The first one is right outside Tokyo Station. The job pays 3,000 yen or $26.94 an hour. The guy who owns the school, James, received a BA in East Asian Studies and a MBA from KU back in the Late 80’s early 90’s. James is a cool guy and we spent most of the interview talking about KU and his study abroad experience from the late 80’s before it was so well defined like it is now. The down side to the job is that it only pays once a month and at first I think only offer 3-4 hours a week, but with expand. I really only want to work between 10-15 hours a week to make money to cover expenses and to pay for my plane ticket home in the spring. I am here to learn Japanese not teach English. The other down side, which I do not mind, is that from the commute from Musashi-Koganei, where I live, to Tokyo Station is a pretty long commute about 45 minutes to an hour, despite the fact that it is only like 20 miles. I really do not mind because the station for Sophia is two stops from Tokyo Station. So on evenings when I teach at Tokyo Station, I will just stay at Sophia and study. They also reimburse train fare and are willing to cover the whole trip despite that fact that my commuters pass covers 80% of the trip. Also all of these stops are on the same train line, Chou Rapid.
James told me through email that he was conducting interviews, but if I wanted the job I could pretty much have it. I think more then anything he was impressed with the fact that I was doing a PhD in Japanese history and was from KU. I was a little early for the interview and the guy being interviewed before me had on a really nice suit and was really impressive looking compared to my khakis and white shirt. I guess it must have been my pimped out tie. About 3 minutes into the interview James asked me if I wanted the job so he could tell the other guy before me it was filled. I said yes cause 3,000 yen an hour for only doing one-on-one sessions is pretty good and its cash.
The other job . . . well the interview was the oddest interview I have ever experience. It’s for a school that sends you to people’s homes or work and you teach then a 45-minute session. The pay is 2,500 yen or $21.74 a session plus reimbursement for train fare. I would turn this job down, but I may need it to get 2 or 3 extra hours a week. They issue a check which means I need to open a checking account and get the proper paper work from the Sophia and the immigration office. I cannot get the paper work from Sophia till the 15th of October when course registration is done and it takes them 4 days to issue it to me then I take it to the immigration office here in Koganei and then I can work. The lady who runs the school seemed fine with waiting . . . so 5,000 to 7,500 extra would be nice.
The reason that the interview was so weird was that a lot of the time it was her just staring at me not sure what to ask me. I had to basically lead the interview and it was just wierd
Teaching English in Japan is different then one might imagine and is pretty easy. All you are is a soundboard and you just talk to them and they mimic you to some extent. Sometimes you may have a workbook and you go through it with them. However, most of the time it is just a free flow conversation where you try and get them to talk.
Hmmmm must have been in engineering . . . . wait my father-in-law is an civil engineer. Okay so this only applies to all engineers that are not civil. Except for those who work on nuclear power plants and named Jason Draper.
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