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So, those of you who were in touch with me when I interviewed for JET know that I also interviewed for a program called NOVA too, at that time. Nova is another program for foreigners to come to Japan to teach English, however, it isn’t nearly as reputable as JET nor is it a government-sponsored program, like JET. NOVA is a private contractor. It is a business. The main goal of a business is to make money. They take on clients of all ages who want to study English for a variety of reasons – from preparing for high school entrance exams to business dealings. The clients pay for each lesson, and teachers are paid based on the number of lessons they are teaching (but they really aren’t paid well at all! And the benefits aren’t so great). That was what really turned me off from the program – I couldn’t ever tell if they were doing it for the right reasons. The fact that they require you to pay for your own flight, your own background check, and to live in NOVA apartments with 3 other people (your rent – which is quite steep given the arrangement – is automatically deducted from your pay) all sent up red flags to me and the professor I had for Organizational Behavior who I had gone to for some help with my decision-making (mostly, later, how to turn NOVA down tactfully). We both thought some of their business practices seemed questionable, but I don’t think either predicted just what would become of NOVA.
Not only did NOVA fail to reimburse clients for lessons that were canceled, they also failed to provide proper health insurance to their employees. This is when people here in Japan began to raise an eyebrow. There is a national health insurance program here in Japan. It’s really great! The benefits are good, and you really get out of it what you put in (refer to my entry on my doctor’ visit for more info! Bloodwork, two check-ups, and prescriptions all totalled about $55 for me!!!). The program is MANDATORY. Half of your health insurance premium each month is paid by YOU, and half is paid by your place of employment. NOVA, however, neglected to provide their employees with it AT ALL. Eventually, the government noticed, and stepped in saying, “Wait a minute… you can’t do that.” To which NOVA responded quickly… they took action right away to change ALL of their teacher’s status to that of part-time, by deciding that they would no longer count the time the teachers had between classes as on the clock. This dropped most workers below the status of full-time – meaning NOVA didn’t have to give them health insurance. Furthermore, they DID offer them with an option. Employees COULD buy private health insurance from NOVA directly. It’s really sad.. almost Wal-Mart-esque! I don’t understand how they could bring foreign workers into the country and then reduce their status to that of part-time! I’d like to know too how exactly that works with work visas….
Then came the scary part… NOVA began to neglect to PAY its teachers. They also continued to take rent money out of their check each month, but some teachers started getting eviction notices saying the rent had not been paid – even though the money for it had been deducted! Some teachers have gone TWO MONTHS with no salary. What’s more… there is a heavy fine that prevents most of them from leaving their contract early. Basically, they can’t afford not to take the abuse (not to mention, the plane ticket home which the must pay out-of-pocket). There is a union for NOVA workers which has lead to a few strikes and things. Personally, the fact that they even NEED a union is pretty scary, I think. Unfortunately, because most teachers do not speak Japanese well and have little knowledge of the Japanese legal system, most don’t know their rights. I think if I were in their shoes, I’d be making some calls to my embassy ASAP. Then comes the kicker…
This week, NOVA announced that it is filing for bankruptcy. I heard the news when I was sitting in the office an a co-worker with past ties to NOVA (and an equally harsh critic of it) came to me and asked, “Have you been reading the news???” Of course, I hadn’t, since I can’t read Japanese well! He summarized a few articles for me, and later, I looked it up online on the Asahi Shimbun and The Japan Times (both available in English). I’m not sure how it works in Japan, but I assume that like in America, NOVA will be protected now from all the lawsuits that are going to come their way. It’s just sick. There’s absolutely no accountability! What’s worse is that according to a few of the articles I cam across, if NOVA had sold when they started having problems, they wouldn’t have had to file for bankruptcy. However, the CEO claimed he was “too passionate” about NOVA to let it go. I’ll tell you what I think that means…. someone didn’t want to turn his books over to prying eyes. Another ALT and I joked that he’s going crazy shredding papers these days. Can you imagine the outcome of an audit on NOVA??? The CEO had come under investigation from the Japanese government in recent months anyway, because of his shady business practices. The government was trying to force him to reimburse the clients. Passionate… yeah right. Try desperate, and pigheaded.
So what happens now? 200 of the 600 NOVA branches are set to close IMMEDIATELY. That means thousands of workers, many of them foreigners here on work visas, are out of work! What’s worse… they haven’t been paid, and now because of the bankruptcy filing, probably will not be. However, the plane ticket home is THEIR responsibility, not NOVA’s. It’s in their contract (they stressed this too, when I interviewed with them). Again.. I would be calling my embassy, if I were in their shoes. As far as I know, many are looking for jobs with other private contractors in Japan such as Aeon and Geos. I doubt it’ll change anything with JETs numbers because I think most people who end up in NOVA are there because they didn’t make it into JET. JET has somewhat stricter policies, and because they work on government grants, only take a certain number of applicants per year anyway. Also, some organizations in Korea and China have started putting out ads aimed at recruiting abandoned NOVA employees.
It seems like signing on with NOVA is essentially signing on for indentured servitude. Many of these young people are fresh out of college, and have not set aside money for emergencies like this. They will have to continue to work under such conditions until they can pay for their ticket home. It’s really despicable how they are being treated. I guess it goes without saying that I really feel I made the right decision by not working for them (though JET was always my first choice).
For more info in English, check out:
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200710270106.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071028a2.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050531zg.html
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070925zg.html
P.S.
As for me, don’t worry about me! The JET program is structured totally differently and serves an entirely different purpose anyway. As I said, we work for CLAIR (Council of Local Authorities for International Relations). It is a government program in place to provide native English speakers to English classrooms in public schools. JET is paid for by Japanese tax dollars… the point is not to MAKE money, but instead to make sure that the money they put into the program is not wasted. JET takes ridiculously good care of its employees in terms of pay and benefits, so this sort of thing does not affect me at all!
So, I wont pretend that this entry has any sort of aim. It’s mostly just about the fact that I FEEL LIKE writing, for once, but I don’t really have a lot to say. So, I’ll just go over a few things with you.
First, since coming to Japan, I am the most caffeinated that I have ever been in my life. Unfortunately, they don’t sell Redbul in this country (except at this one bar in Sapporo! I am tempted to buy a case), but they do have plenty of canned cold coffee, hot coffee, and tea. Whenever I visit school, I am usually offered coffee or tea. The funny thing is, they bring me coffee or tea, and then say “Ok, let’s go tour the school” most times. So, I have to leave my coffee, untouched. When I come back, it is usually cold, so they offer me ANOTHER cup of coffee. After I get close to finishing it, they always refill it. This is just polite in Japan, but I sometimes am not aware just how much coffee I end up drinking until I feel super jittery and write like a 5 year old. They also always give me coffee during my “breaks”. So… if there are 5 minutes between classes, the teachers always tell me “Le’s go have a rest in the teacher’s room.” I’m usually shocked and say “But… we have five minutes…” To which they respond “Yes, so let’s go have a rest.” What have I learned? Five minutes is just long enough for me to sit down, cross and uncross my legs, and burn my tongue on my steaming hot coffee as I try to drink it with less than a minute left.
What else… I miss my friends back home a lot these days. When you live abroad, you really ARE alone. Sure, I know people here, but it isn’t like in America – especially in college! In America, on any given night, there were dozens of people I could call to go do something if I was bored. If I was sick of someone, I could just stay away from him/her until things blew over. Not here! The number of people I know is so few… and the ALTs joke that we HAVE TO like each other. Even if we don’t like each other, who else are we going to talk to when we’re just starting out here? The language barrier I think really prevents me from making friends. In America, I made friends very easily! I had a lot of them, and they were sweet, and smart, and kind. I guess I understand people’s hesitation. Unless they can speak English, we can’t communicate well. So, it isn’t easy to hang out with me. I really have begun to appreciate the select few who do take the time to talk to me though. It doesn’t even matter if their English is good! The fact that they try to talk to me at least makes me happy and makes me feel welcome. I understand now how exchange students at my college may have felt toward Americans that did reach out to them and try to get to know them. There are just a handful of people here that talk to me, but I value every minute of those conversations. Without them, the day would be silent. Of course, I am trying SOOO hard to improve my Japanese, but I don’t have much time to make friends or to study, which makes it tough. But I ask questions whenever I can, and I always listen out for new words and phrases and new kanji to read.
The ocean. I have had little experience with the ocean in my life. One of my goals while living here is to learn about it. What is it doing? What does it mean? What are the various tides? I want to know the kind of stuff that it is totally unnecessary for me to know, unless I were a fisherman. Also I want to know… why does it smell SO BAD sometimes?? Sometimes it really smells like garbage and I don’t understand why. Other times, when it crashes against the rocks here, it smells crisp and salty, like I suppose it ought to. I want to be able to look at the waves and currents and things though and understand what it means for the weather, the fish, the birds. I’m just interested in the cycles it goes through.
Another goal I have is to study shodo (Japanese calligraphy) while I am here, if I can find someone to teach me! I also, as silly as it sounds, want to learn to make chawanmushi while I am here. Chawanmushi is a nice, steamy hot custard with meat and vegetables in steamed eggwhites. They serve it in teacups with little hats on top to keep it hot til you open it. It tastes really really nice and is great when the weather is cold! Whenever I tell people I want to learn to make this, they usually laugh. It’s a side dish really, but it’s important to me! But, I think it’s difficult to make… but oh well! I must find some sweet little motherly Japanese woman to take me in and teach me Japanese cooking.
Ok, I think that’s all that’s on my mind for now. Cheers.
茶碗蒸し Chawanmushi (I LOVE this)
So today, October 12th, is my first day to see snow in Wakkanai. It has been snowing on and off all day since I left the office at 4:20 to head over to teach at Wakkanai Koukou Night School. It has been what amounts to a “snow storm” back in Tennessee. The flakes were thick and fluffy – the kind we don’t see until late January back home! It didn’t start out as those wimpy little specks that blew briskly across the road back in Tennessee last year, as I drove to the jail to teach my GED class. I was so excited to see snow back then! But these days, I just don’t get that feeling. I’m not a kid anymore, perched in front of the picture window, cheeks resting in my hands waiting to hear whether or not school was canceled for the day. And I’m not a college student living in the Tennessee mountains anymore, waiting to see how beautiful my campus will be when it’s decorated with a light dusting and some icicles. Instead, I know what this means… the beginning of a never-ending mess to clear out from in front of my door… sloshing through sludge on the way to work in my snow boots.. and red, chapped hands, for a minimum of six months – quite a long winter, if you ask me! What struck me the most as I sat in the teacher’s room with some students was how little regard people even had for the snow. Here in Wakkanai, it is just another weather condition. Saying “It’s snowing” isn’t any more exciting than saying “it’s raining.” However, on the plus side, it did come with a nice lightning and thunder storm, which I always enjoy! I guess I just need to wait for some accumulation so I can get to it and learn to ski!!
Isn’t this beautiful?? Now imagine it’s Christmas, with just a little snow…
Yes, it is official. I have booked my flight, and I will be in Deutsch land from December 22nd until January 12th. I’m seriously INSANELY excited! Who wouldn’t want o spend Christmas in Germany, of all places??? I will be flying in to Frankfurt, where Jakob lives, but I will hopefully travel around a bit too. I am also going to Scotland, quite possibly, from Germany. And, hopefully, I will get a chance to catch up with my friend Brandon, who is living in Austria and doing a program similar to Jet, teaching English there! I am excited about seeing some of Germany’s museums especially… I was especially interested in Berlin, so I asked Jakob what museums might be good to visit there. He said, “well, Berlin itself is probably the best museum”. It really occurred to me then what an experience I will be able to have standing amid so much history and culture. Germany has had people living there much longer than America and has seen its share of a number of conflicts. Just being in Germany means I will be around history all of the time. Back in America, I was always excited just visiting very old homes or cemeteries. I really like the thought of knowing that I am walking somewhere people have been living for hundreds of years before me. I think about their lives. What were their families like? What did they do for work? What were their dreams and aspirations. I imagine I will feel this kind of excitement all over again in Germany as I wonder about its history, and the people who lived there and walked those streets before me.
A photo of Frankfurt Jakob took.
Here are some of the museums I am especially interested in that e may visit too!
In Frankfurt:
The Goethe House
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Jewish Museum
And in Berlin:
Ethnologisches Museum
Stiftung Topographie des Terrors
We may also go to Munich, which would be really interesting to me. I have never been, of course, but my belief is that Munich is were all kinds of cultures and backgrounds come together to create a really unique urban center. It would be really cool to spend New Year’s there, but we’ll have to see what happens!
Oh yes, and while I am there (especially since I am on holiday and will have time!) I’ll be SURE to write! Wie sagt man “this is going to be amazing” auf deutsch?
A picture Jakob took in Heidelberg. I think we will go there too, because it isn’t far from Frankfurt.
Another from Heidelberg.
Jakob in the middle, teaching two Americans about German culture. 
Ok, so, I finally have some time to write an entry, but only because I am at home, sick! On Sunday I started getting really intense stomach cramps and just feeling very very sick. I didn’t think much of it, but by Monday morning I was sure something was wrong. I thought perhaps I just had a hangover because I had been out drinking with some teachers the night before, but I really hadn’t had much to drink, and I had never had a hangover that felt this bad. Monday night I went out to the island and stayed in a hotel, as planned, and taught the next day. But the whole time I was terribly terribly sick and could not even eat. It really sucked because I taught at an elementary school, and I just had NO ENERGY at ALL! I feel bad because I’m sure I did a really poor job, but I felt faint and sick and really just wanted to sleep all day. When I came back on Tuesday, I decided to go to the doctor. I went with another ALT and her supervisor/ my friend. Unfortunately, the doctors couldn’t do much for me because I went there in the evening. They said I needed to come during the daytime, which meant I needed to take sick leave. I really didn’t want to because it’s really difficult to re-schedule my school visits if I miss a day, plus during the day the other ALT and her supervisor could not go with me to help with my Japanese. But I took sick leave anyway, and luckily a co-worker was able to come with me and help with my Japanese so I didn’t have to go alone and struggle to explain my illness. Japanese hospitals (people often go to the hospital just for a regular doctor visit) are mostly like American hospitals, except you don’t schedule an appointment. It’s good in some ways because you can be seen the same day, unlike in America where you may have to wait a few days, but it’s bad in some ways because you are stuck in the waiting room for a while. The nurses were very friendly and understanding, which surprised me because they warned the ALTs in JET orientation that doctors and nurses in Japan aren’t as personable and friendly as in other countries. I guess the warning was more that people will not ask your opinion or how you feel about a treatment or diagnosis, as they might back in America. In orientation, we learned that people here in Japan really don’t ask their doctors many questions about a diagnosis, and that people almost NEVER ask for a second opinion. The doctor is the expert, so you don’t question him/her. However, I asked questions to make sure I understood everything, because of the language barrier. The doctor didn’t seem to mind this.
First they asked about my symptoms, which I will leave out for the purpose of writing this entry because they are pretty unpleasant. Then they did all the normal checks and ordered a blood test for me. It turned out that my white blood cell count was a bit high and I had a fever, along with all the stomach-related symptoms, so the doctor said I most likely had a bacterial infection. She went on to explain that it was probably from eating sushi and sashimi, because, she said, Japanese people have an immunity to many of the bacteria in sushi, but Gaijin don’t. I resented that explanation a little bit because I have been eating sushi for years with no problem, but my co-worker added that perhaps I was more susceptible because I was tired recently from so much traveling, and also I had eaten sushi a lot recently (I had sushi three days in a row). Whatever the cause, I was happy to have a diagnosis and an antibiotic. Unlike America, I did not go to a chain pharmacy to pick up my prescription. I expected to go in to Sapporo Drug, a chain pharmacy store, to buy it, but apparently those stores only sell over-the-counter medication in Japan. Here, they have separate pharmacies that deal ONLY with prescription medication. I suppose we have those in America too, but I was surprised that there aren’t stores that are like Walgreen’s or CVS and offer everything from shampoo to prescription medicine. The pharmacist was very nice and very patiently and carefully helped me to understand when to take my medicine. We didn’t have to wait in line either, which was a new experience for me at a pharmacy (for the most part).
I am feeling much better these days, and ready to go back to work because now I’m tired of sitting around my house. My appetite is back and I’m feeling mostly better, so I expect that I’ll be back to 100% health in a couple days. But, even now, I’m ready to leave the house. I am sure I will be ready to teach tomorrow too. I think I will just make sure to rest after work often, until I feel totally better, just in case. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about visiting a Japanese doctor because I heard so many stories in Sapporo Orientation about bad experiences, but this visit was just fine. So, there you have the ins and outs of being sick in Japan… hopefully not something I have to deal with again soon.
