so.

hello dear readers [of which there are ONE?],

many things have happened since i arrived in the great country of japan just over a month ago. first of all, the company i work for, nova, is facing extreme financial difficulties. it's the largest english teaching school, or eikaiwa, in japan. however, it expanded too far too fast [their slogan is, "the school at every station", and believe me when i say there are a LOT of train stations in japan!], and the demand for teachers couldn't keep up with the large supply of students. nova also engaged in "bad business practices", and have been and currently are still facing many lawsuits.

oh did i mention, nova's closing a bunch of schools in attempts to redistribute staff so remaining branches are fuller and more efficient. another reason they're closing schools is because they got kicked out of many of the buildings they had branches in for not paying rent. and another thing, many teachers have been evicted from their apartments for not paying rent. why, you ask? all the leases are between nova and the landlords. nova automatically deducts the amount of our rent from our paycheques and then pays the rent. HOWEVER, in recent months, money has been deducted from pay as scheduled, but has not been subsequently passed on to landlords. funny.

pay this month is late by five days, or so they say. a big deal for a cash injection that was supposed to go through this month, hasn't, and likely isn't going to. as such, many teachers are resigning and finding new employment, and the ones who've had their fair share of japan are packing up and going home. each of my roommates fall into one of those categories. one found a new job, and will be moving in less than a week to a place north of tokyo. good for her, i wish her all the best. the other just left yesterday to go back to the good ol' U S of A, and face real life. i wish her the same. i am quite sad they're leaving.

so. this leaves me looking for a new job. i felt like i was dreaming the first few weeks in japan, like nothing was real and that i'd wake up at any moment. but now things have begun to set in, and i've realized how much i like it here. it's a fantastic place, with amazing people and a very rich culture. it's beautiful, historic, and completely different from everything i've ever known [except maybe, markham...JUST joking]. i live in yokohama, considered the second largest city in japan [tokyo is #1] in terms of population. it's awesome. it's a 10 minute train ride from my place to the city itself, which has everything a big city should, including a seaside/port. my area is pretty secluded though, nice and quiet, less than a 10 minute walk from the train station, and with all the necessities of daily life: groceries, mcdonald's, video store, 100 yen shop, pachinko parlours...it's great! we're the only foreigners in our building, which is a unique experience in itself. i have friends about 30 minutes away who live in a building with loads of other "gaijin" aka foreigners. [note: this isn't an especially polite term to call foreigners, but it's very common and we all use it.] that's an experience in itself, almost like a second go at university life! i never had that, so i think it's pretty cool. the people there are pretty awesome too. generally, gaijin are very friendly to each other. it's the feeling of community you get when you see another foreigner struggling to order their coffee in broken japanese and using massive hand gestures to get their point across. you know exactly what that person is going through and you have an instant connection. that being said, it's easy to make friends here. we're all pretty much in the same boat. and i've found that more often than not, many of the gaijin teachers here are here not for the money, but for the reason that japan is in fact, so far away from everything they've ever known. it's a great place to escape...and we're all running away from something. result: an even stronger feeling of community.

back to the matter at hand: i'm looking for a new job. i love yokohama, and i don't want to move, but there aren't many jobs here. most of them are in more remote areas north or west of here. remote=not many english speakers=you better learn japanese asap. i haven't learned much yet, but i will as soon as i figure out what's going on. with the uncertainty in the air, time is better spent applying to jobs, checking your email and biting your nails, than learning japanese. okay, i lie, but i haven't done it yet. there are free lessons but i'd hate to start and then have to move in between.

in conclusion, i'm actively looking for a new job here in japan. coming home is not an option for me, if i have to go to korea or taiwan, i'll do it! but i'd rather stay here in the awesome city of yokohama, with the awesome people who live here too.

sayonara!


--
soph