Update 5: The First Couple Weeks

As of this writing I've put in just under 2 weeks, so I'll jot down a few thoughts here and then I'll stop doing these updates and return to regular blogging.

The first 3 days were almost completely free of lessons. Not for lack of student interest: we saw students coming in all the time to talk to the staff and ask about reservations. Rather it was because the staff hadn't been taking any down any reservations before because of the confusion regarding our schedule (see previous posts).

My co-worker and I continued our cleaning of the staff room for a second day, and then once we felt like we had largely done the job lapsed back into lethargy.

I thought it would be a good idea to use all our free time at work to get some reading done. Turns out my co-worker isn't much of a reader, and wanted to spend the time in idle chatter. After dropping a few hints, I made a not so subtle move to turn to my book. He spent most of the afternoon sitting in his chair and fidgeting and starring at the wall. I pretended not to notice his boredom as I kept my head stuck in my book.
It was perhaps not the most Christian thing I've ever done in my life, but it seemed to me it would be a tremendous waste not to use all this free time at work to improve my mind a little and get some reading done. Expect some book reviews coming soon on this site. (There was a time in my life when I would have thought that communicating with another live human being was more important than burying myself in a book, but I guess priorities change as you get older. That, plus since my job now is to teach English conversation, I guess it somewhat loses its appeal in my free time).

After a while, students started coming again. Now we're back to a pretty full schedules, although we see a lot of the same faces as its usually the same students who are reserving lessons.

Because only two of us teachers ended coming back to work, the Japanese staff is looking to find a 3rd teacher. You wouldn't think this would be such a big problem with all the teachers who have recently been laid off, but I guess everything boils down to location. There having a hard time finding someone who wants to come out to Nakatsu.

For instance, I was given the phone number of an old colleague who had transferred out to Fukuoka (and then subsequently gotten laid off with most of the people in Fukuoka), and I was told by the Japanese staff to call him up and offer him a job. We chatted briefly on the phone.
"How are things over there," he asked.
"Yeah, same as usual," I said.
"How's the new Japanese staff?"
"Um...they're good."
"There standing right next to you aren't they?"
"You're a smart man," I said.

In the end he turned down the job. He had just got done moving to Fukuoka, he didn't want to go back to Nakatsu. Plus he was with his girlfriend over there, and the job was only offered to one of them.

When I told the staff about his refusal, they panicked. "What will we do?"

"Look," I said, "the company just laid off hundreds of English teachers. There's got to be other people looking for work."

"That was the only name we were given," they answered. "We have to ask our boss for another name now."

There was also some concern about my expiring visa. (The Japanese staff was worried about it just as much as I was because I represented half the teachers at the school). After repeated phone calls and getting the usual run around, I was told the necessary papers were being sent out in the mail. I got them a few days ago, and am going to go down to Oita city on my next free day to try and renew my visa. I've only got a couple more days left before it expires, so it's really down to the wire, but assuming nothing goes wrong I should be alright.

As soon as I had my paper work for my visa in hand, I gave my next big request: I want to re-arrange my schedule so I can attend Japanese classes from this April.
Because the company is being re-organized, the chain of command is far from clear and it's a bit difficult to know who to ask these days. So I told the Japanese staff my request first, and showed them on paper how I could teach the same amount of classes as before, I'd just re-arrange everything to the evenings and weekends. (These tend to be our busiest times anyway, so I was crossing my fingers it wouldn't be a problem).

They in turn asked around, and then they came back with their answer.
"We can't do it," they said.
"Really?" I said. "But we worked it all out on paper. I'm teaching the same amount of classes."
"But we can't give you all the afternoons free. It goes against the rules."
"Oh," I said.
"What will you do if you can't get it free?"
"I'm not sure."
"Would you quit?"
"I'm not sure."

This caused another round of panicking (again, I represent half of their teachers right now) and so they told me they would try and make the necessary inquiries and try and plead my case.
We'll see where this all goes. As I said, it is a bit confusing with the company being re-organized and the chain of command unclear. Also, with massive lay-offs going on, it's not the best time to be making demands of the company or asking for special requests.
...And yet at the same time, all the stuff that has gone on with this company has shown me very clearly that if I do stay in Japan, I'm going to need some qualifications other than just being able to speak my native language. So I'm going to do whatever it takes to clear out my schedule, even if it means looking for employment elsewhere. Hopefully it won't come to that.

The other two guys have started up their own school, and held an opening party last Wednesday. They've completed construction on the new building and I was very impressed with how sleek and professional it turned out. They also have a coffee shop combined with the English school, which is a nice touch. (There's some debate about whose idea the coffee shop part was originally, but I guess it's not that difficult of an idea. I think everyone who has thought about setting up their own place in Japan has thought about combining a coffee shop with English teaching, but these guys are the first ones I've seen who've actually gone ahead and done it).
Now I guess we just have to wait and see how their business picks up. It sounds like they're off to a slow start, but that's inevitable. If they go on to wild success, no doubt I'll feel slightly envious that I missed the chance to get in on the ground floor with this. If they go bankrupt, I'll feel like I've dodged a bullet. Either way though I guess you can't put a price tag on the business experience they'll get out of doing this.
If, in the end, Nova can't give me the flexibility I need with my hours, I'm even considering trying to work for them. First we need to see if they get students though, then I need to see if Shoko will allow it, or if Shoko is still upset about the fact that I didn't start up my own school.

Link of the Day
Anti-War Ad in 60 Seconds or Less
Two activists in the Grand Rapids area are hosting the following video contest:
Tell us what you think about the US War/Occupation of Iraq in 60 seconds or less. Contestants can submit one anti-war video that will be shown at a community event on March 15. The audience will vote on the best anti-war ad and the winner will receive fame and fortune...well, at least they will receive $100.