Capitally Flowing

In Japan the job is all. Employment is, or should be, for life. Your job is more important than your family. At least it should be. In the novel Jennifer government the world is run by corporations, and employees take their surnames from their employers; John Nike and the like. This is what Japan is like, but without the actual names. To this end teachers are treated as assets, that is they are moved around as needed, even at random On a whim you might say. At my school for example one third grade teacher, the vice-principal, and the principal have all been moved and new people installed from other schools. The teachers find out in in April who is going to be given the requisite week's notice. When the list went up in my school the teachers all crowded round. An hour later my kyoto-sensei was packing up a box and being bowed to by most of the staff. When I got back from Thailand he'd been replaced. Which is a shame because he was the nicest guy here and he seemed to like me; we'd talk about the weather, we'd point at things and laugh; we'd pick flowers. Plus he handled my time-off requests. His replacement is his deputy, who does not like me. The replacement for the deputy is a chap from some other school. Right now he is sat in his chair swinging from side to side and staring at the ceiling.