Falling down.
Things have been quiet round here, real quiet. Lotsa study, which doesn't make good blog fodder at all. About the only thing I have to talk about is, sadly, bad news.
Some folks may remember my move to Hokkaido summer last year and ensuing misadventures, and finally how happy I was to be back in sunny central Japan. I don't know if back then I talked much about my new job status, but as a school ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) I have spent the last eight months singing songs and reading sentences from textbooks. Far from satisfying work, but at least the hours were good and it was stable.
Was. Stable.
Past tense.
It seems like the bottom has fallen out of the industry this year - I think I have the golden touch - I brought financial ruin to Hokkaido last year, and now I have destroyed the ALT industry.
No, sadly, it wasn't me - otherwise I'd have something really interesting to blog about. It was a union. Without going into too many details before I actually know them, a legal case brought about by a union trying to act on behalf of English teachers in Japan has sent a massive, tsunami-sized waved through the industry and it'll take a while before we see how it all pans out. The timing couldn't be better - on top of the fact that the GFC effect has finally trickled down to our level and ensuing threats of insurance/superannnuation law changes next year.
Boy am I glad I am getting out. Not ready to say much more about that yet, but things will be announced just as soon as they can be.
While this year has been even more rocky than the previous few, I guess it has turned out to be an important stepping stone to a brighter future (...and one with no kids songs...).
Now if I can just pass this darn test on Sunday, then I might have ended up with two good things to come out of this year, which would see me break even.
Sorry, so many words, and so few pictures. If you need more visual stimulation, see the bunny picture in a previous post.
ciao.
PS: yes, the race results were also good things, but they are trivial really, in the grand scheme of things aren't important at all. Above I was talking about real things that matter. Wow, how grown-up do I sound?
Some folks may remember my move to Hokkaido summer last year and ensuing misadventures, and finally how happy I was to be back in sunny central Japan. I don't know if back then I talked much about my new job status, but as a school ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) I have spent the last eight months singing songs and reading sentences from textbooks. Far from satisfying work, but at least the hours were good and it was stable.
Was. Stable.
Past tense.
It seems like the bottom has fallen out of the industry this year - I think I have the golden touch - I brought financial ruin to Hokkaido last year, and now I have destroyed the ALT industry.
No, sadly, it wasn't me - otherwise I'd have something really interesting to blog about. It was a union. Without going into too many details before I actually know them, a legal case brought about by a union trying to act on behalf of English teachers in Japan has sent a massive, tsunami-sized waved through the industry and it'll take a while before we see how it all pans out. The timing couldn't be better - on top of the fact that the GFC effect has finally trickled down to our level and ensuing threats of insurance/superannnuation law changes next year.
Boy am I glad I am getting out. Not ready to say much more about that yet, but things will be announced just as soon as they can be.
While this year has been even more rocky than the previous few, I guess it has turned out to be an important stepping stone to a brighter future (...and one with no kids songs...).
Now if I can just pass this darn test on Sunday, then I might have ended up with two good things to come out of this year, which would see me break even.
Sorry, so many words, and so few pictures. If you need more visual stimulation, see the bunny picture in a previous post.
ciao.
PS: yes, the race results were also good things, but they are trivial really, in the grand scheme of things aren't important at all. Above I was talking about real things that matter. Wow, how grown-up do I sound?
posted by kurisu at 9:32 PM
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