The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[Sketcz]

So sad about Akiba, it's not a patch on Singapore these days.

[Yakumo]

Thanks, Yakumo!

It made me laugh when we went to Space World because every time there was the slightest of drizzle, they closed the rides.

In the UK, I've been on them in the pouring rain!

They had a sweet Resident Evil 4D movie, but it's probably gone now.

Yeah, Space World is like that. They've had a lot of accidents you see over the last 10 years. Still, at least we've got a few better theme parks not that far away to choose from. sadly in yamaguchi where I live there are no good theme parks, only really crappy ones with no real roller coasters.

Just to add on Akihabara, yep the last time I went was in 2005 and even then it sucked ass big time. I had been visiting there every year from '95 to '98 and lived not far from Akihabara from Nov' 98 to Sep' '99. It was still ok then but you could see the DVD stores creping in and now it's all that maid ****. So sad. But hey, I have the head Manga Soko store not far from me which blows away any other game store in the country as far as volume goes

[speedlolita]

No you wouldn't. Unless your cup of tea in lives being served said cup by a maid.

Look at the complaints on this thread by people just visiting Japan. Even these guys who'd be more likely to give the place a chance because they've come all this way are slating it because of what it's become.

To me, Akihabara is the place I go to catch the Yamanote line. That's it.

Hey it costs me about a tenner for a railcard to London and London is a ****hole.

[randombs]

No it isn't!

[speedlolita]

So sad about Akiba, it's not a patch on Singapore these days.

Gave me a giggle!

[Ghost]

I wouldn't say akiba is dead, it's still much better than any gaming shops in the uk/us, you can still find bargains and great retro stuff if you know where to look. But traditional gaming in japan is dying thanks to mobile gaming and akiba is the biggest casualty as a result.

On a different subject, has anyone had any experience working for interac? They are advertising quite heavily at the moment and was wondering if they were one of the better English teaching companies? I heard that Shane are/were good but their financial situation is a bit rocky at the moment and GABA I would never work for again in a million years.

[Darwock]

Interac are no worse than any other ALT agency, but the only one I know with a half decent rep is Altia central. Better to work directly for a BOE if you can.

[KusoGaki]

On a different subject, has anyone had any experience working for interac? They are advertising quite heavily at the moment and was wondering if they were one of the better English teaching companies? I heard that Shane are/were good but their financial situation is a bit rocky at the moment and GABA I would never work for again in a million years.

I just finished my contract with Interac.
Didn't enjoy working for the company so much, their office and training were a bit of a mess and I didn't understand what was going on most of the time, but I enjoyed working at the school.

I think for the most part; experience with them would vary depending on which branch you work for and the school you get sent to.

I didn't think the salary was that great, considering you have to pay about Y30k a month on pension and health care and your salary is prorated during the first, last, summer and winter vacation months.

I know a few other guys I spoke to who worked at the same branch were having trouble with money a lot too, but luckily I work another part time job and sell stuff on eBay so I could survive OK.

But as I said I really enjoyed working in public school, the teachers I worked with were really great and I learnt a lot about Japanese education.

[Ghost]

What are you doing now that your contract has run out? Have you been offered a new one, are you working at another place or are you coming back to the uk?

I checked out altia central but they require conversational Japanese so that's out for now. Working directly for a BOE is the goal as pay and benefits are much much better but without several years worth of experience I think it would be difficult. I read that if you work at the same school through companies like interac for a couple of years you will be asked to stay and sign a contract to work for the school directly from them

[KusoGaki]

I wasn't offered another contract, so just looking for another job now.
The BOE contract with ALT companies is a bit weird in the city I live in anyways, I think the new ALT contract starts in late May (and ended/ends in February). Would prefer to find something to do before then lol.

In any case, I think it's probably easier to find jobs in private schools and the like after you work with ALT companies. A lot of jobs I seem to see want xx amount of years experience working with a particular age group.

[Asura]

Main thing I'd say in terms of asking about experiences with different companies, try to compartmentalise what you hear in terms of the company & job (first bit) and the location and experience (second bit).

The reason is obvious; Japan's cultural variety is much bigger than most people give it credit for. I was in a large-ish Kanto city, near to Tokyo, and had a great time, but even in my Prefecture, there was a guy I knew who'd been placed in a small mountain community, where all the prior ALTs were Americo-Japanese (he was caucasian and Irish, with no initial Japanese language skills). Going further out, I knew two girls where one of them was in Okinawa, living a tropical island lifestyle whereas the other was in northern Hokkaido, dealing with students who had a culture that was part-Japanese, part-Russian!

That shouldn't stop you; if you want to go, one of the reasons should be to see the real Japan, not simply Tokyo, Kyoto, the Hiroshima bomb site and a few ski resorts in Nagano. Just be aware that your mileage can and will vary, and to avoid disappointment, you should adopt a way of thinking where that's an advantage, not a problem.

[Ghost]

Yeah the regions do vary a lot, when I was living there originally I stayed in Tokyo for the first 3-4 months then lived and worked in Fukushima prefecture, in the koriyama and Sendai regions. It was very different to Tokyo and the people were much friendlier there plus everything was much more laid back so I would have no problem with working outside of Tokyo

[Ghost]

Managed to pass the initial screening from interac and I have a phone interview at the end of the month, if that's successful I'll have a face to face interview in London. Any advice on what I should expect from those who have applied to interac in the past?

Also is there any major difference between a TESOL and Celta? Is one more well regarded than the other? I know that a Tefl is worth **** now and was recommended to get a Celta qualification but that would require me to go to another city whereas the TESOL I can do where I currently live

[DeathAdder]

In my experience, not really any difference. If it's a face-to-face course and it involves about 120 hours of learning teaching techniques, watching qualified teachers' lessons, watching your fellow trainees' lessons and, most importantly, about 6 hours of assessed teaching that you do, then the courses are much the same. I went for CELTA because I assumed it was the most well-known, but places where I have worked have accepted equivalent certificates as well.

Plenty of advice about interac on www.davescafe.com

[KusoGaki]

For my interview there was some kind of grammar/spelling test, a personality test, and a short demonstration lesson.
The demo lesson was reading from a set text about the company, then a warm up for elementary school, and an activity for junior high school.
I think for the warm up I did something like an actions game (stand up, sit down, turn around, etc.) and for the junior high school lesson I did it all through my iPad (flash cards, text, etc). My demo was pretty bad, but I think they liked the iPad lol.

Not too sure about the qualifications as I didn't do any courses before I came here, I know someone told me before that CELTA is better but I've seen a lot more jobs asking for TESOL so I'm not sure...

Anyways would recommend trying to learn as much conversational Japanese as you can before you get here, it will make your life in school a lot easier and in my case I know the teachers liked me more because they knew at least I was trying. I remember the first thing the headmaster said to me at the beginning of the year was kind of like a complaint that the previous ALT couldn't speak any Japanese lol.

edit:
One more thing I forgot to mention, if you rent an apartment through Interac one thing to bare in mind is that it is completely through them and if you choose to leave at the end of a year or they don't re-contract you then you will also lose your apartment. I didn't pay enough attention when I was first going through the housing process and now it's come to the end of my contract I've been rushing about trying to find a new job, apartment, and the process of moving all at the same time!

Was a bit annoying because I spent most of the year paying back the moving in loan, and thought that at least after a year I'd finally be settled into where I was living lol.