This particular rant revolves around trying to get some paperwork from a particularly unscrupulous 'boss' I have here, in what is currently my main part-time teaching job.
It's kind of a difficult time for me right now. I wanted to assure the school that I am changing jobs for better conditions and that I really do care for the students. Why? I don't know, partly because I do really love this school and also maybe from feeling some pressure from them to show that I do. This did involve spelling out to the head of English the things I didn't like in the conditions. One of these is the salary, which will be a lot better in my next job, and isn't so great for what I am expected to do, as there is a lot of unpaid overtime spent preparing materials and no pay for a month in the spring. The other is the issue of 'on call days', which basically means that if the school doesn't need me, my salary continues, but I should be ready to be called up at any moment by the agency. There are also a lot of paid holidays which aren't 'on call', which of course is great.
These on-call days are used to keep track of the teachers. The man who runs the company randomly calls on them and if by any chance someone doesn't answer, he will deduct that day's pay. In fact, he even reserves the right to deduct far more than that, in a practice which would seem to be illegal. This never actually happened to me, possibly because he didn't want to upset the situation with the school, but he did call at 'surprising' times. One time was on the last week before the summer holiday started- I could well have gone away by then and then lost salary. He did the same thing in the winter holiday, leaving the impression that he was trying to catch me out. Another time he phoned me at about 6:00 pm and left a message asking to meet me the next morning. There was no urgent necessity to any of these meetings- they could have been planned longer in advance. He just wanted to check that I was really not doing any other jobs or on a trip, it seems. To be fair, other times he asked me in a more normal way to meet the next week- but these were mixed in randomly with the seemingly 'probing' calls. He also gives the option of having unpaid holidays instead of on-call days, which of course means sacrificing some of my salary, paid by the school, to him. Naturally, he is pretty keen on teachers doing this- but I figure- why not just give the whole paid holiday, which the school is financing, anyway? By not doing so he makes other jobs which do do this a lot more attractive. Also, let's not forget the way in which the on-call days are implemented- in a bizarre 'cat-and-mouse' fashion.
Along with getting literally double the salary in my next school, due to regular bonuses, I will be totally free from these games. Perhaps foolishly, I explained the entire situation to the head of English, who wanted to know all the facts about why I was changing. I told him to keep it secret as I wasn't supposed to be telling him such details. He totally understood why I and so many other teachers before me should want to change jobs- but became furious at the company for treating the teachers this way (and perhaps also a little angry at me for telling him all of this- who knows?). In a way this is good- he passionately cares and did what he thought was best to make things better. Yet of course really my employer is the agency, rather than the school; they handle my salary and provide the official paperwork.
The man from the agency was called in to explain what had happened and, I suppose, apologise. He (there seems to only be one there) is now accusing me of breaking my contract by divulging private details to a client. He has a separate paper alongside the contract saying not to divulge 'private details' of my relationship with the company to the clients. Of course, this request is completely illegal and this is probably why it is on a separate paper. Also, these conditions are hardly private as the school knows about them and told me it made for problems with former teachers- at least one of whom actually did have his salary docked for this reason, and then he promptly quit (they say).
Now the guy, who only ever met me in a coffee shop as he says his office is too far from the station (well, he said to others that it is under construction), keeps saying he is too busy to talk whenever I ask about a form called a 'certificate of income and withholding tax'. I am supposed to show this when I declare my earnings to the income-tax people. Legally, he is obliged to provide this. Yet, he is avoiding doing so. What's more, by saying I am in breach of the contract, he is basically threatening to dock my salary for talking with the Head of English. This really does make me mad-though it is presently just a fear of mine, that may never be realised.
You see, I was the one who worked in the school- it is my salary, not his. Yet he feels confident in behaving in this manner, presumably because the legal safeguards against it are so laxly enforced, and a general xenophobia makes it easy for the authorities to turn a blind eye to such behavior. This of course I find completely disgusting. The vulnerability of foreigners, though, is something we see all over the world, at least here people usually are happy to see a Westerner and these situations are fairly rare. Yet getting sympathy when you are in one is hard to find, as people generally say 'if you have a problem, why don't you just leave'- short-sighted advice for anyone who wishes to stay anywhere beyond a year or two. We people have a right to live around the world-
It really is sad to see the lack of legality prevalent with these English-teaching companies in Japan. I realise that they are businesses that need to compete to survive- by why all the unnecessary hassles and the disrespect for the rules? People might say I should be strong, I should get a lawyer- but why should I have to enforce the law myself? Why can't everything just happen in a normal, natural way? Why can't Japanese people get their pleasure from treating people nicely, rather than from trying to get revenge on them for one reason or another? Not telling me what is going on, withholding assistance and paperwork, it all seems to me like a kind of needless cruelty, looking for revenge. It makes me think of my worst images of the Japanese people, of their behavior in the war and all the war-crimes committed therein. Which, of course, are still a widely-suppressed fact here. No doubt, the guy in my company presently sees himself as the victim and me as disloyal- yet the loyalty he demands is a kind of undemocratic secrecy which has no place in modern societies.
Of course in most other situations, people here are very nice and kind, and they profess to value kindness above all else. I am generally treated very nicely and gently, especially by the females, who are quite delightful in their attention. That, I suppose is why I stay here, it outweighing the darker qualities which are there to be found if someone gets annoyed. Though, to be a little cynical, there have been times when I think my own kindness has been seen as a weakness to take advantage of. Certainly, the more business-like you are about things here, the more respect you are treated with. Kindness is loved- yet it has yet to receive the full respect accorded to raw strength. I don't mean to sound at all prejudiced in any of this- I am just remarking on societal trends that I have witnessed- trends which must be unnatural as they are so rarely to be found in the children, who are mostly lovely, although apparently bullying is widely tolerated.
Hopefully he will calm down and just give me the paper- though the official deadline for doing so is getting close. Of course it is true that all this is damaging his reputation in the school. Also, that until I decided to leave I really had quite a good relationship with him. Also that my contract asks for two months notice before it ends and I am giving three weeks. Yet also, it is true that the most he can legally fine me is 1/2 a day's pay. So if he does want to get revenge on me for leaving the job, he will have to break the law to do so. I wonder how much power the threat of unions and lawyers might have, even on small company which feels it can escape the sweeping radar of authority. One thing is for sure, though- he has no real power and is basically a sad little man trying to have more power than he really has. I am already out of his grasp and moving on to better things.
God will judge him for the reality of his behavior and he will judge himself. As my girlfriend says, who is going to try phoning him and finding out his attitude right now, this is all a test from God, so not without meaning. I trust God and my guardian angel to guide me towards a peaceful solution to all of this. God's love is so great that it extends to the unpleasant realities of life.
So yes, as a Libran, I do not really enjoy these unpleasant or material topics, but they are just as much a real part of life as anything else. I hope my intense attitude towards all of this has not upset my girlfriend.
It can make me feel very 'anti-Japan' when I feel unfairly or coldly treated here. I suppose, to be honest, I get an awful lot of stress from the adults in Japan, who I often feel are merely using me to their own ends and are rarely there for me when I have a problem. I have an awful lot of anger from this. It is not enough just to enjoy having someone around as a guest- you need to look after them, too. Caring about people is important.
What worries me most, as a long-termer here, is the idea that beneath the surface, sinister currents travel in the Japanese mind- hidden behind mask-like faces. I worry of attitudes of racial superiority, which excuse seeing foreigners as simply there to be used; of victim-complexes which excuse just about any kind of behavior, secure in the thought that the Japanese person is always the victim and therefore never wrong. Just looking at the hideously-violent and perverted manga comics makes you wonder- what is lurking beneath the face of harmony, perhaps capable of bursting out at the most unexpected opportunity? This is what worries me and I think worries a lot of people, about the Japanese. Several recent murder cases have made the Japanese uneasy on this point as well- some involving young children, as perpetrators as well as victims. Being unable to express emotions in a natural and healthy way, they can turn into something much harder to manage.
Still, I am confident that people here, as just about everywhere, are generally descent and well-intentioned; also that the progressive-minded ones, which include a lot of the younger generation, will have the day. Societies and people tend to ebb and flow in their attitudes- sometimes they even seem to be going in circles. There is still much xenophobia in Japan, alongside much warm, sincere friendliness. We shouldn't let the former blind us to the reality of the latter.
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