Of Rice and Zen I'm going to Japan tomorrow... shit the bed Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 54 6265

Articles from Of Rice and Zen

Day 623: Nova RAAM Michael Lewis quits - Shiga, Ritto school closes 2007-10-02 08:56:00 When all of the figures of authority at Nova quit I wondered who would dinkle smack me for telling the students the situation. I realised that the RAAM (big boss) for this part of Japan, named Michael Lewis, would probably be traveling back and forth to tell the kids to stop climbing on the furniture.I found out today that Michael Lewis the RAAM for this part of Japan has also quit. There are literally no figures of authority left for miles around. Do you remember that scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when Indy wakes up on a nose-diving plane and Willy drags him to the cockpit and says "no-one's flying the plane"? Well I'm your Willy Scott in a sequin dress and a serving fork in my ribs. Anything goes. Do as you will, there's no-one in the driver's seat.First my AT Andrew quit.Then his replacement Dan went on emergency unpaid leave.Then the two block trainers, Tina and Chris, wisely decided not to show up and drag it out any longer.Finally the AAMs for Shiga (Ch ...

Day 622: Nova steals millions while teachers are evicted 2007-10-01 01:58:00 I just received an email from Lisa, a Kusatsu teacher living in Yamashina in Nova accomodation called Heights Yamashina. The message reads:"Management of my building just came round to try and kick me out! They said they hadn't been given money for August or September."Lisa has now quit Nova and will soon be leaving Japan. I wish her the best of luck. Two new teachers have recently moved come to Japan and moved into Heights Yamashina. They are living in my old apartment, 308. They did their OJT (on the job training) today. The rent will be deducted from their salaries. They don't know they are about to be evicted.I know lots of other teachers who still live in Nova accommodation across Japan. All of these individuals have had their rent money stolen by Nova for a quarter of a year. Nova are in bigger trouble than any of the mainstream press or the students realise. Nobody can afford to live under the logic, "Nova will be okay, it's big" for a second longer.When I lived in ...

Day 621: Nova walkouts confirmed and government bail-out mooted 2007-09-29 06:54:00 Today's word on the Nova grapevine is both good and bad news.The bad news:- The Shiga, Kyoto and Nara AAMs have all resigned.- The Block Trainers for Shiga has walked away claiming emergency unpaid leave.- Your new Assistant Trainer has also claimed emergency unpaid leave from today and won't be coming to work at all.- Your branch has received a pack of booklets designed to stop the flood of unemployed gaijin becoming drug dealers and granny-muggers. It may as well be titled, I'm Sorry About Your Forthcoming Unemployment but Please Don't Hit My Face by Faceless Civil Service Drone Unit 35808. Strangely the government knows enough to anticipate our unemployment but not enough to stop stamping the visas and sending helpless, clueless newbies over here in drones.This essentially means there will be no figures of authority at all for miles around. Who's going to volunteer to step up to the AT plate when Nova's made it clear ATs are low on the 'People We Might Want to Pay Sometime ...

Day 620: Nova AAMs and BTs walk out - is it over for Nova? 2007-09-28 11:49:00 Today the AAM (regional manager) of Kansai, four other AAMs and the Block Trainer for Shiga all decided they will no longer coming to work for Nova. Shiga AAM Chari Hall and her husband Kyoto AAM Gavin Hall had already handed in their resignation. Now it seems she, like so many other Nova teachers, has finally had enough of working for free and will simply longer be attending.The staff and teachers realised how vast was the devastation. How deep was the rot. How a skeleton crew would toil in a hull tomorrow and pretend to be an English teaching empire. How very newbie has been told not to attend work anymore. When our wonderful BT Tina locked the door on Kusatsu Honko she realised it was for the last time. She burst into tears and other teachers and staff have followed her lead tonight. Nova gave me a means to have the time of my life and I hope I never forget it.Today was my day off so I spent it playing with Illustrator and Photoshop. Elsewhere in Japan my friends Mod and Har ...

Day 619: Japanese Nova staff walk out of Osaka 2007-09-27 13:15:00 Just as I was going to revive my old idea of "sinknova dot com" a website dedicated to gathering teachers across Japan to agree a leaving date, Nova does all the work for me.1. On the 27th of September 2007 the Japanese staff all left Osaka head office today in protest.2. Most of the foreign staff left soon after them.3. The Assistant Trainers and Block Trainers of Shiga and Kyoto have confirmed what I already knew; Nova has no money.4. These people, my bosses, have recommended that I don't go into work anymore but call in sick.5. The ATs and BTs were paid over a week late.6. There was never a secret reason to relax and wait for your next paycheque.7. The teachers won't be paid.8. The staff won't be paid.9. The advertising won't be paid.10. The suppliers won't be paid.11. The branch rent won't be paid.12. The teachers' health insurance hasn't been paid.13. In Shizuoka teachers have been left evicted and homeless after Nova stole their rent money.Who would've thought while us s ...

Day 615: Nova's Shiga AAM resigns 2007-09-24 05:28:00 Just imagine the symphony that would strike up Ode to Joy in your head if you arrived at your Nova branch and found you'd been taken off the schedule completely. A beautiful blank sheet. Acres of white. Well today the angels were in fine fettle as that's exactly what happened.Your bearded German ass is bathed in the light of a Nakatomi vault packed with negotiable bearer bonds. "By the time management find out what went wrong I'll be sitting on a beach earning 20%", you muse. You put up your feet. You pick up a Japanese study book and start preparing for the level 3 test in December.It's like looking into a crystal ball to see how you're going to bite the bullet and seeing yourself surrounded by a bevvy of stunning Koda Kumi lookalikes being wildly shagged. Albeit to death. It seems your manager didn't think you'd be coming back to work again. You silently give yourself an "empty-sales five".Then the last laugh's on you because 2 seconds later Junko calls from Kusatsu in ...

Day 615: Nova president faxes staff 2007-09-21 10:44:00 A new fax sent to Nova branches today purports to be from Nozomu Sahashi himself:I would like to inform you that the prospects look clearer for the refunds of cancellations that have accumulated until now and that a schedule has been established for refunding this money from the end of this month.I fully understand the very harsh business environment in the branches. I am grateful to all of you who have made strong efforts under difficult circumstances.The dark clouds that have been hanging heavily over us will be aside. I said previously 'the darkest time is before the dawn', and finally the first light of dawn can be seen.With this there will be no concern regarding salaries from next month onwards. I cannot announce further details at the moment but would like you to feel reassured and concentrate on business as usual.Nozom SahashiPoint: Nova may have been saved today.Counter-point: Sahashi has rejected other deals in the past.Point: Perhaps Sahashi is still in Japan and is bac ... President

Day 615: When then going gets tough, Nova teachers party hard 2007-09-20 09:11:00 Despite the 'death of Nova'TM a delicious cloud of total enthusiasm is in the air around me and my friends like a ball of cotton candy fashioned from a giant dream bunny's fluffy tail. So much so that we've turned the 'death of Nova'TM into an excuse to organise possibly our biggest party so far. It's our first and possibly last ever 'Bye-bye Nova party' and it's happening at Sanctuary in Kyoto on Sunday.Today I worked from 5 to 9 at Ishiyama. Most of the day was free-con fun but I ended up teaching from the textbook just to avoid trying to converse with sleeping walking drones who I knew had an amusing inability to bring anything to a conversation.A: How are you?Masahiro: Yes.A: HOW are YOU?Masahiro: Oh. Uh? I tired.A: How many hours sleep did you get?Masahiro: 9A: What do you do in your free time?Masahiro: Uh?A: Shumi wa?Masahiro: Haha, nai wa. Haha. I was worked hard, everyday late after.A: How was your day?Masahiro: Busy.A: What did you do this weekend?Masahiro: Ate o ...

Day 614: Nova discipline slipping 2007-09-20 00:13:00 Yesterday a senior figure in my area was asked to reprimand a teacher. He was foolish enough to email a Japanese staff member about the troubles. He thought she was a friend. She immediately reported it to the AAM who then asked the BT to discipline him. Why the fuck would a Japanese girl report a friend to a company that is currently shafting her red raw and will soon die and leave her with nothing? Interesting. To me at least. Anyway, said BT took said naughty teacher outside and said, "I fucking hate this company and if your gonna send emails to people, at least send them to (NAME DELETED) in head office and make it count."Our superiors have been pushed as far as us. Nobody will get paid for this. Nobody can quit. I'm going in for my shift swaps today and tomorrow because they are for another guy who may not realise the futility of going to work. Also I'm going to be recruiting for private students. I will try to avoid teaching a lesson. I know if I quit now I cannot rece ...

Day 614: Nova senior staff pushed far enough 2007-09-20 00:08:00 When you look back in your rearview mirror at Japan you will have nothing but good memories. But for the here and now in my neck of the Japanese woods the Japanese staff and senior gaikokujin (foreigners) are showing signs of being pushed far enough. Nova had been paying working teachers as they are the last who could keep the doors open. Yesterday was the delayed payday for the ATs (supervisors) and BTs (regional boss/trainers). The money didn't come. The AAM of this area in a private meeting with my AT confirmed that the reason the Japanese staff's pay has been delayed for the months, their bonuses cancelled and the ATs not paid is that Nova is dangerously short on money, it was not a technical error. That's patently obvious to anyone who's looked at the news over the last year, but it's the first time I've heard of the AAM getting real with someone.She then told him she was livid with the company and amazed he and other teachers are coming to work. The clear implication ...

Day 613: Nova President bat shit crazy? 2007-09-19 23:54:00 Today I'm changing my writing style. I'm bringing back the first person. I'm bringing back the urgency of "I".Nova sold a bond to pay for our last wages. Who in spank would buy an unsecured bond from Nova? A friend? The mob? If they have any more to sell when they tank the money will be divided between the bank, the suppliers and the landlords who haven't been paid. The longer this drags out the less likely the teachers will see a cent. Mod's living off "Calorie Mate". It's a block of pure calories. It's like a food substitute from sci-fi. Tough times.The company needs to tank now and you need to not go to work to make this happen. You need to explain to every student the extent of the white elephant standing next to them. It's not on their news and they most likely have no idea those points they bought are now worth as much as a painting by Yasmine Bleeth.New teacher Jen has just arrived. She won't get paid. She has no experience teaching in Japan. She hasn't ... President

Day 613: Nova teachers ponder September's paycheck 2007-09-18 08:32:00 Nova branches in Kansai have confirmed they were asked to send all petty cash back to head office. There goes the smash and grab method of receiving your wages.There's only one thing for it.... Beer bong.It's Nova payday mark 2. As of 10am Nova teachers had not been paid. Yesterday was a national holiday so wages were paid after lunchtime. Nova had mere hours to avoid a massive walkout. August's wages were certain to arrive if you received a payslip. They're like two sides of the schwartz, you don't get the one without the other. Or so you hear. September's pay is the big question. Today's pay will presumably delay the inevitable. Nova needs to be rebranded.When you tell your staff that Nova narrowly avoided a sudden walkout they act surprised. It seems a large proportion of them didn't think it out. Blinkers on, head down, work hard. Some even had the audacity to tell teachers it wasn't a big deal. Not if you live with mummy and daddy, if you eat the bentos they made yo ...

Day 606: Unemployment benefits for Nova employees 2007-09-13 23:41:00 It's worth noting that unpaid wages are not handled by Hello Work. As teachers in the NCB and other recent eikaiwa bankruptcies learned, these companies love to go under on payday. Why? Because it's cash they can pay their creditors with and leave the burden of paying employees to the state. At any rate, should NOVA go bankrupt without paying you wages owed, you will get about 80% of them from the government, though it will be a 10-12 week wait, if not longer.The entire company has to first be liquidated and sold, with the creditors getting paid out according to a roster. Last on that list are the employees of the company. Once all creditors are paid (or defaulted on), the government will handle salary defaults to employees. The process is relatively simple, but takes time.If you currently work for Nova, you have two choices: you can quit now, or you can wait for Nova to go bankrupt.QuittingThe good: If you quit now and manage to find another job, you're safe. You're free of Nova.T ...

Day 604: Nova instructors kept in the dark 2007-09-13 23:15:00 The Regional Area Manager for Kansai sent the following email to Japan staff for their eyes only:???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????3?4?????????????????????????????????????????19???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????FAX?????????????????????Update again!Only MM Center instructors and all those working in branches in Osaka fu have definitely been paid - there money will be in their account sometime later today.T ...

Day 605: Nova teachers not paid 2007-09-13 22:58:00 You wake up late to an unlucky 13 messages to your phone. It emerges that no Nova teachers got paid last night. It has also been reported online that Japanese Nova staff received a fax alerting them that Nova teachers' pay might be delayed until the 18th. They were then called and told not to tell the teachers. The Japanese staff were told this morning and were ordered not to tell the teachers. Further inqquiries revealed that head office have pledged to fax all branches at 1 o'clock (that's now). Presumably by this point they'll have an idea of how many teachers are absent and what the prospects for continuation look like.When calling head office and asking to speak to payroll teachers have been given placating messages. When one such teacher enquired about his remaining holiday he was told he would be passed to payroll. At this point he realised that at least some phone operators are acting as cannon fodder to give concerned teachers the runaround.More news when we have i ...