The Job Search Continues

I'm still job-hunting. It's weird to request a salary in the millions, as in 2 or 3 million yen per year.

I have two interviews coming up! One is with Bertliz, and the other with the G. Education, company that bought out Nova when it declared bankruptcy a few years ago. I'm more excited about Berlitz than the other one because it has a better reputation among teachers, offers health insurance, and has fewer problems than have been reported by current and former teachers. But they both sponsor a work visa. I hope that I'll have more interviews before those two (esp. before the G. Ed one).

But in general, I'd rather work in a regular school (elementary or junior high) as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT), because I'll be exposed to more of Japanese daily life and culture. Most ALTs at most schools are required or encouraged to participate in the school's cultural activities, which offers opportunities to talk more with the kids, hang out with them, meet their parents, etc. I'm not sure if those hours are usually paid, though. I know a few schools that explicitly say that they pay for additional activities; others are silent on the issue, at least, on the web.

Working at a conversation school means interaction with the students in a vacuum, basically.

The more interesting jobs, including one that teaches English through children's literature (eg. Harry Potter, etc), require at least a basic proficiency in Japanese, which I don't have. I had a call from a school's recruiter the other day and he asked me to speak in Japanese with him to test my proficiency. I did ok with saying my name and asking his, but then got stuck when he asked "Nan sai desu ka?" which I now knows means "How old are you?" (And no, it's not illegal for employers to ask job applicants for their age, nationality, or picture, as it is in the States.)

Experiencing this and seeing all the "basic/conversation Japanese required" has motivated me to ramp up my learning. I'm terrible at teaching myself things (besides cooking), so I'd prefer instead to take some intensive classes, like the ones that meet Mon-Fri for 3 hours each day, but I can't really afford to. Most 4 week classes are about $2000, but I've seen one that cost more than the monthly salary that most schools offer to English teachers. Sheesh.

But I do have tons of Japanese textbooks, like the much beloved "Genki" books, audio files, podcasts and youtube lessons like Japanese Pod 101, so it might work. So far, all the conversation exchange partners hat Koko and I have found are all advanced English speakers, so we end up speaking in English the entire time. I need to find someone who is at a basic level so I'm forced to use the language more.

By the way, it kills me that conversation schools pay around 200-250k yen/month, ALTs and university positions 275k-300k (the latter of which requires a masters, by the way, and at least 2 years experience), and a gym instructor gets 330-410k with only a bachelors and teaching certificate and two years' experience?? Wakarimasen. I don't understand.