NOVA gossip...

I don't actually have any gossip about NOVA really.

There was alot of bad press a few weeks ago about the company but things seems to have settled down and it appears to be business as usual (touch wood). There are actually two separate NOVA schools at Kinshicho, but we were informed today that the two schools will be merging, and will form a single large school (at my branch's building). Whether this is a reflection of NOVA's problems i don't know, but no one seems terribly worried. My Knishicho school has lower level students (low level means better ability- 2 is the best, 7 the worst) and no kids classes, and the other school has heaps of kids and high level students, so the merge means that i will have to teach kids, which some instructors are not thrilled about... I don't mind, because it will add more variety to the day.

So more about working at NOVA...

I actually quite enjoy it. I'd heard plenty of negative things about NOVA but it is definately more fun and rewarding than i ever expected. Sure it's not rocket sience, and i can see that after a while, lessons will get repetitive, but most of the students are really nice and some are very interesting (one of our students is a Manga artist, while another student runs a dodgy scam involving Bangladesh and diamonds... I could say more but i'd have to kill u). You form a bond with most of the students and it is rewarding when u hear them using words or phrases that you have taught them in a previous lesson. Furthermore, they are always more than happy to answer any enquiries you may have about Japan.

I like working 5-9pm as i have plenty of time in the morning to go to the gym, or meet people for lunch etc. It also means that u can go out at night during the week, as you have usually recovered by 5:00.

For those of u interested in the money side of things, i work 20 hours per week and earn about 200,000 Yen/month (AU$2000), which is pretty good for a part time job.

"BUT IS THIS ENOUGH TO SURVIVE IN TOKYO???" I hear you ask.

Easily. Work pays for ur train pass, so u don't have petrol expenses, car registration, mechanic fees etc. I go out for a big night 1-2 times per week and still afford a gym membership and 3-4 square meals a day. Plus i save a bit on the side, incase i want to travel. For those Aussies, Kiwis, and Canucks out there- I definately think the Working Holiday VISA is the way to go. Good hours, and u can always work overtime to earn more.

P.S. Our part time wage is higher than most of the full time Japanese staff. When you meet young Japanese people and inform them that you only work 20 hours per week, they give u an astounded look and enquire as to how you could possibly survive in Tokyo. The look on their face then transforms from astonishment to disbelief when u tell them that u earn 200,000 Yen/Month... This is because most of them work 40-50 hours per week and actually have a lower wage than this... Don't misinterpret my ramblings- i'm not exactly sitting on a gold mine- but compared to the average 25 year old Japanese, my salary isn't too bad.

The Japanese mentality (particuarly in Tokyo i suspect) is that young people should work hard, long hours and get paid a crap wage. They are then expected to stay with the same company for the next 30 years, climbing their way up the corporate ladder, after which time they are probably in a management role and are very well looked after indeed by their company. I think this type of loyalty is fading in the younger generations of Japanese, but they still have no where near as much freedom as the Youth of Australia, or i suppose, any other Western country. It's such a high pressure and stressful environment- no wonder Tokyo'ites look so glum and exhausted on the evening trains.