biginjapan

Actually, Japan is like that too. I just read an article that says Japanese are the worst for taking any kind of paid vacation - less than 50% of what they are owed (which is about 2 weeks). Even school teachers don't get much holiday time, since they are often involved with sports and other club activities throughout the summer, plus PD. Luckily, I work at a private university, so I don't have to worry about things like that.

Really? So Japan isn't all great in that area either huh? Well, you enjoy your private institution then! If my work ends up becoming too stressful for me in any way, I will be leaving. So far, it's not. I'm a one man show these days with the bosses showing up occasionally. So it's good. But my husband carries all the weight anyway, I work to stay busy. Do you plan to stay in Japan indefinitely?

I'm not sure - probably (even though my Japanese is terrible). There's not much in terms of full-time work back home for teachers like me (all short-term (4 month) contracts). As long as I can keep getting long-term contracts with lots of vacation time, then I'll probably stay.