Warning- long rant to follow!
It might be strange to change subjects like this, but I am just a regular man after all... and living in a material world like the rest of us. One depressing thing about life in Japan is seeing how the wages for English teaching have gone steadily down over the years since I arrived. Some may think me a picky snob, but, not wanting to fill up all my spare time with teaching, and thus reserve ample time for my blogging and photography, I want to get paid well for everything I do. I am pretty bitter about the amount of people wanting me to do them a 'favour' and teach them for free or for reduced wages.
Hanging out with friends and sharing English is one thing. Being manipulated for the other's gain is quite another- and if you can't guess- it is something that really riles me up. Teachers deserve to be treated just as considerately as other professions, they shouldn't be pushed to the point at which they feel the need to 'protest'- even more so, their protestations should never be disregarded or seen as a sign of a lack of appreciation. Teachers are professionals just like anyone else (even if they aren't perfect!) People may mean well, but they can be so inconsiderate! The abysmal result of this way of thinking has been the infamous Nova- where low wages for English-teaching have been pretty much institutionalised and teachers protests regarding conditions are routinely ignored. Let me explain...
Recently moving has meant a lot of extra expenses. True, I could get cheaper things, but then I am filling my place with stuff I don't really want, just cutting corners on it. This being stuff to use for a long time, my 'second generation', which may well be hard to even move out to replace it if I want better, I really see no point in that. So, some part of my mind yesterday said... "Universe, please send me another class, preferably a business class, with good pay".
Just when the thought went through my mind, my phone repeatedly buzzed (in it's silent 'manner mode'). Since I was teaching at the time, I left it and it turns out it was a friend and then Hitachi Business English Division. Had my prayers been answered? Well, yes and no (note the title). Indeed, it was a business class, but not of the 8-15,000/hr variety I have met many people teaching. No, this one is a lowly 4,000/hr. True, not bad, but on top of an already fairly busy schedule it isn't really what I'm looking for. Some may call me greedy, but I want something that pays really well for a business class, not just moderately well.
By my maths, I would have to do loads of those classes to get a decent amount of money, but far less of a better-paid one. But the class itself would be the same, in terms of all the other factors. The students would be just as good, the text would be the same, the level of appreciation. Put simply, I have enough, 'bread and butter' work. I need more of the cream to go on top of it.
So, I said the word I hate to say- no. In Japan it's considered very rude and even more rude to quibble about payment (which is exactly why it is better to get a well-paid job, people will be very reluctant to try to pay you less, not to mention the possible illegality of that, once a contract is signed). So, if i had wanted to work for them anyway, there would always be a subtle distrust of me, I would be labelled 'selfish'. The more polite, Japanese thing to do would be to keep it all secret, just as they tried to keep the pay for this job secret (my friend told me, she didn't mention it until I asked) and just say, 'sorry, I'm too busy to do that'. But I think I was helping her realise why they were having trouble finding, or keeping a teacher. The job isn't just about the pay, it's about satisfaction, enjoyment, helping others. Like it or not, in a world that revolves around money just as much as around love, this is a very important factor, which it is foolish to ignore.
She tried to sweet-talk me some more, in her squeaky, sugary-sweet voice (which may be the way she is, but I detected more than a trace of manipulation in it). "Please, it's only for 6 months- we really need a teacher." Well, if they aren't willing to pay as much as everyone else, it can't be such a high priority after all. Which leads me to my point- that wages for English teaching are falling all over the place here in Japan, despite it being an amazingly rich country. This is all to do with the perception that foreigners are a dime a dozen, and that any who come to Japan must be students/dirt poor, and thus will appreciate being paid a pittance as it's better than nothing for them. Also, being kind-hearted, they will do anything you nicely ask them to do. Not only that, but the less they work for, the more sincere their friendship.
All these dangerous misconceptions have driven a good portion of professionals away from English-teaching here, except in a few unaltered jobs with pristine conditions that the administrators have been wise enough to maintain (public schools who hire directly are a good example here, or well-paying universities). The rest is fast becoming a wasteland for anyone over the age of 22-odd as there are droves of people expecting you to teach for next to nothing, whilst they still get their (reduced) profits from it.
So the moral of this story is, if anyone hopes to come to Japan for a travel experience or a change of pace, that's a great idea. But if they are coming to settle down here, or to save, they had better be very careful what kind of a job they get (a teaching certificate or a masters degree in any English-related subject is a great help here), as the part-time work has fallen down through a hole and into a dark pit, at least in terms of the financial compensation. You will be treated better and far happier in the more-respected, better paid stuff- your kind self-disregard in accepting less pay will just be seen as a sign of your own gullibility, should you go for the work where budgets have been slashed to save for other departments. People will try to get you to help them out and to an extent they will appreciate this- but no more than the people who pay you properly, and if you are anything like me you will resent people trying to take advantage of you, whilst they enjoy their far more decent salaries and or familial support network.
This may well all sound a bit cynical to you, but Japanese companies have for a long time had to pay very comfortable salaries to their employees and have just realised all the loop-holes offered by employing people part-time- not having to give bonuses, not having to pay insurance, pensions, etc. So they are doing the same to Japanese part-time workers/ temps. Just don't get stuck in that rut, you'll be surrounded by embittered people who feel, quite honestly, shafted by a system that sees them as a cheap route to greater profits, as a saving. They may well be emotionally manipulated to stay there, made to feel guilty about looking for something better. Yet, this kind of exploitation is not what God wants for his children. We aren't here to be slaves for others, used and abused for their gain. Break free, children, break free! Find places that appreciate you and treat you well. Don't be afraid to say 'no' to giving someone just what they want, even if it isn't any good for you.
Rant over... for now! I am still on the look-out for the dream, super-well paid private classes which pay money like milk from a cow's udder. Tax-deductible toys for the company to relax with a foreigner, leading to streams of gold pouring into their pockets. I smell early retirement, endless electronic goodies, holidays in the sun... all for a silly few hours of 'neo-work'. I smell money for nothing and the chicks for free! I smell an escape from standardised micro-wages and into mega-bucks that fall from heaven, right into my very appreciative lap. I've seen it happen- a friend of mine actually made a private class that netted 15,000 an hour, two hours a week of it! Is it good or bad... I don't ultimately know. But it sure makes life easier to not have to money about the green stuff anymore!
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