Advice from ESL teachers in Japan

[RedRocket]

Hi all of you ESL teachers (and those soon to be!) all around the world.

I am currently in the application process to leave in June/July 07 to take up my first position as an ESL teacher in Japan.

I have never been before, although i'm a pretty seasoned traveller, anyhoo I would love to hear from those who've had the opportunity to live there about the best cities/towns within Japan to live as a foreigner and teach english?

FYI: I'm a 24 y.o guy, who'd like to really immerse myself in the culture and party hard when i'm not working. I like to exercise and keep fit so things like parks would be a real bonus, and I really enjoy meeting and socialising with people so a good concentration of other ESL teachers is pretty important to me also. Other than that im very open to all suggestions.

One other consideration is i'm an Australian living in a city that never gets colder than 0 degrees so a warmer climate would probaly preferred over a colder one, all other things being equal, but this isn't massively important!

I'd love to throw it over to you and hear your anecdotes, and opinions on the different cities, I have about a month before I need to list my preferences.

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated!

RedRocket

[BBrian]

Forget about trying to avoid the cold. Most of Japan gets very cold in the winter. I'm talking about a max of 4 degrees and min of 1 degrees in most areas at least.

You could always teach in Okinawa. I know Nova has a school or 2 there. But don't go to Okinawa unless you have work already lined up. Not much work around there!

[cool ice]

Best places to live in for job opportunities are Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe, Kyoto and Fukuoka.

Once you start moving away from these main cities, then the number of foreigners drops massively and you start to forgo conveniences as English book sections in bookshops, foreign publications and networking magazines and so on.

You can live in one of these cities and still have enough nature around you. Yes, even Tokyo! I lived in Nerima at one stage and it was only 15 minutes from the centre of Tokyo yet I was still 15 minutes away to the mountains and greenery.

As BBrian said, Japan does get cold in winter. Expect close to 0 degrees!

Since you are young and after good entertainment, choose one of these above cities. Otherwise, you would be bored shitless in a small country town singing karaoke with the old folks housing a mouthful of gold.

[LeslieW]

Your teaching with Jet, Nova? If so you have no say in where they place you in Japan or the roommates you may end up with, you can ask but will probably not receive. You may luck out and land a city job, but if you land one in the countryside, your entertainment choices are preety much nil unless you understand japanese. Even then it would rank ZERO in fun.

[RedRocket]

Hey guys,

thanks for the advice, very useful to hear from people who've been there and done that.

LeslieW in response to your question, i'm lucky enough to have some ex-pat friends in Japan who've lived and worked there for a long time now, and who are able to assist me in finding a job(s), so at this stage I won't be using JET, NOVA or any other recruiting agency.

From my reading of various other posts, I should be grateful! Some of these recruiting agencies seem to be verging on serious extortion, blackmail, and exploitation offences from what past teachers on this site and others say they have experienced.

To be fair, I haven't yet read anything negative about JET or NOVA, on the contrary actually, but still good to be educated on the reality that can sometimes be seen through rose-tinted glasses when caught up in the excitement and adventure of it all.

I particularly feel for the people who've forked out considerable money to fly half way around the world, to work a job, whose role and conditions have been flagrantly mis-represented, for less money than they were promised, in a hostile, unsupportive environment.

If that weren't bad enough, i've read some people in addition to the above, have found themselves in the predicament of being unable to leave because they cannot afford the flight home, when they do finally manage to get out they've lost huge money and are traumatised for the experience.

If that is not the stuff of nightmares I don't know what is.

It's like everything in life where money is involved, there will always be people happy to sell their soul to make a buck.

That being said i'm sure the good experiences outweigh the bad, i'm just at the end of a bad experience reading marathon, I need to go to my happy place now.

RedRocket

[LeslieW]

I have no dealings with Jet, but when it comes to Nova, I find its a case of all looks great until you scratch the surface and then the truth comes out. A former apt. mate worked for them and the horror stories were preety bad. Others that dont plan to stay with Nova and use it for some experience seem to bear with it for a short time.

I avoid them like the plague, also recruiters. I locate jobs with various employers and the client is the final decision. No snow job from those paid to push a certain school. No faith in that at all.