ESID-a flaw of the programme?

[jim]

Is it just me or is the whole ESID thing that comes up pretty much everytime a JET has an issue indictive of an inconsistency / weakness in the programme as a whole?

Some JETS get 3 months off a year, a good location and quality apartments at subsidised rents, while others are condemned to life in a decaying Inaka hellhole for 12 months, splashing out 8 man per month to live in a broom cupboard. Ditto for schools, some people have a good deal, others work in utterly miserable conditions.

Worst of all, it's almost entirely down to luck which side of the coin you get.

I've enjoyed my time here, but know many others who have encountered serious difficulties only to be told "Tough luck, ESID." The sheer lottery of it all is the main reason why I would struggle to 100% recommend JET to a friend.

[word]

I think there are occasionally JETs who end up in really unfortunate situations, but I also think that (1) these are a very, very small minority, (2) there are always things an ALT can do to improve things for him/herself, and (3) there is no teaching exchange program that is superior to JET--period.

Life is a lottery, really. More like a poker game, now that I think about it. How you handle that fact just depends on what sort of person you are. It's the only hand we get, so I'm goin' all in. My experience hasn't been 100% positive; in fact, there are aspects of my life here that still occasionally drive me bananas. All the same, I recommend JET all the time... but only to my very best friends. They're the only people I trust to represent my home nation and state here in Japan.

[Namisuke]

The ESID situation comes into play because you don't work for the JET Programme - you work for an individual BOE or school. The Programme is there to help connect ALTs with schools all over Japan. Not all schools or towns in Japan are the same. Yes, it sucks if you see other ALTs who are more spoiled than you, but they have a different employer. If someone doesn't want to take a chance and get placed somewhere random and exciting, they can apply through a different outsourcing company that posts specific jobs. I don't think the ESID thing is a weakness - I think it is just that people don't understand why the situations are never the same for everyone.

If an ALT is living in a bad apartment, things can be done to change that. If someone sees their town as a rotting hellhole, they should either change their perspective or get out and do something exciting. This job is meant to have challenges. What can you say you learned if life here was too easy?

From a teacher who has experience working at multiple schools, I can tell you that it is a blessing to be placed in a challenging school. Being able to help troubled students is much more rewarding in my opinion than working with gifted students. My JTE once said that being a teacher is a sacred job that we are lucky to have. If an ALT believes they live in a "hellhole" town, then maybe they can do something to brighten it up and make it a better place for the kids there.

[king]

I agree, it really sucks.
Here I am bored off my butt wasting my life away in a quiet rural city whilst others are living it up in the suburbs of Osaka. I'm paying a kajillion man a month for my flat and then paying lots of money on top of that for everything I need whilst someone else keeps getting free stuff thrown at them.


But....As said...that's life.
I was born into a crappy situation. Why did I have to live in a dull small town up in the hills and why are my parents so poor? Its just not fair the way some people live in plush houses in nice cities and have life handed to them on a plate.
Equally so though there's all those born into third world poverty and hunger and starvation....
ESID and a lot of people get a bum deal but I'm sure everyone here has it better than most people on the planet.

[GunmaBrentPA]

I very much agree with word and Namisuke. Especially the parts about how not all towns in Japan are the same, the individual involved has a lot of determination in how they handle their situation, and that JET is currently, and has been as long as I am aware of, the best teaching exchange program in Japan. Also, because of how up front JET is when it comes to the variety of placements no one can claim they were unprepared for the possibility of of a difficult placement.

One thing to keep in mind, is that there is no real definition of of what is a "good placement." The same itty-bitty inaka town that sounds like a hellhole to some might be exactly exactly what another down-to-earth, warm-hearted placement someone else is hoping for. The bustling, thriving city might be an endless adventure to one JET and an impersonal, cement wasteland to another. Are any of them wrong?

Yes, there are some who are in miserable conditions and it can be difficult for the PAs, JET or CLAIR to take bold action, but in those dire circumstances you also seldom if ever hear someone reference ESID.

[Cytrix]

Agree with all the points above. Life is a lottery, you just have to make the best of what you're given and not live a pessimistic, negative life.

When I first saw the Google Street View of my inaka town I was pretty '...urgh it looks dirty and decrepit', while all my friends were off in Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kyoto etc. Once I arrived I have never ever looked back and thought 'man I wish I lived in (insert city here)'. I freaking love my placement. The people are so wonderful and friendly, the town is utterly gorgeous (street view you lied to me!), the surrounding mountain area is beautiful and filled with cultural spots and nature features, and hell even my local supermarket stocks NZ cheese. My apartment, while new and giant, was filled with old stuff, so I spent a small fortune to buy new stuff. My rent isn't the cheapest in the world...but screw it...I love this place, and frankly I am glad that ESID. If we all ended up in Leo Palace's tiny closets, what fun would that be?

[Musashi]

Considering ESID isn't used outside Japan; my feeling is that it was coined to give crappy CO's a pass. If ALT's could actually pick their location, no one would want to work for the bad CO's because there would be reviews about them all over the net.

If ALT's had a union or some kind of association, maybe there could be more equality among all the postings. (at least for the pay, time off, perks, and subsidies)

I agree, it really sucks.
Here I am bored off my butt wasting my life away in a quiet rural city whilst others are living it up in the suburbs of Osaka. I'm paying a kajillion man a month for my flat and then paying lots of money on top of that for everything I need whilst someone else keeps getting free stuff thrown at them.


But....As said...that's life.
I was born into a crappy situation. Why did I have to live in a dull small town up in the hills and why are my parents so poor? Its just not fair the way some people live in plush houses in nice cities and have life handed to them on a plate.
Equally so though there's all those born into third world poverty and hunger and starvation....
ESID and a lot of people get a bum deal but I'm sure everyone here has it better than most people on the planet.

Haha, well I did 2 years in the country, then 1 year in Kansai. I'll just say it was a horrible working experience when I moved to the city. The BOE I worked for placed me in low income housing on the outskirt of the city, and I had to commute 1 hour to work each morning. (As opposed to my country apt which was pretty central to downtown of a 200k city, and a 10min bike ride to my JHS)


So basically moving to a big city cost me more for rent, and transportation, and I was basically making 4man less a month and working double the load. (IMO not worth the convenience of being a 2 stops away from the bullet train station...) I also got stuck working at an intercity JHS that was not the best place to work. All the teachers got rewarded with a fat bonus for working there while I got handed a fully loaded schedule of 2 ALT's, and a bigoted supervisor who didn't like ALT's. :/ Luckily for me, it was my third year, and the smaller pay I was getting, the work load and bad work environment was a kick in the butt I needed to move on.

Guess I was just in an unlucky situation, but I think the general work load and expectations for ALT's are quite higher in the city. Living in the city has very few perks.

[Gizmotech]

If ALTs had a union the Japanese would toss us out of the country so fast our heads would spin. Then they would hire an entire new batch of ALTs to replace us at half the price

But I agree, there are some terrible COs, unequal distribution of benefits, drastically different living expenses, and I actually find that it's rather poorly advertised by the embassies. They use the ESID as the catch all, but don't explain the extremes of it, which I imagine is quite a shock to a few people who don't believe they can get a rough gig.

[jim]

Thanks for all the replies.

Don't get me wrong, I fully support the idea that JET is what you make it. I have little sympathy for the "poor me" brigade who lock themselves in their apartments for 12 months, but I think there should be just a little more thought given to standardisation of working conditions, housing etc.

In my prefecture alone, someone who came in my orientation group had to pay over 200,000 yen in key money, effectively forfeiting a month's salary from the start. I know of another guy who has to work every Xmas holiday whilst all the other JETs get to go home or go travelling. Doesn't exactly seem fair, and that's without taking into consideration the differences between some JET's schools. Some of us are employed as little more than a goofy foreigner sideshow, others are treated just like regular teachers and have the responsibilities (and 9pm finishes) that go with it.

"ESID" is used as a catch all excuse to dodge dealing with issues like the above. Bear in mind JET may not be a long-term career, but it does form a hugely important part of many people's resumes and after the extensive and challenging selection process, I think subjecting successful applicants to what is effectively a game of chance is a system that could do with improvement.

[Siyris]

I think even with the ESID of things, it's not a bad gig. JETs have a guaranteed salary and healthcare and insurance. That's more than a lot of people working in any country can say. Yes there are some placements that seem better than others, and I'm sure there are some placements that are truly horrible... but from what I can tell those are few and far between.

For example, comparing my situation to another person in the same BoE as me and another BoE:

I live in a super rural place (1300 people, 40 minute drive to the nearest city and train stop), there is nothing to do in my village, no other English speakers, I live in a run-down, dirty, old teachers apartment building, and don't really have any friends. However, I know all of my kids by name, I only have two schools to teach in, I'm becoming really good friends with my fellow teachers, my Japanese is improving hugely, and I don't pay any rent, for a dirty, old, rundown apartment that is still bigger than many other's I've seen.

Friend one lives in the city that is 40 minutes away from me and works for the same BoE. His apartment is about a third the size of mine but is new and very clean and nice and right in the center of town. He's surrounded by the other 9 ALTs in the area within easy walking or biking distance, he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants, and he has a social life, his rent is also free. However, he doesn't know his students' names, he teaches at 4 schools, and he doesn't have any Japanese friends really. He doesn't really know any of his teachers, and his transportation, food, and electricity bills are higher than mine.

Friend two lives in the next city over and works for a different BoE. She has a HUGE apartment that was just built last year or so, she has teachers who care about her and has been learning a lot of Japanese though she is pretty rural as well. She has 4 conbini within easy walking distance and a number of places she can go out to at night if she wants to have fun. However, she pays 5 man in rent every month, doesn't know her students names, works at 3 schools, and is rather isolated from other English speakers.

When I saw Friend two's apartment, I'll admit, I was really jealous of it -- however, I think that my perks make up for what she has that I don't. I think that ESID can be frustrating at times, but no matter what the ups are of someone else's placement, I'm sure there are things that they would envy about your own. Every situation has pros and cons. I've only heard of one or two truly terrible placements with no redeeming qualities.

When I first got here I was really worried about it... I'm a city girl born and bred and so living in such a tiny village worried me... a lot. But it's turned out okay. Would I choose to live somewhere like this if it were up to me? No, but I don't mind staying here for a while. It's all in the perspective in how you look at things. If I focused my thoughts on the negatives instead of the positives, I would be absolutely miserable. Instead, I prefer to focus on the things that make my placement fantastic and let the negatives roll off my back.

Over all, I think that JET is a pretty damn good gig.... especially for those participants who are fresh out of college -- there's no where (at least not in the states) that a fresh college graduate will get a job with full benefits, paid vacation of 10-30 days a year, sick days, housing assistance, and a salary of close to 42K (us $) a year. With that in mind, I think even the less favorable parts of the job are easily tolerable.
But maybe that's just me.....

[Namisuke]

Considering ESID isn't used outside Japan; my feeling is that it was coined to give crappy CO's a pass.

This is because so many people are hired at once in one big batch for different workplaces around a whole country. There are many programs and companies around the world like this, so I am sure things vary the same as the JET Programme does. When I worked for the Westgate Corporation based around Tokyo and neighbouring prefectures, it was the same deal. We don't complain about this kind of thing back home usually because there is no extra company placing you at your job.

[Siyris]

Try thinking about it in terms of a temp-to-hire company. You can get placed in a cushy office job where you basically answer phone calls for the boss and get paid $20 an hour, or you can be placed in a file room where you lift, sort, and move heavy boxes for 8 hours straight for $9 an hour.... They're both considered an office clerk, and one will offer you a full time job afterwards and one won't and you don't know which one it would be. Is that the fault of the temp agency?

ESID is the same thing. JET isn't an employer -- they're a placement agency, so each BoE and CO have their own ideas about what the benefits and housing and job description is.... at least we get the benefit of a guaranteed minimum salary, that, when you think about it, is pretty generous for an assistant teacher.

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

The ESID situation comes into play because you don't work for the JET Programme - you work for an individual BOE or school. The Programme is there to help connect ALTs with schools all over Japan. Not all schools or towns in Japan are the same. Yes, it sucks if you see other ALTs who are more spoiled than you, but they have a different employer. If someone doesn't want to take a chance and get placed somewhere random and exciting, they can apply through a different outsourcing company that posts specific jobs. I don't think the ESID thing is a weakness - I think it is just that people don't understand why the situations are never the same for everyone.

This is pretty much it in a nutshell - it's less a flaw/weakness in the Programme than an unavoidable, sometimes unfortunate aspect of the way things are. There's nothing we or JET can do about it, 'cos they're not our employers.

The simple fact is the reason ESID pops up so regularly is because Every Situation actually Is Different - it's not JETs fault and it's not a cop-out, it's just the way it is.
That said, they do kind of gloss over the horror stories, but at the same time they are trying to get participants and the horrible situations do seem to be a fairly small minority from what I hear.

[Namisuke]

ESID is used to explain how definite answers cannot be given, such as rent costs, how many schools one will have, holiday time, etc. If someone is just saying ESID to get out of trying to help someone, then that is another story. A situation might start out not so nice, but the ALT can try their best to change things, such as changing apartments or attitudes towards foreigners. Supervisors, PAs and Block Leaders should be helping out as much as they can as that is what their job pretty much is.

[ume no hana]

JET is ESID
Life is ESID