Damned If You Do; Damned If You Don`t

I think there comes a point in which most half-way decent English teachers in Japan say to themselves, `Fuck! If I work hard I get fucked over. If I am a lazy bastard I get fucked over. The union is a joke and management will not listen to me at all. What is the point of trying anymore.` I have seen this happen to several teachers. They simply give up and only keep coming to work everyday because there is money to be made. This is a sad situation, but one I see far too often. I still wonder, What causes this situation?

The finger of blame could be pointed at many suspects. Are foreign management to blame? It is true that often, but with some exception of course, foreign management attacks other teachers for their own self-centered agenda. They are usually an aggressive bunch carrying a cold blooded nature about them in general. It is common for them to only care about protecting their own position. Dealing with such management could easily make many teachers give up all hope. I have seen some brutal shit come from foreign management. Let me be clear, I have also seen some damn good, honest and fair foreign managers who really tried to improve lesson quality. Yet, this is rare and not the norm.

Can we put the burden of blame on Japanese management? The `end game` purpose of Japanese management is to turn a profit. They should have little care for lesson quality or the welfare of the teachers. It is not their concern. They usually prefer to spend their time crunching numbers and battling it out for position. The amount of arrogance and unfounded pride which flows form them will make any dedicated teacher sick to their very soul. Most Japanese management will make it very clear to you, by way of their dismissive attitude, that they don`t care about you. You, the teacher, seen to be a necessary evil to them. You are not human in their eyes. Rather you are more of a product to be used for the purpose of turning a profit. Dealing with such folks could easily make any hardworking teacher not give a fuck about their job or the duty they have to the students.

Yet, can we also point the finger at the teachers themselves? A lack of a backbone perhaps? You must be a strong person to live and teach English in Japan. Remember you are a gaijin which makes you a minority. A stranger in a strange land. No one really invited you here. Trust me, it has taken me a long time to accept that fact. To really be an elite teacher you must develop a deep passion for teaching. You have to love this shit! Not only must you love it, but you must also say this fact out loud in public from time to time. You must be willing to love you fellow brothers and sister who try hard to be a good teacher and dismiss the ones you are a sack of dog shit. Those who at least try to be a good teacher deserve a little respect. When they need advice or help working out a lesson, for fucks sake offer a little guidance and leadership. This whole idea of being a self-centered little shithead really does not help anything. It actually hurts everyone in the long run. If you think no one notices your `fuck you because I think I am hot shit` attitude then you are mistaken. If you really are a good teacher then spread the goodness to others who are also trying hard. Be the leader that is needed when foreign management waste their time playing politics and attacking anyone in kicking distance.

So who is to blame for the sad situation which often occurs with English teachers in Japan? I think that overall it is a combo of everything I mentioned in this post. Our profession in Japan is in a very sad state. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Greed, laziness and protectionism has created a fucked up situation. You know who suffers the most? It is the students who take the majority of the pain of our own shortcomings. I must end this post by saying, if you cannot handle what I just wrote then get the fuck out of the English teacher biz in Japan! Reality is a motherfucker.    

You Don`t Dismiss me...I Dismiss YOU!

You know, dealing with other`s shit is a daily struggle which everyone tries not to explode over. Usually I bite my tongue and try not to say something which will only make things worse. I don`t know if it is just my damn twisted luck, but I seem to deal with a lot of stomach zombies. I try not to say so much to these folks because I know they lack the ability to think for themselves. The best they can do is repeat what the news and authority tells them while being a little smart ass prick. It is these kind of folks who seem to fill my life with such mindless stupidity way too often.

Let me give yall a classic case example.

So, I was drinking with a guy I know recently. I have known him for a while. I like him pretty well and have hung out with him a lot. He is an alright guy to hang out with most of the time. I know from spending enough time with him that he has spent his life being fed lies and a heavy dose of brainwashing from society at large. I don`t blame him for that because most people have been though the same process and fail to break out of the cycle. Although from spending enough time with me, he should know by now that such shit does not work on me. I don`t buy into it at all. I have a free mind. I fill my head with things other than porn, sex, social dogma and lies from the powers that be. Yet, it is clear he either cannot or will not accept some basic truths about me and how I see the world.

After buying a beer and some fries, which I share, he feels it is time to get up in my shit about something. Before I go any further, the thing that really gets me is that a lot of people feel they can get up in my shit but I cannot fire back at them. Too many fucking people feel they have some kind of right to fuck with me about anything they choose. It really pisses me off! Anyway, he felt the need to give me shit because from day one of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster I said it is melting down. I said that on facebook and to several other people. A nuclear meltdown is something which is scary and not pleasant. It is something I never wish to see happen in any nation for any reason. Given the history of TEPCO and the Japanese government as soon as I got news about Fukushima I knew that fucker was going to experience a meltdown. The J-gov fucks up anything it touches due to greed and laziness. Sadly, it turned out that I was 100% correct. He just cannot wrap such things around his head and will believe all the lies fed to him until the day he dies.

It was fine by me for him to give me shit for saying something which turned out to be true but he had to take it a step further. He dismissed me! Yes, he had to do the one thing that is unforgivable in my mind. NO ONE DISMISSES ME! When I defended my actions he said, `Whatever. You are being combative.` Motherfucker waved his hand at me and walked off! Fuck him! Really! This is how a lot of people deal with being stood up to. They become dismissive. Well fuck all that! I don`t need such people in my life. I don`t need that childish shit in my life. So in the next few weeks I am going to dismiss a lot of fucking people from my life. I don`t need this shit anymore. I have little choice at this point but to cut out a lot of people from my life who think they have some kind of power over me. It is better to just do my own thing and avoid people who I know are a lost cause.

I cannot waste my time with stomach zombies. If someone cannot deal with my direct and no bullshit way of looking at the world. If harsh realities are too much for other`s to deal with then that is not my problem. I laugh, smile and have a lot of love in my heart but I still refuse to live my life in a fucking daze. I will always search for the truth and have no faith in governments which have proven to be trustworthy as a hungry snake. If that is too much for someone...well then fuck `em!