Rob, if is is something you want to do you should really do it. They should subsidize more than they are doing, but many times it is just a matter of negociating yourself something better. The "native speakers" (foreign teachers all called that here that i bring over have their apartment paid 100% (minus utilities ect), 12 weeks of paid vacation,a health plan and a return ticket. Try and get as much as you can man, English in asia is something that has a higher demand then ever before.

As far as Japan goes it is very awesome. The salaries are not as high then other places in asia, but if you can find some private jobs on your own (illegal even with a visa but everyone does it) you can actually come close to matching what your base salary is.

If you cannot get a fully subsidized apartment, stay away from Osaka and Tokyo. The rents there will eat up a big portion of your salary (Make sure the school pays any security deposits for the place because you will see that they can be extremely high for foreigners!) Everything else in Japan is relitively cheap so worry about you rent the most. I would suggest Fukuoka if you want cheaper living while still being in a big city environment. (pop 5 million i think.) Its quite beautiful.

Stay in the cities, that is where the big money is on less hours. Rural places you work more for less. If you buckle down, you can really put a dent into your student loans and have the experience of a lifetime.

For those who asked if you have to speak the language, it is not nescessary. Language institutes always have local teachers to explain and help. The major job with a native speaker is to teach them the basics and help them nail the phonics. (Many Koreans can speak Conglish (a bastardized form of English) for example, our job is to make them lose those habits to prepare them more for their education abroad, as well as facilitate communications in business transactions.If you do want to learn the language the governments usually supply free classes depending on your status, as they welcome foreigners adapting to their culture.


have a fucking blast rob

/book

ps castrate yourself, asian women are hard to resist

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Thank you Jay - you have no idea how much I appreciate it.

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no problem, you will find that this job is not only rewarding financially, but also on a personal level. What age group do they want you to teach? If its uni, you better get more than what they are offering. Those jobs are the creme de la creme.

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quote:

Originally posted by elFreak no problem, you will find that this job is not only rewarding financially, but also on a personal level. What age group do they want you to teach? If its uni, you better get more than what they are offering. Those jobs are the creme de la creme.

~Middle School to High School, but again, I'm not positive yet.

In truth I'm just happy to hear you talk so excitedly about it - ever since I started working towards this I kind of hesitated really discussing it, but got the interview last week and have kind of been dying to hear anyone who I know talk about their own experiences.

And I've wanted to head pretty much anywhere in Asia for ages - so this is looking pretty sound.

It's also an excuse to buy Serato

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Well to be fair my experiences are a little different because i own a piece of the school i am at. I work 10 hours a week teaching, the rest is recruitment and enrollment. I have too much time on my hands lol and my liver is paying the price.

a few more thing.

say bye bye to pot.

middle school and high school is hard. They WILL make fun of you. Have a thick skin and DO NOT acknowledge it.If you ignore it they will tire of it eventually. Some locals are the same. Foreigners make more than natives doing the same and they do not always like that. The people that do like foreigners will rock your world and show you a great time. Asian culture is very big on hospitality.

Get your shots. Japan is clean, but your body has absolutely no immunity to any virus here. You WILL get sick a bit the first while, so minimize it and get all the travelers vaccines. At worst it will serve you well for traveling during your off time. You will do thailand, every foreigner does. Its cheap and you can smoke your fucking face off on some of the sweetest beaches in the world.

The food is good, and you will not have trouble finding western food. It is hilarious to me that much of the mexican food i have had in korea is better than at home.

buy an internet phone, its cheaper than phone cards.

i don't know i'll throw anything else i can think of, i have nothing to do today other than beatport hunting. (more expensive here lol).

There will be culture shock at times, especially in Japan. They can be a little fucking crazy.

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quote:

Originally posted by elFreak say bye bye to pot.

I figured that the moment I applied, and it doesn't bother me in the least.

quote:

Originally posted by elFreak There will be culture shock at times, especially in Japan. They can be a little fucking crazy.

Yeah - I think that will be the hardest, but I seem to be best in those situations where I handle them on my own.

In any event, I really appreciate the thoughts - if anything else comes up, please let me know.

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I'm pretty sure Daniela (LuNaSeA) Is doing this job in italy

Yeah, Ive always wanted to do something like this. Not necessarily teach english, but teach something abroad or work abroad. And not really in first world countries - Id rather do something in a more impoverished place. Ive had two problems, though. 1. Finding a program that's legit (ie. I would do Peace Corps if they weren't so shady) and 2. Finding a time in my life to do it that works for me. The fact that I have school loans is going to be a huge burden when I graduate, so I dont know if Im going to be able to do something like this... ever. Which is sad. Basically, I dunno.

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quote:

Originally posted by Ang ' ela_ie Yeah, Ive always wanted to do something like this. Not necessarily teach english, but teach something abroad or work abroad. And not really in first world countries - Id rather do something in a more impoverished place. Ive had two problems, though. 1. Finding a program that's legit (ie. I would do Peace Corps if they weren't so shady) and 2. Finding a time in my life to do it that works for me. The fact that I have school loans is going to be a huge burden when I graduate, so I dont know if Im going to be able to do something like this... ever. Which is sad. Basically, I dunno.

You can't let your loans get in the way of doing the things you want to - I've got loads of them myself, and know other people who've had even more and basically no help from anywhere, but they've made it work.

It might take a lot of effort, so you've got to decide how much you want to do it, but I definitely think that if you're willing to put the effort in, you can find a way to make it work.

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Yeah, I hope I can.

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Amelia did the same thing in France. You better do it in France!


*shake fist*

if rob cared about his loans he would be in south korea.

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