Job Discussion Forums

[donpark]

I've been lurking on this site for a while, doing research. I hope to get a decent teaching job as soon as possible. I'm interested in the commute, and did a search, but there doesn't seem to be a recent post on it. I've noticed that some people seem to have a hellish commute. Packed trains, 45-60 minutes or more...crazy.

Are long commute times typical? Is there a regional difference? A rural vs. urban difference? Does the company (the one's that arrange housing) have any kind of responsibility to provide an apartment that is reasonably close to the work? Anybody got an nightmare commute stories? Do many companies provide cars to use? Do the companies pay for commute costs? Are the buses and trains really as jam packed as I hear, with people being shoved in?

Sorry about so many questions, but I thought I'd pack all the commute questions into one post.

[kahilm]

I work in Shinjuku, Tokyo. When I first got here it was about 50 minutes to my companies apartment. 15 minute walk to the station, 20 minute ride, 3-5 minute transfer, 5 minutes on another train. Then 2-3 minutes to walk to the job. I hated it. A lot.

So I moved into my own place that I found by myself and now it's about 20 minutes (2 minute walk to the station, 15 minute ride, 2-3 minutes walk to the job). I love it. Oh, and it's cheaper and bigger than the company place.

[seklarwia]

Did somebody ask about packed trains

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0A9-oUoMug&feature=related

[Apsara]

The "pushers" you see there are increasingly rare these days- usually it's just a lot of shouting to "pull your body and bags out of the door area, please". I haven't seen staff actually pushing for years- they certainly don't on the line I live on, although it is one of the busier ones in Tokyo, and Japanese friends tell me they are much less common now than they used to be.

Some trains are definitely more crowded than others- I used to have to commute on the dreaded Saikyo line a couple of days a week at morning rush hour and sometimes thought I was going to crack a rib, but that is a notoriously crowded line, and while you can feel a bit like a sardine at times you aren't crushed in like that on most trains, it's just....cosy

Few eikaiwa teachers have to commute during the morning rush hour, and ALTs are usually out in the suburbs somewhere so are not heading into the city at the busy times.

Most companies that provide housing/help you with looking for it will try to place you within 30 to 40 minutes at the most of your workplace- when I worked at an eikaiwa I lived a non-crowded (opposite direction from the rush hour traffic) 20 minutes from my school.

You won't be provided with a car if you are in an area with good public transport, but in the more rural prefectures I believe this is common- I have a friend in Yamanashi who was provided with a car by his eikaiwa. It's unheard of to be provided with a car if you live in Tokyo though for example, and you wouldn't really want to have to drive to work here anyway.

I didn't answer the poll because I do a number of jobs (not all English teaching), and my commute ranges from a 5-minute walk some days to a 40 minute train ride once a week where I usually have to stand up most of the way, but it's not especially crowded (by Tokyo standards )

[flyer]

I am in the country and it has good points and bad

But one of the great things is commuting is next to nothing, only 5 minutes and can go home for lunch everyday

[ripslyme]

My apartment is about a 10 minute bike ride from my school. This is in Saitama, near Omiya.

When I lived further away and commuted by train (about an hour), the school paid for my monthly train pass. Commuting by train is not a very pleasant experience and a big reason why I decided to find an apartment within biking/walking distance from my job.

[Ryu Hayabusa]

With ECC in Kansai, I work at a variety of schools. I have three regular days now and two subdays left. One school is so close I could bike to it or take a 5 minute train ride. The other is a 25 minute train ride. The last one is a 7 minute bike ride and a 20 minute subway ride away. I have been sent all the way to Okayama for a few days, though. That is a long commute if you don't stay overnight and some people don't because they get sent for only a day!

[Brooks]

My new commute in April will suck.
The commute from home to work could be a little over an hour (1:10-1:15 minutes).
I can take either two or three trains.
If I change at Shinjuku, I can take two trains.
But I really don't want to be there during the morning rush hour.
If I avoid Shinjuku it will be three trains.
I am going to move (probably to Kawasaki) so my commute won't be as bad as now.

Now my commute is less than ten minutes on the train. The good days are coming to a close.

A commute of an hour and a half is the limit for Tokyo people. Less than that isn't unusual. Basically I can't afford to live in Tokyo, which is why my commute is long. I also have two dogs, so it is better for them that I am farther out.

[JesseDavis]

[donpark]

Thanks for all the great info. Aside from a few who have, or will have, really bad commutes, it doesn't seem too horrible for the majority. Good to know.

[Hoser]

I see pushers quite often during rush hour. It's never as bad as that video but they still have to give a little push to make sure that all the body parts make it in.

[JesseDavis]

oh gawd I thought I was going to be crushed today; it's always the rainy days. I was actually being squished against the luggage-rack thing.

But really, if you can avoid the worst of rush-hour at 8:15 am and whatnot, its pretty sane, and you can go really far quite quickly on the trains. I tried driving once and it took me an hour to do the same distance that a train did in 30 minutes on the Den-entoshi.

[elkarlo]

Since I am going to the super outer burbs, the trains only come about every 40 mins or so. I think I'll just bike the 10-12 miles to work, instead of walking, waiting, walking, and getting to school 40 minutes early. Then I can be a sweaty mess for class=)

[JL]

Yes, sweaty you would be. And have good rain gear, too.

Don't know what -if any- public bus transportation
exists down there. But that could be a viable option. Or, get a rowboat and paddle along the shoreline to get back and forth to work.

[elkarlo]