Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Seriously, anyone thinking about coming to Japan to teach in Eikaiwa should take this as golden advice. The only thing it leaves out is the behind-the-scenes treatment you're going to face from the Japanese staff, upper management, and local management who think they are the best thing since sliced bread.

But if you don't mind hearing, "I will go to shopping," or "Japan is a safety country so I don't want to go abroad," or that every other country other than Japan is racist despite Japan's seriously racist policies, then feel free to enjoy it all.

It's at the viewers discretion now.

From experience, that video was right on the money.

Think long and hard about the virtues of entering the Eikaiwa hell hole...

Maybe they won't even care if it'S true... there are some who will come to Japan under ANY circumstances. They just won't care. Or they won't believe any gotta go!

Oh that is too perfect. It brings back ahum ... fond memories of all the days I spent with the Hiroshis, Watanabes, and even the Mrs' Furukawas. Can't wait for the sequal about ABBAG or SOEG English Schools.

Hiliarious and so dead on.

-Luke

Let's have some more of this. Satire educates as much, if not more, than a rant. There is enough comedic material in the eikaiwa business to keep a Stephen Colbert style humorist busy for a long time. MORE! MORE!

A lot of serious thought and high level number crunching goes on behind the scenes in eikaiwa, with a lot of Japanese staff in particularly, working enormous hours, so that the correct product is presented to the customer. Given the dedication and professionalism that is out there, I think it is inappropriate that the customer be made fun of in this way.

This is Japan. It is a very different country and culture, and if you think your job and role as an ambassador for your company is funny, then go home, because Japan is not the place for you.

Paul

"A lot of serious thought and high level number crunching goes on behind the scenes in eikaiwa.."
HA! yes there is a lot of number crunching, such as 1+1=2.

Lay off Paulz people - the man has given his utmost to the company he lovez. Even after we screwed him over, took away his job, treated him with not one iota of respect and decency - after all that, he STILL showed absolute loyalty to our company and to the cauze we are engaged in, namely, talking absolute shi-ite to people 8 hours a day, fleecing people of as much money as possible and giving them as little as possible in return.

He fought to get his job back for a company that reduced working conditions, cut salary raises, and generally treated him and all his co-workers like cuntz.

He put his neck on the line to be re-accepted into a company that, despite all his years of selfless hard labor, regarded him as just another instructor, ready to be dizpensed of at a moments notice.

For this we are eternally grateful.

Andersz

This video is not only hilarious, but 110% true. I saw it a while ago and am surprised how long it took so show up on LJ. Great post Shawn.

What strikes me are the reactions. We have one who uses it as a tool to convince people NOT to come to Japan. Apparently this individual discovered eikaiwa in Japan and doesn't want any noobs to ruin it for him, although the same was probably thought of them when they were new. Another is outraged by the insensitivity of this satire. Look up "humor" and then try to buy some.

These are the people who have been in Japan too long, or maybe shouldn't have come in the first place.

I'm waiting for the sequel that shows the "teacher" who tries to bang all his students, comes to work drunk, complains all day about having to actually work and believes he is a real teacher. The instructors, and I use that term loosely, were just as bad as the students. No amount of self-righteous, sanctimonious preaching will ever change that. And that's why it's funny.

If your so wrapped up in your hatred of Japan, noobs, eikaiwa, Nova (who you may or may not have ever worked for), teachers, students, etc. For God's sake, get a sense of humor about yourself and those around you.

If you can't, then just eat a bullet.

This video is not only hilarious, but 110% true. I saw it a while ago and am surprised how long it took so show up on LJ. Great post Shawn.

I can't take credit for the video. Kudos to whoever created it. Sadly, the Internet is a vast place and I'm not all-seeing. I also have a life beyond this website, so I'm not always able to post stuff as it appears. :-) If you find something that you think would be good on LJ, you can always drop me a line.

I agree. Sure, I have had the occasional situation in which some things said are like the above. But it is far from being a total representation. The vast majority of the students that I teach are normal people, who engage with me in a normal way. Therefore, this video is best viewed for what it is: characature. That is, taking certain elements of a profile and exagerating them. As characature, it's funny, but it's a long way from being 110% true.

Having said that, there is probably a lot of variation in the type of students you get, depending on where and how you work. Maybe working in Nova type situations produces a lot more situations like this than I ever experience. In which case, you have to remember what is really at fault: the company you work for and the methods that you use. Most normal people will stay away from situations that they recognise are damaging them. People who already have a few problems will sometimes persist with a negative and so take on more damage.

And right you are Paul! Don't listen to these anonymous Internet spooks carping and scoffing at you. You keep chipping away at the coalface like you have done for the last umpteen years. We'll never give you a promotion for it, probably won't give you a raise, and we may even have to jettison you at a moment's notice, without explanation. However, as you well know, the coupons more than make up for that, not to mention the party girl branch manager (with her tight ass and firm bosoms to boot). And we generously gave you your job back at the same salary.

Keep up the good work my boy. You're the finest example of self-sacrifice I've ever seen. Buddha himself would be green with envy at such secret virtue.

Lordz Flemingz

So you must be really blowing those people in those little cubicles or prisons. Ass is always an ass.

I am with you Father. Fleming seems to have some deep seated issues he ain't ready to confront!

"In which case, you have to remember what is really at fault: the company you work for and the methods that you use."

Clarification: "In which case, you have to remember what is really at fault: the company you work for and the 'company' methods that you 'are forced' to use."

If instructors weren't forced to use instructional methods designed by morons, then perhaps the students would actually learn something and not end up like the ones portrayed in this video. Then again, I'm referring to NOVA specifically. No offense to English teachers working in a credible institution.

um, that's just sad... pathetic really. It must have struct close to home for you who were offended.

However, to play the racism card shows a real lack of imagination and is really just the pan-ultimate conversation stopper. Congratulations, we tremble in fear lest we be nailed as a "racist". Grow up and get an argument.

I appreciated this video a lot. A big thanks to Shawn for posting this, and to whomever made the video too! I taught at NOVA, but am back in my home country now and check this site from time to time. This is definitely the best post I've seen on this blog!

We all had good and bad times at NOVA. It may seem that this is the wrong angle at which to make light of our situation but given what we teachers went through, there definitely should be a video mocking the top brass at the old NOVA.

And let's not rag on those who are still working for them. Some of my good friends are still working there, and they're there for reasons which don't have to be explained to everyone. Just leave them be.

Thanks again for posting this!

Paul,
Obviously you joined NOVA after they'd slashed the really decent annual salary increments, because if you were earning much more than the beginning wage for a new instructor I can guarantee you that G.com would have slashed it substantially.

So you're content to work at a company where you can't expect much of a financial incentive to do a good job except ￥200 coupons that can only be used in the company's own outlets, and you don't think you look like an idiot for defending them?

Or could it be you're a head office minion who persuaded those useless tits in G.com senior management that you're still worth now whatever you were getting before?

You sound just like the kind of teacher we used to try to cultivate Paul.

Where you at my branch by any chance?

I wonder if there were more like you, would Nova have ever gotten into the strife that it did get into?

Perhaps not.

Keep up the good work.

I thought it would be best to just leave this alone, but "encarnacionjulia's" statements are so ludicrous, I just have to respond:

"I used to be the AT at Nova's Nagano branch. None of the students at my branch where anything like what is depicted in the video."
--So either your school had nothing but level 4's and above, or you simply created a schedule that excluded you from instructing lower level students.

"It is fair to say that the only unusual thing about them was their extreme kindness and freindliness."
--No one is questioning or down-playing their kindness and friendliness. My students made mistakes akin to those in the video, and were nice and generous beyond words. And when the mistakes were explained to them, they laughed to!! So apparently, you believe that Japanese people do not have a sense of humor?

"To whoever posted that racist video, all I can say is:"
--Oh yes, let's just call everyone a rascist and assume that no one wants to respond to it because there's nothing worse. Well, I would posit that not only are you a rascist, but an elitist rascist. Probably a self-hating caucasian? You have become a self-appointed champion of all those quirky little non-caucasians, because they are just too nice and fragile to defend themselves to a big scary western world. It's obvious you never got to know your students as anything more than a customer, let alone a real person. Your haughty, self-righteous and superior self probably wouldn't allow you to. But your caucasian guilt needs to be satiated, thus you defend them to the point of insulting them. Figuratively reducing them to kimono-clad simpletons who need your advanced western sensibilities to come to their aid.

These kind of statement disgust me. People who throw out the word "rascist" and "rascism" so casually obviously have no idea what it really means.

"You obviously never made it beyond the basic instructor level, did you? "
--Yes, because if you had become an AT, you could've just scheduled yourself free periods all day and avoided students entirely, like this yahoo.

"Do you have any Japanese friends?"
--Maybe not, but according to Nova's rules, neither did you. It was expressly forbidden to associate with any student outside of the school. And as an AT, I'm sure that your behavior had been above reproach.

Honestly, I know everyone has differing opinions and perspectives on things like this, but when self-righteous, psuedo-intellectuals like this infect the discourse, it becomes counter intuitive. The video was meant to be funny. Plain and simple. The problem with people like this is that they have no sense of humor in the public realm, because they hide it out of some cracked vision of political correctness. At the same time, in private, they are about as racially, socially and culturally sensitive as a brick.

And for the record, I sent the link to some of my Japanese friends, and they thought the video was funny. So I assume they are rascist against other Japanese people.

You need to get one. Lighten up, will ya?

You are a vile and odious creature Yahagi.

TO SHAWN: I think I will post on another blog. I like yours, but your censorship has become too lax in recent times. I honestly expected more from you.

Julia

Thanks for your support Shawn.

I guess I will just leave and go and play with my “chipmunk Japanese friends”.

Adieu

Encarnacionjulia is just another jerkoff NOVA AT. What a great example of the delusioned, moron with no sense of humor that makes a perfect NOVA drone.

Just because the students were polite and patronized you with empty comments doesn't mean that they liked or respected you.

Encarnacionjulia is obviously a desperate loser with no hope of achievement outside of the Eikaiwa industry. Therefore, must protect the companies, workers and customers to legitimatize her profession and personal worth.

Seeing some pathetic ex-AT get worked up over the video and criticize Shawn over it makes it even funnier.

Did you get worked into a lather about the Anti-Halloween / Anti-Foreigner Demonstration last month?

I don't recall seeing your posts about right wing, racist, extremist behavior at that time.

Halloween is a great time for kids, and everyone...which youd know if you grew up in the eastern North American culture..crackling fires, crisp cool breeze spookily sending the golden leaves askitter...ghost stories..pumpkin pie, turkey, sweets....but what with you being upside down all the time...and Santa in Steve Irwin shorts..no wonder youre such a big stick in the mud...

Us Aussies also don't celebrate that Thanksgiving nonsense...sorry we are such sticks in the mud, Enjoy your celebration of turkeys and apple pie, Americans and wanna-be americans (Canadians)

Don't accentuate your negligible differences. Celebrate your important ties, and the fact that your ancestors wisely decided to stay in the Brish Empire.

Heaven Bless you all!

That's too funny.

Umm, to coin a phrase, "Ho, hum..." Were you running out of content, or something?