I have read and heard so much about how English teachers in Japan are `scum ball losers who drink all the time, make trouble all the time, and sleep around all the time.` It seems a lot of folks out there love to talk shit about English teachers in Japan. It seems to be a favorite pass time of many; both on the net and in real life. I have read many `articles` about how bad examples of human beings English teachers in Japan are these days. Some people even go as far as to say that there are very few `good` English teachers in Japan. Some folks say things like: `English teachers in Japan are lazy good for nothings`,`They are just getting paid to speak their native language`, `English teachers do not teach they entertain.` These are just a few of the comments I have come across.
In truth, I have not seen so much proof to back-up the reputation which many wish to place on English teachers in Japan. Many teachers like to drink and have a good time but most people like to do such things. In Tokyo for example, most people like to get a good and drunk on a regular basis. In fact, I see more crazy drunk Japanese than I do gaijin.
Everyone has their crazy stories. Maybe the difference is gaijin are more willing to share their life experiences than Japanese people. Japanese do plenty of crazy shit in the name of having a good time. They seem to keep much more quiet about it than gaijin. A Japanese women, for example, will go out and get into all kinds of crazy shit and not tell anyone about it. They will show up to work the next day like nothing happened. They tend to play it cool. The same goes for Japanese men.
So, English teachers do crazy shit and do not try to hide it so much. If an English teacher goes out and gets drunk as a skunk and hooks up with some gal you will know it the next day at work. If he does not tell you will know by his behavior. He will be a little slow and maybe even smell like the gal he spend the night with. As long as he does he job, I do not understand why people give him any shit for what he does outside of work. What a teacher does outside of work is his/her own business!
Sleeping with Students:
Okay. This is something which gets much more attention when it should. Yeah, it does happen sometimes. I do not condone it. A lot of people say it is a bad idea. They usually give professional reasons and job security as explanations. There is another side to this issue which most people do not talk about as much.
There is a much more deeper reason for avoiding sleeping with your students than losing your job. Students talk to each other about the teachers. They spread rumors faster than staff could ever dream. Once you sleep with one student, the rest of them will know about it real quick. How is this a bad thing? Well, Japanese do not like teachers who sleep with students! It will cost you, not only lessons, but also number of students per-lesson. You know what that means: less money for you! Although this is not the major reason gaijin English teachers have got a bad rap.
I am going to go ahead and say it now: it is because you are not Japanese. It is one of the those situations in which you are damned if you do and damned if you don`t. If you dress in a good looking suit and teach English decently well, be prepared to have shit talked about you by Japanese and fellow gaijin alike. If you become really good at teaching English the flood gates of shit talk will never end.
So, how did English teachers in Japan get a bad rap? It is because the majority of people in Japan want them to have a bad rap.
