Job Discussion Forums

[factr]

Only three weeks seperates me from my move to Japan to teach for NOVA. I am 23, male, and have lived a middle/upper middle class lifestyle in America. As I continue to throw away old clothes and trinkets and box my books and furniture, I am trying to narrow down the list for things that will make my transition to a different world a little less daunting.

I am going to bring a years worth of vitamins, bottle of ibuprofen, neosporin, bandaids, heart burn, sun lotion, bic razors, random grooming stuff etc. I know most if not all of these things can be bought worldwide, but it will be less expensive for me to buy them here (loving parents) My question here is there anything that some of you were really hurting for (at least in the first few months) that you wish you would have brought. Get nostalgic.

I am tall and lanky so I know clothes will be an issue. Is about 15 dress shirts, and 7-8 pair of nice paints suitable? This doesn't include casual, just for work. Also-- does business dress mean just white oxford shirts and ties, or are blue striped and pastel colors fine?

Does any certain "Americana" go over particularly well with the Japanese? Aside from pictures and brochures about my home town/state, I thought it would be cool to bring over little gifts that I could use when appropriate. Suggestions?

Lastly- If I overpack on toiletries and clothes, how much yen do I really need to eat for the first month (till payday). Ex. cereal/milk breakfast.. Greasy noodle/meat plate from cheap restaurant for lunch- and dinners prepared from grocery store food. (pork poultry rice and some native veggies)
Does this even come close to the diet you find yourself on??

Thanks in advance to anyone who read all that and can weigh in. I am taking this oppurtunity to become more independant and mature, and you can flame away if you think I am being anal about this-- but helpful suggestions not found in culture shock-like travel books are what I am really looking for.

[Glenski]

[Quibby84]

I would bring every medicine you can think of, especially cough medicine and things like that. We brought everything we own basically and the only thing that was great to have was medicine. Most people say that the medicine here doesn't really do anything. And I never really needed much medicine in America but for some reason I get colds (sore throat, coughing) every other two weeks here.
Shaving cream would be good to...we havent found any real stuff yet.
My husband is tall and skinny so we brought like 50 pieces of clothes for him but we found a store called "UniQlo" that sells shirts (and maybe even pants) that will fit him. The sizes here are smaller so that is just what he needed. It is easier to find something that fits him here than in America.
Food that you love may be nice to. We eat cereal every day and there is like 5 choices of cereal and they the boxes are very small and very expensive...

[sallycat]

looking at what i packed when i first came to japan, i wish i'd brought more clothes (it can be very hard to find stuff in your own size) and less grooming stuff (cheaply and easily available).

i'd bring a few bottles of deodorant, though.

[factr]

Thanks for the tips, I will definitely bring some cold medicine (do they have restrictions on psuedoephedrine or anything?) and shaving gel. I am allowed 100 pounds of checked luggage, which will limit me to just a couple essential books and "toys" (sports equipment etc.), and I won't be bringing a computer. I think I'd rather have too many clothes than too few, but I will be on the lookout for shops with American sizes.

[Wasabi Bomb]

It's hard to find a condom in Japan that will fit on your pinky finger let alone the place it's intended for. Bring a supply with you.

I agree about the Americana. I brought all sorts of pins and pencils with Canadian flags and stuff and gave them away, and nobody cared. If I gave them to people I didn't know very well it actually placed a burden on them because they would start searching around to find something they could give me in return.

[Apsara]

Yes they do have restrictions on pseudoephedrine. You are not allowed to bring it in. If they find you have Sudafed etc. in your luggage, Customs will not be impressed, and you will probably be questioned for a while, not worth it.

That does sound like a lot of clothes, but if you are the kind of person who likes to have a lot to choose from, then go for it. Better than some of the guys I worked with at eikaiwa who owned exactly 2 pairs of pants, 1 tie, 2 shirts and 1 jacket and wore them until they were falling apart.

Bandaids and things like that are taking space in your luggage unnecessarily, they are easy to buy here. Deodorant bring a year's supply definitely, what is available here is very weak. As for shaving foam, Gillette brand is available in all my local drug stores. As Quibby's post shows, it depends a lot on where you are going. I live not far out of central Tokyo and can find almost anything I could get at home.

If you will be in quite a rural area like Quibby, there is a lot less choice and there might be some things you can't find.

[factr]

Good to know, Aspara. I wasn't looking to make a meth lab in Japan or anything but I don't want to have any unecessary stress at the airport either. For that matter, are there any other innocuous things that bring a lot of scrutiny? I read they may look at VHS tapes for porn ( it isn't 1991, though ). I was planning on writing dvd-rw's with my mp3's and some episodes of tv shows, etc.

I know the regulation about tobbacco (2 cartons)

[sallycat]

to be honest, cigarettes are so cheap in japan that i can't really think of any reason to bring them in.

[factr]

If that is the case i might use up that allowance on a few nice cigars instead. Do they sell Parliament brand cigarettes?? I'll smoke marlboro if i have to, but I am not a chain smoker and am a fan of the recessed filter

This thread is going better than I had hoped, I've already rearranged a couple of things in the cluttered staging area that used to be my bedroom.

[Chris21]

If you like sauces on your food, maybe a couple of bottles of your favourite BBQ or Plum sauce. They've got lots of wonderful sauces here, but they're not quite the same. I load up with French's Honey Mustard, Bulls-Eye BBQ, and President's Choice Plum sauce (it's Canadian) whenever I go home.

Condoms are a good idea too... Japanese condoms are terrible.

[Quibby84]

oh, I cant find any hair gel that is not just glue or that is under $10. I cant find any that would work on my curly hair. So I cant find good brand hair gel, I would pay $10 if it was something that would work...but it wont so...yeah..>I am winging it until we go home NEXT WEEK!

[Hoser]

Enter Canuck with search links to threads and a slap with the wet noodle in 3.......2........1......

[callmesim]

DEODORANT. DEODORANT. DEODORANT. This can't be stressed enough. If you're going for a year, take 14 months worth. The last thing you want is to be cut short. I don't sweat a lot but Japan gave me a workout during summer. And the stuff in the stores is very weak and useless. I would put this as #1

As for #2 - cold & flu medication. The local stuff you buy at the drug store is all made by Placebo. The strongest stuff I found gave me about 1 hour relief. It's pretty much a given that you'll get sick and it'll probably happen more frequently than you're used to.

Photos of your hometown / city are also good to bring. Not for you to look at and weep but to show students and others. I regretted not bringing photos like this and I know a lot of my fellow teacher friends felt the same way. You often want to show off your hometown and that's hard to do without photos.

I would seriously consider bringing a laptop though. The internet will be your saviour when things get tough. You can get TV shows super fast thanks to the internet speeds and torrents. Not to mention keeping up with news. My laptop was my lifeline.

Consider yourself lucky with a 100 pound luggage limit. Coming from Australia, I was allowed 44 pounds.

[JimDunlop2]