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I got an exciting update from the English 'Eikaiwa' school I'll be working for in Japan next month!
A few weeks ago, I was informed that I received my 1st choice for placement in the Kanto region: Saitama!
When asked for my preference at the interview in NYC, I requested: "Anywhere in Kanto (Saitama, Yokohama, Tokyo) or Kansai (Osaka, Hirakata, Kyoto)."
I was thrilled to hear this, but was informed that my placement was only about 95% certain, and could possibly change between now and the time of my departure.
A few days ago, I had to call the North American office to complete a conversation/phone call exercise in a Correspondence Pack they sent me with the Japanese recruiter to check my ability to speak Japanese over the phone. After the exercise, she asked if I had a few extra minutes, because she had some breaking news for me in regards to my location placement.
A little nervous, I said yes and expected her to tell me that the position in Saitama was no longer available, and that I'd be moving elsewhere, far from Kanto or Kansai.
She brought up the fact that my placement in Saitama was only 95% certain, and that my placement had in fact been changed.
I said that I understood, and asked if she knew where my new placement would be then.
She explained to me that the 'Personality' poster I designed and submitted was brought to the Head Office in Tokyo, and because it made such a strong impression, they decided that they would like me to teach at one of their top schools in Tokyo instead of the one in Saitama.
She then asked, "Is this OK?" ... Needless to say, I said "Yes!"
She then asked, "So, in regards to Tokyo, do you know where the main financial and business area is located? There is a place called the Ginza, which is where you will be teaching. So the company of course has very high expectations for teachers at this school, but we believe you will do well there."
I told her I knew of the Ginza and had spent time there while seeing performances at the nearby Kabuki-za theatre on a few occasions. I thanked her for the good news, and told her that I was most definitely up for the challenge of teaching at such a prestigous school.
Of course, this makes me a little nervous, because now the company will be paying closer attention to my performance, and must have fairly high expectations of me if they chose to transfer me to their top school at the beginning of my contract, without really knowing from firsthand experience whether I will be an outstanding teacher or not (I have every intention of living up to their expectations though since they were kind enough to offer me an opportunity like this at the start of my new career).
So now that much has been decided. As of today, I am scheduled to have a training seminar at the office in Vancouver, Canada from July 21st through July 24th. I will then fly out of Canada on the morning of July 25th, and will arrive in Tokyo Narita Airport on the evening of July 26th. My first day of classes at the Ginza school will be on Monday, July 28th.
Prior to leaving, I will be attending Metrocon in Tampa, FL July 18th and 19th (Friday and Saturday).
My flight for Vancouver departs out of the Tampa airport on Sunday morning, but I intend to stay up all night Saturday spending time with my friends in Tampa that I won't be seeing again for quite a while.
Here is my itinerary (in chronological order):
Fri 18 - Tampa (Metrocon)
Sat 19 - Tampa (Metrocon)
Sun 20 - Tampa to Vancouver
Mon 21 - Vancouver (Orientation/Training)
Tue 22 - Vancouver (Orientation/Training)
Wed 23 - Vancouver (Orientation/Training)
Thu 24 - Vancouver (Orientation/Training)
Fri 25 - Vancouver to Tokyo
Sat 26 - Tokyo
Sun 27 - Tokyo
Mon 28 - 1st Day at Ginza School
If you'll be at Metrocon or in the Tampa area that weekend, I hope to see some of you then.
As for my friends in Japan, I hope to see all of you soon!
I'm looking forward to this adventure!
-Richard
P.S. This is what the ‘Personality’ poster looked like that I designed. I figured since it would be the first impression my new employers, students, and co-workers would have of me, I wanted it to be creative and eye-catching, since essentially it’s a larger-than-life business card (meishi) that I’m presenting for people to develop their initial feelings towards me. Thankfully, it went over even better than I expected! The original instructions said to make a poster by taping 4 to 6 pieces of construction paper together with a collage of pictures that show information about your life, family, hobbies, likes, dislikes, etc.
Being the nerd that I am (and not wanting to send macaroni-pictures to Japan as a first impression), I made a full-size poster in Photoshop that would be the equivalent size of 6 pieces of paper and had it professionally printed as a high quality 20x30 laminated poster. This was the end result:
( Coming Soon - Richard Davis - July 26, 2008 )
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