Jump to content
SAU Community

Q & A about moving to Japan/teaching in Japan (cont. from Rezz`s photo diary)


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 154
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

wow, it sounds like a great lifestyle over there fellas, i have a few options, and one of them is studying japanese at tafe, just to get some basics down.. i am really liking the idea of going to japan and working, as a teacher, i couldnt see it here, but over there its quite a possibility.. i'll have to bite the bullet, scrimp and save to get my out of debt and save some money so i can come over there with a hope of a job... sounds fantastic...

cheers

Rick

what do u guys think about the BERLITZ Schools?

I've never been there for an interview, but one of my colleagues has, and he said that they videotaped the interview!!! Aparently they videotape their classes too for evaluation purposes. Not fun I'd say...

hey but don't you guys find it hard sometimes to try to find places or get something or understand the others outside of work since you can't speak japanese? or can you? =)

I can speak enough Japanese to keep me out of trouble. I'm by no means fluent though. I constantly say "eeerm", "aaaah", and whatnot trying to remember grammar rules... it's not easy. Reading and writing (especially e-mails) on the other hand isn't so bad, I quite enjoy studying Kanji actually.

  • 5 weeks later...

i work for NOVA in tokyo. I found the job in the herald sun in melbourne and went in for an interview. prior to that i had spent a year studying in a japanese university so i kinda had a foot in the door to japan. the interview through the recruiting company was nothing about the job really... its more can you cope living in a foreign country that doesnt speek english... i got the job 2 years ago and am still at nova.. Rezz says he getting 300,000 for 9 hours a day 5.5 days a week.. im getting 200,000 for 4 hours a day 5 days a week and teaching privately whenever i want... teaching is a piece of piss, you can speek the language and they cant so all you need is to take command with confidence and make them laugh. For start up i recommend NOVA as its not so tuff to get in and they do everything for you to get here....

Interesting read guys! :D

Just wondering what kind of demand would there be for Teach English in Japan in lets say 4 years time? Ive got a while before i finish my Mechanical Engineering degree. Sounds like a good option to go for a working holiday for a year and experience something different.

For those that are currently there, did you say to yourself that you would stay for a year and then come back? Sounds like you have enjoyed your stay so much that you have stayed longer than you expected.

Im new to the whole japanese culture, but i find it interesting as its based on levels of respect and morals - instead of a scattered society where every man is for himself.

Furthermore, are there any engineering jobs in japan!?! Particularly for Mechanical? I know Aerospace is booming...

I don't think the need for English teachers is going to decrease any time soon. Indeed, if anything Japan needs more English teachers. The government always seems to be pushing more English education at schools, with emphasis shifting from reading/writing/grammar to more conversation skills.

Everyones situation is different, but from my experience the vast majority of English teachers here stay a year (maybe two) then go home, move to another country or just seem to disappear! :cheers: I came here, decided I want to stay. Five years later I have no plans to ever go back to England. I'm having too much fun to ever want to do that! :D

Not sure about jobs in Engineering, I guess being able to speak Japanese would help. Evo Lee may have some more insight than I.

Dave

Engineering work is not easy to come by, but not enitirely impossible to find provided you know Japanese (preferable). Best way in is to work for a Japanese branch office in Australia and get an internal transfer to Japan. Else alot of companies offer 9-12 months internship, come over learn the language and perhaps try and get a permanent or another job after.

Word of warning, working for Japanese companies in Japan is very different to working in Western companies.

Japanese workers are expected to stay at work far beyond 'knock-off time'. My fellow teachers are often at school at 7pm or later - even though they finish at around 5pm. HOWEVER, they don't do bugger all - and from what I can gather, this isn't a trait restricted to teachers. In the few (very few) occasions I've stayed back, I've seen people sitting around 'looking busy' (generally consists of them playing solitaire on their computer or similar).

Why do they do it? Well, from what I hear (and please correct me if I'm wrong) it has less to do with 'teamwork' and 'hard work', and more to do with 'protecting your yearly bonus'. For the same reason, many workers are reluctant to take paid leave - or use paid sick leave. It's not surprising when you see how large some of the bonuses are!!!!

I don't get a bonus so I'm the one who is usually trying to sneak out 5 minutes early :(

Working for the japanese is definitely an eye-opener. And if you are working for a corporate (I work for the govt.) - be prepared to deal with it. It varies from place to place (and boss to boss) though - some people have it easy, others play by the rules.

  • 2 weeks later...

If i dont go to Europe with my grandparents, in July, im gonna do what u guys did and bail to Japan in October for a holiday an look for work!!

Thanks heaps for the insight guys, keep it comin!

  • 5 months later...

Well, the thread seems to have stalled, so I think I'll just reopen it. >:)

I currently work for a uni in Oz, I'm a sysadmin (IT work, for those who don't know), and I'm about to take a redundancy... it'll pay off the skyline, leave me debt free and leave me with about $40k in the hand. Going to finish my last 4 subjects for my IT degree internally, and then going to try to get a position in japan, june 2005. Should be right for their autumn start. :)

I have a few questions for everyone:

- It seems that we can at least expect around 250,000y per month in wages. How far does that realistically stretch, assuming living in a box apartment and average travel times to work.

- What is the situation with paid leave? is it a government stipulated situation, or is it per-school basis? Are they resonable with your leave, or is it basically 'when the kids are on holidays'? For that matter, what's the school year like? Do they even get holidays? I'm curious because while the teaching is a great experience and it pays the bills, I would be there to experience the country, the culture and the cars.

- I've seen several places saying that you must be willing to work in Japan for at least a year. Is this likely to be a binding contract, or just a 'very good idea' to stay there for a year, etc? I'm not wanting to move back straight away, but if it goes sour, I don't want to be stuck, especially if it turns out my umbrella company is dodgy.

- I would assume that if your japanese sucks, it can be very lonely. Are the japanese easy to make friends with? Do japanese co-workers invite you to social events, or is this one of those 'case by case' things? :)

- Could someone give a brief rundown of buying a car in japan while living there. What on-road costs can you expect, etc? Surely it's not as easy as paying the free-on-board costs (or comparative) and just driving off? :)

Thanks for raising those questions Sciby, I had very similar questions in mind as i want to go in 2005 as well ! after i finish my degree (half a year left woohoo)

I'm still deciding whether to join a company like NOVA, or to go there with some money and look while i'm there.

At the moment, NOVA seems like a good option for working there... they have their own apartments, so you don't have to pay the godawful upfront fees, and you'd be living with other non-nationals, so they'd be able to give you the n00b tour. :D

Also, since NOVA isn't a school per se, they wouldn't be tied to any school calendar, ie, if they give you paid holidays (I think you get 10-20py?), you'd be able to take them whenever you want. YMMV though. :O

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • It would be well worth deciding where you want to go and what you care about. Reliability of everything in a 34 drops MASSIVELY above the 300kw mark. Keeping everything going great at beyond that value will cost ten times the $. Clutches become shit, gearboxes (and engines/bottom ends) become consumable, traction becomes crap. The good news is looking legalish/actually being legal is slighly under the 300kw mark. I would make the assumption you want to ditch the stock plenum too and want to go a front facing unit of some description due to the cross flow. Do the bends on a return flow hurt? Not really. A couple of bends do make a difference but not nearly as much in a forced induction situation. Add 1psi of boost to overcome it. Nobody has ever gone and done a track session monitoring IAT then done a different session on a different intercooler and monitored IAT to see the difference here. All of the benefits here are likely in the "My engine is a forged consumable that I drive once a year because it needs a rebuild every year which takes 9 months of the year to complete" territory. It would be well worth deciding where you want to go and what you care about with this car.
    • By "reverse flow", do you mean "return flow"? Being the IC having a return pipe back behind the bumper reo, or similar? If so... I am currently making ~250 rwkW on a Neo at ~17-18 psi. With a return flow. There's nothing to indicate that it is costing me a lot of power at this level, and I would be surprised if I could not push it harder. True, I have not measured pressure drop across it or IAT changes, but the car does not seem upset about it in any way. I won't be bothering to look into it unless it starts giving trouble or doesn't respond to boost increases when I next put it on the dyno. FWIW, it was tuned with the boost controller off, so achieving ~15-16 psi on the wastegate spring alone, and it is noticeably quicker with the boost controller on and yielding a couple of extra pounds. Hence why I think it is doing OK. So, no, I would not arbitrarily say that return flows are restrictive. Yes, they are certainly restrictive if you're aiming for higher power levels. But I also think that the happy place for a street car is <300 rwkW anyway, so I'm not going to be aiming for power levels that would require me to change the inlet pipework. My car looks very stock, even though everything is different. The turbo and inlet pipes all look stock and run in the stock locations, The airbox looks stock (apart from the inlet being opened up). The turbo looks stock, because it's in the stock location, is the stock housings and can't really be seen anyway. It makes enough power to be good to drive, but won't raise eyebrows if I ever f**k up enough for the cops to lift the bonnet.
    • There is a guy who said he can weld me piping without having to cut chassis, maybe I do that ? Or do I just go reverse flow but isn’t reverse flow very limited once again? 
    • I haven’t yet cut the chassis, maybe I switch to a reverse flow. I’ve got the Intercooler mounted as I already had it but not cut yet. Might have to speak to an engineer 
    • Yes that’s another issue, I always have a front mount, plus will be turbo plus intake will big hasstle. I’ve been told if it looks stock they’re fine with it by a couple others who have done it ahahaha.    I know @Kinkstaah said the stock gtt airbox is limiting but I might just have to do that to avoid a defect so it atleast looks legit. Or an enclosed pod so it’s hidden away and feed air from the snorkel and below Intercooler holes like kinstaah mentioned. Hmm what to do 
×
×
  • Create New...