Job Discussion Forums

[dawnbuckley]

Hi,

I am a bit stressed out.I have been offered position with David English House and from what I have read it seems to have A good reputation and the conditions are average.
I am stressed as I have to decide really quick. It is located in Hiroshima. First: What is Hiroshima like to live in? I am a single female and would like to be able to make friends!
Is accommodation easy to find? I have worked abroad before but never had to get an apartment by myself and I feel a bit nervous that I will end up on the street,

Rereading I think I'm probably being a bit silly. Sorry. Mainly though: Opinions on Hiroshima?

Thanks alot,

Dawn

[Brooks]

I have never been there but I only hear good things.

www.gethiroshima.com

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

It's not silly at all. Getting housing as a foreigner is a huge problem in Japan (actually, it's a pretty big problem for young Japanese people, too- just a little bit smaller, a lot of people will live with their parents until they marry- in the case of a woman- and for their entire lives- in the case of a man, even if he gets married, the wife moves in with the husband's parents).

Will your employer not help you find accomodations? Do you know about key money, deposits etc. It can be very, very expensive (thousands of dollars on top of first and last) and difficult for a foreigner (do you speak Japanese?) to find accomodations in Japan. Some real estate companies (you don't just walk into an appartment building and rent an apartment here) simply refuse to deal with foreigners. It's why gaijin houses exist- but then there may not even be a lock on the front door (and if Hiroshima is anything like the places I've lived in Japan, then Japanese people will just knock [usually, but not always], open the door and walk into your aparment- I learned to keep my front door locked to prevent this- but gaijin houses sometimes [often, usually?] don't have locks on the front door) , and so all of your belongings have to go in your one small room and you are house sharing with other foreigners.

The normal situation for newbies to Japan is for the employer to have housing already set up so you basically just move in, and maybe buy a few things (especially a bed. most Japanese people sleep in beds because futons aren't very comfortable. But beds are expensive. So often you have just a futon from the employer- futons are just a very thin version of the mattress on a North American style futon. There isn't a frame. It can be roughly the same as taking two comforters, putting them on the floor one on top of the other and calling that a mattress. A lot of people just buy a tonne of futons and futon pads- like a spoonge underpad and put one on top of the other like a stack of pancakes and then it's comfortable). When you rent an unfurnished apartment in Japan it's just walls. There's no refrigerator, no washing machine, no lights etc.

Find out where your predecessor lived and if you can just move into his or her place and buy stuff from them. You may still get stuck with key money etc, but at least you would have some stuff and not just four un-insulated walls.

I've never been to Hiroshima, sorry.

[Brooks]

yes, true.
You need to ask the employer if they help with housing.
I was lucky. I got something like 350,000 to pay for the key money when I first moved in.
I was in an old place and the kitchen sink only had cold water and after I moved in I had only cold water in the shower. I had to have that fixed, but didn't have to pay.

Be picky if you have to look for your own place. Mansions cost more but the walls are thicker. I used to live in an apato and lived next to a couple that had two little kids who cried every day.
I played my guitar sometimes but I was told not to play after nine because it "would disturb the neighbors". Well no one every told the kids to stop crying by 9:00 p.m.
The husband delivered newspapers and would wake me up sometimes at 4:00 as he started his motorcycle. The wife got pregnant and not longer after that I had had enough and moved to a mansion.

It is cheaper if you live farther from a station. In Hiroshima they have a good tram system.

[maya.the.bee]

hiroshima should be a good place to live. for a small city there's good shopping, awesome food, a horrible baseball team (about to get a new stadium), tons of tourists (j-nese students & foreigners), & music venues with decent schedules.

there have been posts in the past year about xenophobia/racism & nightlife, i'm too lazy to search for them but they should pop up if you search for hiroshima.

be genki & friends shouldn't be a problem.

[dawnbuckley]

Hi again,

Thanks for the great replies. The owner says that I could meet with a couple of staff and discuss it and they would contact agencies and I could arrange to see places. They will pay half the agency fee and up to 100,000 yen deposit. If the deposit is more than this they will give me a loan I could pay back over six months or so.
Does this sound fair?
He also says that they advise new teachers not to take a place that demands key money and that unlike other areas in Japan, many places in Hiroshima don`t ask for key money.
Is this true?

Thanks again!

Dawn

[easyasabc]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Yeah, but I like Osaka-style okonomiyaki much more than Hiroshima-style...too many noodles!

NCTBA