Question about Aussies and Kiwis

Are they early 20-somethings here on a Working Holiday Visa? Is there a lot of personality clashes in the office? How long have they been in Japan? Adjusting to a new life in foreign country is tough. How do you know it is nationality and not circumstance that causes their behaviour?

It is a cop-out to immediately blame nationality (race/sex/etc) as the cause of a problem.

Speaking aside from this case, I see nothing wrong with leaving work right on time. And I strongly dislike this peer group pressure attitude that you must stay at the office long hours to prove you are a good worker.

Has this been posted in the Australian forum?

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>there are and have been some very notable. pleasant and hard working Australians such as Niki Lauda, Franz Klammer, Mozart, Adolph Hitler and of course the Governator hisself, Arnold Schwarzenburger.<hr></blockquote>pudman, do you even realize that you are confusing Austrian with Australian? Or at least, that is my take on your silliness.

Sinner,
Who is being "infantile" here?

I did not say shut up or get out. I suggested that if adaptation was not possible, then one should consider leaving -- leaving the job, not the nation. "Adaptation" itself means finding ways to remedy the situation, but it also implies compromise. When dealing with personalities, it is often a gray area, which means both parties have to give something.

Don't like election trucks? (I certainly don't.) I'm not telling you to leave Japan. The OP is talking about a work situation, not an incident in your neighborhood. I wouldn't think of telling you to leave your neighborhood or Japan in that case, either. In fact, I hate the election trucks, but there is really little that anyone can do about them, so it is merely a matter of sucking it up for the short time they are around (again, this is adaptation but to an extreme level, because I, too, don't want to shut up over this topic).

Smoky restaurants? Same thing. Except here, you can do your best to explain that you want to be seated as far as possible from smokers, not be asked to leave the country.

Want another stab at this? Ok, if the OP is a manager of these people (Aussie, Kiwi, or anything else), then it is up to the manager to get things done. Do what it takes to negotiate, explain, force, give bad performance reviews,etc. and in the end, if the people don't work, you just don't renew their contracts. I agree with your last 2 lines, Sinner, wholeheartedly. However, it seems that the OP is not finding this an issue. To expect people to do a fair day's work is not unreasonable. However, from rereading the OP, I think the Aussies and Kiwis are over the OP, not under him/her. Not easy to tell, but this is my impression. For that, I say, if you can't adapt, then either suck it up or leave. There is really no other choice unless you can find someone higher than them to complain to.

If the Aussies and Kiwis are the OP's coworkers, then don't worry about them unless you have to rely upon them for shared work. In which case, if they aren't putting out, talk to the boss. That's the boss' job to keep people in line. In the end, if you can't get satisfaction from that, then maybe it is time to consider leaving -- the company, not the country.

Glenski, <blockquote>Quote
<hr>If you don't like working for jerks, move.<hr></blockquote><blockquote>Quote
<hr>If you can't adapt or get someone to change the situation, move<hr></blockquote> Call me crazy, but that sounds a lot like the "if you don't like it, move" argument. You even used "don't like" once and "move" twice. Whether you're telling (or if you prefer "suggesting") someone to leave his job or leave the country, either way the 'if you don't like it, leave' attitude is infantile.

thanks for all the replies. actually, i like my job and the people that i work with so im not really interested in moving over a few bad apples (workwise, not as people though) that's why i am asking for advice as to handle these types of differences. i guess the work effort or the concept of work differs from country to country and from culture to culture so im really interested in finding out a common area and work it from there.

I think most of us quickly got the fact that pudman knew what he was doing when he "confused" Austrian and Australian.

#9's question echoes my own: Are these Austrozealanders on working-holiday visas?

If so, chances are they see themselves as short-termers, and thus have the typical short-termer's work ethic. That's a factor worth considering if you're looking to uncover commonalities and "work it from there".

what a nice advise, MOVE ?? QUIT?? come on, as OP elaborates that he need opinion how to handle such situations.Eventually, there should be some way. As I feel ur under the wings of these brats,why dont you talk to your HR people, Im sure youc an relate more since your both local, and the HR in the end will find way how to adjust the working relationship that you have. AND OP, its also your chance to adapt new people, new style.

I think the OP is being a bit unfair, and is probably an Eikaiwa teacher who has got a bit big for their boots.

I'm an NZer, speak Japanese fluently, and work hard, not teaching English either

. Am I an exception to the rule? Probably. Face it the crap wages on offer in the OP's industry, and low unemployment rates down under fairly much mean that the quality of Antipodeans who come to work in Eikaiwa is low.

PS Glenski is known on most Japan related forums as Glumski. No prizes for guessing why!

I'm a big fan of leaving the office as soon as the whistle blows, if not sooner. 10 years in Japan and I don't think I've ever worked a 40-hour week. Right now, on my busy weeks I'm doing 25 hours. Not working rules!

A point to note to is the 'following Japanese customs thing'. Don't be overly keen to do so, as you'll find goalposts moving at the whims of the locals, but on the other hand don't be too inflexible either.

I love this discussion. Hopefully we shall finally discuss here all the nationalities. Let's face it - these and these are slow, others ass--les, those have old fashioned ideas and the damn Italians and Greeks, you don't wanna know. It's like when my friend Tommy heard his crazy grandma saying "I hate the damn Jews, the bloody nigrs, the chinks the damn Japs the gks, the gypsies !" And then Tommy asked her "How about the Arabs, do you like'em grandma?" "The Arabs? The Filthy ass--les?" "I bloody loathe them too!" "Are you a racist, by any chance, grandma?" "Who, me? Why, no, I am not!".

Let's start with the Japanese though.
I am at the University and the people I see here (with exceptions of course) JUST NEED TO BE HERE, they don't have to do anything.
But they can't leave. Weekend, they are here all the time. They sleep, play video games, read manga, loiter around, make coffee, do the dishes you name it.
But, leaving for a holiday, a week or more is wrong. How crazy is that? Are these people OK?
Honestly, I do here much more 'WORK' than the Japanese.
Someone told me that science in Japan is mediocre. I know exactly why. There is no need to be the best, since, when you are the best, the collective will silence you.
And so on. This is a great country, but we (gaijin) will never understand it.
They are a different subspecies, Asian people. And so are the blacks, the Indians etc.
And I am no racist.
Cheers
LB