Just ranting into the ether

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:30 am

13 hour time difference between Hiroshima and Chicago.
Everybody I know that escapes said time difference works ridiculous hours.
And thus, here we are.

Ok. So. In Fresh Prince like fashion, I wound up with some heat with a teacher a awhile back so I went from "teaching" junior high school in Kyushu to teaching elementary school in Hiroshima. I was beyond miserable at first (and dealt with it poorly) but adjusted after a few months. I adjusted so well, in fact, of the 40+ schools I work at, nearly every single one of them has sung my praises to anybody who would listen. My methods work. And they're flexible enough to work under pretty much any set of circumstances. The quiet kids are happy to talk with me (because they know a fellow geek when they see one) and the too-cool-for-school kids talk to me because...they buy my act? I guess.

BUT, my girlfriend is back in Kyushu. And, since things are very serious, neither of us wants to deal with another year of long-distance relationship. So, I'm moving back to Kyushu. I will boast that I'll show them what they've been missing these last 18 months, but really I'll just be applying the skills I'd never have developed had I not moved to Hiroshima. Hiroshima gave me teaching superpowers, is what I'm getting at. Please save your atomic bomb jokes.

BUT, my company has been non-committal about transferring me. This makes sense from their point of view. "Duh. This guy wound up with beef with the English teacher at his ONE school in Kyushu, meanwhile, he's looked at as some kind of English-messiah n Hiroshima. Gee...where do we want him to work...?"

THERE'S MORE! Never have their been so many teaching opportunities in the area my girlfriend lives in. NEVER! Looking for ONE opportunity yielded nearly a dozen results.

And here's the kicker! After my experience in Hiroshima, I've the resume, references, and (and this is the important part) PEOPLE SKILLS to actually get these jobs. I want to die of embarrassment when I think about the person I was five years ago. People called me Mr. Dead and those were people who LIKED me!

But...

I've been with this company for five years (as of next week, actually). That doesn't seem to be a big deal to them, but it is to me. When I ran into trouble, and it would have been VERY easy to just release me from my contract and wash their hands of me, they didn't. Even if that trouble wasn't my fault (and, for the most part, it wasn't) they still took care of me. They've never been particularly friendly. But when the manager tried to get me fired after I stopped him from harassing some lady at a bar, the company took my side. When a school's English teacher took out a vendetta against me, they took my side. And when I managed to piss off the head English teacher at a different school (by not knowing he was an English teacher), they found me a new position and living quarters hundreds of miles away...in a week.

Every one of these positions I look at, and tweak my CV for, I feel like I'm betraying the company. And, honestly, I don't even know if they'd care or not. For all I know (I only see one company rep for about 90 minutes per month) they'd be happy not to have to deal with they guy they remember me as.

So, what do you think? Should I go all-in? Apply for all of these (higher paying, btw) positions? Or should I wait until my company gives me the final answer about the next contract? Oh, last time, they gave me an answer less than three weeks before the start of said contract. So, it's not like I can do both.

Is there anything wrong with at submitting resumes and hearing what these other companies have to say? Just kind of covering my own ass? Or is that shady?

Phew. I feel better just having typed that.

DJ_Convoy · Post by **DJ_Convoy** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:27 pm

Forget your loyalty to the company- are they loyal to YOU? They took your side once... but was it because it was more convenient to do so? Was that them sticking up for you, or was it easier not to rock the boat?

Nothing wrong with feeling out your options.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:48 pm

I think in America it wouldn't produce too many hard feelings, but we're pretty mad capitalists. Loyalty seems to be a bigger issue in Japan. Should we consult the Karlacle?

wideload · Post by **wideload** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 7:49 pm

When deciding whether or not to quit, you should definitely look at how loyal the company has been to you.

1) What are you chances to move ahead at this company?

2) If for whatever reason, you became unprofitable to the company, would they simply cut you loose? Yes they helped you find a new position in the past, but was that because they were helping you or just looking at you like a resource.

I just got back from Japan 3 days ago. Was only there two weeks, but really got the impression, from the people I did speak to, that company loyalty was much more important.

Just my random rants on the subject.

Post by **Kaylee** » Tue Feb 14, 2012 9:55 pm

You're the one who has to live with yourself. Does getting what you want justify leaving your employer?

I've done 'wrong' by employers by leaving them earlier than anticipated before. I rationalise it by saying 'When I'm on my death bed, am I going to be shedding tears for the big companies I worked hard for but may have left on sub-optimal terms... or will I be thinking about all those missed chances and unexplored paths that now I will never see?'

You get one path through life, choose it wisely. Frankly I'd take the job and move to Kyushu as per my rationalisation above.

But then if I followed my rationalisation 100% I'd be having affairs with every sexy Japanese boy I meet.

Draw your own boundaries