Will Nova's Crash Bring an Influx of Teachers to Korea?

It's been all over the news and of course with some 5,000 newly unemployed English teachers kickin around Japan, one might inevitably think; will some of them make their way to Korea? How difficult will it be to land a decent ESL job in Japannow that there is such a glut of teachers?

I was just reading a story in the Korea Herald. Now I have to shake my head when the fall of Nova was compared to that of Enron or Worldcom, but there will be a serious impact on the ESL industry in Northeast Asia. On a more selfish note, I hope things start to smooth out soon since I'll be back in the job market in Japan next summer!

Korea Herald...

Potential impact on Korea

On the issue of what options the 7,000-plus Nova employees have, de Ramon said that some would inevitably cut their losses and go home, some would pursue Japanese unemployment benefits, some would stay and try to sue the company, and some might even seek other teaching opportunities in Asia.

"The situation is difficult if you don't have money in your account. People asking for unemployment benefits will have to wait one month more. My embassy was very helpful offering repatriation. (Going to) Korea could be another solution," said de Ramon.

Staffa believes that Nova has disillusioned so many teachers that most will skip out on Asia altogether.

Asked whether he thinks any of the 5,000-plus teachers will come to Korea, he said: "I'm sure some will go to South Korea. However, out of the 200 teachers working at the main office where I worked, I know of no one that is planning to go to South Korea. I believe that this experience has put a bad taste in everyone's mouth and they don't want to get involved with teaching English in Asia anytime soon."

Experts don't expect Nova's collapse to impact the private EFL industry's long-term growth potential. But in the short term, most people expect it will take years for Japanese consumers to regain their trust in the giant industry. As news of the collapse spread to Korea, few think that it will have more than a negligible impact. After all, hagwon thwarting the law and teachers going unpaid are already common occurrences here.

Staffa also thinks that Nova's business model was not conducive to education or promoting competent managers - and that there may be lessons for Korean hagwon."

See original story "English school titan goes belly-up in Japan"



I also got a kick out of this possible job idea for ex-Nova teachers now looking for work!
North Koreans Learning English


Here's something that has absolutely nothing to do with Asia. Yeasterday, I was wandering around Ottawa snapping a few pics...here's one of them.

The Rideau Canal, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site this summer is now closed for the season, but apparently work is being done on boats there from time to time. Here's a nice little craft with the Chateau Laurier Hotel in the background.



Happy Halloween from my apartment!

Visa Rule Tightened for Foreign Instructors

Is this really going to cut down on the riff-raff that may be teaching in Korea?

Visa Rule Tightened for Foreign Instructors
Korea Times
From December, foreigners will have to submit diplomas and police check documents, when applying for a visa to get a job as foreign language instructor here.

In addition, they will be required to have an interview with a Korean consular official to work to teach in that capacity, the Ministry of Justice announced Saturday.

The tightened visa rule, however, has loopholes in it as it will not screen foreigners entering Korea as tourists and getting jobs as language instructors. The latest plan may see many foreigners visiting Korea as tourists with the purpose of finding a job here.

It is estimated that 16,000 foreigners are registered as language instructors. However, the actual number could be as high as 30,000.
From now on, those with criminal records involving sex offences, narcotics and diploma fabrication will not have their visas renewed, a Ministry spokesman said.

He added that a special department will be created in the Justice Ministry to verify documents, especially academic records of foreigners.

The wrongdoings of unqualified foreign instructors have been a headache for the government. Earlier this month, Interpol arrested Christopher Paul Neal, a Canadian English instructor, who fled to Korea after sexually abusing dozens of boys in Thailand. He had worked at an international school in Gwangju until Oct. 11 before he was arrested in Thailand.

In July, Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office punished two Australian and Canadian English instructors on drug charges. A Korea Foreign Teacher Recruiting Association recently blacklisted two alcoholics and five sexual harassment offenders.

The spokesman said the new regulation will help differentiate the majority of talented and qualified foreign language instructors from unqualified teachers and those with criminal records.



Receivers want NOVA to be back offering classes soon
Mainichi Daily News

OSAKA -- Failed English conversation school chain NOVA Corp. could be back in operation within a month with the support of companies willing to help it rebuild, its receivers said.

Court-appointed receivers for NOVA, Toshiaki Higashibatake and Noriaki Takahashi, said they plan to start looking for backers for the failed chain, with current candidates including retail giants Marui Co. and Aeon Co. and the IT sectors' Yahoo and Rakuten, with other companies also having put their names forward.

Whether NOVA can actually be rehabilitated remains another matter, as it is mired in debts of tens of billions of yen, including about 4 billion yen in unpaid wages to teachers and other staff.

Ousted NOVA president Nozomu Sahashi's fate also remains unclear. "We'll look at the case first before deciding what legal measures to take," one of the receivers said.

NOVA collected over 40 billion yen from students as advance payments for English language conversation classes, more than it had gathered at the end of March. It owes some 4 billion yen in unpaid wages.Read More...

Foreigners Clean Up Korean Mountain Trails PLUS other interesting stuff!!!

I know Shawn from my first two years in Korea when I lived in Ilsan. Great guy with a great cause!

Foreigners Clean Up Mountain Trails
By Tony MacGregor

A group of expatriates and Koreans who spend their spare time cleaning up litter on Koreans mountains are being met with applause and cries of encouragement from Korean hikers.

Shawn James Morrissey, a Canadian and president of the Korean Mountaineering League (KML), said Korean hikers have applauded them and sometimes stopped hiking and helped them clean up litter.

Shawn Morrissey, president of the Korean Mountaineering League, explains mountain ecology to volunteers, who clean up litter from Korea’s well-hiked mountains.

``It's obvious what we are doing because we have garbage bags attached to our waists as we collect the liter,'' he said. ``One woman said she feels ashamed because foreigners are doing the work that Koreans should be doing.''

Kevin Tarpey, a U.S. citizen and a member of the league, said the reaction of Korean hikers is 100 percent positive. ``They're overwhelmingly thankful. They have applauded us and even stopped to help us.''

Morrissey said over its three-year-old existence, the league _ with seven council members and about 25 Korean and foreign volunteers _ has removed 2,827 liters of trash and recyclables from Korea's mountains.

``Mountains should be a place of peace and pristine beauty,'' he said. ``People go to the mountains to get away from garbage. They shouldn't have to walk through litter on the mountains.''

The league has 20 to 30 cleanup trips on Korea's mountains, mostly focusing on the heavily hiked mountains in or near Seoul, such as Bukhansan National Park but have also worked on Mount Jiri in the south and Mount Gyeryong.

The KML is currently running a campaign with the slogan ``Pack it In, Pack it Out'' campaign to encourage hikers to dispose of their garbage properly off the mountains. At the same time the league is running the ``Root of the Problem'' sub-campaign to convince companies to reduce the amount of packaging that they use for their products.

The KML is also lobbying the government to pass legislation that would force companies to reduce the amount of packaging used on products.

Moorrissey said one of the biggest problems is lack of receptacles for litter. ``The attitude seems to be that having on litter receptacles will discourage people from littering, when the opposite is the case.''

He said the mountains, traditionally revered by Koreans who saw them as the home of spirits, need to be treated with respect. ``They are the source of clean water and contain a huge variety of plant, animal and insect species.''

He added that it takes thousands of years for some litter such as plastic and glass to biodegrade. ``Everything comes from the environment, but not everything is renewable. We have to prevent harmful chemicals from entering the environment.''

Morrissey, who grew up in Newfoundland, a mountainous province on Canada's east coast with much pristine wilderness, said he got the idea for the league when he came back to Korea from a trip to the Himalayas.

``Growing up in Newfoundland, I didn't fully realize the ecological importance of mountains because they were not only abundant but largely untouched. It was only after I came to Korea and came to love her highlands that I realized how important mountains are as bastions of wilderness and nature,'' he said. ``We need to take care of them.''

For more information see the league's Web site at www.kmleague.org/membership/4514461813
See Original...



Foreign teachers must undergo check
Joongang Daily

Days after an alleged pedophile who taught in Korea was arrested on the lam in Thailand, the Ministry of Justice announced yesterday that foreign English teachers will be required to undergo a criminal records check before they can receive a visa here.

The new rule will take effect Dec. 1, the ministry said. Starting then, all foreigners applying for an E-2 visa, which is only for teachers, must submit their criminal record from the country in which they hold citizenship.

Anyone with sex- or drug-related convictions will not receive a visa, the ministry said, while those with other convictions will be thoroughly screened. The issuance of the visa will depend on the seriousness and frequency of the offenses, the ministry said. Detailed guidelines have not yet been announced.

The ministry said it is not difficult to obtain a person’s criminal records.
The new regulations do not require National Assembly approval.

The Justice Ministry issued the new guidelines following the arrest last week of Christopher Paul Neil, who had taught in Korea for a total of about four years. Interpol named him its most-wanted suspect for the crime of child sex abuse. He is accused of molesting dozens of children and posting blurred pictures of encounters on the Internet.

The new requirement, however, does not apply to other visas, including student, tourist and entertainer visas.

Some doubt the policy will be effective enough. “Quite a number of foreign students and U.S. soldiers teach English [illegally],” Kim Jae-won, an owner of an English cram school, said. “What about them?”

Currently, 16,000 foreigners in Korea hold the E-2 visa.

Many English teachers here welcomed the news, saying a large number of people are getting a bad reputation due to the actions of a small number of people.

Jennifer Hansen, a Canadian teacher, said, “Most foreign English teachers are ‘drug addicts’ and ‘pedophiles’ to many Koreans. I think the new requirement can change that. They’ll know that legal English teachers, at least, passed the government criminal screening.”
See original...



Japan to take fingerprints, photos of foreigners
Washington Post

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is to fingerprint and photograph foreigners entering the country from next month in an anti-terrorism policy that is stirring anger among foreign residents and human rights activists.

Anyone considered to be a terrorist -- or refusing to cooperate -- will be denied entry and deported.

"This will greatly contribute to preventing international terrorist activities on our soil," Immigration Bureau official Naoto Nikai said in a briefing on the system, which starts on November 20.

The checks are similar to the "U.S. Visit" system introduced in the United States after the attacks on September 11, 2001.

But Japan, unlike the United States, will require resident foreigners as well as visitors to be fingerprinted and photographed every time they re-enter the country.

"It certainly doesn't make people who've been here for 30 or 40 years feel like they're even human beings basically," said businessman Terrie Lloyd, who has dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship and has been based in Japan for 24 years.

"There has not been a single incident of foreign terrorism in Japan, and there have been plenty of Japanese terrorists," he said. Read More...



UK embassy to help Japan teachers
BBC News
The UK embassy in Tokyo has said it will help hundreds of teachers after Japan's largest language schools chain filed for protection from creditors.
Nova Corp, which mainly offers English classes, did not pay its 4,000 foreign staff for October, unions have said.

In a statement, the embassy said it was unable to provide financial assistance to those affected, but could help them contact family and friends.

It added that its officials were "closely monitoring the situation".
Read More...



Aussie teachers stranded
The Australian

NOVA Corp, Japan's largest foreign-language teaching company, has collapsed with debts of more than Y42.9 billion ($415million) leaving about 1000 Australian instructors stranded.Read More...

Native English Teachers, Seoul Apologies and Crashing Novas...

Chung Says All Students Will Learn English by Natives
Presidential candidate Chung Dong-young of the pro-government United New Democratic Party (UNDP) Friday pledged that he would overhaul the country's education system.

His campaign pledges concerning education include English classes taught by native speakers for all students and decreasing student numbers in the classroom.

``I'll focus on seizing the public enemy, soaring private tutoring fees,'' Chung said in a press conference in his home turf Gwangju. ``If I elected, I'll declare the year 2008 as the year of education reforms. I'll make South Korea an education heaven where all the people can get quality education.''Read More...


S. Korea to apologize to Japan for Kim Dae Jung abduction: report
(Kyodo) _ The South Korean government will offer its formal apology to Japan for its involvement in the 1973 abduction of Kim Dae Jung, then an opposition leader who went on to become president of South Korea, from a Tokyo hotel, the Asahi Shimbun reported Friday in its online edition.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Yu Myung Hwan will convey the message to Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura possibly on Friday, it said, adding that Tokyo is set to accept Seoul's apology.

Kim was abducted from the Hotel Grand Palace on Aug. 8, 1973, taken to Seoul by boat and released on the streets of the South Korean capital five days later.

The Japanese police found the fingerprints of Kim Dong Woon, the first secretary of the South Korean Embassy at the time, in Kim Dae Jung's hotel room, raising suspicion that South Korea's intelligence agency may have been involved.
See Original



Nova Files For Court Protection From Creditors
Japan Probe

Nova, the largest operator of English conversation schools in Japan, has filed for court protection from creditors:

Nova Corp. filed the request with the Osaka District Court on Friday morning under Japan’s Corporate Rehabilitation Law, court spokesman Takeaki Tominaga said.

Following the court filing, the Jasdaq Securities Exchange for start-ups and venture companies suspended trading in Nova shares for the day and said the company will be delisted Oct. 27.

“This matter affects not only the students but foreign teachers and staff. I hope that the impact can be minimized,” top government spokesman Nobutaka Machimura told reporters.

The Osaka-based foreign language conversation school chain has debts estimated at 43.9 billion yen (US$385 million; €269 million), according to Kyodo News agency.
See full story and video on Japan Probe...


Also more about Nova here....
NOVA scrabbles for court protection with 43.9 billion yen of debt



Came across this on ROK Drop....it's freakin cool!
Places in Korea: Daeseong-dong Freedom Village
Here is an interesting documentary about Daeseong-dong village which lies on the South Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone:

You will have to click on the link and visit the YouTube page since the film maker decided not to allow the video to be imbedded, but it is worth the time to check out. Some interesting facts about Daeseong-dong which is more widely known as Freedom Village to GIs, is that the males in village are exempt from mandatory service, the people living there pay no taxes, and their primary occupation of rice farming allows the citizens to have an average of income of $100,000 a year.

There are a number of inconveniences by living in the village such as the curfew, restricted movements, and the fact you may be incinerated by North Korean artillery at anytime, but overall it isn’t to bad of a deal and many Koreans would love to live there. However, residency in the village is strictly controlled and the residence have to live there for at least eight month out of the year in orde to keep their residency.Read More on ROK Drop...



Some great news for the male population of Korea^^
Penthouse Coming to Korea!

And in what must be the best news of the year, EDaily reports that Penthouse Media Group will be entering the Korean market.See more...


Japan to fingerprint, photograph visiting foreigners from Nov. as anti-terror measure
Mainichi Daily News

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan hopes to thwart potential terrorists from entering the country by fingerprinting and photographing all foreigners aged 16 or over on entry starting next month, an official said Friday.

Only some permanent residents, diplomatic visitors, and children under 16 will be exempt from the measures after the system goes into effect Nov. 20, Immigration Bureau official Takumi Sato said.

Under the new system, all adults will be photographed and fingerprinted on arrival in Japan. Incoming aircraft and ship operators also will be obliged to provide passenger and crew lists before they arrive.Read More...

No Visas for Unqualified English Instructors

Thought this was a litle story courtesy of the Chosun Ilbo was interesting.

No Visas for Unqualified English Instructors
Korean lawmakers are set to come up with a new regulation forbidding the issuance of work visas for unqualified English instructors.
The move comes just days after the arrest of 32-year-old Canadian Christopher Paul Neil, a suspected pedophile who taught at a school in Korea for three months before fleeing to Thailand this month.

There are currently 16,000 foreigners working in Korea as English teachers.

Over the past five years, over 800 foreign English instructors have been caught with forged degrees or having worked in Korea without proper visas. Some have even been found to have taught under the influence of drugs.

Lawmakers said Wednesday that the new law will scrutinize the criminal and medical histories of all education work visa applicants before a visa is granted.

Arirang News
See original...



Very interesting aricle!!!
10 Unique Korean Customs & Practices
From Asianoffbeat

Adultery as a Crime

Korea is one of the few countries that legally prohibit extramarital sexual relations. Those committing adultery can face up to two years imprisonment upon complaint from the spouse along with a divorce suit.

It was introduced to protect women, who often were left unprotected in the male-oriented Confucian society that overlooked misconduct by men.

However, an increasing number of people are calling for abolishment of the law, saying it is an outdated intervention in private affairs. The debate is heating up again recently, as a judge solicited the Constitutional Court to rule it unconstitutional.

Private Tutoring Heat

Korea is definitely the land of private tutoring. Other countries also have cram schools that help get a high score in tests, but Korea boasts a wide variety of private institutes. Children not only learn English and math or violin, but also philosophy, storytelling, debating, chess, or drawing through private tutoring.

Parents can find just about anything they want. Each English institute, for example, has specialties, such as conversation, listening, grammar, reading, essay writing, or TOEFL studies.

The private tutoring isn’t over even when one goes to college. College students often rely on these private institutes to learn English, computer use, make-up, skills for a job interview or make a presentation. Private tutoring is estimated to be a 20 trillion won business here.
See Original...



Why do I find this so amusing???
Kimchi in Space: Food Makers Prepare Astronaut's Menu


Korean food manufactures are competing to whip up space-edible foods for Ko San, Korea's first astronaut who will lift off in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in April.
The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is working on kimchi with domestic food maker CJ and instant noodles with Nongshim. The Korean Food Research Institute is also developing space-safe fried kimchi, hot pepper paste and soy bean paste, rice, red ginseng and green tea with Daesang and Ottogi.

Russia will evaluate the safety and storability of the foods. If they pass the tests, traditional Korean food will be served to the astronauts on the spacecraft.

As the food makers race to create their space-friendly edibles, there are mixed opinions about the best way to sterilize it. Food makers working with the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute argue that freeze-dried foods don't taste good. But those working with the Korean Food Research Institute insist that consumers don't like irradiated foods.

However, there is a common view that developing space food will lead to enhancing the technological competitiveness of the Korean food industry. Currently researchers are developing space-edible hot pepper paste in tubes and soy bean paste in the form of instant soup. Preparing these foods is costly, so it remains to be seen whether the space-safe foods will be made available to consumers.
See original...



Four NOVA executives quit, including founding board member
Mainichi Daily News

OSAKA -- Four high-ranking employees of scandal-plagued NOVA Co. resigned Thursday, including an executive who had been with the English conversation school chain since its inception, company officials said.

Anders Lundqvist, who had been involved with NOVA since its foundation walked out on the beleaguered business Thursday, together with three auditors.

Reasons for the resignations were not announced, but it is believed that Lundqvist and the auditors were at odds with NOVA President Nozomu Sahashi's plans to rebuild the struggling chain, which has been plagued in recent weeks by such events as labor troubles brought on by not paying teachers and forced closure of schools because it couldn't pay rents.

NOVA plans to hold an emergency board meeting on Friday to discuss how it can move ahead.
See original...

UN Day Remembers Those who Fought in Korea

Remembering those who fought and those who fell in Korea.

UN Day: Two British war veterans pay homage to tombs of their fallen soldiers in the United Nations Memorial Park in Busan on the occasion of the 62nd U.N. Day, Wednesday. Sixteen countries, led by the United States, dispatched troops to the Korean Peninsula during the 1950-53 Korean War to help the South fight communist North Korea backed by China. The U.S. is reported to have lost more than 35,000 killed in combat while other U.N. forces lost over 3,000.
Korea Times


I really hope there were some groups of Korean school children there to take part in any ceremonies. Even though I used to live and teach very in Haeundae, which is close to the UN Memorial Cemetery, it's amazing how few students seemed to have any knowledge of this part of their own history.

S Korean spies admit 1973 snatch of Kim Dae-jung

S Korean spies admit 1973 snatch
BBC News
South Korea's spy agency has admitted it abducted future President Kim Dae-jung in 1973, with tacit backing from then leader Park Chung-hee.
The admission came after a three-year inquiry by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) into its past conduct.

Agents snatched Mr Kim, who had lost an election to Mr Park in 1971, from a Tokyo hotel. They reportedly took him away in a boat intending to kill him.

Reports say the abduction was foiled after the US intervened.

The NIS said in a report: "This committee confirms that its precursor, the Korea Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA), undertook a kidnapping in Japan, and expresses deep regret over this." Read More...


In related news...and kinda strange...I doubt they'll get what they're asking for...
Japan Asks Korea to Apologize for Kidnapping
Korea Times

Japan has asked South Korea to apologize for the kidnapping of then opposition leader Kim Dae-jung in Tokyo in 1973, and take measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, a report said Wednesday. Read More...


Crazy for kimchi

Customers grab as many cabbages as possible after the vegetables went on sale for 1,000 won, which is one-third of the market price, at Hanaro Club in Yangjae-dong, southern Seoul, yesterday. Over 2,000 sold in two hours. The price of cabbage has doubled from a year earlier due to a bad harvest. Joongang Daily


How do you combat the huge problem of Japanese men touching and groping women on trains??
Cell phone application wards off gropers in trains
Mainichi Daily

TOKYO (AP) -- Did you just grope me? Shall we head to the police?

That's the message women are flashing on their cell phones with a popular program designed to ward off wandering hands in Japan's congested commuter trains.

"Anti-Groping Appli" by games developer Takahashi was released in late 2005, but has only recently climbed up popularity rankings, reaching No. 7 in this week's top-10 cell phone applications list compiled by Web-based publisher Spicy Soft Corp.

The application flashes increasingly threatening messages in bold print on the phone's screen to show to the offender: "Excuse me, did you just grope me?" "Groping is a crime," and finally, "Shall we head to the police?"

Users press an "Anger" icon in the program to progress to the next threat. A warning chime accompanies the messages.

The application, which can be downloaded for free on Web-enabled phones, is for women who want to scare away perverts with minimum hassle and without attracting attention, according to Takahashi's Web site.

"I first downloaded this as a joke," said Spicy Soft official Michika Izumi. "But I think it could be a lifesaver if I get groped."

Izumi said more users appeared to have recently discovered Takahashi's "Anti-Groping Appli" because of a series of new applications unveiled by the creator this year, including a popular number game, horoscope and blogging program.

Offerings of games and applications for mobile phones have surged in Japan. A survey published by Web research company Yahoo Value Insight in July said 61 percent of Japanese cell phone owners use applications almost every day.

According to Tokyo Metropolitan Police, 1,853 people were arrested for groping passengers on trains in Tokyo in 2005. Experts say the incidence of harassment on trains is much higher, but women are often too embarrassed to report it.
See original story...


In other gimchi related news...or should I say, NON_News....
65% of Women Unable to Make Gimchi: Survey
Korea Times

Extended families once pickled tens of jars of gimchi (fermented cabbage) to share with neighbors and relatives, but today's homemakers are turning away from the time-honored tradition, citing bagged ready-mades as cheaper and tastier.

Online shopping site Auction's recent survey of 7138 women showed that 65 percent of those surveyed don't know how to make gimchi and 63 percent said they didn't make any this year because of high vegetable prices.

``It is pretty surprising considering how important the staple food is to Koreans, but the survey demonstrates the latest trend,'' said Kim Jong-yong, a marketing strategist for Chongga Kimchi, the nation's No. 1 packaged gimchi manufacturer.
Read More...


Cash-strapped NOVA fails to honor contracts to public schools after teacher exodus
Mainichi Daily News

OSAKA -- Scandal-hit major English school operator NOVA failed to dispatch English teachers to local public schools after many teachers quit or took leave because they didn't get paid, officials said.

By Monday, NOVA had cancelled its planned dispatch of English teachers to five municipal elementary schools and five municipal junior high schools at least once.

The education board is now considering canceling its contract with NOVA.

In the 2007 academic year, the municipal education board commissioned three English conversation school operators, including NOVA, to dispatch teachers to junior high schools and elementary schools under its jurisdiction, officials said.

NOVA is supposed to dispatch teachers to 79 junior high schools once or twice a week and to 286 elementary schools on several occasions a year.

However, NOVA, which has been in financial difficulty since some of its business activities were suspended in June by the government regulator over its illegal business practices, has failed to promptly pay wages to many of its teachers.

In response, a large number of NOVA teachers have quit their jobs or taken days off without prior notice. A shortage of teachers has forced NOVA to cancel the dispatch of some teachers to Osaka public schools, education board officials said.

Lee Hyo-lee Shakes it for Samsung and English Teacher Drama...

Teacher’s arrest raises questions about child safety
‘Checking criminal records isn’t a must.’
Joonang Daily

Christopher Paul Neil, a Canadian English teacher, was arrested last Friday after an intensive manhunt in Thailand.

He had been wanted by Interpol for molesting more than a dozen boys and posting pictures of the assaults on the Internet.

Before he became an international fugitive by fleeing Seoul on Oct. 11, he had been teaching at Kwangju Foreign School in Korea. School authorities say they had no idea about the man’s dark past.

Revelations about Neil’s alleged pedophilia have thrown up a long list of questions about the procedures used to screen foreign English teachers. Many recruiters and agents for both private and public schools say that the screening procedures used when hiring foreign teachers tend to be too haphazard.

From 2002 to 2004, Neil, a former seminarian who was a youth counselor and substitute teacher in Canada, allegedly abused 12 Cambodian and Vietnamese boys aged from six to their early teens.

“We checked his background to the extent that we could,” said an administrative secretary at the Kwangju Foreign School who processed Neil’s documents in August. “We received his resume by e-mail and passed his sealed university transcript, a copy of his passport and a teaching certificate to the immigration office like we had with 16 other foreign teachers at the school. If a criminal check becomes an issue, it should’ve been done by the immigration office when they issued his visa, not by the school.” Read More...


English Teachers Gather in Seoul
Korea Times

An international conference is open to English teachers who are eager to improve their classes. Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL) will host its annual conference Oct. 27-28 at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul.

It is the biggest conference of its kind to help English teachers exchange tips and ideas inviting renowned scholars and professors in the English language teaching (ELT) field.

Under the theme, ``Energizing ELT: Challenging Ourselves, Motivating Our Students,'' the conference will have several ELT experts from around the world including Jeremy Harmer, a famous ELT author, Thomas S.C. Farrell, professor of Applied Linguistics at Brock University, Neil Anderson, former president of TESOL and Mike Levy, head of the School of Language and Linguistics at Griffith University.

They will present and discuss various topics such as ``The Influence of Korean Phonology on English Pronunciation'' ``Hagwon (private cram school) Mothers and Korean Teachers' Views of Teachers'' and ``Materials Development for Courses in Cross-Cultural Communication.''

``I am confident that all who participate in this event will return to their classes invigorated by an intensive weekend of workshops, lectures and networking among colleagues,'' KOTESOL President Marilyn Plumlee said.

Established in Seoul in 1992 for both Korean and non-Korean English teachers, KOTESOL is a professional organization to assist its members in their professional development and contribute to the improvement of ELT in Korea.

It also allows teachers to connect with others in the ELT community and find teaching resources in Korea and abroad through KOTESOL publications, conferences and symposia, and chapter meetings and workshops. For more information, visit the KOTESOL Web site, www.kotesol.org.



Racy Samsung TV Commercials
Latest series of racy Samsung TV commercials starring Korean superstars Hyolee Hyori, Kwon Sang Woo and Jeon Ji Hyun, enjoy:

See More Here...



10 Surprises of Korea (1950-2007)
The Korea Times, the nation’s first English daily, turns 57 on Nov. 1. The TOP 10 Series will feature the biggest news stories, scandals, events, figures, surprises and memorable moments in the coming weeks, in celebration of the anniversary. The series will allow our readers to revisit these moments of the past. Current and former staff members of the oldest English daily selected the Top 10s through internal meetings, online surveys and advice from outside experts.
See the List...



Labor standards office questions Nova staff to prepare for charges
Mainichi Daily News

OSAKA -- Osaka Labor Standards Office could as early as Tuesday hear from Nova Co. teachers and staff to decide whether to press charges against the English conversation school giant that continues to be beset by problems, office officials said.Read More...


Oh my!!!!
Top 10 Girls Japanese Men Want to Go to the Beach With

Nova, Bibimbap, and School-girls underwear...

Nova Update: Teachers Still Not Paid, Many Stop Working
Japan Probe

If you’ve been following the news about the collapse of Japan’s largest chain of English conversation schools, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that Nova failed to keep its promise of paying teachers on October 19th (after failing to pay on the 15th). As a result, a large number of teachers and staff have simply stopped going to work. According to Let’s Japan, Nova’s office staff has sent out notices to all teachers that thank those who are still working and plead for other teachers to come back to work:

We totally understand your situation, but your decision not to work is making our company’s recovery worse. If we cannot provide lessons to students then we have to close branches. In this case, the company, that has not paid us, and those that don’t carry out their duty to work bear responsibility.

We can prosecute the company for the salary delay. If you chose to walk out on the job and not work it does more damage than good for the students and for your case against the company. Striking is a legal way to do this, rather than walking out. please try to stay calm, stand together and protest to get the public’s understanding and sympathy.

If you report to your home country’s Foreign Affairs Aministration, you can and solve this problem in a diplomatic way. The more of you that do this, the better because ther’s power in numbers.

Most teachers posting on forums and blogs have scoffed at such a request, seeing no reason to work for free in the wild hope that giving a few extra lessons would somehow save Nova from its horrible financial situation.

An article in the Asahi Shimbun on Nova’s future gives three possible outcomes of the current situation:

1.Nova goes out of business
2.Outside investors step in
3.Drastic restructuring

Even if Nova doesn’t go out of business, it’s a given that school branches will continue to close across Japan, possibly leaving some staff and teachers without jobs.



Another story that's gripping the Korean Penninsula!!!!!
Foreigners pick bibimbap as favorite Korean food: poll
Korea Herald (National Page)

Bibimbap, or rice with vegetables and red pepper paste, is the most popular local food among foreigners living in Korea, according to a poll released yesterday.

The survey, commissioned by the Corea Image Communication Institute, also found that nearly six out of 10 foreigners believed Korean food could be popular abroad.

The survey was conducted among 207 foreigners from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3 to measure the appeal of Korean food to foreigners and its potential in the global market.

It found that 79 percent of respondents enjoyed traditional Korean food and 59 percent said Korean food could be popular in other countries.

When asked about their favorite Korean food, 17 percent of respondents picked bibimbap. Bulgogi, or seasoned beef, came in second with 14 percent, while galbi (barbequed beef ribs) received 11 percent and kimchi (pickled cabbage) came in fourth at 5 percent.

More than half of the respondents ate at Korean restaurants over four times a month, it said.

Of those who said they enjoyed Korean food, more than 60 percent said they liked the taste, while 17 percent said they were enjoyed trying new and unfamiliar food. Over 14 percent said they felt the food was full of nutrition, the survey found.

Eighteen percent neither liked nor disliked Korean food, and 2.4 percent said they did not like it.

However, the spiciness and smell of Korean food were the main barriers to exporting the food abroad, the survey said.

The respondents also said proper sanitation and traditional interiors were essential in order for Korean restaurants to be successful abroad.



Here's a twisted and odd story...the Mainichi Daily News always seems to have sooooo many!
Panty sellers roll in the cash by rolling off their soiled skimpies in disabled toilets

Safety and easy accessibility is increasingly transforming toilets for the disabled at Tokyo's railway stations into marketplaces for schoolgirls' panties, according to Spa! (10/23).

Large numbers of high school girls are often seen going into the roomier johns and those in the know say the kind of business they're getting up to is not what normally goes on in public conveniences.

"They're actually engaged in burusera trading inside there," a writer specializing on the adult entertainment world tells Spa! Burusera, of course, is the name given to the panty trade, with the term derived from the manufactured English phrase "bloomer seller."Read More...



This was from the Editorial section of the Korea Herald...about teacher quality....again!
[LETTERS TO THE EDITOR] Class assessment
I enjoyed reading Steve Schertzer's letter, "A message to Korean parents" (Oct. 13). He pinpointed two problems in regard to recruiting and evaluating foreign teachers.

I am a Korean teacher teaching English in Gyeonggi Province and I have been in charge of supervising a foreign English teacher who has recently come to Korea.

It is a blessing to have a foreign English teacher at hand for the other Korean teachers and my students, who normally don't have any opportunities to communicate in English. As long as the foreign teacher does his best to help the students, English classes are fascinating.

However, there are some flaws in the system, most notably the process of evaluation.

According to the contract for foreign teachers, he had to conduct a class with me which was observed and evaluated by principals and other teachers last semester. I strongly believe that there is nothing wrong with the concept of an evaluation, but its criteria were too vague and unrealistic. Furthermore, a well-prepared demonstration lesson is no guarantee of teaching ability.

Instead, the lesson is just designed to give the impression that students learn and enjoy English in a desirably effective way and that the government's investment in English education improves student proficiency.

Moreover, it does not help teachers, Korean or foreign, develop lesson plans because all they need to do is please district supervisors and school administrators with their single, pre-rehearsed lesson. Some foreign English teachers spend their time surfing on the internet and do not care about their daily lessons or students. All they need to do is borrow some teaching materials from friends or copy a couple of pages from a course book.

I think the government must get rid of this bureaucratic process of evaluation and replace it with a system that will allow foreign English teachers to be judged in a fair and efficient way, and be well prepared for their classes.

Agnes Kim, Seoul



One more quick note about another "evil-empire" attempting to spread it's money-making tentacles...
Wal-Mart to take full ownership of Japanese retailer Seiyu

TOKYO (AP) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it will take full ownership of its money-losing Japanese subsidiary, Seiyu Ltd., as the U.S. retailer struggles to speed up management changes and reverse its slumping business in the world's second largest economy.Read More...

English Education in Korea and STD's in Tokyo...something for everyone!

Here's an interesting piece from the editorial section of today's Korea Times.
English Education in Korea: It’s Time for Accountability
Korea Times

Being an EFL instructor in South Korea for three years has really opened my eyes to the blanket ignorance that shrouds the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development here in this beautiful country. Is it not a wonder why over $10 billion was spent on English education in South Korea in 2006, and yet there has been no noticeable improvement in the English education system?

Moreover, is it not comprehensible that the average Korean’s ability to intelligibly handle the English language is mediocre at best? Despite the exorbitant amount of money and time spent learning English, Koreans just aren’t learning! Why is this? Has the ministry no idea of the cause? Perhaps I can shed some light on this appalling phenomenon.

Koreans are not learning English due to the lack of competent instructors. Currently, the Ministry of Justice only requires those wishing to teach English as a foreign language to provide the following _ a valid passport (from an English speaking country); a filled out E-2 class visa application form; a diploma (from any discipline) from a university located in an official English speaking country; transcripts from an institution

Nowhere does the Ministry of Justice state that an instructor of the English language must have some type of teaching certification, experience, or relevant credentials in order to teach. Rather, they state, ``In principle, a foreign language instructor shall be a native speaker of the language taught.’’

The aforementioned criteria are the minimal requirements that must be met in order for a foreigner to teach English in Korea. Unbelievable isn’t it? Well, what about Korean’s teaching English? What requirements do they need?

Today, Koreans wishing to teach English as a foreign language are required to have only a bachelor’s degree in any discipline. In other words, a Korean can teach English without really knowing the language.

Do the two ministries think that by pouring even more money into English education that the problem will be remedied? Moreover, do they think that by hiring more native English speaking teachers that the problem will eventually go away? Sadly, they are mistaken. Hiring more English teachers is not the answer. Rather, hiring those qualified to teach the language is.Read More...


This is tooooooo weird....one truely disturbing advertisement!
CREEPY Diesel Jeans Teleportation Commerical from Japan...





Children of Bribe-Offering Parents Face Disadvantages
Korea Times

Parents’ bribing teachers in hopes of securing advantages for their children will on the contrary compromise the academic careers of their children, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE). if bribery is uncovered, children of parents doing this will not be allowed to receive school prizes. Although the children can win prizes from organizations outside schools, the office will not allow the prizes as recognition of academic achievement.Read More...



1 in 17 Shibuya Teenage Girls Have Contracted STDs
The survey reveals that the average number of Shibuya teenage girls' sex partners is 5.2, and 5.8% of them had contracted an STD...

A survey on sexual activity among teenagers who are hanging around in Tokyo's Shibuya-ku (famous shopping and entertainment district) found that one in 17 had been infected with a sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the past. The survey was conducted by "Stop! STD o Kangaeru Kai," a group formed by people in the medical profession to raise awareness about sexually transmitted diseases.

"This is data from a group thought to have an extremely high rate of sexual activity. However, their knowledge on STDs was insufficient (only 20% of teenagers knew about it correctly), and there is a danger that diseases could be spreading without them knowing it," a group representative said, commenting on the results of the survey. Read More...


I am a lose for words...
Cell Phone Based on Bae Yong Jun to Be Released in Japan
The Japanese management agency for popular South Korean actor Bae Yong-jun said Thursday that it plans to put a cell phone featuring Bae on the Japanese market late this year.

Tokyo-based IMX Inc. has a plan to develop the "BYJ Cell Phone" that includes teaming up with two partners -- Key East Inc. and Accel Corp. -- and utilizing the results of its survey on cell phone use taken this past spring. See Original



Shocking Chinese Pollution Pictures
Asianoffbeat

A series of shocking photos took at the section of the Yellow River between Wanjiazhai and Baode (both in Central China's Shanxi Province 陕西省) shows us how severe pollution those areas are undergoing!

See photo's on Asian Offbeat...

Good pay, low expenses, travel: Life is good teaching overseas

Looks like I made the Ottawa Citizen. After the Sh*% Storm caused by Christopher Paul Neil hit the papers around the world, a reporter who checked out this blog asked me a few questions. This was in today's Ottawa Citizen...page 3, I might add!

Good pay, low expenses, travel: Life is good teaching overseas
But South Korea routinely 'exposes' westerners for their hard partying ways

Geoff Nixon, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Saturday, October 20, 2007
For thousands of Canadians working overseas as English teachers, the perks are many: High salaries, low income taxes and paid accommodations are the norm. For those who get into the good schools, they may even be granted lengthy, paid vacations where they can travel cheap and party hard.

These teachers say they are well compensated for their jobs and, for the most part, they rarely run into problems.

But ever since Interpol launched an international search for Christopher Paul Neil, a 32-year British Columbia man arrested this week on suspicion that he sexually abused young boys in Southeast Asia, these same teachers have been put under the spotlight for the way they live their lives.

And in South Korea, where Mr. Neil had been teaching prior to his disappearance from his workplace last week, it was not the first time that the conduct of English teachers has come under public scrutiny.

Kevin O'Shea, a teaching education student at the University of Ottawa, taught in South Korean schools for six years.

Mr. O'Shea went overseas to shake things up in his life after becoming bored with his job -- he was a computer programmer -- and he ended up finding out that he wanted to become a teacher.

He recently moved to Ottawa to get his teaching credentials, but he keeps up with South Korean news on the Internet.

As soon as he heard about the manhunt for Mr. Neil, he immediately thought about his peers who are still teaching overseas.

"The first thing that I thought when I heard that this guy was an English teacher from Canada, automatically I just went 'Oh no,' " he said.

The case involving the search for Mr. Neil is the latest in a long list of stories about foreign English teachers covered intensely by members of Korean media -- and Mr. O'Shea believes that the appetite for such stories will not decrease.

"They tend to like to do stories about English teachers once every six months or so," he said. "It seems like a cyclical thing, where there's always a 'scandal' happening." Mr. O'Shea said even minor stories about ex-pat teachers repeatedly made the news in South Korea even when similar stories wouldn't make the papers in North America. Several years ago, Mr. O'Shea said he remembers reading a story in which an English teacher posted tips for picking up Korean women on an Internet message board. The story, he said, became a front-page scandal.

"It was in all the major newspapers, (they) wanted to basically run every Canadian out of the country on a rail ... they started doing all these exposé TV shows where they would take hidden cameras and go into nightclubs where foreigners used to hang around and then they would interview a couple of really drunk teachers and then basically demonize (the teaching profession)." He also said that media coverage in South Korea has created such a negative reputation of English teachers that some teachers have found it hard to gain the respect of others.

"It's a lot of young people who come over there, they've never had a job before, they've just graduated from university, all of a sudden they have all this money kicking around in their pocket, alcohol is cheap ... and a lot of people just go over there and party," he said. See Original Article...



Urban Camouflage in Japan
Japan Probe

The New York Times has posted a set of photos that show off some of Japanese clothing designer Aya Tsukioka’s “urban camouflage” safety products, such as this vending machine dress that a woman can use to hide herself when pursued by criminals

These ideas might strike foreigners as far-fetched,” Ms. Tsukioka said, “but in Japan, they can become reality.”



I just came across this quick video of Haeundae Beach at night. I didn't take this one...just saw stumbled across it. I sometimes miss the short walk from my old apartment to this beach. It's a great place to hang out at night.

Foreign Crime in Korea Sensationalized....Again...and Again!

Sensationalizing Foreign Crime in Korea
From ROK Drop


Courtesy of the Marmot’s Hole, the Chosun Ilbo has yet another article on the supposed "rise of foreigner crime" in Korea:

Recently, foreigner crimes have been sharply rising, including the murder/dismemberment of a Korean woman by a Chinese in Ansan, the “French Freezer Baby” in Seoul’s Seorae Village, and the 2003 hit on a Russian mobster in Busan.

In Busan alone, foreign crime has skyrocketed 250% over the last three years. Law enforcement agencies say some 27 foreign criminal organizations are operating in the port city, including the Russian mafia, Japanese yakuza, Chinese triads, and Thai and Bengali gangs.

The Chosun says the first step in preventing foreigner crime is effective control and punishment of illegal migrant workers.

I wish before people write these articles they would actually do some research about what they are writing about. As I have pointed out before foreign crime is appearing to rise because more foreigners than ever are living in Korea. However, if you look at the actual statistics from the Korean National Police Agency serious crime by foreigners is actually less per capita than the average Korean population, yet the Chosun has a graphic of a young Korean girl fleeing evil foreigners. Once again just another example of the sensationalizing of foreign crime in Korea.



Alleged pedophile who fled Korea arrested
Joongang Daily

Police in Thailand yesterday apprehended the English teacher who worked in Korea for a total of more than four years and fled shortly after being named Interpol’s most-wanted pedophile, news services reported.

The suspect, Christopher Paul Neil, 32, has been accused of sexually abusing more than a dozen boys in three countries and putting pictures of the assaults on the Internet with his face blurred.

Neil was arrested in a rural northern section of Thailand in the house of an acquaintance who allegedly helped arrange several sexual affairs with local boys, Thai police said, according to The Associated Press.

“Bingo! We’ve got him,” Wimol Powintara, major general of the police force told the AP.

Neil was on his way to Bangkok from Nakhon Ratchasima Province, about 210 kilometers, or 130 miles, away, police said.

Authorities have not yet decided whether Neil will be tried in Canada or Thailand. Canada has sex tourism laws allowing prosecution for crimes committed abroad.
Thai law enforcement agencies have issued an arrest warrant against Neil based on the testimony of a boy who said he was paid about $30 to have sex with him, police said.

In Korea, Neil started teaching at Kwangju Foreign School in Gwangju in August. He quit without any notice on Oct. 11 and fled Korea after Interpol posted his picture on their Website as a wanted criminal offender.

The Korean police have been investigating Neil, but nothing has turned up at this point, said a police official in Seoul who declined to be named.
Neil’s colleagues in Korea also say they can’t believe the man who was singing so happily at noraebangs, or karaoke rooms, was a pedophile.

The suspected sex offender also worked as a chaplain in Canada. Interpol has accused him of sexually abusing Cambodian and Vietnamese boys from the ages of 6 to their early teens between 2002 and 2004.

The hunt which ended yesterday started when police in Germany found about 200 pictures of a man committing sexual offenses against children. His face was digitally altered, but German authorities were able to restore the image enough to figure out the man’s appearance.

After circulating the picture, Interpol, the international police agency, drew hundreds of tips, including one from Amy Bowler, who knew Neil when he was teaching at a public school in Gyeonggi.

“I love teaching, can’t get enough of it really,” Neil wrote on a MySpace blog that has been identified as being his.



Read More about the same topic:
Canadian accused of internet sex crimes also under investigation in B.C


U.S. reopens Busan consulate
Joonang Daily

The United States reopened a consulate in Busan yesterday, nine years after it was closed, the U.S. Embassy here announced.

The consulate, however, will not issue visas for Koreans or provide consular services to U.S. citizens, according to the U.S. Embassy. That means Koreans in Busan must still travel more than 450 kilometers, or 280 miles, to Seoul to get a visa to travel to the United States.

“We will focus on providing information on business, overseas studying and immigration to residents in Busan and the surrounding areas,” said Byun Jung-hwan, senior advisor at the consulate.

The U.S. Embassy in Seoul will continue to provide consular services to Koreans, Americans and third-country citizens, the embassy said in a press release. The consulate has no plans now to offer visas to Koreans.

The original consulate in Busan, Korea’s second-largest city, closed in September 1998 when the U.S. government was cutting back on its budget.

In July of last year, the United States agreed to reopen the consulate at a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Ban Ki-moon, then South Korea’s foreign minister and now the secretary general of the United Nations.


f you've ever lived in a small or old neighborhood in Korea you may have had the wonderful experience of the "bug truck." Most pesticides are banned throughout North america, but they are liberally sprayed in many Korean neighborhoods to combat mosquitos. Check out Mike in Korea's vid!



Here's a little taste of modern history in Korea.
10 Most Remembered

Japan's Best Bottoms and other news

Burnt backside no bummer for beautiful-bottom babe
Mainichi Daily News

An 18-year-old girl was surprisingly crowned "Japan's best bottom" babe at Triumph International's "Show Me Your Sloggi" Japan contest held on Tuesday in Tokyo after a freak accident scorched her rump days before the contest.

"I always take care of my bottom, but I'm embarrassed to show it today because I burned it by sitting on a hair iron the other day," Kaho Watanabe, clad in pink baby doll lingerie, said in her short self-promotion spiel. Read More...and See Pictures!



From today's Marmot's Hole...

Need to Check English Teachers? Good Luck!
As it would turn out, the 32-year-old Canadian suspected of molesting young boys in Southeast Asia taught in Korea for four and a half years, teaching in the Seoul and Gyeonggi-do area on and off since 2000. Since August, he’d been teaching at a foreign school in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do. Before that, he taught at a high school somewhere in Gyeonggi-do.

A Gyeonggi-do Department of Education official said the suspect was remembered as a rather upright character who hardly ever drank, and his former coworkers are shocked by the news.

The suspect apparently fled to Thailand just two days after Intepol posted his face on their website. A police official said they’re still investigating whether the teacher molested any of his students in Korea, but they’ve yet to discover any such cases.

BTW, congratulations to Dave’s ESL Cafe for the media spotlight, although I’m not sure if this is what they wanted it for.

Oh, and I’m sure this will drive Western Confucian up the wall. As an ex-Catholic, though, I have to question the veracity of the report — how could the guy have been a priest-in-training when the Gyeonggi-do Education Department said he hardly drank?
OK, I’m definitely going to Hell for that one.

Anyway, the Seoul Shinmun, JoongAng Ilbo and Hanguk Ibo have run editorials deploring the porous state of Korea’s foreign teacher hiring system. The Seoul Shinmun was in particularly rare form — I especially liked this line:

Korea has been a “dupe” for a long time, allowing foreigners who speak English to get jobs easily and treating them well, but with this, we really can’t help but worry whether Korea will become a “paradise for criminals from English speaking nations.”

Dupes, they are. Dupes! The JoongAng expressed concern, too:

The insecurity of school parents concerning native speaker teachers and instructors is growing by the day. This is because the teachers’ shameless crimes are growing. Just a coupe of days ago, a Canadian wanted by Interpol for sexually molesting small children in Southeast Asia fled abroad after working as an English teacher in Korea as police moved in for the arrest. A while back, there were incidents of a teacher molesting children and a group of teachers smoking marijuana. There must be even more crimes that have yet to be revealed. It’s time to hurry and formulate measures.

Good luck with that. The papers’ rhetorical hyperbole aside, it’s true that teacher hiring practices are borderline criminal — it would seem to me that most people in the English education industry or who’ve spent time in said industry would admit as much. But a revamping of that system would require change at the bureaucratic level and increased cooperation between law enforcement agencies here in Korea and abroad. Change and cooperation requires effort, however, and I don’t see that happening anytime soon. Or at least not before some poor kid gets molested or killed by a guy who should never have been here in the first place.
See original @ Marmot's Hole



Striking Unpaid Teachers Blamed For Nova Branch Closures
Japan Probe
Translation of a Sankei Shimbun article from Let’s Japan:

NOVA continues to close schools due to instructor shortages.

October 18, 12:51 Sankei Shimbun delivery

METI’s order to suspend part of Nova’s business has forced the Nakamozu school in Osaka and schools elsewhere to take it upon themselves to close the schools and stop accepting reservations for lessons. It is believed that the schools acted on their own in an attempt to cope with students being unable to make reservations for lessons at the times they want due to the lack of teachers.

The schools that closed include Nakamozu, in Osaka, and the Ichigaya (closed on the 17th) and Suidobashi (closed on the 18th) schools in Tokyo.

A Nova spokesperson said that the schools were not told to close. The repeated delay of teachers’ pay and the Japanese staff ready to revolt underscores the steady decline in Nova’s ability to remain in control.

The Nakamozu school reportedly closed on October 16. A notice on the entrance to the school read: Notice of school closure and that the school would be closed from October 16 until the 31st. The notice also contained messages scribbled in English from teachers saying they would miss the students.

The Nakamozu school was scheduled to close its doors at the end of October and merge with the Tennoji school (also in Osaka). Nova is reported to have sent a notice on the 19th to the approximately 400 students at the school informing them of the merger.[Comment: This was pointed out in the forums as not making any sense. The 19th is likely a typo.]

After Nova informed its foreign teachers on October 12 that they would be paid on the 19th instead of the usual 15th, around 200 teachers a day continue to be absent from work. To cope with the sudden shortage of teachers, schools have reportedly been switching to ocha no ma ryuugaku lessons taught over a videophone, but some schools have been unable to fill the gap.

According to a representative for Nova schools in Osaka, “Reservations can’t be made for lessons this week. We apologize to the students for the schools closing on their own and are refusing reservations.”
—-

So the very visible and easily blameable foreign teachers are the cause of the trouble this branch is and others will soon be experiencing? The lack of teachers or even the decision to stop accepting reservations at any branch is the decision of the teachers?

Another interesting fact: the number of ‘topatsued’ teachers on the day of the union called demonstration was pretty much the same for that day (10/16) as for every other day so far this month, about 10% of the total workforce of Nova teachers.
Japan Probe



I noticed this story today in the Korea Times and wanted to point out one thing...NONE of the suspects arrested were Canadian English teachers!!!!
Six Drug Traffickers Arrested