Toji's Guide/Thoughts on Being an ALT

Ms. Baker (left) is best ALT waifu

In a rare change of pace, I'll be posting a kind of guide here today. I had actually written this up a few months earlier, but decided to hold off on uploading it until it was much closer to the end of my current ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) contract. I figured that since I'll be moving on to a new job at the beginning of next month, I should probably summarize what it's been like for me to be an ALT out in the woop woop parts (a.k.a rural) of Ibaraki  and things to be aware of, for anybody who is thinking of wanting to come to Japan to work. While some might think that ALT work is incredibly easy work, that's not always the case.

Note that these are purely from my own experiences only, and while some of these experiences and pointers may vary from place to place, other pointers are generally applicable to all schools.

1) ALT work does not pay much these days*. 

When I first started working as an ALT in Kamisu city back in mid-2016, I was earning about 13,000 yen a day - approximately 260,000 yen a month. However, after having to move to a different city, my pay was reduced to about 12,500 yen a day - around 250,000. In my current city now? I'm not even earning that. Due to some number manipulating on my employer's part, I'm earning about 12,000 yen a day - 240,000 yen a month. However, this includes the expenses to cover commuting to school. In my previous two cities, the commuting pay was separate from my regular pay.

Regardless of the company, anyone who has been an ALT will generally agree that these days, it's a race to the bottom for companies to pay as little as legally possible to ALTs. While it would seem at first glance that dispatch companies are being tight with money, it's more to do with the Board of Education being tight with the money - but not necessarily by choice. The problem is that the budgets assigned to them by their local/prefectural governments are getting smaller. Despite this, Boards of Education still want good quality ALTs, even if they can't/won't pay accordingly for said ALTs. Dispatch companies want to pay their ALTs more so they'll stay on, but they also want to win more contracts and build up their reputation throughout the country. So it's a snowball effect, starting with governments being stingy on children's education.

While I won't say avoid ALT work like the plague, I would advise that you carefully check how much you will get paid per day - or at the very least, per month. Some job advertisements will show the annual pay, but it seems to be an attempt to hide how little you will be paid. If you can, only take the jobs that pay at least 250,000 yen a month. Also, with the current situation of the CCP virus, dispatch companies are desperate for ALTs right now, and I would dare say that you might have a bit of room to negotiate. Just don't be too greedy if you do try negotiating.

This won't be a problem if you're only thinking of doing a year or two in Japan as an ALT, or using ALT work as a means to get a better job as soon as possible in Japan, but this is not the kind of work you would want to do long term. Some people can make this their living, but I've found those sorts of people tend to be few and far between.

*... However, this is from my experience working for a ALT dispatch company. Companies like Interac and Altia Central are examples of such dispatch companies. If you get lucky and work directly for a city's Board of Education, you will get paid significantly more (I spotted a job-ad not too long ago that was offering 290,000 yen a month), as there is no middle-man taking a cut out of your pay. However, from my own observations, it's rare to see a city's Board of Education advertise for an ALT. In my 5 years in Japan, I've probably seen only 2 - 3 positions advertised, and heard of a co-worker successfully get a direct-hire position. Also, you will most likely need a Japanese driver's license to be eligible for a direct-hire position.

2) Your role will vary depending on your schools. 

Officially, ALTs are there to assist the teacher in teaching English to students. In Junior High School and High School, this will generally ring true. At those schools, there will already be dedicated Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) to teach English. Your role there will usually be reading from the textbook, checking the students' work, and preparing any extra material that you think may be useful, such as English boards, worksheets and so on. Basically, you get the easy work, and it's no surprise that many ALTs would prefer to work at a JHS or HS. 

Elementary Schools on the other hand... well, that's a different story. Unlike JHS and HS, there's not always going to be a dedicated JTE at an elementary school. There will more often than not be at least one teacher there that can speak English, and therefore, your only point of contact if you have questions or concerns regarding day to day operations at the school (unless you've got some Japanese ability under your belt), but will either not be confident enough to run an English class, or may have other responsibilities running classes for their assigned grade. This means that you will more than likely be preparing the lessons, preparing the materials (assuming the previous ALT didn't leave any materials for you to use) and running the classes, with the homeroom teacher usually playing the assistant role. You may get lucky and have some teachers that will get involved in the lessons and planning process, but I have found that to be the exception, rather than the rule. If you're lucky to have a head teacher who has experience teaching English, and takes charge of lesson planning and running classes for some of the grades - enjoy it while you can. In my five years, I've only encountered two or three teachers who took the lead for the class; two of those teachers were involved in the planning process, while one planned the entire lesson, and kept me in the loop on what they would be doing for what lesson, occasionally asking for my input or ideas.

3) Not all students are created equal.

Presumably, if you're wanting to be an ALT, you should at least have a little bit of experience working with children, or at the very least have the patience to work with children. I mean, you are going to be working at a school after all. A school. Full of children.

While I have been very fortunate to have had pretty good students overall, that streak came to an end this year, with my 6th graders at my elementary school. One class is usually ok, but the other... fucking hell. I hate the class, and I have found that the source of why the class is so bad is down to most of the boys in that class being absolute pieces of shit - disruptive, won't listen, then complain they don't understand because they're disruptive and won't listen. You need to have patience with children, and if you don't have patience for children, or willing to learn patience, do not bother becoming an ALT. 
Generally 6th graders can be arrogant, because they are essentially the kings of Elementary school - of course this comes to a crashing halt the second they go in to Junior high school. But basically, you need to learn to keep your cool in front of the kids, regardless of what happens in the classroom.

In my experience, 4th graders can also be a handful. Oddly enough, despite my earlier comment about 6th graders being arrogant, my experiences have been generally positive aside from this year. The 6th graders I have worked with have mostly been shy, but rarely have they been disruptive. Though the 6th graders that I have worked with for more than 1 year I have found to be a bit more lively, but again, rarely are they disruptive, and I have found those kinds of students to be fun. 
This does carry on a little bit in to junior high school. The 1st graders are usually still full of energy and enthusiasm, though by the time they reach 3rd grade, it's pretty much non-existent - the weight of trying to pass their entrance exams to get in to their desired high school is on their shoulders, and I do not envy the kind of pressure that has been put on them. All I can do for them is help where I can. If they ask for my help, great. If they don't it, that's fine too.

More importantly, what you need to realize is that because you'll be working in a public school, not every student is going to be enthusiastic about learning another language, let alone English. Yes, you'll have a few that genuinely want to learn and improve their English, and in my experience - not just schools in Japan, but language learning in general - girls tend to take English (and language learning) more seriously than boys. That's not to say that there aren't boys who want to learn and improve their English, but you'll find it more likely that girls will be studying harder for English. So, if you aren't getting a good reaction from your students, it could simply be that they're not really in to English, and not necessarily a problem with you personally.
Of course, if you decide to work in an Eikaiwa, most of your students are there because they want to improve their English (or at least, their parents want them to).

4) Welcome to the rice fields, motherfucker. 

While you might get assigned to a major city, and be able to get by with zero or very little Japanese (more on that in the next section), chances are, you're going to be assigned to work in a rural city. Depending on your personal preference, this could be seen as a paradise of peace and quiet, or it could be absolute torture and boredom. If you're in the latter category, I'd suggest finding an apartment near a train station that can take you somewhere more lively for the weekend.

On the other hand, while it is possible to get to your school by bike or walking, having a driver's license from your home country will make you more appealing to ALT dispatch companies, as it means they can assign you to cities and schools where you might need a car. Most companies will provide a car  (for a certain monthly fee) to get to school and to allow you to go about your day to day business. If you do decide to go for a company car, the company will reimburse you for the daily cost of commutes to school, and will pay for the regular car inspections (the shaken/車検). In addition, they will cover any repairs to the car, provided it wasn't your fault. If you have a valid license from your home country, it means you have the opportunity to transfer it in to a Japanese driver's license. 

Also, being in a small rural town means news travels around fast. This also means that as an ALT, you could potentially face greater scrutiny if you're caught doing something you're not supposed to or, just as bad, be accused of something you didn't do (especially if you're a man). Potential punishment can vary between having to leave the city (and your employer having to assign you somewhere else quickly), to being outright fired by the company. I have known this to happen to some friends who are no longer ALTs, but have fortunately bounced back and are still living and working in Japan.

5) If you want better work in Japan, git gud at Japanese, gaijin.

While ALT dispatch companies will advertise that Japanese ability isn't required, it's partly true. While you might not need Japanese to teach English at your schools, you will definitely need Japanese ability to get by outside of school. If you happen to be assigned to a rural city as discussed above, Japanese ability is a must. Need to go to the doctor? You're going to need Japanese to adequately tell them what's wrong. Need to set up an account for your apartment's utilities or phone? You're going to need Japanese. Need to go to city hall for anything? You will need Japanese, but some city halls will have a booth dedicated to assisting foreigners, though I am not sure if this is standard across the country or not. Fortunately, some cities have night schools for learning Japanese, and it might be an idea to take it up if you're thinking of living in Japan long term.

Alternatively, you could work at an Eikaiwa school, which pays more than typical ALT work. However if you want a job in Japan beyond being an ALT or Eikaiwa instructor, you will need Japanese proficiency, along with physical proof of that proficiency. By that, I mean you need to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - more commonly known as the JLPT (or 能力試験). Most non-ALT jobs these days will require that you at least have JLPT N2 certification, which is roughly the equivalent of advanced/business level Japanese, with N1 being considered the equivalent of native level Japanese. If you can at least get N2 certification, it will open up a lot more job opportunities for you within the country.

If you're intending to take the JLPT, there are plenty of textbooks available to purchase to cover vocabulary, grammar, kanji, reading and listening. The JLPT is held twice a year in Japan (first Sunday of July and December), whereas most other countries only hold it once a year in December. Registering for the test isn't cheap, but the benefit of having that certification is worth it.

6) The Summer Vacation - the good and the bad.

There are two things you need to be aware of concerning working as an ALT in public schools: Your schedule follows that of the school year, and you're paid based on the number of days you work each month. But the thing is, you will receive your pay the following month. For example, your pay for January will arrive in February. Since you won't be working in August because of the summer vacation, come September... see where I'm getting at here?

Some companies will pay between 50-75% of your regular monthly pay to help you get by until you receive your September pay in October. I believe Interac is one of the dispatch companies that does this. Unfortunately, my employer is not so gracious, though they do offer a little extra work during the summer break so I got a little bit of pay to get me through the following month, which was why I loved only having two weeks of summer vacation last year. In any case, it's recommended that before the summer break, you save up some money to help you get through September.

Also, be especially aware if you're starting in August (or even April), this is even more important, as your first pay won't arrive until two months later. Fortunately, my employer was upfront about this part before I moved to Japan to start work. At the very least, you should ask your employer what their policy is regarding pay for the summer break when factoring in the initial cost of moving to Japan.

In Conclusion

Those are my pointers for the moment, though I will be sure to update this post if there are any other key points that I think would be important for anybody who is wanting to become an ALT in Japan. However, due to the coronavirus, it's more difficult to enter the country at the moment, so you'll need to factor the cost of quarantine on top of everything else if you are able to get in to Japan

Lastly, while this post could be seen as hating on ALT work (and there are plenty of former ALTs out there who do hate the job with a passion), ALT work is not all bad. There is some joy in teaching students English, and see them improve over time. But as I mentioned earlier, this is not a long term job. At the very least, it's a good experience, and also a good way to move on to better jobs in Japan - provided you're willing to put that extra work in to be eligible for a better job. On top of that, though, you need to be prepared to accept that Japan is not exactly like what you see in anime and pop-culture. It's quite different from western culture in some ways, but in others it borrows a lot from it too, creating this weird fusion between old and modern. In any case, the first few weeks will be a little bumpy as you acclimate to your new environment, but if you're able to stick it out, you'll come out of it for the better.

At some point, I will probably shift this guide over to my main site, as this will probably get buried by future posts.

A trip to Kusatsu

Recently, I went to Kusatsu in Gunma prefecture with my girlfriend. For those not familiar with Kusatsu, it's a popular tourist destination, known famously for its hot springs. The water there is said to have healing properties, so naturally people go there to rest and recover. You can get to Kusatsu by bus or by train, but we took the bus due to being the cheaper option of the two. However, from Tokyo, the trip takes about 4 hours with a pit stop or two along the way.

One thing you will notice when you get to Kusatsu is the smell of rotten eggs. That's the smell of sulfur, and it is most prevalent in the central area, Yubatake. I am not sure if I am in the minority, but I suffered from headaches during my stay, due to the sulfur. It eased up when I moved away from Yubatake (or stayed in my hotel room), but my headaches were at their worst when I was hanging around there. For anyone who suffers from the same reactions like I did should be aware. Weirdly enough, my girlfriend had no problem with the smell at all.

Yubatake

In any case, upon arrival to Kusatsu, we headed to the hot springs, specifically the Sainokawara Open-air bath. Admittedly, I have never been a fan of the hot springs, despite having been a number of times in the past. I am really self conscious about entering a public bath naked with a bunch of other people, especially when you're the only foreigner there. In the past, when I traveled with a friend, it took the edge off, as we could just go to one corner and talk. But my friend wasn't there this time, and since the hot spring is divided in to the men's and women's section, I was pretty much going on my own. Fortunately, I was left alone to my own thoughts and admiring the scenery of the open air bath, and people went about minding their own business. Despite that, I'm still not a fan of hot springs - though I am willing to give it a try from time to time.

Afterwards, we finally checked in to our hotel. My girlfriend had booked everything and it was a nice, spacious room that had its own private outdoor bath. The outdoor bath section also had a small latch so we could have a view of outside if we wanted, but due to construction that seems to be ongoing, it was mostly a view of scaffolding. Fortunately, the outdoor bath was set up in such a way that nobody else can see in to other customers' baths. 

Room with included private outdoor bath.

The next day, we headed over to Kusatsu Onsen Netsunoyu, a pretty short walk from our hotel. The main attraction there is the showcasing of the dance used to cool down the water. The idea behind it is that the hot water is usually around 95 degrees celcius - too hot for people to enter - and that this dance was developed to cool down the water without diluting its natural healing properties. They showed a video before the performance explaining the history of the dance, and it even included English subtitles - though for some reason, the subtitles stopped 3/4 in to the video. Apparently the translator just gave up at that point. The dance was fascinating to watch, in the way that it's supposed to cool down the water just enough for people to be able to enter it.

We later checked out a small zoo, Kusatsu Tropical Wonderland, which apparently focused on tropical plants and animals. My girlfriend enjoyed feeding the monkeys, but the main section - a tropical dome - contained the majority of the zoo's animals, including various reptiles, birds and monkeys - including one monkey that was born in the 1960s. 

Eventually, we left Kusatsu at around 3pm by bus, and didn't get back to Tokyo until after 8pm. However, unlike the trip going to Kusatsu, there was only two other people besides us in the bus, so we had ample space, and silence, to be able to take a nap. 

It has been a while since we went for a trip somewhere that wasn't Tokyo or Chiba. If it wasn't for the CCP virus, I would definitely recommend checking out Kusatsu and the hot springs. Just be aware that The place is going to smell like bad eggs, especially around Yubatake - and if you're body doesn't take too kindly to the sulfur, there are other places in Japan where you can enjoy hot springs - though Kusatsu has recently been named as the number 1 spot in Japan for hot springs.

Searching for a (temporary) new gym

With the number of cases of the Wuhan virus escalating around the country, the city I'm in is not immune to all this. Numerous prefectures, including Ibaraki, have implemented their own states of emergency. Again. Businesses and have shortened their hours. Again. The gym I usually go to, however, has decided against shortening their business hours and, instead opted to close up for the month - much to my annoyance.

Fortunately, there is another place I can go that isn't far from where I live. It is nearly double the cost of my usual gym, though there aren't many options around at the moment. All the other gyms around here require you to enter in to a contract, and my usual gym and this alternative one are the only I ones I know of that allow you to pay as you go. My friend mentioned he had gone there before and said that there was a smith machine available to use, so I can at least work on my bench and squats. 

Aside from that, I was able to get a little bit of extra work for the past two weeks. I won't go in to details of the work so my employer (and myself) won't get identified as usual, but I will say it was a good experience. Not to mention getting some extra money that will go a bit of a way to helping me get by until the payday after this one - which will be in  later October. 

Not looking forward to Summer break 2021...

 Yeah, not looking forward to it for a few reasons. One of which is the Olympics, which despite public opinion preferring that it be cancelled or postponed this year, due to the number of variants of the CCP virus that have emerged in recent months.
However, the one thing that has me concerned is the summer break which will apparently start from late July this year and finish around the end of August. Normally, I would go home to visit my parents, but since last year, I have not been able to do that.  Fortunately, my summer break last year was just two weeks, due to the late start of the school semester at the time (again, thanks to the CCP virus). This meant that for the first time, I would get paid for August, and I wouldn't have to struggle to save money from September until my next pay which would be late October. The company apparently has some sort of program for ALTs to teach online classes running. While this could mean potential for extra income during the summer break, the lack of any solid information other than, jobs will be posted when the city's BOE posts it doesn't give me much confidence for opportunities for extra during the break, as the company will contact ALTs directly about these job postings. I've asked the company for any kind of extra work, just to get some money coming in to avoid the two months suffering that will follow. They mentioned something about needing ALTs to help for some events during the break, but have been sparse on details other than "I'll let you when we have more information."

So yeah, not really looking forward to Summer break this year. I normally don't say this, but I'd rather be working than having 5 - 6 weeks of unpaid of holidays.

A shortened Summer Break

This year, my summer break has been reduced from one month to two weeks instead. Understandable I suppose, given that students didn't have regular classes until the beginning of June. On the other hand, it's good for me, as I will have some work and get paid for August, unlike  in the past where I get nothing for August. Also, since I can't go back home this summer break, I won't be getting bored too quickly.

To pass the time, I just finished weathering my HG RX-78-02 Gundam origin. I finished building it a little while ago, but during this summer break, I finally got around to weathering it. I think it has turned out rather nicely. I'm pretty impressed with how armed to the teeth this version of the Gundam is compared to the regular anime version Gundam.
In addition, I also had the chance to catch up with one of the ALTs who lives near my apartment. We went out to a nearby izakaya on day, then invited him over to join us for a takoyaki party. Since it's been a few years since I used the takoyaki pan I bought (actually it was 5 years ago in Kyoto). Fortunately, the pan worked fine without any problems.

Other than that, not much else has been happening. Though, my girlfriend and I did go out to celebrate 6 years of dating at a nice Italian restaurant. It was pretty quiet, though you can thank the virus for that The food was pretty good. My girlfriend had gnocchi, while I had an angus steak that was covered with a sweet balsamic vinegar sauce, before we finished up with a selection of bite sized desserts, including espresso infused chocolate cake, yogurt and blueberry cheesecake, and another one I surprisingly cannot recall. All in all it was a good experience, and the chef was also playing the role of waiter, who was a really friendly guy. 
My students ask when we're going to get married, though with her still doing her doctorate, and me still trying to get better work within the current company I'm working for (among other things), it looks like it will probably be a few more years yet. Not to mention that we live in different cities (though she has been living with me for the last 4 months due to the corona/CCP virus, and the ongoing few hundred daily cases of it in Tokyo).

Another Trip Back Home

I just returned from a trip back home yesterday. I arrived early in the morning yesterday, but the one thing that surprised me was how quickly I got through immigration. In the past, I have to wait in a ridiculously long line to get my re-entry permit sorted. This time however, there were probably only 2 other people ahead of me before I was sorted out. I get the feeling the guy who sorted out my re-entry permit was either drinking the night before, or dead inside - I really couldn't tell which. Likewise, getting through customs was pretty easy too - no questions about what I had in my suitcase. Previously they have asked me, and when I answer snacks - specifically chocolate and biscuits/cookies, they wave me through without even checking. Then again, this is the first time I arrived to Japan early in the morning, as previous times I arrived either at night, or in the afternoon.

So my trip back home is the same as previous times: Spend time with the family and catch up with friends. Ten days went by really quickly, and I wasn't able to catch up with everyone. I caught up with my usual circle of friends I've known since high school, but even now we usually catch up on a regular basis anyway. I also was able to catch up with one friend I've known since Primary school, and I'm pretty sure it's been about 3-4 years since I last saw him.
However, one thing I noticed a lot more this time compared to my other trips is how far my home country has really pushed to being a mostly cashless society. While I believe there will always be a need for cash in some capacity, people mostly pay by card. One of my friends has been doing it for years now, but since he has tied his card/account to his phone, he pays everything by phone. So I will admit, it did feel a little weird to be paying by cash, especially as cashiers were expecting a card payment when they got the card reader/eftpos machine prepared in anticipation, only to see me pull out money.
Speaking of money, I had a really strange experience during my stay. I'm not sure how recent, though I known it's only been since this year, but my country has introduced new versions of our paper money: 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s and 100s.  I have read that initially there were problems with these new bills as many vending machines/ticket machines were not able to read them, though I had thought that by the time I arrived, the problem was sorted. Apparently not, as we went out for lunch for my Dad's birthday, and we weren't able to pay for parking, as it wouldn't take the 20 dollar notes we had, which happened to be the new ones. Even stranger, the machine was very specific in that it wouldn't take anything higher than a 20 - no 50s or 100s allowed, and all I had were the old versions of the 50s on hand. We even tried paying by card, though it seems there was a problem with the card reader in that it wouldn't accept any of our cards. Fortunately, a staff member in charge of parking was kind enough to waive the fee and let us out with no problem. Still, I found that really inconvenient in they only accept certain types of bills, but not all.

In any case, I have one week left before I start the new semester. Nothing really planned, aside from gym, and perhaps practicing my drawing.