Welcome to the 'FAQ Corner'! In these pages, the Prefectural Advisors will post answers to some of the Fukushima JET community's most commonly asked questions, and offer hints and ideas for getting more out of everyday life in Japan. If you have a question that you'd like answered in the PA Corner, you can submit it anonymously by email!
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The JET in the next town
pays no rent, while I am stuck with a 60,000 yen rent bill
every month. I even had to pay key money out of my own
pocket. Isn't this unfair? Why is there so much discrepency
in contract conditions on the JET Programme?
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There is certainly a great
deal of discrepancy in contract conditons among JET Programme
participants. This is due to the fact that, despite its
name, the JET 'Programme' is actually not a unified, systematic
employment scheme at all, but rather a collection of very
different, individual contract organizations with different
circumstances and budgetary limitations. While some COs
are able to offer the JET free housing and other perks,
others are limited by their budgets to only providing
the JET's salary and travel expenses. The JET should realize
that the CO is not actually obligated to provide anything
more than pay and travel expenses; anything beyond this
is simply a bonus. While it can be difficult, avoiding
comparing your own situation to that of others is definitely
a way to mainitain peace of mind!
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| A |
You ask your supervisor for nenkyu (paid leave) during
school time but are not allowed to take it when you want.
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| A |
Your main job here as an
ALT is primarily to teach English and your culture to
the students. Asking for paid leave during school time
is not well looked on.@This is the same for all teachers
at your school. When you cannot help but take paid leave
during term time please explain clearly your reasons for
needing to do so and arrange a change in schedule. Try
to give as much prior notice as possible.
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| B |
You catch a heavy cold to the degree that you cannot speak
and decide to take the day off. You assume that it will
be counted as byokyu as this is stated in the JET contract.
Some time weeks later you realise that it has in fact
been written down as paid leave.
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| B |
Most Japanese regard byokyu
as only for serious illnesses when you need to stay in
hospital and usually take nenkyu when they catch a cold.
As it is written in your JET contract, it is within your
rights to take byokyu when you are sick. However, don't
abuse this right and cause your contracting organisation
to lose trust in you. It is important that you discuss with your supervisor
what to do if you become sick and cannot come to work
before you get sick. Each contracting organisation has
its own procedures for dealing with byokyu. Some may require
a Doctor's Certificate for just one day, others only after
3 days. Find this out.
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| C |
You are discretely asking a question to one person in
the office about a personal matter or something that you
would like to keep as discrete as possible and that person
turns around and asks everyone else in the officec
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| C |
Japanese have a different
view regards privacy than is common in western countries.
Their outlook is based on the group society idea of inside/outside.
What is said to one person in the group will not be repeated
outside the group but can be repeated to all within. But
as a general rule it is important for Japanese also to
support confidentiality and each person's right to privacy.
Therefore, when you are talking to someone regarding something
that you would like to keep private, you should make it
clear to them that you would like to keep it strictly
between the 2 of you. Some things that may seem obvious
to you might not be so for the Japanese and vice versa
so communication regarding your thoughts and feelings
is important.
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| D |
A JET who lives close to you begins to tell you strange@stories
about how the Police/Yakuza are after him/her. They are
acting in a completely irrational and paranoid manner.
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| D |
Although not common each
year in Japan there are a few cases of JETs becoming seriously
mentally unstable, whether from a prior history or due
to the pressures resulting from a change in environment.
Make sure you contact your ASL or PA if you think that
someone has begun to act irrationally or in a way that
could be harmful to either themselves or those around
them.CLAIR has professional psychiatrists on call. The
earlier mental illness is detected the less damage done.
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