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aideこんにちは~ Konnichiwa from Japan...
I hope you are all doing well. I hope you all have been following this bullshit with Nova. Long story short, Nova is in the big shit. The company has been making stupid business moves for years, but everything has blown up since July. The company ran into some trouble when they didn't honor student contracts and were forced to refund them. However, as far as I know, some people are STILL waiting for their money. To my understanding, when the contract scandal happened (the story goes that Nova claimed students could take lessons ANY time they wanted, but couldn't live up to that because there weren't enough teachers) the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) banned Nova from taking anymore long-contract students until December. Since then, things have become a downward spiral. In August, some of the Japanese staff's pay was delayed by a few days. In September, Branch Trainers' pay was almost 2 weeks delayed. Some of the Japanese staff still haven't been paid since the 27th of September. And now, the teacher's salaries have been delayed from the 15th of October to the 19th, and at that, it is only "scheduled". There is no promise in those words, and I would not be surprised if pay was pushed back further until the end of the month. Why? Because there is NO money. Nova has been closing schools left, right and centre. They decided to close 200 of 900 schools, and I think for good reason. 3 schools in my area have closed, but they were so small they couldn't even support themselves. Abiko school closed and many students moved to Kashiwa (my home branch) and Toride school. Kita Kogane and Moraju Kashiwa (both satellites of Kashiwa) are closing at the end of this month and students can move to Jusco Kashiwa or Matsudo if they wish. Many are not happen because Nova's claim to fame was that students could take lessons anywhere, as close as a 5 minutes walk from their homes.
So what does this mean? Nova is dying. Teachers are quitting daily, leaving the J-staff floundering to find teachers that don't exist. They rearrange the schedule about four times a day, switching lessons and canceling classes. There just isn't anyone to teach them. Some teachers aren't coming in until they get paid, as the trainers did back in September. Fair enough. If there isn't any money to pay us for our work last month, we won't be getting paid for anything this month. There is a tiny glimmer of hope, people think. I'm not sure how much of this I understand, since I am no Commerce student, but apparently Nova has been selling warrants to companies in the British Virgin Islands for next to nothing, and on the 24th of October they turn into a bunch of money, which (in theory) is supposed to pay teachers. That's great! But that doesn't do anything for the rest of the things unpaid:
- the office rent (read: schools have closed due to eviction)
- the (stolen) teachers' rent (read: teachers have been moved due to eviction)
- the (stolen) health insurance
- the late staff wages
- the missing bonuses
- the teachers who quit and were not paid
- the suppliers
- the bank loan
- the advertisers
- the student refunds
How can this situation get better? I don't know. I think the moron CEO of this company who surely has a bounty on his head is waiting for the bans to be lifted in December and is just trying to keep the company afloat until then. Will students come back then? Will there be an income? I don't know. I seriously doubt things can last this way much longer. At one time, we had up to 8 teachers at Kashiwa; I'm surprised if we have 4 now. Have I painted a grim enough picture yet? For more info (and a bit more cynicism) check out http://memoirs-of-a-gaijin.blogspot.com/. Some Nova teacher writing candidly (and rather accurately) about everything. I don't know where he gets his info, but its damn scary how much he knows.
I'm sure you're all scared for me now. And if you aren't, you bastard. :P Just kidding. So, this begs the question, "Heather, what are you going to do?"
Well, since early October I've been hunting for a new job. I can't possibly stay in Japan without having an income, and I'm not ready to come home yet. After all I've spent to get here, I'm not leaving without a fight. It's been really stressful because out of 4000 teachers on the employ of Nova, a good half of them are looking to stay in Japan as well. Needless to say, there is some fierce competition for jobs right now. But I had an interview last Tuesday for an Assistant Language Teacher position for a junior high school in Kashiwa starting in November. I got a reply yesterday, and he said he thought I was the most suitable person for the job! However, the school requested to keep the current ALT but he has a couple of positions open in Funabashi. It's not as convenient as Kashiwa, but its better than nothing and more secure than Nova. I could always ask for a position in Kashiwa when the new school year starts in April, if I stay on there. I haven't heard back with any details on this new job yet, but it's looking really good. :) I've also got a couple part-time things lined up and about 3 more interviews. Now that I've nearly got a new job secured, I wonder if I should continue on with Nova knowing I probably won't get paid for my work. I could sit on my as and surely not make any money, or go to work and keep busy (and avoid spending) until the end of the month. It's only another 2 weeks so what's the harm? I might get some karmic redemption with a final paycheck next month.
The next problem to tackle is housing: Nikki and Amanda (my super star roommates) said I can stay as long as I need to here when/if I leave Nova. I want to stay in Abiko/Kashiwa and have been looking at the real estate listings around this area. I can get a 1 room place (albeit incredibly tiny) for less than half of what I'm paying now. Although I definitely plan to get as much free stuff out of Nova as I can at the moment. The Sydney and Boston offices have stopped sending recruits, and I'm sure Canada has done the same given the situation so I don't think I'll have to worry about a new person forcing me to move before I'm financially ready to do so. This hiccup in the plan is going to delay the "making money" part, but now I can say I survived a corporate meltdown. Although, that's probably not something to list on the resume. Conversation piece? Perhaps. As for them, Nikki is hunting for jobs as well; we went to an info session at Gaba, another conversation school, this morning. She is worse of than me, having gone through the bulk of her savings here since she started mid-month and hasn't received a full paycheck yet. Amanda is going to apply for some jobs tonight, which sucks because she's only been here for 2 weeks. We all are probably going to keep working, not only because we feel bad for the J-staff and students, but Nova probably will write us off the payroll if we leave now and won't be paid for the work we've done. At least I am assured a pay this month when money arrives, since I have my pay stub.
I emailed the consulate and there isn't anything they can do. They just sent me some links to labour rights and unions and stuff as well as a list of English-speaking lawyers in the Kanto region. Like I can afford a lawyer. But at least they were prompt in their reply. Nikki got the same sort of answer from the New Zealand consulate.
Anyway... It's been a really rough week. I was so stressed out I couldn't sleep, and actually had to leave work early on Sunday because I was just sick to my stomach. I came home and bawled my eyes out, finally falling into a half-decent sleep. This definitely eases my stress a little bit, but there are still so many people out there getting fucked by Nozomu Sahashi who ran his company into the ground. Keep your fingers crossed for all of us.
That's about as detailed an update as I can get without going into the nitty-gritty, mundane things. As shitty as things have become, and with the realization that if I had scheduled to leave a mere month later, I could have got on with JET, I don't regret coming to Japan at all. For all the shit I've had to put up with, I've had a great time and met some really awesome people. When I get a steady pay coming in again, and a new apartment, I'll get around to seeing more sights and enjoying myself again. At least I'm not going through this alone.
Send me your well-wishes. :) It's always nice to hear from you. How are things in your neck of the woods?
Take care, dress warm.
Love, Heather
I hope you are all doing well. I hope you all have been following this bullshit with Nova. Long story short, Nova is in the big shit. The company has been making stupid business moves for years, but everything has blown up since July. The company ran into some trouble when they didn't honor student contracts and were forced to refund them. However, as far as I know, some people are STILL waiting for their money. To my understanding, when the contract scandal happened (the story goes that Nova claimed students could take lessons ANY time they wanted, but couldn't live up to that because there weren't enough teachers) the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) banned Nova from taking anymore long-contract students until December. Since then, things have become a downward spiral. In August, some of the Japanese staff's pay was delayed by a few days. In September, Branch Trainers' pay was almost 2 weeks delayed. Some of the Japanese staff still haven't been paid since the 27th of September. And now, the teacher's salaries have been delayed from the 15th of October to the 19th, and at that, it is only "scheduled". There is no promise in those words, and I would not be surprised if pay was pushed back further until the end of the month. Why? Because there is NO money. Nova has been closing schools left, right and centre. They decided to close 200 of 900 schools, and I think for good reason. 3 schools in my area have closed, but they were so small they couldn't even support themselves. Abiko school closed and many students moved to Kashiwa (my home branch) and Toride school. Kita Kogane and Moraju Kashiwa (both satellites of Kashiwa) are closing at the end of this month and students can move to Jusco Kashiwa or Matsudo if they wish. Many are not happen because Nova's claim to fame was that students could take lessons anywhere, as close as a 5 minutes walk from their homes.
So what does this mean? Nova is dying. Teachers are quitting daily, leaving the J-staff floundering to find teachers that don't exist. They rearrange the schedule about four times a day, switching lessons and canceling classes. There just isn't anyone to teach them. Some teachers aren't coming in until they get paid, as the trainers did back in September. Fair enough. If there isn't any money to pay us for our work last month, we won't be getting paid for anything this month. There is a tiny glimmer of hope, people think. I'm not sure how much of this I understand, since I am no Commerce student, but apparently Nova has been selling warrants to companies in the British Virgin Islands for next to nothing, and on the 24th of October they turn into a bunch of money, which (in theory) is supposed to pay teachers. That's great! But that doesn't do anything for the rest of the things unpaid:
- the office rent (read: schools have closed due to eviction)
- the (stolen) teachers' rent (read: teachers have been moved due to eviction)
- the (stolen) health insurance
- the late staff wages
- the missing bonuses
- the teachers who quit and were not paid
- the suppliers
- the bank loan
- the advertisers
- the student refunds
How can this situation get better? I don't know. I think the moron CEO of this company who surely has a bounty on his head is waiting for the bans to be lifted in December and is just trying to keep the company afloat until then. Will students come back then? Will there be an income? I don't know. I seriously doubt things can last this way much longer. At one time, we had up to 8 teachers at Kashiwa; I'm surprised if we have 4 now. Have I painted a grim enough picture yet? For more info (and a bit more cynicism) check out http://memoirs-of-a-gaijin.blogspot.com/. Some Nova teacher writing candidly (and rather accurately) about everything. I don't know where he gets his info, but its damn scary how much he knows.
I'm sure you're all scared for me now. And if you aren't, you bastard. :P Just kidding. So, this begs the question, "Heather, what are you going to do?"
Well, since early October I've been hunting for a new job. I can't possibly stay in Japan without having an income, and I'm not ready to come home yet. After all I've spent to get here, I'm not leaving without a fight. It's been really stressful because out of 4000 teachers on the employ of Nova, a good half of them are looking to stay in Japan as well. Needless to say, there is some fierce competition for jobs right now. But I had an interview last Tuesday for an Assistant Language Teacher position for a junior high school in Kashiwa starting in November. I got a reply yesterday, and he said he thought I was the most suitable person for the job! However, the school requested to keep the current ALT but he has a couple of positions open in Funabashi. It's not as convenient as Kashiwa, but its better than nothing and more secure than Nova. I could always ask for a position in Kashiwa when the new school year starts in April, if I stay on there. I haven't heard back with any details on this new job yet, but it's looking really good. :) I've also got a couple part-time things lined up and about 3 more interviews. Now that I've nearly got a new job secured, I wonder if I should continue on with Nova knowing I probably won't get paid for my work. I could sit on my as and surely not make any money, or go to work and keep busy (and avoid spending) until the end of the month. It's only another 2 weeks so what's the harm? I might get some karmic redemption with a final paycheck next month.
The next problem to tackle is housing: Nikki and Amanda (my super star roommates) said I can stay as long as I need to here when/if I leave Nova. I want to stay in Abiko/Kashiwa and have been looking at the real estate listings around this area. I can get a 1 room place (albeit incredibly tiny) for less than half of what I'm paying now. Although I definitely plan to get as much free stuff out of Nova as I can at the moment. The Sydney and Boston offices have stopped sending recruits, and I'm sure Canada has done the same given the situation so I don't think I'll have to worry about a new person forcing me to move before I'm financially ready to do so. This hiccup in the plan is going to delay the "making money" part, but now I can say I survived a corporate meltdown. Although, that's probably not something to list on the resume. Conversation piece? Perhaps. As for them, Nikki is hunting for jobs as well; we went to an info session at Gaba, another conversation school, this morning. She is worse of than me, having gone through the bulk of her savings here since she started mid-month and hasn't received a full paycheck yet. Amanda is going to apply for some jobs tonight, which sucks because she's only been here for 2 weeks. We all are probably going to keep working, not only because we feel bad for the J-staff and students, but Nova probably will write us off the payroll if we leave now and won't be paid for the work we've done. At least I am assured a pay this month when money arrives, since I have my pay stub.
I emailed the consulate and there isn't anything they can do. They just sent me some links to labour rights and unions and stuff as well as a list of English-speaking lawyers in the Kanto region. Like I can afford a lawyer. But at least they were prompt in their reply. Nikki got the same sort of answer from the New Zealand consulate.
Anyway... It's been a really rough week. I was so stressed out I couldn't sleep, and actually had to leave work early on Sunday because I was just sick to my stomach. I came home and bawled my eyes out, finally falling into a half-decent sleep. This definitely eases my stress a little bit, but there are still so many people out there getting fucked by Nozomu Sahashi who ran his company into the ground. Keep your fingers crossed for all of us.
That's about as detailed an update as I can get without going into the nitty-gritty, mundane things. As shitty as things have become, and with the realization that if I had scheduled to leave a mere month later, I could have got on with JET, I don't regret coming to Japan at all. For all the shit I've had to put up with, I've had a great time and met some really awesome people. When I get a steady pay coming in again, and a new apartment, I'll get around to seeing more sights and enjoying myself again. At least I'm not going through this alone.
Send me your well-wishes. :) It's always nice to hear from you. How are things in your neck of the woods?
Take care, dress warm.
Love, Heather