"If you are pushing 30 and have more comic books than the average 15-year-old Japanese kid...

As Jim Foxworthy the host of "Are you Smarter Than a 5th Grader" became famous for, "If you have relatives that tell you that it is time to move and they put wheels on their house and drive off, you might be a redneck." the same holds true for messed up gaijins but goes like this:

"If you are pushing 30 and have more comic books than the average 15-year-old Japanese kid, you might be a messed up gaijin."

It is true that life overseas is an eye-opening experience but what opens the eyes even more is returning to your home country and moving forward in the direction that you want to move in while remaining relevant.  That is why it is so important for international education professionals that do work overseas in the field make the most of their time because the competition and the geographic limitations can be too much to bare.

Life-changing experiences to draw from are what allowed me to find my way as a professional.  What are your life-changing experiences?  If you can't think of any and find that you have been away for too long to remain relevant, it is time to put down that comic book and develop a career plan.

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com
(C)2006-10

Messed-up Gaijins

The past couple of months have allowed me to travel across the US where I have met with a variety of international education professionals.  Last week, I was in Chicago and met a teacher of 19 years who managed to do his teaching gigs at a local junior college and a for-profit language center with only his bachelor's degree and teaching experience overseas as the prerequisite.  He mentioned that when he returned from his four-year stint of teaching in Japan that he was "messed up."  He didn't go into details but having walked a mile in his shoes, I can only imagine.  It wasn't that long ago when I felt "messed up" trying to make a go of things in the bucket of the "Bible Belt".  As we observed his class, he stepped over to us and gave more teaching tips in five minutes than I could imagine in my four years of teaching ESL.

This reminded me of the out-of-touch American student advisor in Yokohama, Japan who got completely bent out of shape when I questioned the need for a post-bachelor's degree as a PREREQUISITE for the international educational profession.  Their are two things that are essential for international education.  International experiences preferably overseas and continued education beyond a undergraduate degree.  Mr. "Out-of-Touch" couldn't wrap his head around my need of being practical and not wanting to invest 2-3 years and $30K when I could be working and going to school on the side like it is done in the real world. 

Are you one of those messed-up gaijins reading this in Japan?  It is time to man up or end up irrelevant.  One good thing that has come from this recession is how things are correcting themselves.  Government and for-profit English-language programs in Japan are having to revisit the effectiveness of their International
Education Programs (IEP) meaning that the token gaijin in Japan is having to do more with less.  Why would you work like that on the other side of the world with nothing guaranteed?  Too often, people do not know when to call it quits or will walk away from the industry only to return with disasterous results.         

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

The Beauty of Japanese Women: It never seizes to amaze me.

It never seizes to amaze me the beautify of Asian women, Japanese in particular.  Whether is it is their demeanor in their stance, they way the hair hangs to barely touch the shoulders, the almond-shaped eyes, the puffy cheeks down to the petite but inviting figure.  A dress down to below the knee never looked so good.




The Divine Wind Vault
http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com
(C)2006-10

Atlanta's Top 10 Japanese & Korean Restaurants and Shops

1.  Chodang Tofu House
5907 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA
770-220-0667

2. White Windmills Bakery (next to Chosan OK)
5881 Buford Hwy NW
Doraville, GA 30340
678-887-5200

3. Tomato Japanese Grocery (Norcross)
7124 Peachtree Industrial Blvd
Norcross, GA 30071

4.  Sushi Yoko (adjacent to Tomato Japanese Grocery in Norcross)

5. Rainbow Video
5025 Winters Chapel Road
Atlanta, GA 30360
770-394-9909

6. Tomato Japanese Grocery (Smyrna)
2086 Cobb Parkway
Smyrna, GA 30080
770-933-0108

7. H-Mart Grocery (Duluth)
2550 Pleasant Hill Road
Duluth, GA 30096
678-543-4000

8. Sushi Mito
6470 Spalding Drive
Norcross, GA 30092
770734-0398

9. Shoya Izakaya (next to H-Mart Grocery)
6035 Peachtree Road #A101
Doraville, GA 30360
770-457-5555

10. Joli Kobe
5600 Roswell Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30342
404-843-3257

The Divine Wind Vault
http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com/
(C)2006-10

Rush Hour Commute- Tokyo 03/2005

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Sumo Tournament, Tokyo 09/2004

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Myths About Working in Japan

Having lived in Japan for three years and employed as a temp-worker by the same employer for that time, I saw firsthand how the Japanese work in Japan. I was working for a city government entity in their board of education and can say that there were more artificial holidays requiring office closures than anything experienced in the US.

There is no doubt about it that the Japanese put in long hours. On a short day, they may work 10 hours days and on a long day, 12 or more hours. The idea that Saturday and Sunday are reserved as "off days" is more like working on Saturday and off on Sunday.

But, it is important to define "work" as the Japanese do. In the US, there are tasks and deadlines and there are groups of people that are working on those tasks to meet those deadlines. Well, the government workers in Japan are a lot like the ones in the US and will work a bit, loaf a bit then have a pointless meeting where nothing will be resolved then shoot the breeze a bit then the next thing you know, it's around 7pm, and you have really accomplished nothing since the meeting ended at 4pm.

The idea of a guy knocking off work at 5pm is a big no-no due to the culture. The idea of working a 50 hour not 40 hour week is the norm and the overtime that you put in may or may not be recognized at time and a half.

As the old Navy saying goes, "Work Smarter, Not Harder". While this scenario is based on my observations of the Japanese government worker, this is not too far off the mark having worked for a year in California for an old-fashion Japanese trading company. This was over five years ago and the idea of distributing info via e-mail was seen as taboo. Ridged, structuring of meetings and people sitting in assigned seats and information being passed in Japanese with people like me who do not know the language at the business level were the norm. Doing something "more manageable" was seen as taking the easy way out.

A few things that must be taken into consideration about working for a Japanese employer are that you must adapt to their ways, they will not adapt to yours despite being in your home country, you must be very patient, and you must get use to being henpecked to death and the way the Japanese manage is by micro-managing their underlings. Promotion is based on seniority, not results. While these are my findings, the Japanese are changing their ways while operating outside the US. For example, they realize that outside of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other big cities with Japanese communities that they cannot assume that the average American can understand Japanese or operate as the Japanese do. Therefore, there is only one Japanese person working at a branch office in "Middle America" and that Japanese manager's staff comprises of an all-American staff and the American foremen report to the Japanese manager and communication passes through the manager and down thought the foreman to the front line of American workers from the home office in Japan. (Top-down) The front line workers work in shifts and their needs are channeled back to their American foreman.

Furthermore, it was noted that in Japan, the fast food chain, KFC will change their pay structure to compensate employees who put in overtime which is similar to what goes on in the US.

Today's picture was taken in May 2006 and is a tribute to the American professor who introduced agriculture from the West to Japan, Dr. Clark. His quote was "Boys be Ambitious". Underneath me should be a sign that reads "Work Smarter, Not Harder"

The Divine Wind Vault
http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com
(C)2006-10