When I first heard about teaching in Japan
July 28th, 2006 by south110
Since Junior High, I’ve wanted to come out here, but had no idea how. One of my best friends, who was half-Japanese, also wanted to come, but was in the same boat as me.
His Japanese side had been living in Hawaii for generations, so he had no special permission to work in Japan either. Anyway, he found out about the JET Programme through a family friend. She’d worked through them for a year, had a nice time, and managed to save up a large sum of cash.
JET stands for Japan Exchange and Teaching, and the main requirement, according to his friend, was a University Degree.
It was the first time I heard about teaching in Japan. I was already helping out Japanese friends with English, so to get paid for that sounded pretty chill. I still had another two years of Junior High left, so University was not even on my radar, but over the years, the thought never really left my mind.
Things have changed a lot in the English teaching scene since I was in Junior High. Back then was the so-called “Golden Era” of teaching in Japan. There were less foreigners coming here, and many people couldn’t care less about living in Japan.
It was the best time to come as there was less competition for jobs and the Japanese economy was booming. I’ve heard stories of people being picked up off the streets by businessmen offering large sums of cash for private lessons. Shit, I even remember my friend’s Uncle telling us how some dude offered him a job in a Japanese porno movie!
Of course by the time I was old enough to come, “the Dark Ages” had already begun. Though inflation has raised the cost of living here, the wages for English teachers here haven’t gone up since the 80’s! Even worse, they have actually started declining in the last couple of years.
Getting a job with the JET program is like rolling the dice these days, and you’ve gotta wait about a year to see if you crap out or not. My friend, who I mentioned above, wasted a year of his life waiting for an answer from them, only to get denied for no clear reason.
Basically, they’ve got too many people banging on the door so they can afford to be real choosy these days.
I decided not to waste my time with those clowns, and instead came out here on a tourist visa to see what it’s like first. When I was living in San Francisco, one of my roommates was from Saitama, Japan. He moved back here shortly after I finished up at SFSU, and told me I could come stay at his mom’s place anytime.
A few months after graduation, I moved back to LA, and booked a flight to Tokyo.
