Technically, work hours are 8:15 to 5:15, but usually only the ALTs (assistant language teachers) actually observe those hours. Bogged down with paperwork and planning for extra events such as sports days and culture festivals, teachers often put in overtime without receiving extra pay. Likewise, if a teacher is sick, he or she will opt to take paid vacation leave rather than paid sick leave; it has something to do with end of the year bonuses, which take sick days into account.

The Part-Timer's Hours

If you are working in a Japanese school as an assistant English language teacher (ALT), your hours may be part-time or full-time, depending on whether you are municipally or independently employed. Even thirty-five hours a week is considered part-time, however, so do not fill out your moonlighting application just yet.

It is unlikely that you will be given responsibility for a homeroom class, so your job will consist of planning lessons, making materials for those lessons, and meeting with the homeroom teachers. Some schools may have already designed a curriculum, but other districts will leave it up to you to determine your lesson objectives. The bottom line is, you may find yourself with plenty of time on your hands. What are appropriate activities for your paid “free time”?

• Lesson-related, Internet-based research is fine in small doses.

• Making games, flashcards, puppets, and other materials is great.

• Studying Japanese is also an admirable activity.

• Trips to the local library may provide supplementary lesson material.

Things that should be avoided are:

• Excessive e-mailing.

• Reading novels or magazines.

• Sleeping at your desk (unless it is during a designated break time).

Quitting Time

After a busy, productive day, you may be anxious to leave. When the appropriate time comes, you are free to go home. It is likely, however, that no one else will be leaving before you. Therefore, there is a set phrase that you must use as you head out the door.

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Mina-san is the term that can be used to address a group of people in both casual and formal circumstances. The honorific form is mina-sama (“ladies and gentlemen”). It is also sometimes pronounced with an extra n, minna-san.

Shitsurei shimasu is a phrase you will hear often in the school or office setting. Students will say it upon entering the teachers' room, and will repeat it in past-tense form upon exiting: Shitsurei shimashita. You may also hear it used when someone is passing in front of you or trying to get around you:Chotto shitsurei shimasu. It can often be used interchangeably, or in conjunction with, Sumimasen (“Excuse me”).

If you politely excuse yourself to go home, whoever is in the office at the time of your departure will likely respond with O-tsukare-sama deshita or Go-kuroo-sama deshita. Both are expressions of appreciation for hard work.

O-tsukare-sama deshita can be broken down into four parts. The “O” is honorific, of course. Tsukare means “fatigue,” or “tiredness.” Sama is a polite version of the suffix used after peoples' names (san). And deshita is the past-tense form of the verb “to be.” All four separate elements combine to make a phrase that lets you know your efforts are being acknowledged.

Go-kuroo-sama deshita, or the less formal Go-kuroo-san, essentially means the same thing: “Thanks for your trouble.” People may say it to you as a parting expression, even when you are not working. It is not appropriate, in either form, to say this phrase to a superior.