup of tea because "Being in Japan" and "Real experience" is a tenuous balance. I went to Japan to learn the language and get a job in my field; I thought the eikaiwa's would provide that but they are really an extension of university life or for lost backpacker souls who can't get real jobs. When I arrived in the eikaiwa wolrd was immediately ostracised by my "peers" for

a) Speaking Japanese

b) Being an obnoxious arse about it.

c) Not being a sycophant to the long termers who were there.
(I remember one particularly popular seasoned guy who said to me "If you want to be cool, and people to like you, you should be like me　- ありえない)

d) Having ambition beyond eikaiwa

For me doing eikaiwa was career suicide. I could recommend it to people who want a "fun" time, but wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's worked in "the real world" or has aspirations of making it a career choice; I couldn't see myself doing it in my 30's and those here who are doing that, sitting on the train with a self satisfied smug grin thinking;

"I'm an English teacher in Japan, I'm fully fluent in Japanese and have worked here 15 years, I get pissed with my Japanese wannabe gaijin friends and I'm 100% integrated"

Then more fool them, its an easy option without ambition or drive or struggle and where's the fun in that ? Life is a challenge to be met, not compromised.

So I have elevated out of the petty-dumb-backpacker-ex-student world of English teaching in Japan and can walk with my head high, firm in the knowledge; I have a proper job. Eikaiwa is ok for some people but most certainly not for me.

Ay-men