NOVA officially declared bankruptcy last Friday. They were granted bankruptcy protection by Osaka District Court and the company has one month to find a sponsor that can provide financial backing and ultimately take them over with major restructuring. Internet company Yahoo is listed amongst the potential candidates.
An official announcement has been put on http://www.nova.ne.jp/ by newly appointed interim trustees responsible for finding a buyer for NOVA. They also have a Q & A sections regarding the current situation but they do not sound overly confident that a buyer will be found. If no partner is found within the one month time frame, the company will follow through will bankruptcy proceedings.
All branches are closed and business operations suspended until November 5th. It turns out that NOVA has rejected partner ship offers in the past and many companies are now reluctant to become involved with NOVA because of their enormous debt (50 billion Yen or something ridiculous). The huge loss is mainly blamed on the president of the company, who in recent years, over-expanded the company and made some bad business decisions (some of which were illegal). The president was actually forced to stand down by other board members on Friday, which came hand in hand with the bankruptcy declaration. he is being investigated by the authorities and may even end up in jail.
So i havn't been working for the last two weeks and i am owed about $3000 AU by NOVA. Some teachers are being evicted from NOVA rented housing, but so far, we have had no knock on our door telling us to leave. I have picked up some private lessons, earning enough money to keep going for a while. I'm planning to stay till January/February and then head back to Oz for vintage. Even if i just break even for the next few months i don't mind. As for my owed salary, everybody is hoping a buyer is found and salaries will be paid, but this is not a given. All we can do really is wait and cross our fingers. Despite all this, i've still had a good time in Japan and will have many fond memories when i leave and hopefully, one day, will return. Prehaps this time for a wine related job rather than teaching.
Well, thats all i have to say about that..
P.S. So yeah, i turned down the ski resort jobs offers. The timing wasn't very good to tie in with vintage, so it was a case of either going back this January or waiting a whole more year before returning home.
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 October 2007
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
NOVA update
Payday was supposed to be on the 15th but noone has been paid yet. A lot of people have been callingin sick and refuseto go to work until they are paid. The company has promised to pay us on Friday, but i, along with most other teachers, don't believe this.
I am not going to work until i am paid. It costs me 900 yen per day to get to work (we are usually reinbursed for this in out paycheck) but i'm not prepared to cover this everyday because we may not receive another paycheck.
I have just landed a job in a ski resort in Hokkaido, starting November 19th. So, i just need my funds to last another month. The job is as a resort host- taking guests to their rooms etc. It is from November 19th till the end of March. We have the option of staying longer if it is a long snow season. Afterwards, i may return to Tokyo, i may return to Oz, or i may head to Europe for a vintage (grape harvest).
The pay is ok, not fantastic, but it includes a season lift pass. Needless to say, i'm looking forward to 4 months snowboarding- It's sad to leave Tokyo and the friends i have made here, but it will nice to see another side of Japan.
What am i doing on my days that i'm not going to work??
Going to the gym, studying Japanese, organising a few things and trying not to spend money! I am also going surfing tomorrow... Just what i need to get my mind off all this stuff
I am not going to work until i am paid. It costs me 900 yen per day to get to work (we are usually reinbursed for this in out paycheck) but i'm not prepared to cover this everyday because we may not receive another paycheck.
I have just landed a job in a ski resort in Hokkaido, starting November 19th. So, i just need my funds to last another month. The job is as a resort host- taking guests to their rooms etc. It is from November 19th till the end of March. We have the option of staying longer if it is a long snow season. Afterwards, i may return to Tokyo, i may return to Oz, or i may head to Europe for a vintage (grape harvest).
The pay is ok, not fantastic, but it includes a season lift pass. Needless to say, i'm looking forward to 4 months snowboarding- It's sad to leave Tokyo and the friends i have made here, but it will nice to see another side of Japan.
What am i doing on my days that i'm not going to work??
Going to the gym, studying Japanese, organising a few things and trying not to spend money! I am also going surfing tomorrow... Just what i need to get my mind off all this stuff
Friday, 5 October 2007
NOVA... Is this the end??
I havn't talked about this much because websites and forums are littered with discussions and reports concerning this topic, but NOVA is in very bad shape...
To cut a long story short, some teachers were paid up to two weeks late last pay day. There are others further up in management that still havn't been paid. People are quitting the company in droves, some returning home and others looking for other jobs. The English teaching market is becoming saturated as the 5,000 or so NOVA teachers begin to look for alternatives. It's not a great time to be working for NOVA.
In further news, AACE, the company that does recruiting for NOVA in some Australian states, has cut all ties with NOVA after a 15 year partnership.
I'm weighing up my options of what to do. Man people think the company will go bust soon, and it is looking doubtful that we will even see our last pay check (due October 15th).
Anyways, i have to go to my Japanese lesson. For more info, check out the Gaijinpot link on this page, or have a look at http://www.letsjapan.org/forum/
To summarise: Don't come to Japan and work for NOVA.
To cut a long story short, some teachers were paid up to two weeks late last pay day. There are others further up in management that still havn't been paid. People are quitting the company in droves, some returning home and others looking for other jobs. The English teaching market is becoming saturated as the 5,000 or so NOVA teachers begin to look for alternatives. It's not a great time to be working for NOVA.
In further news, AACE, the company that does recruiting for NOVA in some Australian states, has cut all ties with NOVA after a 15 year partnership.
I'm weighing up my options of what to do. Man people think the company will go bust soon, and it is looking doubtful that we will even see our last pay check (due October 15th).
Anyways, i have to go to my Japanese lesson. For more info, check out the Gaijinpot link on this page, or have a look at http://www.letsjapan.org/forum/
To summarise: Don't come to Japan and work for NOVA.
Monday, 30 July 2007
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.
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.
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
NOVA
Well, i pretty much have work sussed already. It's not rocket science, and i think it will sart to get repetitive and a little stale after a while, but one of best things about this job is the students. I have already met some interesting people already and most of them are really nice. Students range from high school students and young people who have just entered the work force, to housewives and business men. The other instructors at my branch (Kinshicho) and the Japanese staff are all friendly too.
Working 5-9pm weeknights is pretty good as it gives me time to do things in the morning. I just joined the gym too, so its good to get back into doing weights and staying active. I'm hoping i don't get too bloody skinny because i don't seem to be eating much food. I don't know if its the humidity or because the food is different, but i will be skin and bones in no time... Kinda defeats the purpose of going to the gym.
Monday, 18 June 2007
1st day of work
Had first day of work today. We moved into things pretty quickly...
We started off with some orientation information and then observed a lesson. The rest of the day consisted of us newbies being each paired up with an instructor, sitting in on lessons, and gradually participating more and more... For the last lesson, we were each required to teach the second half of a lesson.
Lessons are 40 minutes long and are designed to get students talking to each other as much as possible. We guide them through the different stages of the lesson (warm up, introducing the lesson theme, listening and speaking activities etc.) and monitor and correct their grammar, intonation, sentence structure etc. After the lesson, you are given 10 minutes to write some feedback in each of the students' files, then have a ten minute break defore the next lesson.
It was a pretty full on day, but i think it's a matter of practice, and after a while, should be able to do it in my sleep. I have to teach a full lesson tomorrow. Only 2 more days of training, then i start proper work on Thursday.
Ok, i'm off to bed. Later
We started off with some orientation information and then observed a lesson. The rest of the day consisted of us newbies being each paired up with an instructor, sitting in on lessons, and gradually participating more and more... For the last lesson, we were each required to teach the second half of a lesson.
Lessons are 40 minutes long and are designed to get students talking to each other as much as possible. We guide them through the different stages of the lesson (warm up, introducing the lesson theme, listening and speaking activities etc.) and monitor and correct their grammar, intonation, sentence structure etc. After the lesson, you are given 10 minutes to write some feedback in each of the students' files, then have a ten minute break defore the next lesson.
It was a pretty full on day, but i think it's a matter of practice, and after a while, should be able to do it in my sleep. I have to teach a full lesson tomorrow. Only 2 more days of training, then i start proper work on Thursday.
Ok, i'm off to bed. Later
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
