Nova English teacher = you’re screwed and that sucks. Over 4,000 teachers are out of a job! Over 400,000 students haven’t gotten a refund! Nova is bankrupt! This is all total shiznit! It looks like things have come to an end for Nova English teachers that are here on a work visa in hopes of some income and a cultural experience. You’re probably left with very few options such as… finding another job teaching english, or working at some short term job, or working at a bar/club frequented by English speaking Gaijin. (Here’s another job search related link) If you can’t find a job then you can always head back to your home country. For some of you it may not be possible due financial difficulty (aka not being paid by the man) which basically means you’re screwed. If I were in a situation of not being able to find a job replacement I’d either save the money I had to buy a ticket with (while spending the rest partying it up) or in the case I had $0 I’d have my friends/family wire me some money or buy an e-ticket for me to get the hell out of dodge! If you plan on getting a plane ticket you should act soon because after December 20th the rates go up due to the holiday season. If you wait longer than that you’ll just be super screwed. By the way I can’t imagine having a family and working for Nova and not getting paid. Nova carries a debt worth 40 billion Yen. They might have to refund students before paying out salaries and who knows when that could happen. It could be six months or longer.
I read in many places about emergency loans this, emergency loans that, hoping to get an emergency loan from the Embassy blah blah blah. Good luck with that! I can’t find any information on the web regarding this type of loan. The U.S. Embassy website (tokyo.usembassy.gov) mentions nothing about a loan or emergency funds for people employed by Nova. They do say this:
If you require financial assistance, you could request that your family wire funds through the U.S. Department of State here or purchase an e-ticket on your behalf.
Continue reading ‘Were you a Nova English teacher?’
This site is pretty sweet. Check it out if you’re on a broadband connection. You can explore parts of Tokyo
http://tokyo-vr.com/
I took a quick screenshot of what I was looking at:
Taken from their site:
About <Tokyo VR Project> … We have tried data-ization for the main area in Tokyo by QuickTimeVR. But it is the reckless project. A new information interface is proposed by connecting much QuickTimeVR movies, data-izing the space, rows of houses, and a building, and constituting false space. By our original know-how, execution of this project was attained only after becoming possible to carry out extensive creation of the QuickTimeVR quickly. By making scenery an interface as it is, the state with a house, a store, a park, a building, and the living information of a there could be sent. It will be useful to barrier-free, safety and the measure against crime prevention and information dispatch of an area and a walk, or an adventure. We are waiting for cooperation of those who can consent to our trial from the heart.
Are you ready Starting November 20th 2007 Japan will start to fingerprint and photograph people entering Japan. The fingerprints, photographs and other biometric data of foreign visitors will be stored in a computer for cross-checking with a list of wanted criminals and people who have been deported in the past. Investigative authorities will have access to the data.
The prints will remain on record for 70 years. According to the new procedures, if requested, the Justice Ministry will turn over the data to the police and other government agencies.
This excludes ethnic Koreans and other permanent residents with special status, those under 16, those visiting Japan for diplomatic or official purposes, and those invited by the state.
Japan Times said an estimated 6-7 million foreigners entering Japan every year will be covered by the ordinance.
Hakone Kowakien Yunessun in Hakone Japan is offering just about every man’s dream, a kick ass beer bath! Until until December 31 you hit up the spa and enjoy a relaxing bath in a beer mug shaped tub full of beer. I recommend not asking for Miller Lite since it’s an import here and can be pretty pricey. The Yunessun also offers baths of coffee, tea, wine and Japanese sake.
Hakone, Japan is considered the most popular Onsen (aka Hot Springs) resort areas in Japan, and Yunessun takes full advantage of the abundance of high quality hot springs in Hakone. Here’s how you get there!
Read more about this at Google News
I just picked up a Living in Fukuoka guide book from the foreign registration office. It’s pretty sweet and talks about how certain things are different in Japan, where to take some Japanese language courses, how to sort your trash, what to do in case of an emergency, how to get a Japanese drivers license, and a ton of other things. I’ll definitely post some info from the guide book so others can get answers to their questions. Until then you can do some research on the Fukuoka Website.
The flight to Japan was an experience all in itself! This was my first time flying to Japan (from America) where I didn’t just stop and go in Tokyo. U.S. flights are easy and flying to Thailand was a piece of cake because a lot of people speak English. We took a flight from San Francisco and arrived in Japan in about 12 hours or so, I can’t recall right now but I did get 5,303 Award miles though! NICE! We went from San Francisco (SFO) to Nagoya (NGO) to Fukuoka (FUK). We flew on United Airlines and I highly recommend it. The customer service was great, the food was okay, and the seats were comfortable. They had a head rest that’s adjustable so you can easily sleep and you get your own personal vide screen to watch movies, TV shows, BBC News, or you can see where the plane is on a GPS type screen. All movies and shows were offered in English with and without Japanese subtitles, or Japanese voice over so everybody can enjoy the in flight entertainment instead of sitting there going “OMG! 10 hours remaining!”
** I highly recommend checking in online exactly 24 hours in advance. I was able to change my seat to an exit row which gave me plenty of leg room.
When we arrived at the Nagoya Airport we had to rush to catch out plane to Fukuoka. Here’s what you can expect…
- Go through immigration, hand them the completed form (Customs Declaration Form) that the airline had you fill out, and they’ll give you landing permission.
- Pick up your luggage, go through customs, answer questions, possibly get searched.
- Go to your connecting airline, go through a luggage security check point, check the luggage.
- Go through a personal security check point, and then go to your gate and you’re all set.
What happened to us? Well it wasn’t an easy 1,2,3,4.
Here’s the long story made short. We went through immigration first. Then we headed to our gate and when we asked for directions from the airline counter we found out our luggage does not follow us, we had to grab it and go through customs and Continue reading ‘Flying to Japan’
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