A Concert To Begin, A Concert To End

Last night I enjoyed a kick ass concert where Tegan & Sara opened for The Killers. I had heard a few songs here and there on Pandora by the twin sisters, and I knew I generally liked them, but even so I have to say I'm impressed; gonna be buying their album making a station seeded with them on Pandora.

I've been a fan of The Killers since Hot Fuss was released during my college days, but this was my first chance to see them live. They are one of those rare bands that sounds exactly the same live as they do recorded, and the lead singer (Brandon Flowers) really knows how to work the crowd.

I found it ironic to realize that my time here in NOVA has been bookended by concerts; got to see my favorite band Death Cab For Cutie live at the Strathmore right after I arrived, and now this concert a few days before I move away.

Can't say that my time here was wholly enjoyable, since I lived away from a metro station and had to fight traffic for work on average six days a week. Even so, I do like the overall vibe and feel like I would be willing to give DC proper another shot, assuming I could find a job that would pay enough to cover the insane cost-of-living.

With the looming fiscal cliff that the federal government is marching towards, I think that the timing of my retreat is rather auspicious. It is really looking like the DC metropolitan area (and in particular NOVA) is not where I want to be come early 2013.

The Eikaiwa Industry

When I was in Japan, I worked for NOVA, which was the largest English conversation school (eikaiwa) up until it went bankrupt. Their bankruptcy was a huge shock to the industry, which was quite the juggernaut throughout Japan's bubble economy and still sizable up until NOVA's late 2007 bust. Many students lost thousands of dollars already spent on prepaid tuition, which is the industry's standard system of payment. Naturally, people lost trust in the industry and the remaining companies struggled to keep what they could of a declining customer-base.

Eventually a large conglomeration which specializes in taking over failed companies and making them profitable again purchased NOVA and took over operations. I stayed on with them (off and on, long story) until I came back home.

A few days ago, Geos (another one of the "big four" names in the industry) went bankrupt. Back before I came home in late 2009, we had been hearing rumors that they were having cash-flow problems... so I can't say that I'm all that surprised. It is interesting, however, to hear that the same company which purchased NOVA is taking over Geos in a similar fashion. Sounds like they were ready to move this time around.

For students, this is a good thing. For the young people who see teaching as a convenient means to support themselves while spending a year or two in Japan, however...

In the eikaiwa industry, pay & working conditions are inevitably on the decline. I think that makes sense given the economy and all, and don't begrudge the companies for making hard decisions. But at the same time, I can't help but feel like the industry is changing irreversibly, and that makes me sad. My time in Japan, made possible by the eikaiwa schools, really helped me to grow as a person and simultaneously have some amazing adventures.

To all my friends still in Japan, good luck in an uncertain future! (Drink some Super Dry for me, will ya?)

**Update 4/28**
The Japan Times has a new article explaining how this is gonna work out. Sounds like the Geos teachers will get a much better deal than the NOVA folks did.