ASIJ

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camelgirl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:46 pm

ASIJ

Post by camelgirl »

Hi Everyone,

I know ASIJ is considered one of the top schools in Japan, and I was wondering if anyone has any recent insight into the school, worldload, work-life balance, and package? Also, if anyone has any recent first-hand experience regarding Covid measures still in place in Japan? I'm currently in a country that is still quite strict with masking, PCR testing, etc, and I don't fancy moving somewhere even more intense.

Also, would 70-80k USD be a decent salary with roughly 10k/year savings in a place like Tokyo, assuming I'm traveling on major holidays (Winter, Spring, Summer) and eating out/bevvies maybe once a week? Is there savings potential here, or is the cost of living so high I'd be saving next to nothing?

Finally, is Tokyo a place you would recommend for a single 30-something woman? I do enjoy being social and would love more opportunity for an active dating life compared to where I am now.

Thanks in advance!
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Response

Post by PsyGuy »

In direct reply to your inquiries:

Workload: Its pretty heavy for new faulty. When they hire someone new leadership expects to see a lot of new work product and very quickly. They want novel, but comfortable. It also depends what department youre in but some are more collaborative and some are very competitive.

Work-Life Balance: New ITs still have a wealth of experience to draw on, so many of them have created those efficiencies that make for a better work-life balance. If you dont have a lot of those in place it can be exhausting and frustrating. You spend a lot less time on behavior and classroom management so you get through more material in a day which means what youve planned for a term runs out around spring time.

Package: Its the tops, maybe one or two other ISs have a comparable one, but it depends what you prioritize.

COVID: JP never had a mask mandate, but they didnt need too. Masking was a thing before COVID (it saved you having to do anything but youre eye makeup). Its still very much a thing if youre on the train everyone will be wearing masks and you may be asked to mask up or deboard. If you show signs of being sick youll be required to take a rapid COVID test and if its positive you have to quarantine at home. Its all very polite of course.

Coin: You can save on that but savings is all about you and not the coin. You can blow through a ¥10K note (1-man) super quickly on something innocuous as dinner. A glass of red or white poo vino is ¥1K. A ¥100K shopping trip in Mejiro will get you a few things, but you can spend ¥10K on apples in Shibuya at food show. The other side of that is you can get a plate of the best sushi you ever had for change (¥100) and fill up on five or ten of those for way less than anywhere else in the world. You can pick up a lot of perfectly usable but cheap things at Daiso and you can get great ever day stuff at Muji and UNIQLO very reasonably. McCafe tends to be more common than Starbucks (because theres a McCafe/McDonalds everywhere). If youre going to try and roll with the glam set though its going to cost you.
There is a wide range of housing options. You can get a 1R for about ¥40K, a 1K for about ¥60K a 1LDK for about ¥100K but it varies a lot by where you are and how close to the train you are. You can spend a lot more than those amounts for very modest accommodations. Youre paying to live in Shibuya because its in Shibuya not the quality or size of the housing. You dont get a variable housing allowance depending on where you live but you do get a commuting allowance so it can be worth it to live in a less desirable ward or further from the IS but closer to the train station with more apartment/flat then living somewhere trendy.
Singles tend to save a lot less than couples. Maintaining a wardrobe and keeping up with salon appointments are huge expenses. A UNIQLO dress might be fine for a weekday coffee date, but not a Saturday night in Roppongi.

Social Life: No, No, No. 30 something nope. All the expat guys want Jgirls and for the local guys 30 is already too old (day old cake), and they couldnt marry you anyway (you cant talk to their mother). There are lots of desperate 20 something JET women who are single and looking and gaijin women show there age more so than JP women. Unless youre some Brazilian or Ukrainian beauty you are going to be very disappointed with your social life. The frustrating thing about it is guys you wouldnt have given a smile to are now whats available and they know it, so you have to do the same level of work youd have done for a guy that was a 7 elsewhere when your going out with a 3.
buffalofan
Posts: 350
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:08 pm

Re: ASIJ

Post by buffalofan »

Rumor has it you need someone in your field to either retire or die there just to get a shot at an interview, and even that might not be enough if you don't know anyone there. There is not a whole lot of movement. I don't think I've ever seen a position there in my field on offer in 10+ years of looking.
sciteach
Posts: 258
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 7:49 am

Re: ASIJ

Post by sciteach »

I won't comment on ASIJ as I don't know if we are able to in the public forum.

I'll be a bit more specific when it comes to finding partners.

This is a massive generalization and there are always exceptions to the rule - but single females find looking for serious partners challenging in Asia.

In general - the foreign talent pool of similar male (if your that way inclined) people to date are either married or also have options of dating local. That significantly reduces your dating pool with foreigners.

Some Japanese men do date foreigners - but they tend to be the more "international" type who may have lived overseas or have been around foreigners in general.

There are some gaijin hunters who want to date a foreigner for the experience - but I'll let others talk about that in more detail. Let's just say that I would not want to date someone like that if I was a female.

It's also quite sad - I've seen lots of smart intelligent females who are catches in their home country leave international teaching in Asia (remove Singapore, Bangkok + KL from the list) due to their inability to find a serious partner and feeling lonely + worthless. I've also seen others who have been happy being single for a decade.

When it comes to jobs in Japan - there are basically three tiers of schools (don't think of it as the International Tier list of quality). Tier 1 are schools who pay well and you can save a bit and live comfortable. You can count these schools on one hand and some staff have been there for 30+ years.

Tier 2 allows you to live comfortably in Japan but there is more turnover. The schools are either lesser known or in smaller major Japanese cities (so not Tokyo / Osaka).

Tier 3 are some of the worst schools you could possibly imagine. Dictatorial administration, one of the world's longest teaching years and even longer work year, administration who mainly communicates in the home language etc.

Note that internationally some schools which are considered Tier 3 are fine - but in Japan these schools can be abysmal and tend to be more private Japanese schools who run an international department.

Wages also look extremely low in Japan at present due to the low Yen. Setting up to live in Japan is expensive - but living over time is reasonably priced.
PsyGuy
Posts: 10789
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Northern Europe

Discussion

Post by PsyGuy »

I concur with @buffalofan, all of that and they get a thousand applications for a single vacancy.

As to @sciteach

It is a generalization but its an accurate one. JP is further complicated by the JET program, which prior to COVID made it that mush worse for women in JP.

There are some JP guys that date expats, but they may as well be unicorns in so much not only are they rare but lots of other women, many of them younger, are vying for their attention as well.

There are gaijin hunters that are guys but unlike their female counterpart they tend to tire of it sooner than later. JP men have more practical concerns than JP women. They will date one or two foreign women and then move on to more serious prospects.

Dont remove BKK, KL or SG. Those regions arent as bad as JP (they dont have JET) but they arent any better then the rest of Asia. SG is a little easier as ITs usually dont have the coin to move in the circle that SG women are focused on, and theres less a stigma to being a single women in SG than a lot of other regions in Asia.

Those happy single ones arent really happy. Its a mask they wear for others, and a lie they tell themselves. They are all just trying not to be or see crazy cat lady as their destination.

There are no international tiers, every tier structure is regional and JP is no different. Tiers allow ITs to compare ISs within a region, but with the exception of Elite status ISs they are regionally restricted.

Tier 1 ISs in JP allow an IT to live well (a level above comfortable) without really having to make any sacrifices. You can count them on one hand.

Tier 2 ISs in JP allow an IT to live comfortably but having to sacrifice something.

Tier 3 ISs in JP compromise a substantial range of the IE market in JP, just as it does elsewhere. There are some very top, 'floater', tier 3 ISs that are very lovely places to work at and then there are some very bottom tier 3 ISs that are train wrecks to work at. Just like the third tier in other regions. JP has a characteristically large portion of ISs that are little more than ESOL ESs with an academic program.
This is in large part due to the coin and salary/wage curve in JP being flatter than in other regions.
camelgirl
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2022 3:46 pm

Re: ASIJ

Post by camelgirl »

Wow, thank you everyone for your feedback! It's very helpful and... enlightening. Are there any other countries you would suggest looking into for a 30-something female to have an active social life/date? Preferably larger cities, a variety of activity options (active and beverage-inclined), reasonable cost of living compared to take-home pay, etc? I'm keeping my eyes on HCMC and Seoul but I'm wondering if there are any hidden gems I'm missing. I'm currently in Abu Dhabi and I don't want to stay in the GCC region. I saw some postings for JIS Jakarta, but from what I've read I'm not sure I'd enjoy living there.

As for me, I'm a maths teacher with 11 years' experience and 2 master's degrees, and am actually working on finishing an applied maths bachelors degree as well. I was Head of Year for 3 years and now Head of Maths Department for 4 and can teach up to Calculus. Would I even have a shot at somewhere like ASIJ, or probably not without knowing someone already there?
fine dude
Posts: 651
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:12 pm
Location: SE Asia

Re: ASIJ

Post by fine dude »

There is a great sense of entitlement resulting from position, pay check, job security, school reputation, and being buddies with executive leadership. Ivy League professors and administrators have greater humility than these guys. Had a similar experience myself many moons ago when I interviewed for a junior admin position with a Lasallian catholic school in SG. The guy had half his shirt unbuttoned with his feet on the table and was yawning throughout the interview. Sources say the guy now runs a school in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
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