CROSSROADS Language StudioÊs Newsletter, March 2009
Japan’s workforce, lead by
the loyal “salary-man”, thepillar of Japan’s business culture, ischanging its identity, according to Kenjifrom A1. Here are his thoughts on thissubject, and he invites you to debate his
ideas in class:It’s important to tell you thebackground of Japanese companies.
Japanese workers used to think of theircompanies like families. In short, theworkers live in the same house, with thepresident, seemingly, acting like thefather. Of course our society has beenchanging little by little, but most bigcompanies are still very conservative.
That’s why they still insist on lifetime
employment, seniority-based wages, andmandatory
retirement.
Generally
speaking, it is said that it is very easy tocontrol Japanese workers with rules. I
think it must sound very strange toforeigners that Japanese workers arewilling to accept unspoken rules; i.e.,dress codes, time clocks, drinking withco-workers after work, and beingtransferred to a new post alone, withoutfamily. In addition, the Japanese salaryman shouldn’t leave the office before theboss does.

But, let me tell you about the
recently changing conditions forworkers in Japan. After the “bubbleeconomy”
burst,
circumstances,
especially the relationship between
employers and employees (i.e. “fathers”and “children”), have been changing inaccordance with the changing social
background. Examples of this include theshrinking population, the aging society,the baby-boomer generation’s retirement
and labor force shortages. Now-a-days,
many companies are focusing on profit
and not on their employees and workers.
This increases the likelihood of employee
job-hopping. Should we call this“Westernization”? If so, I’m not surewhich is better: the profit loving Westernmodel, or the traditional Japanesebusiness model?
I recommend that you observe
Japanese workers from this point ofview. The reality is that Japaneseworkers, the so called “salary-men”, arenow standing at a crossroads!

NET LESSONS: Are you too busy to come toCROSSROADS?.... Try our lessons on the Internet!
It’s CROSSROADS in your home or office! You get
CROSSROADS’ great teachers, teaching programs,
even classmates, on-line! Call for details: 089 9217595

NET SITE OF THE MONTH:
Read about a day in the life of a Japanese salary-man
here: http://www.culture-at-work.com/jworklife.html
NET NOTEBOOK: Don’t forget to take a look at
the Internet activity notebook in our open-house.
You’ll find games, news and English learning sites.

Joshua Says: This month we welcome our new teacher, Alessio, to ourteaching staff. Alessio will be taking over Owen’s teaching duties and weare looking forward to his presence here. Alessio has something
somewhat unique to offer us as he is our first Italian-English teacher –oh, yes, he will be teaching Italian, also – welcome, Alessio. We, students
and staff alike, are all looking forward to an interesting time with you.

Junko Says: In keeping with the “international” flavor at Crossroads weare planning to try some “karaoke” at our end-of-term party latter thismonth – karaoke in English… and in French, Italian and even, Spanish! So
if you have any requests in these languages, or any other language, please
let me know and I will down-load the music for you. For more information,
just check in with me in the office. You will also see some info about this onposters around the school. “International Songs”, let’s give it a try!!

Alessio Says: CIAOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Here I am!!! New school, newpeople, new food, new country, new…everything! I want to thank everybody
at Crossroads for their very warm welcome. The atmosphere at school issimply amazing. It’s a very good example of a global village. My first week
in Matsuyama has been really good. I like the city, people are friendly andI’m sure I’ll have a great time here. And spring is coming. I can’t wait to seethe cherry blossom trees… Anyway, are you ready for some pasta???

Greg Says: What is happening to today’s youth? Most students I ask, "What’s
your hobby?", answer, "sleep"!! When I ask, "What’s your dream?" the answer is"I don’t know"!! If you don’t have a set destination how do you know if you have
got there yet?? Are the answers people gave me set answers that people areexpected to give in Japan? Why aren’t people creative and think outside the box?
Don’t be a sheep and follow the crowd. Be an eagle and soar to your dreams. Beunique. When was the last time you saw an eagle following another eagle????

Emilie Dit: Owen était un collègue en or. Il m’a beaucoup aidée quand je suis arrivée
à Crossroads et nous avons eu beaucoup d’ échanges intéressants. À présent, j’ai un
nouveau collègue, Alessio, de culture latine tout comme moi. Nous travaillons
ensemble depuis une semaine, il est donc difficile de donner une opinion sur cettenouvelle combinaison. Une chose est certaine, il règne une ambiance différente, unvent frais souffle au sein de notre école. Je trouve ça très positif d’apposer une marquedifférente à Crossroads et de faire balancer le centre de gravité vers le sud de l’Europe.

ABOUT MY VISIT TO HOKKAIDO, FROM B1 STUDENT SATOMI: “Iwent to Hokkaido with my mother recently. It was very cold there, and it wassnowing. We visited many places in only 4 days. Here are some pictures.”● This is Asahiyama Zoo. It’s proud of holding the record of most visitors in Japan. This isprobably because the animals can roam freely in their enclosures. We could see penguins, polar
bears, seals and wolfs. The penguins’ way of walking was very funny to watch.

● This is a scene from theSapporo Ice Festival. It was the60th anniversary. There were
287 ice sculptures on displayed.
Disney’s area was very big andvery beautiful! A lot of people
come to the festival every year.
PP● This is the mainstreet of Sapporo. I
enjoyed theilluminations and thenight view. Sapporo isa very big city.
● This is the national costume of the Ainu people. It was colourful, and I liked it. The Ainu are Hokkaido’s aborigines.

”I am Making costumes! When I
am working, I am very excitedand happy! I want to make as
many costumes, for as manypeople, as possible in the future”.

Don’t forget the End-ofTerm Party this month!
Drinks, Italian Cuisine and…
Karaoke, Music Recitals,Performances!
DATE: Saturday, 28-03-‘09
TIME: 7:30pm
PLACE: here at Crossroads

Invite your friends andfamily to join us.
You can get an early food n’ drinks
ticket from the office!!

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UN E T (ネット) レッスン
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