Job Discussion Forums

[madeira]

I've asked in the UK forum, and all three people have responded a bit... (Thanks! Just need more info!)

I have to move to Surrey by April. The main office is in Weybridge, Surrey, and two days a week will be in Blackfriars, London. Guildford (Surrey again) may be involved, if I get into school there.

Which are good areas/bad areas to live? (We can spend up to 1500 pounds on rent.)

What are ESL teachers making? If that's very low, what do clerks/bar staff make? (My visa will allow any work.) Any job suggestions? I'm quite good at training and grooming cattle for show...

Is it easy to find Japanese and other Asian food supplies? Yuzupon and umeboshi, for example? Any products you know I should ship to the UK?

Medical insurance. What should I do?

Any other info? Anything at all...

I've figured out how to ship the cat, mostly. Bloody silly requirements, and it takes 7 months total. However, almost done.

Any help appreciated!

[freddie's friend daniel]

I'm not a Londoner, Madeira, so I'm sure someone else will be able to give you better and more up-to-date info but here's a few hints anyway-
There used to be a big Yaohan Japanese supermarket in Colindale but I heard that it cahnged hands and is now called "Oriental City". In any case you should still be able to get Japanese supplies there or in the Japan Centre Foodshop.
http://www.japancentre.com/index.php?page=food&lang=en
You can expect any imported food to be exorbitantly expensive ( a lot of it is shipped via mainland Europe so you are paying a lot of taxes and duties on it) so I would advise you to take as many of your favourites with you as possible.
On the work front, it's just an idea but you could maybe contact the Japanese school (a sizeable nihonjin gakkou) and see if they have anything going. You never know.
http://www.thejapaneseschool.ltd.uk/nihonjingakko/

[lajzar]

Actually, regardless of imported or not, you can expect any food to be expensive. They say Japan is expensive, but that's only because most of them never spent much time in the UK. Surrey in particular has one of the highests costs of living in the UK.

[SEndrigo]

Guildford is a fantastic area, but you pay a lot for the privilege of living there !!

If I remember Madeira, you mentioned you had a very good, high-paying job in Japan....so why are you going to the UK? Just curious....

best wishes

[madeira]

My husband is being transferred there for 3 years, so off we go. I've never been, so it's a good chance for me. And at least our rent will be covered. I figure I can use the time to finish up an MA, travel... but I'll still need money...

I'm considering commuting to Japan and keeping at least part of my current job. I'll chat with the director about that idea soon... and if they'll let me have a free dorm room. Otherwise it's in with the in-laws... (NO.)

Thanks for the tips and links, guys! If you have any more info... or cultural tips for ignorant Canucks/Japanese folk, let us know!

I'm studying the language now through work, as we're using all UK-based materials in our courses. I guess British people don't have the idiom 'to carry a torch for someone'. Funny language....

[hivans]

Being a Londoner, I might have some ideas but things are always very different for someone who moves to a city compared to someone who has grown up there.

I think recently Weybridge topped a poll for being the richerst place in Britain. Surry is certainly a nice area but I got the impression that Weybridge is the sort of where everyone is so rich they can organise whatever they want for themsleves and it might lack a little in community social activites.

One of the biggest problems in London is commuting. Especially in winter the public transport system can grind to a halt so it is worth considering livign close to a rail link. Weybridge trains run out of Waterloo so I think it would make sense to look at South London areas with easy access to Waterloo. Getting to Blackfriars can be a pain in the rush hour - I would consider walking down the side of the river Thames from Waterloo - it would take about 30 minutes and avoid using the underground trains which are murder in the rush hour. I am a little bit out of date because I am now in Japan but I have heard that the bus service has improved a lot lately and there are buses from Waterloo to Blackfriars.

Trying to think of places with rail links to Waterloo, there are many places like Richmond and Kingston that are nice areas but a bit expensive. Other areas like Clapham are a bit of a mix of up and coming areas with some run down parts - and while I don't want to be over|alarmist, especially in places like Clapham and Brixton you will be more aware of crime than you would be in Japan. The up side of these areas is often they are culturally diverse, but I think the best thing to do is get a transport map of London and pick some areas and do a bit of reseach, if you have more detailed questions on London areas please post again or pm and I can try to tell you more. Of course, one thing about London is that areas frequently change.

I am not sure exactly what the situation with foreign residents in the Uk is, but I am pretty sure that you will have access to the UK public health system. Where I lived in South London, on the occasions I went to hospital or the doctors there were many foreign residents there so I think they had no problem using the service, and any legal job will involve paying national insurance contributions so you will have every right to use the system I would imagine. In my experince, the National Health Service is pretty good if you have an emergency but minor things can be a real pain, often involving really long waits at doctors. However, this may vary from area to area. I think buying private health insurance is pretty expensive but many employers now have some sort of private health insurance scheme. Dentistry, though, nearly always has to be done privately now. I just used to pay the rather high feees every time I went.

I did my CELTA course in London so I know a little about the English teaching situation in London. There are a large number of TEFL teachers in London so it is hard to get a really good salary, or a job in a good language school. There are many fly by night operations that you might want to avoid working in. About two years ago it seemed that the average wage for TEFL teachers worked out at seven pounds an hour, which I reckon would not be so vastely different from many bar jobs.

One option you might want to consider is teaching Japanese, there seemed to be a surprisingly large demand for private Japanese lessons when I was studying Japanese before coming here. This might be a useful link http://www.jpf.org.uk/language/home/

I wonder if it is worth looking for a job at a Japanese company or even the Japanese Enbassy in London. However, London has a huge number of service industry and public sector jobs - I think you could arrive there and scan the jobs pages of the local papers and look at the local job centres and employment agencies and you would be sure to get something. My sister for example, got a job at a tead dealers even though she had no experience in the area, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time

Just one idea, I used to belong to something called the Oxford club which was a weekly meeting for people interested in Japan and Japanese people living in London. It seems to have disappeared from the net but there were a number of such clubs as well as the more official Japan society and they might be very good places to get information. There is no Japan town like China town, but the area around Brewer street just by Piccadilly seemed to attract a lot of Japanese expats - there is a smattering of (some cheap) Japanese restaurants - and one pun the Glasshouse http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/info_pubbar_5007.html always seemed to have Japnese customers drinking there, but I dont know why.

I hope this helps, please let me know if I can help you with anything else

Henry

[madeira]

VERY helpful! Thanks!