I was looking around the surprisingly sparse crowd in the train on a weekday morning central line when my eyes rested on an elderly gentleman in khaki coat, a pair of denim jeans and shoes that matched his coat. I was then reminded of what i first learned when arriving at my current company—that your shoes should always match the colour of your belt. At least when you are in your business wear.
He stood there holding onto the handle dangling from above, eyes switching between staring at the screen above the door and scanning the rest of the commuters. He would then return to the screen which provided more entertainment with general information, quizzes and more commercials than anyone would choose to watch. But at the very least, it seemed to make the cut as a time killer. No matter how uninteresting it is, it cannot match the standard the rest of the people in the train have set, many of whom were staring at their mobile phones tapping away. Me included.
He turned to face the back where i was standing and i noticed his lips had a downward arch, which didn’t do too much to hurt his gentlemanly image. A moment later, the train pulled over at my station. I looked at my watch. The number 31 was displayed at the bottom right of my analog watch. It’s Halloween today.
In the blink of an eye, I’ve been in japan 2.5 years now. While this is fairly shallow an experience, obvious from the fact that people go gasping expecting me to have already been here for much longer, I’ve met my share of new people during this time, among whom were some fans of my motherland. It became so much like an equation that each time people hear I’m from Singapore, the switch in their head goes, “Merlion.” These are the people who know nothing much else about Singapore.
Then there are those who talk about the ship-like structure with an infinity pool rested atop three buildings. These are the ones who happen to see the softbank commercial featuring SMAP. Perhaps they know a little about us. The ones who have some interest in the country would go beyond that and share their experiences being there or their desire to visit someday. The ones who stop at, “Oh, I’ve been to Singapore when i was a child” are the kind people who try to strike up a conversation but have nothing much else to contribute.
The Merlion group usually goes on to say that you cannot chew gums in singapore or you cannot litter. The Marina Bay Sands group would say they wanna put up there at least for a night. The ones who have been there as children almost never voice an interest to visit again. Regardless, everyone would arrive at how clean Singapore is. I would then go, “It really isn’t that different from Japan.”
Apart from the regular nice Japanese people who give praises whether out of kindness or based on what is commonly known here, I’ve also met people who honestly like singapore and have visited us many times. For some reason, I always comment that Singapore is managed too much like a corporate instead of a country.
Most of them simply go, “Hayyyyyy,” the utterance to signal input of new information. But there is one gentleman (who appears to be in the late-forties) from whom I feel true love of Singapore. The man from whom I can feel passion in his words, the only person who struck me when he highlighted how beautiful, but less clean we have become. He told me how he fell in love with Singapore when he first visited over 10 to 15 years ago. And when he returned again recently, something was lost. No doubt it has become a more beautiful city but doesn’t seem as clean anymore. Somehow.
These couple of years also saw a few of my friends leave Singapore and some go around declaring their dislike of the country. If I happen to be around during this “declaration,” a third person would usually ask why I do not like Singapore. That question always irks me because I have never said that I don’t like Singapore. And me having left to work and live overseas is not a valid premise for that conclusion either.
Scale it down a few notches and you would realise leaving Singapore really isn’t that much different from moving out of your parents’ place to live by yourself whether it’s due to marriage or not. Living alone does not necessarily mean you don’t love them anymore.
941 days as of October 31. If this number helps you win lottery, you might want to consider giving me a treat when I’m back.
Huat ar!
You won?
Hi Gaijinhan,
I have so many questions to ask, please allow me to put them in point forms (I hope this won’t sound rude)
1. Do you see yourself settling there in Japan? Like, forever? How is it like for an Asian person to be in Japan? I’ve read up stories about Caucasian, Black, Indian, etc people in Japan but hardly do I hear any experiences from an Asian person living in Japan. Is it an ideal place to grow old and retire?
2. How is work-life balance in Japan? Did you go for jobs hunt while teaching? If you don’t mind, what is the nature of your job?
3. Is it liveable with teacher’s salary in Japan? I graduated in Australia and am intending to take CELTA/TESOL.
4. If by any case, you have to go back to Singapore, do you think there would be any challenges in looking for a job back home?
Hi The Train Goes Choo Choo (boy, that was a long name!),
Not to worry. I actually prefer point forms because my brain works better that way.
1. I wouldn’t say whether I’ll be here forever for sure, because I think there’s the possibility of things happening along the way that require me to leave (regardless of whether it is to return home or not). At the same time, I do not deny that there’s also the possibility of me settling down here. I think it’d be easier for me to answer your question if I know what kind of information you read about other people. Generally, there isn’t too much difference back home, except that my default nationality is Japanese to the people here, and when they find out I’m not, they tend to think I’m Korean or Chinese. Not that it’s their fault. It’s kind of like when we see a white guy, we’re more likely to think American, English, French, German than Czech, Bulgarian, Monacan, Lithuanian. Whether or not a place is ideal is really down to what you deem ideal. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. But I’d like to think that Japan is a pretty good place to be at this point in time. I don’t really see myself growing old and retiring in the city. I kind of would like to live in the countryside when I grow old. That’s assuming I live at least till the average life span.
* On a separate note, while I know you don’t mean it, I think it’d be better if you refrain from using the term “Black.” Political correctness can sometimes be a bitch, but obeying verbal hygiene would serve us well. Maybe I should also not use the term “white guy.”
2. Work-life balance is horrible in some places but pretty good at others. But if you look from the perspective of the Europeans, then work-life balance here sucks. I have friends who work in companies where the lights automatically shut off at 6pm sharp so nobody would do overtime work. I also have friends who sleep over in their office, wake up the next morning to go home for a shower and then return to work again. I wouldn’t say I went job-hunting while teaching, but I did send out resumes when I had the time. Frankly, as an ALT I had A LOT of time. When you asked the nature of my job, do you mean teaching or what I do now? Because I’ve left teaching for 1.5 years now. And if you’re referring to teaching, do you mean as an ALT or at an Eikaiwa?
3. Whether a teacher’s pay is enough or not is again down to your life style. I don’t see why it’s a problem in fact, but depending on how you spend your money, you might not have much to save at the end of the month.
4. Why wouldn’t there be challenges in looking for a job back home? In this economical climate, I’d think there would be a challenge to get a job anywhere. Unless I don’t mind any job any pay. Maybe something like $3000 a month to wash dishes at Sakae Sushi?
Hope this helps.
Bests,
Hello!
Hope yesterday was a good day at work and thank you for replying so quickly.
Well actually I don’t intend to use black, white etc either but it’s easier to put it that way since people in Japan openly put that they’re black and it’s hard (that kinda thing) in their questions online. But forget it, not something worth continuing.
For number 2, the nature of your job means the job you’re working now. And if you don’t mind sharing, I’d like to know more about ALT and Eikawa related stuff too.
3. Can I put it this way: Well I spend my money mostly on food and weekend entertainment, I hardly go out to pubs, bars and such. My hobby includes manga, movies or anything geeky. I don’t spend a lot in Singapore and I save a huge sum every month, say about 3-4k. I understand that I won’t be able to save that much in Japan but ‘ve heard stories of how people are only left with cents after paying for rent and food.
4. The point for my question is, I’m not young anymore, and there would be circumstances when the potential employers back home would ask why I spent time in Japan. “Passion” or “Trying other new things” seems like a useless answer, it’s Singapore, not US.
On a side note, the whole Sakae sushi thing was a wayang fiasco…
Sorry I left out the first one. Settling down as in… I’ve read about people that can’t mingle with the locals, and no matter what they are still considered foreigners. I have a few Japanese friends and I think they are very private but don’t have the alienation feeling going on
Hi Train,
1. I don’t think there are too many problems mingling with the people here. Japan has long passed the xenophobic stage as a people. But I have to say, as an ALT, you are hired as a foreign teacher and that is very pronounced at some schools. Because you are not a teacher like the rest of the teachers at the school who work crazy hours, it’s difficult to be treated like you are a part of them. FYI, junior high school teachers practically have no rest and work 500 days a year, 50 hours a day. It’s not logical but you get my point.
2. I’m actually with a translation company during project management. That’s just a fanciful way of putting it though.
ALT, as the name implies, is an assistant to the main teacher in junior high schools. You basically do what the teacher wants you to. Sometimes you practically do nothing. But at the elementary schools I taught, I was the main teacher with a separate assistant teacher who’s actually good at English. But there’s a chance other cities work differently. I’ve never taught at a high school so I can’t give comments on that. As for Eikaiwa, I also didn’t teach at the schools itself. I was under the Corporate Division, which means the people I taught are corporate clients of the school. I was in charged of teaching the staff at a local hospital, and basically the school has a textbook to follow. How to teach those contents are pretty much up to you, although they do have some suggested ways.
3. 3-4k savings is huge. Most people don’t even make that much before tax in Singapore. You probably won’t have much problems with the pay here but I can say for certain, you won’t be able to save even half of what you are saving now. It’s pretty decent if you can save around 50,000 yen a month. That’s probably around $700. But if you really don’t care about the leisure and things you don’t “need,” I think saving is not a problem, but definitely not $3k.
4. From your reply, I’m guessing you have the intention to just stay here for a bit and then return home. I don’t see why you have to hide your real reasons for coming to Japan. If it’s passion and for trying something new, then why not just tell the truth? The point is, rather than just stopping there, I’m pretty certain there’s something you will learn out of this experience, which you should totally share with your potential employers. Teaching is one profession that, most people don’t realise, helps improve a person’s presentation skills, people skills and overcome stage fright. I don’t know your profession and the line you intend to go into in the future, so I can’t really say what else could be a possible strength. But I’m sure you know better than I do.
Hello there,
I’m applying for jobs on Gaijinpot right now while typing this comment. And I actually intend to stay there for a long time… the culture and people fascinate me. But I wouldn’t know if there would be possibilities that I have to leave (like what you said),
I sure am not as confident as you are but thank you for passing some of it to me. I’m working in an industry sales company and it’s something that gives me quite a lot of money but practically zero passion or motivation. I used to teach and I do find myself pursue this career in the long run. Helping someone realizing/learning new things give me so much satisfaction as a person, not something you can buy with money. I still keep in touch with my ex students, some of them are doing pretty well now.
Thanks again, and if there is anything new I’ll pop up again… or will just hop by to say hi randomly:)
I’m visiting Tokyo in August, so if you happen to be around, let’s meet up!
Hi Train,
I hope my laziness to type your nick in full didn’t cause you to change it.
Anyway, hope you’ll find something you like.
Also, pardon my ignorance but I’m not familiar with what an industry sales company is, but it definitely sounds like a better deal than if you didn’t like it and it doesn’t pay you well either.
This is just a personal opinion but if you’re looking for satisfaction in teaching, I’d suggest you go for Eikaiwa over ALT positions for obvious reasons.
Let me know when you’re here. I’m sure we can arrange something.
Bests,