Different types of expats

[steadyboy]

"....As far as what to negotiate... if your office is in or near Tokyo, try to get at least $3K per month for accomodations....."

thanks for the information. My office will be in Yokahama, do you know of any websites I can search looking for appts in Yokahama?

[jonk77]

Yes, and its interesting, because there seems to be little interaction between the two groups. I have detected some snobbery from the execs towards the ESL teachers.

[larabell]

That's not been my experience but, then again, I don't spend much time rubbing elbows with other ex-pats .

[synthia]

The ESL teachers usually can't afford to rub elbows with the corporate expats. They aren't paid a great deal, don't get their housing paid for, and are usually young university graduates paying off student loans.

[larabell]

That explains the "little interaction". I was referring to the snobbery. As far as I can tell, the execs I've met haven't much cared what the other guy did for a living, just that they could speak in the same language (execs, from my experience, have less time to study and, in many cases, tend to welcome anyone with whom they can speak in English).

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by Peterc

Japan must be an interesting place to work. I have never been there but one day would like to take a long holiday there. English teachers must be in huge demand there as Japan is also trying to integrate with the rest of the world.

I'm not expert but my advice would be to go to Japan with as much savings as possible, just as if you were moving to another city in the US. Get an on-call part-time job teaching english. You'll make about $25/hour but that's often for just one hour at a time. With your "free" time be proactive and look for opportunities to find your own students. Billing them directly you'll earn double. Most lessons are being taught in students homes or in cafes so you don't need your own space, you just have to be good at getting around and being on time.

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by larabell

That explains the "little interaction". I was referring to the snobbery. As far as I can tell, the execs I've met haven't much cared what the other guy did for a living, just that they could speak in the same language (execs, from my experience, have less time to study and, in many cases, tend to welcome anyone with whom they can speak in English).

I kinda agree. I met guys from Canada and the US that started out as ESL teachers and now are working in corporate doing things like translation and training. Also, they keep learning and expanding their career opportunities. I also met some corporate guys who are making some good money but I think at the end of the day most guys from America and Canada that I met are just happy to meet other cool people and not too concerned about the size of your pay check. I happen to meet people that did start out by teaching and moved on as opposed to people who just got transplanted to Japan so I'm sure that has something to do with my positive encounters.

[larabell]

It may also have to do with whether you *want* to be in Japan (in which case, you are more likely to live in a smaller place and enjoy hanging out with others who are in Japan of their own choosing) or whether you were *sent* here against your will (in which case, you would probably hang out in your cushy apartment in Roppongi watching CNN .

[beatnik]

Originally Posted by larabell

It may also have to do with whether you *want* to be in Japan (in which case, you are more likely to live in a smaller place and enjoy hanging out with others who are in Japan of their own choosing) or whether you were *sent* here against your will (in which case, you would probably hang out in your cushy apartment in Roppongi watching CNN .

That sounds right.

[jamesc]

I belong to a third type of expat which I know quite a few of. I was employed directly in Japan by a large multi-national and was considered to be a 'local hire'. From an HR perspective, they treated me exactly the same as other local hires (ie Japanese nationals).

I was however, given some special priviledges that other local hires didn't receive. My company paid Yen 200,000 towards my rent on a monthly basis. I had to pay the difference which was only Yen 30,000. The rationale for this was that most other local hires in the company either lived with their parents, or had an arrangement where rent wasn't a great financial impact on them. This was supposed to even it up for me.

They also paid for my air fare from home to Japan when I originally started work for them. The rationale they adopted was they hired someone from outside of Tokyo (just happened to be another country) and needed to fly them into Tokyo so they could start work (similar to if they hired someone from Kobe).

The foreign expats on assignment were given the full royalty treatment and I just had to look on in amazement at how much they were given, knowing full well that they could survive just as I did.