Eikaiwa

Foreigners in Japan usually belong to one of two categories. They are either ryugakusei (foreign students) or ei-kaiwa kyoshi (English- conversation teachers). Four years ago, I was a ryugakusei in Tokyo. Flatteringly, this time around, many people still take me for a foreign student when they meet me outside working hours. But this time I have joined the army of English conversation teachers.
English conversation schools are big business in Japan and are usually the first thing you see at whatever train station you alight. First you will see an advert on the train. Then a poster at the station that guides you to the right exit. Then, from one of the high buildings surrounding the station, the big, bold letters will jump at you, screaming "NOVA", "Aeon", "ECC", or, as in my case, "GEOS", and promise they will open up the world for you if you open up your pockets for them.
People in Japan learn English at school, but it's all grammar and translation, and in order to communicate, which many are keen to do, they have to spend their hard-earned money and sparse time studying at English conversation schools. But they do learn, and the selling point that it will be an enjoyable and gratifying experience for them is not an empty promise.
After all, they have me, and my fellow English teachers. For us, this is an excellent opportunity to become legal aliens in Japan. This, in turn, opens up the world for us: the world Japan has to offer. And communicating with our students, we get to see its multitude of sparkling colours. Housewives, career women, business men, senior citizens, kids from kindergarten to highschool age, university students, mothers, fathers, couples, they're all my students, and they're all eager to talk to me. Great! Manna from Heaven to the story hunter! And of course I am highly motivated to improve their English to increase their story telling prowess.
I work at the Juso branch of GEOS with one part time Japanese teacher colleague and my manager. Our school has about 80 students, about 50 of whom I teach, divided into small classes between one and six students. The lower level students are taught by my Japanese colleague until they acquire a level from which a native English teacher will be beneficial to them.
Of course the job is not all milk and honey.
Some children are extremely difficult to handle, which turns some children's classes into a nightmare, especially because their mums expect you to teach them something nonetheless, which has to be demonstrated after each class.
The working hours are long and not altogether convenient. I am in work from ca 12.30 till 22.30 Tuesday to Saturday.
Also, if you look at today's picture, you can take a quick guess who in the photo is subject to a rather strict dress code. This includes mandatory make up, suit, shirt, high-heeled shoes, professionally tucked up hair, and tan tights every day. I have finally found a brand of the latter that fits me, but even though not having the crotch of my tights between my knees every day is a significant improvement in life quality, I still haven't found a way of extending their life span beyond two or three working days.
As a final little hitch, in addition to being English teachers, we are all part of the business, which means we have to contribute to reaching given motnhly goals measured by the cash every school brings in each month. This means, we have to approach students about contract renewals and conversions to more expensive contracts, and we are supposed to go out recruiting new students in our free time. We have to run campaigns, decorate our schools accordingly, and try to sign up people for trips and homestay programmes organised by the foreign exchange branch of the business.
In my own humble opinion, it would do everyone, including the company, a lot of good to hire marketing and PR staff to carry out those tasks so teachers could spend all their time preparing and teaching lessons, and correcting homework.
But this is how Japanese companies seem to work. Everybody has to make the whole business their own business. And if you do get your head round it and do what you are told, it does become easier and nicer for everyone involved. So, as everybody tells each other all the time: gambarou! Let's do our best!