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

I kind of had trouble keeping up. The usual platitudes "the students and coworkers are great, and Japan is a great experience..." blah blah blah. Maybe true, but not very insightful.

Here are my answers:

Why did you choose to work at NOVA?

Cos no other company (JET/GEOS/ECC) would touch me with a ten foot poel. And I couldn't get laid for love nor money in Canada. Or Japan, for that matter.

What were the first signs that made you think that NOVA might be in trouble?

I read the Daily Yomiuri headline, on Oct 26, last year, as I passed a station kiosk, on my way to Nova.

How did you react? Were you indifferent? Shocked? Angry?

Yeah! And I was absolutely determined to get even. So, damn, I showed them...I logged on to letsjapan, and made several disparaging remarks about Sahashi's manhood.

Where are you at now? Still teaching or have you left Japan?

Still teaching, but now I work freelance, so I tell all the men, and women over 40 that my schedule's full.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of coming to Japan to teach?

Stay well away from my Manor, or I'll kneecap you.

Couldnt you find ANYONE else who wasnt so lame?..One guy wasnt even HERE..who cares what he thinks?

What were the first signs that made you think that NOVA might be in trouble?

The first fucking day in 2003 when my trainer Simon The Little Aussie Puke with his faggy pink shirt started "training" us for 3 whole days.

We ALL knew the cunts were doomed from the start...it was just a question of WHEN...happily I was present to see the flames...I sincerely hope I did as much as I could to FEED those flames by being a craptacular teacher every day always, (they said I was shitty every increment meeting...so i didnt wanna disappoint them)
I hope every one of those Gaijin Japanophile assholes who made the teachers lives shitty for no good reason than to save a few yen and to lord it over them got shafted large by the collapse....and I hope their careers are in utter ruin..I hope they are drinking cheap bourbon in their undershirts in 2-bit dive motels..working up the courage to pull the trigger and finish their disgusting excuses for lives...

cuz they are the fuckers ultimately responsible for it...treated us like shit..we went home..and didnt tell anyone to sign with Nova..they thought we were bottomless..they thought they could fuck with us..they thought wrong.. when nobody wanted the job anymore..so nobody could book a lesson..and it all went downhill.

How did you react? Were you indifferent? Shocked? Angry?

I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.. I laughed at Nikki the Cunt when her tears spilled over cuz she couldnt be a cunt anymore..I laughed at Danielle when she was bawling cuz SHE couldnt lord it over folk anymore..I laughed at the staff as they all cried, cuz they wouldnt be able to get a new LV bag that week, and for always giving the AT cunts and Suckups with Usagi tattooed on their hearts the free lessons and demos...and for telling you what a great teacher you were to your face, but writing up all the "complaints" and bad reviews behind your back.

I just wish I could have watched Glenn and Anders and Chari the Big-Titted Cunt (GAWD she had big tits!..MAN i just wanted to fire a rope of hot jizz over that wogs face...then hit her in the mouth with a brick.) cry..cry in their beer...cry cry cry..all the way home.. wankers.

but im not bitter or nothing.

honest!

If I was just too much of a dope to notice the below info had already been posted here, please forgive the redundancy.

If anyone is thinking of working for new Nova, here are some things you should know (googled it, couldn't find it somehow):

Nova school operations are divided between two companies, G.education (which by now barely needs mentioning) and Seikatsu Kobo. G.ed runs the Nova branches that initially reopened at their original locations. Seikatsu Kobo runs a chain of franchise Nova branches that began opening at new locations with new interior decor (pink cubicle walls with cheesy inspirational sayings splayed across them). Rumor has it that the G.communication prez (G.ed's parent co.)and that of Seikatsu Kobo are close friends.

The upshot of this is that there are now two types of "Nova teachers", G.ed employees and Seikatsu Kobo employees. However bad you may have considered conditions under old Nova or G.ed, conditions under Seikatsu Kobo are, in my personal opinion, absolutely abysmal and maybe even illegal.

Teachers are paid based on the # of students that show up for lessons.
They have a 15,000 limit on travel reimbursement, often split weekends, often no fixed teaching location, have to pay a fee for their own training (20,000 or 30,000 yen, I forget which), and a 20,000 yen "deposit" that the company keeps if the teacher can't finish their full contract (these last two I read in a memo from one of the managers encouraging teachers to recruit friends to be new teachers). After hiring teachers to 40-lesson per week contracts, they now want to change at least some to part time (min. 25 lessons/week). Staff at at least some Seikatsu Kobo branches are told to montor the electrical meters at the branches to try to save energy.

It's the Seikatsu Kobo (i.e. franchise) branches that have been hiring a small # of non-native speakers, non-university grads, etc., because when they tried recruiting the former "standby" teachers who'd been fired last Christmas and this spring, the latter of course mostly refused. (To be fair, in my time I've met some great teachers who didn't go to uni, and one idiot with an MA in Education. Who knew?)

If, after reading this, you want to apply to work as a Nova teacher, I strongly recommend applying to G.ed, and not Seikatsu Kobo.

How anyone could accept those terms.... Most certainly sound illegal, but labor law (unless a union or disgruntled worker really pushes it) means nothing in Japan.

Isn't it impossible to sponsor a non university grad? I assume those they hire without degrees have spousal visas?

Teaching English is not exactly rocket science, and there are obvious exceptions to every rule. However, it is fair to say that those who completed university generally do have more ambition, intellectual maturity etc. With lower quality instructors and all the other problems, it amazes me those schools attract any students at all!

Just to give you an example: We are entitled to 10 paid holidays after 6 months of employment. (labor standards law) Some places don't give you that. Instead, they give you time off according to "their" working calendar. That is illegal!!! Many companies break labor standards law. That's just the way it is in Japan.

GABA:If you teach, you get paid. If you don't teach, you don't get paid.

Berlitz:You don't get paid when training.

Aeon: "a non-refundable processiing fee of $200 USD/CAD, $210 AUD, £100 GBP is required to cover part of the cost incurred" (WTF?????)

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Is there worse? Yeah!!! For sure!!

To be fair, one Seikatsu teacher told me that once they complete a probation period, they get a fixed salary, not one based on student attendance.

As you've surmised, many of them are on spouse / famly member visas, or working holidays (according to the teachers I've spoken with, Seikatsu Kobo will not provide visa sponsorship, which I'd say is another factor in their recruting difficulties).

I can't confirm this, but I get the impression that unlke G.Ed, they are primarily nvolved in things like furniture and food imports (as their name would suggest), with zero experience in the education business.

Yeah, what is Shawn thinking? His bias is clearly toward portraying NOVA instructors as regular people instead of the penniless, drunken louts they are. How dare he! We all know the interview would have been way better had these two lost everything and were forced to work out of blue tarpaulins in a park.

One guy stayed, one guy left. I like what Randy did. He said "Fuck it" to the money he was owed and got the hell out and took a trip around the world. That's awesome. It was clearly a small price to pay for bailing out of NOVA early.

And the J-staff who work for Seikatsu Kobo have it even worse, as one would expect. One interesting thing, though: I've heard of at least two cases (one teacher, one staff member) in whch the employee, when asked to change to what would be in effect a lower salary situation (full time to part time, essentially), they flatly refused and have not been approached about it since.

So all you Seikatsu teachers out there: My personal take on this is that if you come under pressure to change your contract conditions, any implcation that you MUST do so is a bluff. They can't afford to lose too many teachers, but they're hoping you'll go along with what they want so they can save money. But that's just my opinon; how you choose to deal with it is up to you.

I'd be very interested in reading what some Seikatsu teachers have to say about all this, and to correct me in case anything I've mentioned is incomplete or inaccurate.

I don't think it's fair to say that those who have completed university are more ambitious and intellectually mature than those who have chose not to waste money at any chosen institution.

What about those who have gone off and started their own companies? Join the military?

If you're comparing yourself to those who haven't wasted their money on post education for which is seems, then you must be comparing yourself to a bum and nothing more.

FYI: I'm one of the two above mentioned.

I for one did time in the military before going to college and trying business. I think they all teach different things in different ways. Obviously, people should try to get as many types of unique and different experiences as possible, be it the above mentioned or others. I do think there is something about a university education (for those who apply themselves anyway) that certainly adds to a persons intellect. As a general rule, those who do not even try certainly have less ambition.

Yer, the "Ok...ok" rings a bell, and he did get to be a BT too. He and his girlfriend, the Japanese BM, got out over a year before the collapse and went to Australia.

I'm glad you all kept this b!tch fest alive after one whole year.
Man, what a sh!tty company that was.
There were so many pukes who actually gave a f~ck too.

That would be hilarious to have a reality T.V. show that tracked down all of the A.T.s and B.T.s and A.M.s to find out how they're coping one year after the melt down. I'm assuming they best days are behind them.

Oh well, we can't just skim by life doing jack-sh1t, occupying our free time by banging college chicks forever. I just feel blessed that I was able to soak up a little bit of that precious experience.

Life’s a pretty sweet fruit.

Luke

What they are doing is illegal, I would say. My advice: tell them that the diploma is your property, you want it back, and if you don't have it back in you hands by a certain date you will press formal charges.

Ummmm, why would my "dumbass" NOVA mates or I have "cut and run"? There was about 300,000yen back-pay plus about 400,000 yen in hello-work benefits to look forward to. Yes, Japan is a great place to live, that is why I stayed, and am still here, enjoying all it has to offer. Im not bitter, and certainly not claiming to be a "hero"...and none of my ex-Nova mates are either.
Oh, and "Joi" is a chick, I think you will find.

You two sound like you got stuck in bum fuck, with nothing more than a deck of mild sevens, and a hard on.

I have heard the same story at least 10 times - must be ten liars out there, all with the same imaginations.

http://nttbj.itp.ne.jp/0936911102/index.html

Nova isn't exactly overblessed, with the tooth and nail types. Tooth and nail activity takes too much effort, especially with a hangover.

Like when did NOVA Head Office EVER not need asking seventeen times, if you needed something, from a new futon, to a reference?

"Hello, this is Bryan Gill, I'm calling about my psychopathic room mate, Steven Darwisch again. You said you'd move me out last March, but I never heard from you. Since then, I've been stabbed, glassed twice, and force to walk around in a tennis skirt, to stop him from beating me."

"We'll see what we can do. What was your name again?"

"Bryan Gill."

"So, Ryan, how can we help you?"

ETC.

No need to worry about insane flat mates, or missing diplomas/degrees. G Cumm has a new computerized system, and all is expected to be smooth sailing, from this point forth.

And other companies too......