AhztheCat <greatbig@dummy.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94D687A723040greatbigdummycom@130.81.64.196>...
> imouttahere@mac.com (Heywood Mogroot) wrote in> Oh, and study the friggin 
> language. It isn't that hard to pick up
> > kanji you see every day, quite fun actually.
> > 
> 
> Thanks for the info...I'm coming through GEOS language corp,

hmmm . . . 

Geos was also hiring stateside 12 years ago, when I was finishing
school. I decided to go alone and try my luck (actually I had a friend
already there which made it much easier).

I worked for a private chain school in Tokyo 1992-1995, and found the
experience to be . . . uneven. At its best, it was the best job in the
world, at its worst, it sucked mightily.

The quality of the students sorta determines the enjoyment factor (my
school had a talent for signing up a pretty good bunch of people), but
English teaching in Japan is a real mixed bag as far as school
management goes.

I believe that the Japanese government now requires schools to refund
or cancel contracts of students who wish to terminate their contracts
early, so I would think teaching is a lot less soul-sacrificing than
10 years ago.

[I worked for a company that offered 2 years of lessons for ~$5000. No
refund. If there is a hell I'm going there to pay penance for my
shilling for my employer like I did (not that I will be the only
one)].

Geos is one of a handful nationwide schools (Nova, Aeon are two
others, unless things have changed since I left). Working for the
nationwide schools can be a good experience, but it really depends on
the manager(s). Think of it as a transitional period, and stick out at
least one year to honor your side of the deal. After one year of
experience, you'll be able to start looking around for better
opportunities.

Unless your school is really dicking you around. I worked 25 hrs/week,
consistent schedule, two days off, for a rate of Y250,000/mo, with
overtime at Y2500/hr. Anything really out of whack to this is probably
extortion from you. If things get real bad you *can* take your
employment visa and get hired on at another school entirely. Looking
over the Geos site I see they block you into 5 x 9hr shifts. You will
find this very grueling... good teaching requires energy expenditure,
and it's tough to maintain this over 9 hours. My longest block was 6
hrs with a one hour lunch.  Still, the apartment deal they give you
might be worth the extra work -- private apartments are difficult to
come by (requires guarantor, $4000-6000, and  good Japanese language
ability is usually required to deal with the real estate agent and
your landlord).

At any rate, at work be a self-less, reliable team player and
brown-nose as much as bearable (eg agree to sub for people when
required) . It's only temporary, and getting on your manager and
staff's good side (if it exists) is worth the sacrifice, because I can
assure you the bad side is REALLY crap.

There are good schedules and bad schedules, and believe me you want
the GOOD schedules.

Remember if/when things get bad that the staff and most lower
management at your school are victims of the same scamming management
as you.

> not a JET (my 
> Japanese is nowhere near good enough to be a JET).

:) Well, one thing's certain, JET *should* require basic Japanese
proficiency even if they don't.

> And I will be headed to Nagano City, but more specific info than that has 
> yet to be divulged.

OK, Nagano, the site of the 1998 WINTER olympics, gets REALLY cold in
the winter, ie November-April.
And Japanese housing south of hokkaido is basically uninsulated, so
plan ahead.

Summer is slightly less intolerable than the big cities to the south,
but expect mugginess June -> Sept. Bring enough antiperspirant to last
the summer! Also bring enough good deoderant soap, Japanese brands are
crap. Same thing with toothpaste. Bring small personal hygiene stuff
like a Braun powered toothbrush, shavers, etc. 'cuz you can't get
these in Japan either.

Buy the most comfortable pair of dress shoes you can. These will be
your best friends or worst enemies over the next year+.

Learn how to iron now if you don't know. Shirt & Tie is part of the
game of playing teacher.

Save your money and don't waste it drinking.

Here's that link on how to get US stuff in Japan:

http://www.fbcusa.com

Don't worry about bringing food -- the Japanese are REALLY good at
making tasty snack items, even if you can't get alot of the same stuff
as here (IOW it's a fair trade).

Good luck. I think now's a good time to go to Japan, the recession's
gotta end some day, and things are really turning shit here in the
states. If Bush is re-selected I'll probably be seeing you in January
:)