The March to Inevitability

Hello Everyone,
I am writing this as my official last blog. As I reported in earlier blogs NOVA has been having major financial troubles and they have not gotten any better, in fact then have only worsened. As suspected (by myself and many other workers) payment was not received as scheduled on October 15th, and as I write this on October 22 no has been paid yet. Needless to say it is a very frustrating situation. When pay was delayed on Monday, October 15th I decided it was no longer in my best interest to continue work for a company that cannot pay me, thus I submitted my formal letter of resignation on Monday, October 15th after it was realized that payment would not be made. Long story short, my last day of work was Wednesday, October 17th and I will be coming home Thursday, October 25th to attempt to regroup and get my life back on track.

While I am excited to come home and see my family and friends it is also very bittersweet. I really wanted this opportunity to work out. It was a great chance to see a part of the world I had never seen before. I was really hoping accepting this position would give me the chance to travel around Japan, but I was not really able to travel much further than then immediate area Isesaki due to the fact that I could not afford to spend money on travel, I felt daily necessities were more important, and since I didn’t have a guaranteed paycheck I could not take a chance spending what little money I had on travel. Although I was not able to see all that I wanted my trip was not completely devoid of travel, as all of you who have read my previous blog entries are privy to.

To illustrate the reasons for severing ties with Nova I will provide a small timeline of the Nova news as I received it while I was in Japan Note: While Nova is a hierarchical agency, like any large company in the US; it lacks any sense of transparency. I am not sure if it is because of its large bureaucratic nature or simply massive ineptitude in the tops ranks, but there was simply no flow of information.

From the time I arrived in Japan I knew something was not right with NOVA. My first working day was September 12th, three days before payday, and already people were somewhat worried that they may not receive the wages due to them. September 15th came and all my coworkers were paid on time. I started to think alright maybe everything is OK. Then I realized the Titled Instructor (a Titled Instructor (TI) is basically a branch manager, they are one step above the regular instructor (me) and handle operations such as employees reviews and observations ) from my branch had not yet been paid.

My hopes that everything with Nova was “on the level” were very quickly dashed as I realized my TI had not been paid. There was no explanation as to why he (or any other TI) had not been paid. Something wasn’t right. In classic Nova style there was no information from the “top brass” as to why this pay was delayed. After the first delay TIs were told they would be paid within the next three days. When that promise didn’t materialize they were given another date; same result. TIs were given the run around like this for two weeks, until finally pay was deposited on September 27th, a full two weeks late.

The company was finally able to scrape together the capital to pay their TI’s (note: there are approx. 900 or less TI’s in Japan, as each branch generally has one) but no one knew how they did this, or where the money came from. There had been rumors floating around that branches were being closed in an attempt to save money, but what good would this do? Nova doesn’t own any of the space it used it only further into debt. Again the upper management at Nova shines through.

As the TIs are paid people begin to realize that we are a mere two weeks away from instructor payday on October 15th. If Nova had no money to pay the TI’s where were they going to find the money to pay nearly 7,000 instructors? With no means of communication from above many turned to internet forums to get any grain of information they could, but it didn’t take long to realize these sources of information were teeming with hearsay and false information, but it was some information that we all so desperately wanted.

So nearly every Nova employee marched on towards October 15th, many of them (myself included) developing contingency plans along the way. These plans ranged from heading home to recruiting Nova students for private lessons. During the week of October 8th branch morale seemed to be at an all time low. It had been over two months since the Japanese Staff (those who put together teaches schedules and perform the day to day activities to keep Nova running) had been paid. Everyone had the same sentiment, we will not be paid next Monday and our work was suffering because of it. It is extremely hard to enter a less and struggle to communicate with a very low level student when you are all but sure you will not be paid for your trouble, but at the same time it is impossible not to feel sympathy for the student who paid for the lesson you are teaching them 2+ years ago, when the company was flourishing.

Then came the nail in the coffin for me. One Friday, October 12th we received a fax from the top brass stating they could not come up with the fund to pay instructors as scheduled on October 15th. The fax embodied all the tact we have come expect from Nova over the past two month – 1. It contained no explanation from why payment was to be delayed and 2. It was sent at about 9:30pm, half an hour after all branches close for the day and employees are at home.

Saturday I went to work to see if the fax actually existed and it did. I saw this fax as my chance to get out of Nova. A binding clause of my contract states that I must give thirty days notice in order to resign from Nova, but another binding part of my contract states that I will be paid in full on the 15th of each month, Nova was in breach of my contract and I no longer had to honor it. The news was all the buzz at work on Saturday, but no one had any real plans, as it came as more of shock. It was one of those instances where we were all expecting some sort of news, but when it actually came it was still quite hard to swallow. For me the decision was simple and I made it on the spot. I was not going to have my first paycheck from a company be delayed; I mean this was my first paycheck, talk about starting off on a bad foot. I was going to wait until Monday, October 15th at 3pm (banks in Japan close at 3pm, thus any payment made on Monday would be posted by 3pm) and when the money was not in my bank account Nova would have officially breached its contract and I no longer had to honor it.

At about 5pm I faxed my official, hand written, letter of resignation to my area boss. She called to confirm that she had received it and sent me all the paperwork I would need to fill out in order to make this official. I filled it out on my break, as I wanted to get this done as soon as possible and faxed it back to her. I was finally free, as of 6:15pm on October 17th I would no longer be an employee of Nova.

As I write this, I have not been working for almost a week now. I have everything in place to come home, my plane ticket and bus ticket to the airport, now it’s just a matter of waiting for Thursday so I can come home (and trying to spend as little money as possible now that I have so much down time) To reiterate my pervious point, as I am sad to be leaving Japan without a very good chance to experience it to the fullest like I had planned, I am even more excited to get home, see my family and friends and begin to get my life back on track. What I am not looking forward to is the whole process of getting my life back on track (i.e. Job hunting and house hunting) so if anyone has any connections please let me know, I’m going to need all of the help I can get.

In closing, thank you very much for reading my blog, and all the messages and things you have sent me since I have been over here, it certainly made the transition much easier. I am sure I will be seeing many of you in the very near future.

So until then take care,
Adam

One of my Kids Classes

Here is a picture of one of my kids classes. The kids are pretty good, this is probably my best, most well-behaved class, but as always kids will be kids.



They are (L - R) Ayaka, Reika, Fuuki, Youhei (Click on the photo to make it larger)

Exploring Takasaki 10/11/07

Hello all,
Today was one of my days off so I decided to travel to Takasaki. First, a bit about Takasaki: Situated on the Kanto Plain approximately 100km north of Tokyo, Takasaki City covers an area of 330 square kilometers stretching from the border of Saitama Prefecture to the border of Nagano Prefecture. It's a city that encompasses vibrant commerce and industry found in the downtown district, as well as the peace and tranquility of nature found in the rural Kurabuchi district. Numerous concerts, city parks, festivals, and other events provide citizens with plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy everything life has to offer. The city has a long history as a center of transportation and commerce. The remains of many ancient communities have been uncovered in Takasaki, proving that people thrived in the area more than 1400 years ago. During the Edo period (1600-1868), Takasaki's role as a castle town led to an influx of merchants and an increase in the population. Following the Second World War Takasaki continued to grow as an industrial city with an extensive transportation system. In January of 2006 Takasaki City merged with Gunma Town, Misato Town, Shinmachi Town and Kurabuchi Village to form the current city that is home to approximately 320,000 people. Its proximity to Tokyo, only 50 minutes by bullet train, continues to make the city a strategic location for transportation and commerce. Serviced by both the Joetsu and Nagano bullet train lines, a bullet train stops at Takasaki station every 15 to 30 minutes, making Takasaki a gateway to the entire prefecture as well as the Sea of Japan and Japanese Alps. It is also at the crossroads of the Kanetsu, Joshinetsu and Kita-Kanto Highways. The new Takasaki Municipal Office was constructed in May of 1998, being both of a modern design and accessible for its citizens. Takasaki City continues to strive towards creating an international society where both the environment and its citizens can co-exist in harmony together.

As far as stories go my trip to Takasaki was rather uneventful, I didn’t get lost or anything really exciting like that, but I did some great pictures, so long story short, the purpose of this post is to share some the pictures I took today with everyone.

A good view of Takasaki


Byakui Dai-kannon


In 1936 the Kannon statue, 41.8 meters high, was built by the local entrepreneur, Inoue Yasusaburo. He was concerned about the stagnant world of ideology at the time, and built the statue hoping to spread the virtuous deeds by the Kanzeon-bosatsu or the Goddess of Mercy to shed light on the ideological world.


A massive suspension bridge in Kannonyama Park


Me on the massive suspension bridge in Kannonyama Park

View from an overpass in Takasaki

Looking the opposite way on the overpass

Entrance to a Temple in Takasaki

The Temple itself, it seemed as though they were setting up for an event, as there were many folding chairs and tents to each side of the path.

Another good view of Takasaki

Takasaki Koen Park

A small waterfall in Takasaki Koen Park
A nice view of some hills/mountains from Takasaki Koen Park

Byakui Dai-kannon from Takasaki Koen Park (needless to say it was very long walk to the statue)

Another view of how far it was to Byakui Dai-kannon, you can just make it out, it's the tall object in the center of the picture way off in the distance (my feet hurt just looking at the picture)

Takasaki Koen Park had some very random cages with animals in them, like a monkey (here) as well as rabbits, chickens, swans, and peacocks, weird.

Another view of the massive suspension bridge in Konnonyama Park.


That is all for this time, I hope that you enjoy the pictures. I would really like to go back because Konnonyama is a very big park and I didn't have a lot of time to walk around, I feel there are many more cool things I could see there.

Still missing everyone back home,
Adam

Adventures in Isesaki

Hello Everyone,

I know it has been a while since I have last written, but I have been a little busy. As of last Thursday (October 4th) I have officially been in Japan for one month. I am beginning to get used to the culture (food and way of life), but it is still quite foreign to me. Each day I face many challenges, but none of them are as daunting as not being able to read or speak the language. The language barrier is a huge obstacle I face everyday, from simply asking someone directions, to deciding what I want to eat, but I am getting by, picking up very basic, functional Japanese.

As I mentioned in my last post my plan for last Thursday or Friday was to venture to the mountains via a train from Isesaki. I had no real plans as to which day I wanted to go, but when I woke up Thursday morning the weather looked quite clear, so I hopped on a train from Isesaki to Maebashi. Maebashi is the capital of Gunma and about a 15 min train ride from Isesaki. I had read online that if I got to Maebashi station I could get on a bus that would take me to Mt. Akagi (image left). Mt. Akagi is one of the Jomo Three Mountains, located in the eastern part of Gumma, is the generic name for mountains including Mt. Kurobi-san and Mt. Jizo-dake. The inside area of the outer rim of the mountain is designated as Akagi Prefectural Park. Near the mountaintop, between the central crater and outer rim, there is a crater lake, called Ono.

I arrived at Maebashi Station (which incidentally is the same stop I got off at when I first arrived in Japan, and was lost) and began to look for the bus I was to ride to Mt. Akagi (according the Internet it was about a 30min ride). That is where quest for Mt. Akagi ended, at Maebashi Station. I was unable to find anyone who could help me figure out which bus to get on to go to the mountain, and none of the buses were labeled. I decided I would not waste my trip and decided to walk around Maebashi. In the course of walking around I found out the Maebashi is the capital of Gunma, it has the Prefectural Office, as well as, the Prefectural Library, quite interesting. So for about 3 hours I wandered the street of Maebashi simply exploring. I could see Mt. Akagi the entire time, but it was about 30km away from the city, so needless to say walking to Akagi was not an option.

After an unsuccessful attempt to get to Mt. Akagi I decided it was time to head back towards Isesaki. So I got on a train from Maebashi from Isesaki, the train was completely packed, it was about the time that many Japanese people go home from work and school. I certainly was not expecting the train in Gunma to be packed, but it was alright and interesting.

After my adventures on Thursday I didn't have a whole lot planned for Friday, the only thing I really needed to do was get some shampoo at the local grocery store. I left my house at about 1:00pm to realize that it was an absolutely beautiful day, about 70 degrees and sunny. I looked all around me and was able to see some mountains, so I began to ride bike toward the mountain which looked to be the closest, which it turns out was quite far away, at least 15 miles, but I was determined to make it to the mountains this time. I rode my bike in the direction of the mountains for about two straight hours (it was quite windy and my bike does not have any gears, thus it was quite a challenge) making what seemed like very minimal progress, but it didn't really bother me because it was such a great day for a bike ride. I continued to ride my bike taking in all the sights in Isesaki (or what I thought was Isesaki). It turned out that I rode through many little towns and saw some interesting things along the way. Since Japan is such a small and cramped country they have grave sites and cemeteries in very random places. This one was simply on the side of the road next to some farm fields. It seems that many people have graveyards in their yards, much like families did in the past in the United States. Unlike the US many grave sites are very small with very few monuments.

Enough about grave sites in Japan, I had some mountains to ride to. I continued along the road riding towards the mountains. After quite a long bit of riding I could tell I was getting close to the mountains because it stated to get quite hard to pedal my bike, but the mountains still looked quite far away, and I was really far away from home and not quite sure how to get back home. I soon learned that I had arrived in a small town call Ogo. I finally decided that my attempt to ride my bike to the mountains was futile. Even if I was able to reach them, it would probably be dark by then (it gets dark in Japan around 5:30pm) and I would have no energy left in my legs to go climbing anyways. When I asked some of my co-workers where I was, none of them had any idea, all they knew is that it was nowhere close to Isesaki. This was about all the closer to the mountains I was able to get. This picture really doesn't do justice to how beautiful the mountains are, or how close I actually was to them. When it is clear (which has happened four times since I have arrived in Japan) I can see the mountains quite far in the distance while riding my bike to work, this only fuels my desire to visit them, and I am determined to do so before I leave Japan.

So now I realize that 1. I am not going to make it to the mountains today, and 2. In my ambition to get the mountains I had paid very little attention to where I was actually going - long story short I was lost - very lost. So began to ride back the way I thought I had come from, but I was sorely mistaken and after about 45min of riding I had no clue where I was, all I knew is that in about an hour and a half it was going to start getting dark, but I was not panicking, I just kept riding, hoping I would see something I recognized. Finally I got lucky, I saw a sign that said Isesaki and had an arrow pointing toward the city, so I began to ride having no idea how far it actually was. I had little choice but to keep riding until I recognized something, I know Isesaki well enough know when I am back in the city.

After about 20 min of ridng down Highway 103 I stumbled upon something I was not expecting, a really cool little park in the middle of nowhere. Its quite hard to see the name of the park, but it is Omuro Park, and I later found out that it is in Maebashi City. Unfortunately it was starting to get dark and I had very little time to explore the park, which I feel is pretty big, thus I intend to go back either this Thursday or Friday, given good weather.

This a picture of a very cool waterfall that was at the park I stopped at. Also, the first picture at the beginning of my post is me standing at the top of the waterfall (for some reason I was unable to move it to the bottom of the post)

Officially Kids Trained

Hello Everyone,
I’m still plugging away over here in Japan. It seems each day I become a little accustomed to Japan, although I am not sure I will ever fully understand it, right now I am watching a TV show about a chimpanzee and a bulldog. The chimp acts like the bulldogs owner and actually leads him around by leash (strange), but the cherry on top of the strangeness is that the show periodically cuts away to show the audience members crying. Maybe I am missing something due to the language barrier (I sure hope so). Anyway as promised here is a little update as to what I have been up to lately.

As I mentioned in my last post I am now officially “kids trained” this means I now have the skill set (supposedly) to teach groups of kids. First I will give you a gist of what NOVA kids is. At NOVA there are three levels of kids, and all is based on their age, most times it has nothing to do with abilities. There are Kinders (very young – pre 1st grade) Juniors (1st – 3rd) and Seniors (3rd+). Thus far I have only taught Juniors and Seniors. Kids can take lessons in two different ways – in a group (8 kids or smaller) and in a Man to Man (MxM) where it is the teacher and only one kid (I’ve got a story about this for later). The lesson plan runs for one month, the kids come in once a week, so there are four lessons in one unit (one unit = one month) Until today I had not done a group lesson, because it is so close to the end of the month and they wanted me to start with a fresh month, so I had been with the kids the whole time, but today we were short some teachers so I had to step in and do my first group kids lesson. MxM kid’s lessons are much the same as group lessons, but it is one and one, and cost the parents of the child a good chunk of money. So now that you have an idea of the options that kids have I can begin to tell you about some of my classes and other things.

As I mentioned earlier I had training on September 24. I didn’t care for kids training too much. I had to be in Kiryu by 10am, so I had to be at Isesaki station to catch a train by 9am. Then I had training from 10am-6pm. All training consisted of was a guy telling me (and 3 others) what we are supposed to do. No hands on training or anything, so needless to say after about 4 hours of being told what I am supposed to do my brain just sort of shut down, and I could see that all the other guys were struggling to pay attention as well. Needless to say kids training did not do me a whole lot of good, not to say it was not helpful, but it would have been nice to get some hands on training.

Tuesday I headed back to work with kids training under my belt. I worked a normal day on Tuesday, they didn’t want to give me any kid’s classes because it was so close to the end of the month, they just figured I would start at the beginning of Oct. which was fine with me, so Tuesday was quite uneventful.

I expected Wednesday to be the same way. Wednesday is my short day, I don’t go into work until 2:15pm and I am out of there by 6:30pm. When I got to work Wednesday my schedule looked pretty easy, but then out boss realized there were some problems with it, no one is supposed to teach the same student twice in one day, and that is exactly what the schedule had one it. The only change that worked was for me to pick up a MxM kids class, I thought this is the perfect way to get used to the kids type lessons, in a one on one environment with few distractions. My first few lessons went by just fine, then it was time for my first kids lesson, I was a bit nervous. I got all of my stuff ready (flash cards and other “props” to help the kids learn) and headed for the “cubicle” where I was to teach the young boy. When I rounded the corner I saw that he wasn’t there. I felt a moment of disappointment, immediately followed by relief. I hung around for a few minutes and then started to head back to the employee room. On my way back the doors from outside opened and in walked a mother and her child, this must have been the child I was to teach, so headed back to my cubicle.

The child entered the cubicle and I introduced myself and asked him to get out his workbook so I could take a quick look at his homework, this all went fine. Then I busted out the flashcards and started to go through them with him, he made it through about 3 of the 8 when he started to get really quiet, then silent. After a few seconds of silence he put his head down on the table and closed his eyes. I start thinking what I am supposed to do. I keep going on with the lesson, and he is just repeating every word I say without even lifting his head from the desk. His English is very limited and my Japanese even more so, I kept asking him to wakeup (in English) and he would simply repeat it back to me. After about 5 min of this he finally stopped responding altogether. He was completely asleep. I tired gently shaking, but he wouldn’t even move, he was gone, so I sat there in silence for the last 25 minutes of the lesson, strongly fighting the urge to pick him up and shake him. Finally the bells rang and I was free, so I got up and tired to wake the boy, but he wouldn’t budge, and his mother was nowhere to be found. I went and got a coworker and asked him what to do, he tired to wake him as well to no avail. I had another lesson with adults in that same room in about 9min, so our only solution was to drag his chair into a room that would be empty. Finally we found one of his friends and asked him to wake the boy, is friend came and punched him pretty hard and the kid finally woke up. He proceeded to stagger out of the NOVA building (looking like a drunk a little man) I had to do all I could to contain my laughter. So my first lesson with kids was quite interesting. Ever since I started at NOVA I was told that kids were the best part, at this point I was not so sure.
My fears of the kids would be eased soon. Today I had my first group kid’s class, even though it was the end of the month a few instructors were gone today so I had to teach their classes. The classes are pretty fun we get to play games and sing songs. I am still quite new at it, so I am sure that I am not doing it completely right, and am not sure exactly what I am supposed to be teaching these kids each week, or the exact steps that I am supposed to follow, so class is quite interesting. I post more about what the classes actually entail in a later post.

Well now all of you are up to speed on what kids’ training actually is (or at least the amount that I know). Hopefully my next post will contain some more crazy stories about these kids. The weather is starting to turn nice, today it was in the 60’s and not so humid (you all know how I hate humidity). I will try to post again soon. As of right now I have tentative plan to take a train to some mountains next Thursday or Friday, not exactly sure where to go, but I can ask my students, so hopefully I will have pictures to post next time.

Miss everyone back home, and am really wishing I could be watching some American Football right now.
Adam

Hello Again

Hello Everyone,
I know it has been awhile since I have last written, but a lot had been going on over here. If you have been regularly checking my blog you will see that my last post contained some unfortunate news, but I will talk about that more later in my post. First, some good news, or possibly, more interesting news; what I have been up to lately.

As of Saturday (Sept 22) I have put in one full week of work at my home branch at Supermall Isesaki. It has been nice to be working on my own and not have someone peering over my shoulder the entire lesson. This has allowed me to build a better rapport with the students that I am teaching because I am more comfortable and not thinking about what my supervisor is writing about me. The whole process of OJT (on the job training) is a bit unnerving to say the least. Since I have a bit of experience under my belt now let me tell you what it’s like for me at Supermall Isesaki.

My work schedule is as follows: Saturday and Sunday I work from 10:50am – 6:20pm, strange hours, but they fit the forty minute class schedule. On Mondays and Tuesdays I work from 1:20pm – 9:00pm, and on Wednesdays I work from 2:15pm – 6:20pm. On Thursday and Friday I have my two days off of work for the week. In the course of the week I teach 37 lessons, each lasting 40 minutes, so Saturday – Tuesday I teach 8 lessons a day for a total of 32. On Wednesday I teach 5 lessons, which brings me to my total of 37 lessons per week. I’m sure the schedule sounds a little crazy to all of you, but I am slowly getting used, although I do not care for the fact that it is always dark by the time I get home.

A normal day at work consists of 8 lessons, as mentioned above. A lesson lasts 40 minutes, and can have anywhere from 1 to 4 students. I usually begin by making some small talk, asking about their morning/afternoon/weekend to get them in the English mood. Each student has a work book, for a given lesson each student will have the same workbook, and I will have a teachers copy of the workbook, the only difference is that it gives me a few more ideas of what I can do in the course of a lesson. After the warm-up, I will ask them to open their books to a certain lesson (I have chosen the lesson before I entered the room based on a file we keep that documents what lesson each student has done and when they did the lesson). Once they have opened their book the lesson starts, we look at pictures and I ask them simple questions, then I begin to teach them new vocabulary that is listed on the page. After that I model some phrases and do a listening exercise, so they can hear native English. Then we do an activity where they have the change to practice the new vocab they have learned. Finally I have them close their books and do an application where they must use what we have learned without referring to their book (sink or swim time) By the time that is done the bell usually sounds and it’s time to be finished. I ensure they don’t have any other questions, thank them for their time, and hurry back to the employee room. Between classes we usually have 10 or 15 minutes (depending on the time of day, in the evening we have 15), during this time I have to write comments about the last class, decide how the students did, find the files for the next class, choose a lesson for the students, and take a look at the lesson so I have something ready. Needless to say, many times we run out of time and simply go into the lessons and wing it, but it’s not too difficult. So in a normal day I repeat this process 8 times, it can get a bit stressful at time, but we all cope.

As promised I will now address the frustrating things that are going on with NOVA lately. If you have been reading my blog you have probably seen the news article I posted. Apparently NOVA is going through some financial trouble, and have been for some time. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has heavily sanctioned NOVA for false advertising campaigns, basically they were lying to their customers. As a result of this NOVA is not allowed to sign any long-term contracts until December, this means a severe lack of funds. This lack of funds has lead to may pressing issues, the main issue being the fact that many teachers have not been paid. Scheduled payday was Sept. 15 and many people have yet to be paid. This has not directly affected me as my first payday is scheduled to be Oct. 15, but I am a little worried that I may not be paid on time. Another issue that may be even scarier is the fact that many NOVA teachers are being evicted from their housing. NOVA has contracts with the landlords of the housing that we live in, so NOVA directly pays our landlords with money deducted from our paychecks. What this means is that NOVA has not been paying the rent, and has possibly been using the money deducted for rent to pay people, or possibly simply pocketing it as profit. It is quite a frustrating situation to be in. My plan is to see what happens on Oct. 15 and make my decision as to whether I will stay with the company or not. Personally I feel that I will have a hard time working for a company that has such shady ethics, but I am not making any decisions yet. I am truly enjoying Japan and this is simply a frustrating situation. Obviously speculation and rumor is rampant around the NOVA sector these days, but much of what you hear and read must be taken with a grain of salt, thus I am trying my best not to make up my mind as to what I will do before Oct. 15. That said you are all up to date on the current affairs of NOVA. If you would like to read more I will post some news sites that have been reporting on issues NOVA is having, some are based on Japan while others are in Australia and New Zealand.

Well that is about it for my blog this time around, it’s about time for me to go to bed, although I don’t work until 1:20pm tomorrow, I was up early this morning to catch a train to Kiryu, once again, but this time for kids training (I’ll explain in my next post) Even though the above news sounds pretty bad, I have not allowed to affect me, I am still have a good time in Japan, and am still glad I came, even if it doesn’t work out it has been an enriching experience. Miss everyone back home

Adam
As promised here are some links:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/09/18/1189881510131.html http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/foreign-teachers-face-axe-in-japan/2007/09/21/1189881777745.html http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hard-lessons-from-teaching-english-in-japan/2006/03/14/1142098460885.html?page=fullpage http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/teachers-unpaid-as-company-falters/2007/09/18/1189881511712.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070921/japan_nova_070921/20070922?hub=TopStories
http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=2727 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070922TDY02008.htm http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070921TDY02003.htm
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070921a1.html

Bad News about NOVA

Hello everyone,
I've been hearing some bad stuff about NOVA, people are not getting paid and I'm hearing some pretty bad stuff, like NOVA may be going under. Just thought I would let all of you know what is going on over here. If any of you hear anything please let me know. I am trying to decide if it is worth staying here and working for a company that may not pay me.

Teachers unpaid as company falters

Justin Norrie in TokyoSeptember 19, 2007
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HUNDREDS of foreign teachers of English in Japan were anxiously awaiting overdue wages from the Nova language school yesterday, amid speculation that the corporate giant was close to collapse.
The country's foreign workers' union said it could "only hedge a guess that up to 3000" English teachers, many of them young Australians, went without pay last Friday and were left waiting nervously over Japan's long weekend for the money.
"But at the very least there are hundreds of them. My phone hasn't stopped," said Louis Carlet, from the National Union of General Workers.
Some teachers said they were owed thousands of dollars, while others posted messages to say they were quitting in disgust. "I've never felt so defeated in my whole life," said a 24-year-old American teacher, Jerry Johnston, who was considering leaving Japan after just two months but could not afford the air ticket.
It is the second time in two months that Nova has paid staff late. A recent slide in the company's stock price followed news of a delay in payments to some of its 2000 Japanese staff last month.
The company employs about 7000 foreigners - more than any other Japanese company. Australians make up the backbone of its 5000-strong teaching staff. The company has more than 400,000 students, accounting for the biggest share of Japan's multibillion-dollar private English teaching industry.
But it has been plunged into financial crisis this year, partly due to overexpansion, but also because the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry banned the company, based in Osaka, from signing new students on long-term contracts for six months.
The order was given after a court ruled that Nova lied about its services and cancellation policy when soliciting students.
The chief executive officer of Nova, Nozomu Sahashi, issued a statement to staff at some branches last Friday to say it had "not been possible to complete all the necessary operations to deposit instructor salaries".
The statement assured that salaries would be deposited by today. But Mr Carlet told the Herald: "I'm getting reports that they have been cut off by their stationery suppliers, and delivery services, because they're not able to pay them. They could be on the verge of going under at any moment. It's very serious."
Nova posted a 2.5 billion yen ($25 million) loss in operating profits for Japan's last financial year, which ended in March. An article in the business magazine Toyo Keizai last month said the company was behind in payments to business partners and banks.
Although some teachers said their wages had arrived yesterday, others were still waiting late in the afternoon.
The manager of Nova's Tokyo branch, Robert Vaughan, could not comment on the matter, and a number provided for media queries at the Osaka headquarters went unanswered yesterday.
A 28-year-old Australian, who works as a teacher at a Nova school outside Tokyo, said: "My pay didn't come in on time and it was the same for a lot of people here."
The teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "No one seems to know what's happening - we're being kept in the dark."

Some Pictures from Tokyo

Some randoms dressed as Power Rangers Zach and I met on the streets of Tokyo

Looking at Mori Tower at night (its right to the right of the light pole with the blue lights on top)

Tokyo subway after work

The Imperial Grounds

A great sign we saw in an electronics store in Tokyo

An amazing shirt we found in a random store

An idea of how high up we were in Mori Tower

Tokyo Tower from Mori Tower

Me, Zach, Andy, and Yogi with Tokyo Tower behind us

Tokyo Trip Part 2

As promised here are the details on the rest of my trip to Tokyo, with some pictures as well.
So after my fun ordeal of trying to find Zach I was able to get some sleep. Zach had another friend staying with him, his name was Andy and he works for MLB and he was doing some scouting in China, but he was just visiting Tokyo, needless to say Zach’s place was a little cramped, but I didn’t care, I was someplace safe and I had a bed for the night.

The next day we were up by about 10am. Zach, Andy, myself, and Yogi (some of you may remember him, he was the Japanese baseball player who stayed with the Reif’s and played for the Riverbats) It was pretty cool to see him again. The first thing we did is go to a huge shopping mall, many of the malls in Tokyo are absolutely gigantic and have everything you could possibly imagine in them, they also have really random liquor stores in many of the malls.
After we walked around the mall we went to get some lunch at Yoshinoya, it is awesome Japanese “fast food” type place, although the food is much healthier than American fast food. I was able to get a great meal for less than $5. Then we walked a little further and hoped on the subway, which in Tokyo is an amazing, intricate system.

Next we did one of the more amazing things on the whole visit, we went to Roppongi Hills. Roppongi hills has an amazing building, the Mori building has 54 floors and is about 780ft tall. For $18 we were able to go up to the top floor and have a panoramic view of Tokyo, go to an aquarium, and see an art gallery. We spent a lot of time in Roppongi and at Mori Tower, which was awesome (if you type Mori Tower into google you will see what I am talking about)
After Roppongi we walked around Tokyo some more, we went to a part of the city where people dress very eccentrically, which in Tokyo is very out of the ordinary, things are very black and white, and quite plain, but this area has a ton of people who dress up really crazy. The area has many cool shops, and it is great to people watch. Then we headed back to Zach’s place to take a little rest.

After that Zach took me a place called the Ninja, which words cannot explain, it is a place that you must see to understand what it is like, waiters are dressed like ninjas, and each room where you eat is like a secret corridor, pretty awesome.

After seeing the Ninja we got on the subway and made our way towards Tokyo Bay, by now it was dark, and the lights of the city were coming on. At Tokyo Bay for 2,500 yen ($25) we could get on a huge booze cruise ship. It was all you can drink on a ship that goes around Tokyo Bay, and gives a great view of the city. This was on Thursday night, so as we pushed away from shore I looked at Zach and said here to all you can drink 6,000 miles from Sals. The ship was awesome, so many people came up to us and tired to practice their English. One guy asked me where I was from, I said Minnesota and he immediately yelled Minnesota Twins, it was great, Zach and I were like celebrities, everyone wanted pictures with “the Americans”. Anyone who comes to visit has to go on the booze cruise, the atmosphere and the view are like nothing else. After that Zach and I began to make our way home, but we decided to stop at a small bar on the way home. Then the night got interesting, we met a guy who had a wife in Minnesota, and Zach began to take Tequila shots, I was able to pretend I was taking them, barring myself the embarrassment of throwing up right away. By the time we left Zach was pretty drunk, and it was time to find our way home, which happened seamlessly, and without incident.

The next day, Zach and I woke up both feeling a little hung-over, we ate some breakfast, and headed out for the day. The second day we went all over the city, to some areas that were extremely expensive, and to an area where they sell tons of electronics. Then we went to the Imperial Palace, and looked at where the Emperor lives, which was awesome. Finally I was able to see where Zach works, and meet some of his coworkers.

After we got back home, we made some supper (fried rice/w chicken) which was quite good. Then we went back to Ginza (the really expensive district) to see it all lit up at night, walking on the street it was almost as if it were daytime. It was really cool to see that area at night. Then it was time for me to head to Tokyo Metro Station and make my way back to Isesaki.

I had my first day of work today (September 15) in Supermall Isesaki. It was nice to be able to develop my own style of teaching, and not have someone looking over my shoulder the entire time, it made me much more relaxed and me lessons seemed to go much better. I am sure as time goes one and I get to know the people I am teaching it will continue to get easier. I will keep everyone updated on how work is going, and if I seem to make any progress in these peoples English.
Take care,
Adam

Tokyo Trip Part 1

Hello everyone , I am currently on a Shinkansen (bullet train) on my way home from Tokyo. Shinkansens are pretty cool, it takes me about 50mi to go quite far because they are able to travel so rapidly. A ticket from Takasaki (about a 20 minute train ride from Isesaki is around 4,200 yen (or $40 dollars) so well worth the money. It is nice to know that a familiar face in Zach is only about an hour and a half away.

My time in Tokyo with Zach was absolutely amazing. I left Kiyru (near Isesaki and where I did my OJT for NOVA) at about 9:10pm on Wednesday night, and by 11:15 or so I was in Tokyo. Once I arrived in Tokyo my journey began to get much more interesting. I was in Tokyo, but I was completely lost, once I got off the Shinkansen I was supposed to call Zach and let him know where I was, but when I tried to call him the number I entered didn’t work, so I tried to call Sam, to see if I had the correct number, but she was in class and was not able to answer her phone. Little did we know at the time I only needed to add a zero to the front of the number and I would have been talking to him.

So I’m in a strange, huge city, I don’t speak the language and I can’t read anything. I was determined to find the subway myself, so I wander around Tokyo station (which is one of the biggest stations in Japan) without a clue of where I should be going) for about an hour in search of the subway. After having no luck, I finally ask where the subway is, and they tell me to go outside and down some stairs, so I do. Finally I have found the subway, but now I have no idea where the line I needed to get on is, I only see one line, so I ask and they tell me I needed to ride the red line to get to the orange line, I do. Finally I arrive at Aoyama-itchome (the stop that is closest o Zach’s) I think I am out of the woods and maybe Zach will be waiting for me here, so such luck, I figure I better try and give him a call. I reach for my notebook where I had written Zach’s number down, it’s gone, I must have left it at an information desk when I asked for help.
So now I am really screwed. I don’t know Z’s address or his phone number. A attempt to talk to a person who works at the subway station, which by now has begun to shut down, the cars are no longer running and there are people around. While this guy and I are struggling to communicate my savior shows up, unfortunately its not Zach, but a man who speaks English very well. He says you look like you need help, and I say you don’t even know. I explain my situation to him and he and I start trying to come up with solutions.
First we try and go to the police station to ask them, but since Zach only has a cell phone they have no way of knowing what his number is. I tell him that I have a laptop and this if I can get internet access I can lookup Zach’s number, so he walks me down to a very nice hotel to ask if I can get internet access. The man at the hotel directs us to a FedEx Kinko’s that is about a 10min walk away. So he brings me to Kinko’s and they say it cost 210 ($2) yen for 10min. I say I will happily pay that amount, so I sit at the computer and look up Zach’s phone number, once I’ve got it I’m ready to go, so I go to the counter to pay, and they say the man I met has paid for it, and I’m shocked, this would never happen in America. So I get the number, and show it to the man who is helping me, and he looks very puzzled, he says this is not a Japanese phone number, it’s the wrong format, but we try it anyway, to no avail. We try the number a host of different ways, then the guy recommends that we call an international operator, and she is able to give me the number in the right format. As I said earlier all I had to do was add a zero to the front and could have averted this whole mess.

Finally I am able to get a hold of Zach, it is now about 1:45am, mind you this guy as been helping me out for nearly and hour and a half now. So I call Zach, and he is not completely sure where I am, so he asks me to stay on the phone with him and give him landmarks around me. The whole time I am talking to Zach this guys is giving 100 yen ($1) coins to keep the phone conversation going , each time I try and use my own money he will not let me, this is the nicest guy I have ever met. He was with me nearly two hours while I tried to find Zach, and when I finally found him, I tried to pay him back, he refused and he was on his way, without him I may still have been wandering the streets of Tokyo.

Well it is nearly time for me to get of the Shinkansen at Takasaki, then its about another 30-40min to Isesaki, and then about a 30min walk from the train station to my house. I’ve got a lot more to say about Tokyo, and many awesome pictures to post. We were constantly going for two days straight, as Sam knows because it was impossible to set up a time for us to talk to each other. After I get my first goodnights sleep in two days I will be ready to write more tomorrow and post my pictures.
Sayonara,
Adam

My House in Japan

My sweet ride and My house in Isesaki

The Common Room and The Kitchen

My Bedroom and The HUGE Shower

First Post

Hello Everyone
Thanks for checking out my blog. I have been in Japan about a week now, and am slowly starting to get the hang of how things work around here. I seem to be getting lost much less frequently, and am even starting to pick up a very minimal amount of Japanese (Yes, No, Thank You, Beer, Excuse Me). The first few days were pretty hard here, I was having a hard time adjusting, and the fact that I didn’t have much to do and that gave me a lot of time to think about home and how much I missed everyone and the familiarity of home. Sam and I have been talking each day via our webcams, being able to speak with her and see a friendly face has been a lifesaver during this first week.

My flat mates name is Jim, he is from Australia. He has been instrumental in helping me assimilate to the Japanese culture. He arrived in the middle of July, so it was nice that he had a handle on how to get around and what I needed to do to ensure that I didn’t get kicked out of Japan. He has been able to introduce me to some people who have already been here for a while, and I have been sapping every bit of information I can possibly get from them.
The last two days I have been doing On the Job Training (OJT) in a Kiryu, I have been riding the train each day, because I live in Isesaki, which is about 150 miles Northwest of Tokyo, and Kiryu is another 20 min train ride North from Isesaki. Kiryu is a beautiful city nestled right at the foot of the mountains, so the train ride each afternoon has been a treat. As far as Isesaki goes I would compare it to St. Cloud, although it is quite a bit bigger, but it seems to have two main roads much like St. Cloud, but four times the population. The weather has been quite miserable; it is the typhoon season, so it has been really rainy and extremely humid, The 7 days I have been here the temperature has been about 85 degrees, but the humidity makes it feel like 100 degrees each day, in fact a few of the days the humidity has been at 100%. Speaking of Typhoons the first day I was here we were in a typhoon, it rained for nearly a day straight (and hard) I would bet we got about 5inches of rain or more, plus it was extremely windy. When I was trying to sleep I swear the wind was moving the house. As far as I know it is supposed to start to cool down as September wears on, and it is said that autumn is the most beautiful season in Japan.

As far as OJT goes, I have been working with a woman who has taught at NOVA for seven years now. OJT has basically been a trial by fire. I sat in on one lesson and observed her, and then by the next class I was already teaching. Today I taught my first two full lessons (40 min each). The classes are very small, never more than 4 people, and quite often one on one, or only two people. From what I understand Kiryu is much less busy than Isesaki, so I plan on having full classes each day.

As far as my plans for the near future go, I finish my OJT tomorrow at 9pm and then I have plans to catch a train to Tokyo (I am not sure how it works, but I have hoping to ride a bullet train) to see Zach Reif. It will be really nice to see a friendly face, and I am sure Zach is excited to show me what he has learned about Tokyo. I know that his girlfriend Britt is coming up soon as well, but since I have to work Saturday morning, I am not sure that we will be able to see each other, but I don’t plan on this being my only trip to Tokyo, and I am sure they will come see me in Isesaki at some point.
Well that’s all for now, in the near future be ready for me to post some pictures of my house, as well as, stories from my trip to Tokyo.

Miss everyone back home – Adam