{"id":274,"date":"2008-09-24T20:20:19","date_gmt":"2008-09-24T20:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=274"},"modified":"2008-09-28T03:29:50","modified_gmt":"2008-09-28T03:29:50","slug":"rich-jetpoor-jet","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/library\/anecdote-articles\/rich-jetpoor-jet\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich JET\/Poor JET"},"content":{"rendered":"
RICH JET \/ POOR JET <\/span><\/div>\n

(Spring 2005 Issue)<\/p>\n

Some of us were more equal than others.\u00a0 Who had the best and worst deals? <\/span><\/p>\n

BEST (In reverse order) <\/span><\/p>\n

No. 5: <\/span>The most I ever paid in rent was a total of 600 yen a month. I had moved next door into a much nicer apartment in my building, and the budget for my salary and rent had already been submitted by my office.\u00a0 They were very apologetic…<\/p>\n
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No. 4: <\/span>I was a JET living in Otsu, the largest city in Shiga prefecture, from August 2002 until August 2004. The Board of\u00a0 Education in Michigan paid for the rent for all of the occupants in the building, because there was (at the time) a special teacher exchange program happening between Lansing, Michigan and Otsu.\u00a0 I was given a 2-bedroom fully furnished apartment FOR FREE that had two balconies and views of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake.\u00a0 The apartment had everything from a TV and VCR, to a heater\/air conditioner, dishes, a toaster oven, a microwave oven, measuring cups, towels, a washer and dryer and a double bed.\u00a0 It was a 20 minute train ride to Kyoto and a 40 minute ride to Osaka.\u00a0 Additionally, we had a lovely system called Home Duty set up, which meant that during all school vacations (during the New Year’s Break, during Spring Break AND the 6 weeks of summer), we were allowed to “work at home” or “explore the culture in the city” with Japanese colleagues. That means 8 or 9 extra weeks of vacation each year. We did NOT have to take nenkyu <\/span>for this time, unless we left the country. The Board of Ed also reimbursed us for any work-related travel.\u00a0 The building had at least 5 other JETs living in it at all times, which meant that should we need to borrow some eggs, sugar or a futon for a friend visiting, then all we had to do was take the elevator down one floor.\u00a0 I was even able to have kerosene delivered to my door.\u00a0 Because the landlords were so flexible about the comings and goings of JETs, we were even able (and encouraged!) by the landlords and Board of Ed to leave a week or so before the contract ended, so that the landlords could clean and prepare the apartment for the new JETs.<\/p>\n

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No. 3: <\/span>I had a small but completely furnished apartment \u2013 tv, vcr, phone and answering machine, ac\/heater, etc. \u2013 all paid for.\u00a0 I received *two* mama-chari bikes and, the kicker, a free CAR.\u00a0 Did I mention the little account book that I handed to the gas station attendants so that I didn\u2019t have to pay for the gas?\u00a0 So essentially my only expenses were gas and electric and entertainment, which was pretty sweet considering I also received semi-annual bonuses equivalent to a month\u2019s salary.\u00a0 As good as my deal was, I know it wasn\u2019t the best one on the JET Program, because the other ALT in my town had the same deal except they gave him a full-on house to live in.\u00a0 If there was a downside, it\u2019s that my town was pretty strict with the holidays and time off.\u00a0 No leaving school early if there was nothing to do, and no more than the allotted vacation time.<\/p>\n

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No. 2: <\/span>Living in the countryside of Shimane-ken I was able to save almost all of my money.\u00a0 My apartment (suitable for a family of 4) was fully paid for and stocked with all manner of household necessities including TV, VCR, desk, bed, etc.\u00a0 I received a vehicle to travel to my countryside junior high schools.\u00a0 This was also paid for by the Board of Education in my town.\u00a0 They paid for all gas to travel to and from the schools in addition to paying for the insurance and minor repair work.\u00a0 Of course, how can I forget those delicious mid-day lunches with all my wonderful students for the bargain price of 200 yen each.\u00a0 All in all, my only expenses were for fun and travel.\u00a0 I was able to save quite a bit during my time in Japan and by prudently saving and waiting for the yen\/dollar exchange rate to hit new lows (at that time approx. 100 yen\/$), I would go down to the local bank and exchange my yen for dollars which on returning to the states amounted to a healthy sum.\u00a0 My only regret, if I had stayed one more year the yen\/$ exchange rate hit the all time low of 80 yen\/$.\u00a0 Ah well, to be an expat in Japan for just one more year.<\/p>\n

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No. 1: <\/span>I lived in a small town in Tottori-ken (the least populated prefecture in Japan). My town had less than 5,000 people spread out over a hilly and green 250 square kilometers. In other words – it was CHO-inaka<\/span>, podunk, small town. I loved it! And, I have to say, I may have had one of the best deals on JET. In my 2 years there, I actually had two houses. The first was a brand-new, 2 story town house with three bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, and huge bath room. I also had a garage with extra storage space and a small flower garden.\u00a0 However, that was hospital housing, and half-way through my first year, a young doctor moved into town and I had to relinquish my swanky digs. I was prepared to move into a small apartment down by the river (which is where some of my predecessors had lived). Instead, however, my supervisor took me to another house down the street from my original place.\u00a0 This one was even bigger, and it was cheaper because it was owned by my office. For a mere 3 man a month I got: a two-story, three-bedroom detached house with a driveway big enough for three cars, and a huge terrace (the yaki-niku <\/span>parties I had up there…). It also had a huge and fully planted garden (asparagus, potatoes, tomatoes, shiso, blackberries, tomatoes, eggplant, etc), which I quickly learned how to take care of.\u00a0 (Would you know what a potato plant looks like?). But the best part was something I didn’t discover until the spring of my second year (just months before I was to leave) – my house had its own small rice paddy! I discovered this one day when I was chatting with my neighbors and inquired about the overgrown, weed-infested rice paddy next door to me. To my
\nsurprise, my neighbors said that the reason that paddy was overgrown was because it was mine, and I hadn’t done
\nanything to cultivate it!\u00a0 Wow. We did plant in it, but I left the country before we could harvest it. Either way, it is pretty cool to have your own rice paddy. I guess that’s the benefit to living in the inaka<\/span>!<\/div>\n

A BAD DEAL? (Rich JET Poor JET cont’d<\/span>)<\/span><\/p>\n

It turns out the JET before me had “high tastes” and demanded to have her own apartment away from the other teachers’
\nhousing.\u00a0 To tell you a little bit about her background, I heard that she demanded to eat sushi every night, made the
\nschool pay for some outrageous things, and during her last year as a JET (1995), her family came to visit and bought a
\nnifty, new Toyota RAV-4 as a toy and had it shipped to England!\u00a0 Meanwhile, I was MADE to pay for the “inheritance” of:<\/p>\n
\u00b7 a 5-man\/month, tiny, dingy apartment that was a stones throw away from a porn-theater
\n\u00b7 around 4-man<\/span>\/month in utilities.
\n\u00b7 horrible neighbors who had one of those yelping dogs on a 3 -inch leash
\n\u00b7 an upfront 8-man <\/span>payment to the previous JET for having access to a phone in the apartment
\n\u00b7 another 8-man <\/span>payment to the previous JET for the “sight-unseen” moldy furniture and chipped dishes.<\/div>\n

I was definitely shafted compared to the rest of the JETS in the same town who received rent-free, new (with A\/C!!)
\napartments, cars, and even paid for no utilities.\u00a0 My school was great, though, and wanted a “fresh new start” for me.
\nThey bought me a new fridge, top-of-the-line mama-chari <\/span>bicycle, and extra-long futon.\u00a0 Although, instead of A\/C, they
\ngave me one of those glass bells to hang in the window.\u00a0 Like a good JET, I made sure I didn’t screw the next JET after
\nme.\u00a0 I ditched the apartment with 6 months left on tour (and I had to pay Rei-kin <\/span>of 8-man <\/span>just to get out of the
\napartment!!!) and went into a homestay.\u00a0 I paid the homestay 5-man <\/span>a month and got all the food, beer, and nihongo <\/span>they
\ncould force-feed me with.\u00a0 Right before the next JET arrived, I got him into the free teachers housing just one floor away
\nfrom an incredibly nice administrator in my school.\u00a0 The only thing I charged him for was the phone line.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RICH JET \/ POOR JET (Spring 2005 Issue) Some of us were more equal than others.\u00a0 Who had the best and worst deals? BEST (In reverse order) No. 5: The most I ever paid in rent was a total of 600 yen a month. I had moved next door into a much nicer apartment in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":70,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-274","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PkZ7m-4q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/274\/revisions\/277"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/70"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}