Official notice given...

Today the top gaijin in the Company, M., came to my school to talk with me about my quitting. Of course, that meant that I needed to give him an official resignation letter, which is as follows:

To Whom It May Concern:

Please accept this as my letter of resignation. My last day of work will be Saturday, May 14, 2005. The reasons for my resignation are as follows:

1. In December of 2004, while teaching a Voyage class with only one student present, said student (a high school boy) starting touching himself in a sexually inappropriate way. I told the staff of my school, starting first with my head teacher. I was told that this problem would be taken care of as soon as possible. Due to problems with the logistics of scheduling, as well as the feelings of the students, I was told that my last day of teaching this class would be Thursday, February 11, 2005.

In the beginning of January, 2005, Henry, the Kids' Trainer, came to our school to tell us that Shimokitazawa would be starting kids classes in April. At this time, I told him about the situation and the solution that staff had devised.

On February 16, 2004, I saw that the Voyage class was still on my schedule. I was told that I would only have to teach this class for two more weeks. It was at this point that I notified Henry. I had already spoken to him about this problem and I wanted to let him know what was going on, just in case two weeks turned into two more months. Henry told me that he would make some calls and get back to me. The next day, he called me back and told me that he had asked a Japanese trainer to speak to my manager, and then told me that they had said that I would only have to teach this class for two more weeks. I explained that I knew that, and had in fact spoken to my manager about that the other day, and that my reason for contacting him was to let him know what was currently happening with my situation. He told me that he would speak to them again and talk to me during an Interview Workshop which I was scheduled to attend the following week. Later that week, Henry told my school that I did not have to go to the workshop and I never heard from him again. When I saw him at a Kids Training Workshop at the end of March/beginning of April, he did not say anything to me.

2. On April 12, 2005, my manager told me that one of the children I had interviewed had signed up for my class. This class was to begin Thursday, April 14, 2005 at 6:00 PM, the same time as my Voyage class. I asked my manager about the Voyage class and she said that it had been cancelled.

The fact that I have never wanted to teach children, and said so from the initial interview on, is beside the point. Had the situation with the Voyage student never happened, I'm sure that I would be less upset about having to teach a child. However, the staff at my school were either unable or unwilling to help me when I was having a serious problem with a student and could not just cancel the class, as was initially discussed, until a child signed up in that time slot.

I know that the staff at my school did as much as they could to help me. I don't blame them in any way. However, that doesn't change the fact that I feel like my problem was minimized and ignored by all the Aeon employees whom I spoke to about the situation. It is with this feeling in mind that I feel that I cannot continue to perform my job here in a way that is both fair and enjoyable to the students.

Sincerely,
JK

M. was really very kind to me. He was sympathetic and understanding. He apologized on behalf of damn near everyone in the company. He didn't make me feel bad or patronize me. Of course, this approach made me feel kind of bad. And it made me wish that I had gone to him months ago, instead of dealing with that incompetent Henry.

Now that it's done, I don't really feel any better. I don't feel like a weight has been lifted or any great sense of relief. It's just over...