Changes are afoot at Noheji High. First I said goodbye to my old soviet style chair and now, finally, the old and busted paper shredder next to my desk has been replaced with a fancy new "cross cut" shredder. I'm both relieved and a little annoyed as I was planning on documenting a day in the life of my old friend "Shredder" (and his sidekick Kaori) to give all of you a look at what I've had to put up with the last year. Lately however the shredder was clearly on its last legs. The painful grinding noises had been growing more and more sickly by every passing day, and finally the judgement was handed down from the supreme court to pull the plug.


The paper shredder isn't the only new thing around the office. Today lots of new teachers have been popping into the staff room and introducing themselves. Friday is the first day of the new school year, and that means its time for the dreaded teacher transfers. Teacher's in Japan are given only one week's notice at the end of the school year as to where they will be working in the next term. For teachers being transferred to a new town, this means that they only have one week to pack-up their stuff, say their goodbyes and move to their new school... and often their new homes. For some teachers this can be really an exciting time if they are moved to somewhere they want to be, and for others it can be a nightmare. It's not unheard of for married couples to be separated by 2-3 hour car drives thanks to unwanted transfers. Like I've pointed out before, teachers in Japan have far, far less power than their North American equivalents and can really get screwed over sometimes.


Sadly one teacher that got screwed over this year was my supervisor and friend Chieko who found last week that she had been downsized. The powers that be decided that Noheji High only needs three English teachers this year, so that meant saying goodbye to the teacher with the least seniority. Chieko's been teaching for years, but she's still only considered to be an "assistant teacher", meaning that she hasn't passed her teaching license test yet. Assistant teachers are just like any other teacher except that they make less money, get less vacation time and don't have any job security. Because Japan's population has been on the decline since the 80's, then need for new teachers has also been declining steadily and the requirements for passing the license exam have sharply increased. This means only a tiny fraction of people who write this test each year go on to become "real" teachers. Those that are left have to battle for the few available assistant teacher spots, usually in countryside schools like Noheji High.




As a result of how the system works and the internal politics of this school (which I won't go into here just yet), I've once again lost my supervisor and poor Chieko has lost her job. I can't help but feel a little pissed off about what has happened to her, and I can't imagine that she's too happy about it either. She's a really great teacher and a good friend and it's going to be pretty tough on the remaining teachers without her around. I've already been asked to teach some classes on my own to help make up for the lack of English teachers next term, even though that's technically not my job. Almost makes me wish I had studied a little Japanese over the past 18 months. Well, hopefully it won't be a total disaster. Worst comes to worst, English class can always become "Movie Time with Jamie"! Anyway, good luck Chieko! I'm sure you'll find a new job in no time. It won't be the same here without you.