Should I go or Should I stay now?

Friday 11March 2004
Indecisions bugging me.So...like I work for this English conversation school company.Big.Impersonal.High turnover.Low brow.For the last 6 years.On a yearly contract renewable at the company`s pleasure.Sometimes a small bonus to sweeten the new contract.Usually not.C`est la vie.Most instructors dont renew their first contracts.Not a career option more an extension of college or university playing at being professional.A living but not a life.Safe,sedate,boring,banal.
Last week I received a company letter.In a nutshell i`ve to begin paying into a universal Japanses pension fund.My company neglected to tell me this some 6 years ago.The company`s only targeting those with 5 or more years servitude with it.Its not a trival financial deduction either..about the same as one months rent..each month.
If I agree to pay Id be bringing home less than someone who`s been here only 2 years.Yes I know you can eventually claim and get a refund when you leave the country but thats not the point.I have a pension fund already.I have no more security of tenure than a person who`s on their first contract.If I leave within six months of starting a new contract theres no benefit to either party.
My company says its a universal system yet is only forcing those with longer service to join...will it make up the 5 years that Ive not paid into the fund..If its universal all employees should be made to join not just the more experienced ones...maybe im naive..maybe its a sign to change jobs ,companies even countries.
The thought of moving 5 years worth of accumulated junk, books, cds etc is giving me ulcers.I'll have to see what the repercussions are...maybe an NHL type lockout..
Random Thoughts
Spring,Sprang,Sprung
The local meterological service predicted cherry blossoms will be doing their brief thing again around March 31 this year..Already the daphne bushes at the base of my apartment building have suddenly exploded into bloom.Even up on the 5th floor you can get the ocassional cloud of seasonal sickly sweet lemony scent drifting into the apartment mingling with the everpresent year round acrid diesel,carbon monoxide fumes and greasy KFC chicken stench from the outlet below.
Movie Trailers...
Dvds as Ive noted before usually have a host of extra features including here in Japan both the original English and Japanese trailers.Ive noticed that the Japanese trailers usually do a pretty fine job of revealing the whole story and giving away the plot.For example the trailer to 'Field of Dreams' shows Kevin Costners character playing baseball with his dad...the director/producer Ron Shelton on the dvd was surprised both the trailer and theatre posters revealed the whole point of the movie..no alarm.. no surprises
The same thing occurs with the trailer of 'The House of Sand and Fog'..you dont need to see the movie..any sense of antcipation or doom or dread is destroyed by the trailer..i didnt need to understand all the Japanese spoken to understand what the story-line and outcome would be...sigh
Incidentally I enjoyed `The House of Sand and Fog` some nice flawed believable characters who thought they were in the right.
Also enjoyed `Code 46` with Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton a kinda futuristic cloning plot by Michael Winterbottom..one of the cities used to show the near future was Shanghai with both its modern centre and various skyscrapers overshadowing the older residential areas..the night shots reminded me of BladeRunner..plus the langauge they spoke was a jumble of English mixed with Chinese,French,Spanish which could well be the way people will speak..no dominant unified language just a hotchpotch of well-known phrases lifted from other languages and cultures.
Of note also was the appearance of former Clash member Mick Jones doing a version of their classic song which provided the title for this weeks blog...great stuff plus you get the full version on the DVD as an extra..could possibly be one of my top 5 songs .....