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is nova really that bad?

A good experience, from what I've heard, is the labo internship. All transportation to Japan is paid for and room and board is mostly taken care of. This is a job. HOWEVER, one does not have as much freedom because room and board is provided by homestays. One does about 3-4 homestays with host families. I think its a good program for someone who is just out of college. more info can be found here:
www.labo-exchange.com
 
Homestay AND work doesnt go down too well with me. If you are working you should be easily getting enough to be living either alone or with some mates.
 
Nova is an OK company. Only OK.

Enjoyment depends on numerous things.

Your branch and your boss. Some AT's (bosses) are pwoertripping pri*ks and can make your time at nova awful. Absolute rules nazi's that demand you follow the nova teaching method EXACTLY, giving no room for alternate lessons materials etc.

Your accomadation. You dont pick your roomates. At all. Before I elft NOVA accom I was living with an openly gay guy with depression and a hatred of japan and an openly homophobic otaku straight edge man who would lecture me for coming home drunk and tried to ban me bringing girls home. Not a great situation. But you have no choice there except to move out.


Oh and NOVA's no interaction policy. It's illegal, its wrong, its applied unevenly and discriminatarilly, it makes little sense and is only there to prevent students learning eigo outside the class room.
 
If theres one thing I hate it people who go to Japan because they like this anime or something, ger to japan, realise life isnt one big cartoon, and turn to be a big Japan-bashing hipocrite. Might be a one off case....

Room mates are always fun, sometimes you win, sometimes you dont. I knew a pair of girls doing a 'JET' style thing and they hated each other which wasn't much fun for anyone involved (and I was worried they'd try and smother each other in their sleep).
 
FirstHousePooka said:
Nova is an OK company. Only OK.
Oh and NOVA's no interaction policy. It's illegal, its wrong, its applied unevenly and discriminatarilly, it makes little sense and is only there to prevent students learning eigo outside the class room.
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I love these statements...sums it up for alot of people, I think. But, to each their own.
 
Mind you the otaku straight edge homophobe LOVES Japan.

The gay guy hates it, but he has never given it a chance.

Buddha Smoker said:
I love these statements...sums it up for alot of people, I think. But, to each their own.
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What do you mean?

NOVA's rule is technically illegal or quasi-legal. Hence why Osaka bar smacked nova down.
 
yeah, i kinda thought about the fact that not being able to choose your roomates could be a problem...

there was one thing i was wondering about, which is going to sound a little weird, but if you live in the NOVA housing, do you get your own bathroom?
 
Blue 3 said:
I couldn't find where you heard or read that. I am currently working for Nova and we do get a 1 hour break within the 8 hour day. What do you mean by a "real break"?

:?
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Sorry, I thought I read that you had to teach eight 50 minute lessons per day with 10 minute breaks in between, and during the breaks you have to do evaluations and planning, was it only seven lessons or were the times wrong? I figure a REAL break is one where you don't have to do anything work related, especially answer to your boss (but then my bosses have all been pretty cool).


Does LABO require a college education? I didn't see anywhere on the website where it did so I recommended it to my friend that's not going to college, hope I wasn't wrong
 
july said:
there was one thing i was wondering about, which is going to sound a little weird, but if you live in the NOVA housing, do you get your own bathroom?
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Apartments are three people apartments. The bathroom is shared with the other two.
Usually not a problem unless you get a slob.
(but three single young men = reciepe for disaster!)
 
ugh, i was afraid of that. oh well, i've still got a couple years before this matters...(must graduate from college first)
 
There were a lot of cases in Nova apartments of people who didn't want to live together, living together. You don't get to choose your roommates when you first arrive, but after that you can get your own place with friends or alone, so you do have some options.
 
do they make you sign a contract, as far as the dorm rental goes? or can you show up, live there for a few weeks/months while you find an apartment, and leave?
 
You can move out whenever you want. But believe me, having an apartment set up for you when you get there is a good thing. It would be soooo difficult if you had to do that yourself right after arriving.
 
If its REALLY bad, theres always gaijin houses to stay at.

The one I moved to I liked so much I've been here for 8 months!
 

Yeah, and moving out can be kinda difficult if you don't live in the main cities. For instance, you would probably need top pay key money and get a guarantor. In the end, some teachers couldn't be bothered with the hassle of moving and they end up staying. There are a few cases where teachers who have their own apartment sign the apartment over to another teacher who wants it. Others just move from one Nova apartment to another to be with their buddies.
 
I believe you have to have one year of college for labo. but it depends on the person sometimes as well. if s/he has been to Japan before, they may ignore that.
 
I worked in Yokohama and my Nova apartment was in Chigasaki. When I decided I wanted to move out of the Nova apartment to look for a gaijin house I couldn't find any available gaijin houses in Yokohama and ended up moving to one in Minami Shinagawa, Tokyo, which wasn't too far away and worked out OK, but definitely wasn't ideal.
 
Getting worked up over the prospect of working for Nova is on a par with getting worked up over getting hired to work the grill at McDonalds.
 
I have never done a "to" Japan in which I gave the slightest bit of thought to the "from" Japan part.
 
i'd love to do a "to" japan and not have to worry about the "from".. but as it is, i can't even do a "to"... so i'm stuck in "from" mode =(
 
Shinpachi said:
Eheh... Guess I'm spoiled here with our laws on lunch breaks It seems like an easy way to get my feet in Japan to look for a real job though.
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lunch breaks are for wossies
 
:? i'd like to work the grill at mcdonalds and then with the money i could buy anime tapes and music, and then i could imagine myself working in japan as if it were a comic book world. and with my paycheck i get in japan i can step back into the fantasy world.. hmm sounds like a deal...
 
I have heard that working for nova is really bad...and one of my friends told me that when she worked for them she was told that she would have two roommates. when she arrived, she discovered that she would be living with 37 people--sharing ONE bathroom and ONE kitchen..i am going there in feb to work for nova...is it really that bad to work for them??
 
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