I started my journey to Japan in January of 2014, when I signed up for the CELTA program to get certified to teach English as a foreign language. It was a fantastic course and I made many close friends in the short month that it lasted. Once I obtained my certificate, I immediately began looking for a company in Japan to work for. Why Japan? That's a whole other post, but mostly I love Japanese culture, I speak a little Japanese, and I have always wanted to visit. For most of February, my search was fruitless. I heard back from a few Eikiawas (private English conversation schools) but I was not really interested in their system. Specifically Gaba and Aeon both seemed a little sketchy, and after some advice from friends and reviews online, I decided not to go with a Eikiawa at all. It was in late February that I decided an ALT (assistant language teacher) position would be best, since all the places I found for a full time teacher needed at least a few years of classroom experience, and at that point I only had a month from my CELTA training.
I applied to only a few, and Joytalk and Altia Central were the only two the respond. The Joytalk interview was done through Skype with an Australian man named Grant Harbourne who works for the company. It lasted about an hour and was quite pleasant overall. He asked me about my classroom experience, how my other work experience could relate to teaching in Japan, what sort of environment I would like to teach in, what location I was interested in, what age group I preferred, and how long I would want to stay. He also had me sing an English song, since that sort of thing happens all the time in the Japanese elementary schools, and I ended up singing a repeat after me song about a Moose named Fred who drinks his juice in bed. I got Grant to sing along with me and although he seemed kind of embarrassed it was a fun experience and I think both parties enjoyed it. There was also a period in the interview where he tested my Japanese ability and asked me simple questions like what my name is, where I am from, what my hobbies are, and if I have been to Japan before. He started asking more questions but I didn't understand so it kind of broke down and reverted back to English, but I think he was just checking to see if we had enough Japanese to be able to introduce ourselves to the Board of Education and our fellow teachers once we arrived.
After a week of not hearing back from Joytalk, I sent them an email asking for an update and thanking them for the interview and they responded a few hours later with a job offer! The were offering around $2500 a month (I can't discuss specifics as dictated by my contract), with a small portion of yen a month of travel expenses covered, as well as providing a visa, rental car, and a furnished apartment (that I would have to pay for). There is also 10 days of paid vacation (or sick days) and we are supposed to get the summers off (with 65% reduced pay) and a 2 week break for Christmas. Overall the deal wasn't that great, but they were the only people who offered me a job and I was impatient and a little desperate to get over here to I decided to go with it. The only downside was they couldn't get my visa ready in time, and they wanted me in Japan within the next 10 days! It was a little ridiculous and short notice, but I closed my eyes and took a leap of faith anyway.
When I arrived, I needed to get a hotel for my first night, then meet at the train station to go to our training center by 10:00 AM the next morning. I met up with a few Americans at my hotel and we bonded a bit before heading down to the station and meeting the rest of our coworkers. There were mostly Canadians and Americans, but also a few Brits sprinkled amongst the crowd. In total, I think there were about 25 of us headed to the training for the week. The training center was on a beautiful mountainside and a local community center and It was a pretty good experience overall. They fed us fantastic food (all you can eat!) and we got a chance to speak with Japanese students and staff members all week so it was a great opportunity to get used to working with Japanese people and learning their customs ahead of time so we don't make fools of ourselves at our places of business. We even got a chance to try Natto, a slimy fermented soybean meal with soy sauce and mustard that smells like feet. Japanese people seem to love the stuff for some reason, so it was important that we try to eat it just to be polite. Once you get past the smell and the slime, it's actually not so bad.
The actual training was fairly decent, and we learned a lot of good techniques and games to play with the kids, and how to work effectively with the Japanese Homeroom Teachers (HRT) once we start. It was very useful for me, since my only other training was focused on teaching adult learners, so I had no idea what to do with kids. There was also a huge portion of time spent of actually moving into Japan, what it would be like, what we needed to learn, what we needed to do, and helpful resources we could use if we got into a jam. I am very grateful for everything they gave us during this time and I have been able to use it often during my actual time teaching thus far. There was also a health checkup, chest x-ray, and urine test on one of the last days of training, but it only lasted about 30 minutes and wasn't so bad at all. There was no drug test in the urine test, by the way, for all of you who might be worried about such things.
On the last day of training we received our contracts and were finally told what places we would be working. At this point I am going to give my first negative criticism of the company. They brought us over here with no visa, and did not tell us where we would be dispatched until the last day of training. In their defense, they don't know until the board of educations in each prefecture decides how many people they need and then Joytalk can pick their staff and spread them out throughout the country, but it was still not pleasant for those of us left in the dark. The actual contract signing felt a little high pressure, and although they said we could discuss specifics of the contract with them, there really wasn't any renegotiating of terms. It was basically, "Oh you don't like it? Well we can put you at a different location, but other than that either sign it or go home." I requested a mountain location outside of a city, and although my schools are in said location, they placed me in an apartment in a city and my commutes by car are between 40 minutes and 75 minutes away! It is quite a distance and I am spending over 10,000 yen ($100) a month a gas even after the reimbursement. I have tried to renegotiate that as well and they won't budge. I have the longest commute by far, and most people drive less than half of the distance I do, so the travel reimbursement is about half of what you would normally spend, (100% for some) but I guess that's the price I pay for wanting to work in a beautiful awesome place! It is well worth though honestly, and I am very happy I am at the schools I ended up at.
After the training they took us to our new homes, and we met with a Japanese coordinator in our area who helped us get settled in our places and took us shopping for necessities. Although they told us the apartment would be fully furnished, we ended up in a Leo Palace with internet, TV, a fridge, and a washing machine, but everything else we had to buy, including a mattress (futon), blankets, pots, pans, kitchen stuff, a chair, toilet paper and all that business, hangars and laundry drying equipment, and whatever else you might need when you get a new apartment. The gas was not set up for the first few days I was here either so it was cold showers or nothing. At this point, I still had no visa, no car, no health insurance, and no phone.
Here will be my next big criticism with Joytalk. I just received my phone last week. A full month after arriving in Japan and I had no means of communication with anyone here. They offer full phone support, but I could not get in contact with them without using a pay phone. Well, that's not exactly true since I did have an internet connection I could email them, but still, it was inconvenient. I also received my visa (and health insurance) after about 4 weeks of being in Japan, and my rental car after about 3 weeks. I STILL do not have a bank account here. I guess since they don't pay us until May 24th, they can wait on that, but it is a waste to go to the ATM and spend 20 bucks in foreign transaction fees to get money from America each time I go to the bank. I could set it up myself, but the banks close at 3 PM and I work until 4 PM, and they are closed on the weekends so I need to leave early one day (which counts as my vacation time) to get it. It is really a hassle and very annoying that these things weren't handled the first week I was here when I had no work and plenty of free time.
Overall, I would rate Joytalk as a 6 out of 10. I think they are very nice people and everyone in the company is very caring and helpful, but they are just very disorganized it seems, and do not have enough staff members in my area to help get everyone set up in an efficient manner. It was far too long of a wait to get all my documents ready and it definitely stressed everyone out compounded with the stress of culture shock. The pay is meager, and I will be mostly living paycheck to paycheck my entire time here. I spent about $3000 just setting up for my first few weeks (including my plane fare) so it will not be until about September or so that I break even with all my expenses and the trip becomes worth it financially. However, the entire idea of coming here was not to make money, it was to have an adventure! In that regard, Joytalk is a wonderful company to get started in Japan with. They give me the opportunity to work in a new country and get teaching experience to further my career after this. They do have a great support system and I feel like I am covered with any issue I may have at my schools, and everyone is very quick to respond when I have an issue. They have not been able to help me with a few basic apartment things, like how to sort my trash, and my heater is broken and they still haven't helped with that, but other life in Japan things like where to go shopping, how to pay bills, problems with the schools, and such things they have been on the ball with.
Bottom Line: If you want to come to Japan and experience life in a new country, go with Joytalk. They will take just about anyone. Just don't expect to make much money!