Posted in Japan, Making Money, Ramblings on May 21st, 2008
Despite the idyllic dreams of hundreds if not thousands of foreigners planning on living in Japan one day, It seems it’s not all that rosy of late, for those who come to Japan to teach English.
Benesse corp,. the parent company of Berlitz reported “Net sales totaled ¥384 billion in fiscal 2007 (which ended March 31), an 8.4 percent increase over a year earlier; operating profits hit ¥34.9 billion, up 11.4 percent on fiscal 2006″ and they also boast ”the fifth consecutive year of record-breaking performance for the company.”
For the owner of Benesse Corp., Soichiro Fukutake it means he’s one fat cat, sitting at No. 843 on the Forbes rich list, with a personal net worth of $1.4 billion. At the other end of the scale there’s the English teachers earning ~250,000 Yen per month according to Japan Times.
Some chose strike action, i wonder what the outcome of that was? Did it work? Have the conditions improved? What was the expected outcome / demands of the strike?
Others have their own English Conversation schools, was this something more people could have done at the collapse of Nova? Are they better or worse off than working for the multi-national?
Still, whatever the best solution is for you, there are kids right across Japan, sat in classrooms today, ready and willing to learn English. It’s time to roll the sleeves up, and get to work.
Image pilfered from Danny once again.
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Posted in Making Money, Ramblings on May 17th, 2008
I guess this is as off topic as it gets but it’s actually the reason why this site exists today and how i got into the whole website, blog, internet thing as a hobby so you may choose to read on, or you may just want to close the browser and come back soon for the next installment on the JR Yamanote Line - Harajuku … up to you.
What’s a Babymoon ? and What’s my interest in it you’re probably wondering. First i’ll once again rely on wikipedia for the explanation.
A Babymoon is a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby.
Babymoons are usually take place at a resort that offers appropriate services like prenatal massage.
The term Babymoon comes from the more traditional term honeymoon, which is a vacation taken by a newlywed couple after their wedding ceremony.
The Ritz-Carlton Tokyo is offering a Babymoon and you can check the site for all the details, the view is outstanding so regardless of the occasion i’m keen to get in and stay there one night.
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Posted in Food, Japan, Making Money, Ramblings on Apr 2nd, 2008
Last night I attended the same function I met the grandson of the founder of Miss Nippon last year. Again it was held at the Keio Plaza hotel and again it was a great night.
I spent the early part of the evening talking to TVK Yokohamas Kyoko Nakayama which was interesting as always and also caught up with the World Extreme Skiing champion Yoshimasa Wada and told him of my recent Snowboarding trips.
The highlight would have to have been meeting Lungtok who apart from being part of the Tibet Olympic Judo Team several years ago, is currently the translator for the Dalai Lama when he is in Japan. Not only was his conversation interesting I was most impressed to hear he was fluent in 5 languages.
Unfortunately the guy in charge of taking the photo was obviously impared with Sake and he managed to take an out of focus photo.
Not unlike last time, the grog and food was put on, and put on very well i might ad. Fast becoming a favourite of mine is Sushi and I only broke away from the Sushi last night to try one thing and that was the Whale Steak. There was a raw option beside the cooked variety but my taste buds weren’t tempted.
Coming from Australia the topic of Whaling came up on several occasions and it was discussed in a mature fashion, more than I can say for the behaviour from the guys from Chasers in this recent clip on youtube. I never have really liked much of their stuff.
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Posted in Making Money, Technology on Dec 11th, 2007
Towards the end of last month i made a spur of the moment decision to buy a new Canon Camera. This left me with the issue, “What do i do with my existing camera?” ….. hold a competition of course.
What are the benefits / reasons behind me holding a competition? There were 2 main reasons;
1: New Readers - the competition was a good way to draw new readers to my blog by getting the message out through other blogs.
2: Existing Readers - keep those people that come back and visit my blog regularly interested and encourage them to become regular commentators.
The result of all this was a very positive one. I had a total of 302 entries in to the draw for the Camera. I sold some ad space, i had a good increase in subscribers to the blog and a few key rankings within the blogging domain rose favourably, namely my Alexa Ranking and also my Technorati Ranking
Will i hold another competition again in the future? You bet i will, in my opinion, and now experience, it’s a much better return on investment for your advertising dollar than a once off review from another site. When will i hold another competition, i don’t know, i would definitly suggest in the not too distant future or at the VERY least, the same time next year when the new Canon Camera is out and i need to upgrade.
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Posted in Making Money, Technology on Nov 21st, 2007
Here`s how it`s going to work. The 1 and only prize is my Canon IXY Digital 1000 camera, 10 megapixel with all the expected functionality along with the charger, software and PC cables. It cost me $450 clams a little under 12 months ago and it`s up for grabs.
From today the 21st of November until Monday the 10th of December i`ll be accepting entries by the following scale;
1 Entry in the draw - Subscribe to neilduckett.com by email, RSS too if that`s your preferred method of reading but email will be the official counter for the draw.
5 Entries in the draw - Write a post on your site regarding this competition and linking back to neilduckett.com. Please write a comment here with a link to your post so i can add you in the draw.
In addition, I like the idea of offering options so for those willing to pay a few bucks you can consider the following.
10 Entries in the draw - Purchase a spot under “Recommended Reading” through here priced at $15
15 Entries in the draw - Purchase a 125 x 125 advertising spot for $20 which will run from as soon as i get your button until the end of January, that’s the best part of 2 months if you get in quick.
Spending a few bucks might not be a bad option considering i`m averaging upwards of 700 unique hits a day before this competition, it`s a win win if you ask me.
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