Job Discussion Forums

[seklarwia]

Nothing to do with PKC, but with regards to mobiles:

When I arrived, I was taken to our city's yakusho to apply for my ARC. As well as getting receipt saying when my card would be ready, the helper I was with paid 300 yen (I think... it wasn't much, that's all I remember) for a certificate. Took the cert to the post office and set up a bank account. They issued me with a slip of paper with my details which could be used until I received my bank book and card. Then we took the cert and bank slip to the phone shop to get my mobile because they were insistant that I have an account that payments could be taken out of automatically.

This was all done on the first day. But because the shop doesn't deal with many foreigners they wanted to make some calls to check everything was fine. But I had my mobile in hand the following morning.

I chose to pay up front for my phone so that I could get a really cheap contract that I could change or cancel at anytime with no penalties (I pay about 2500/month including extra charges), but they were perfectly willing to let me choose as I wished.

Perhaps if you do the same, you'll have less hassle getting a phone.

[Bread]

Haha, I remember you from the Korea forum, you had the Lost in Translation avatar, right? I looked at that forum a lot when I was getting ready to move to Korea, I think I even looked at your blog one time. I'll try to write something helpful since I vaguely remember you being helpful to me.

I lived in Japan for a while, then Korea for a while, and now I'm back in Japan after missing it dearly the whole time I was in Korea. In my experience, the quality of life in Japan has been a lot higher. People don't stare at me on the subway, people don't spit in elevators and pee on the backs of vending machines (usually - I mean, nothing like the vending machine near my house in Korea that would sometimes have two guys peeing behind it at the same time). Kids don't even point at me and yell to their moms about me when they see me! And the foreigners seem a lot more... normal. In Korea it was mostly alcoholic misanthrope teachers and military. Not very diverse.

One important thing that's different from Korea to keep in mind: if you don't like your job, it's okay. You can CHANGE it. Crazy, right? You keep your work visa, even if you quit. You don't need to do two months of paperwork. You can get a room in a decent guesthouse in Tokyo or Osaka for $400-600/month while you look for something else. So don't worry so much about the job and location, because you're not stuck there for a whole year if you hate it. Once you've got a work visa, it's pretty easy to find someone else to hire you.

I've got a great location right now. I'm out in a small public school in the country, but only an hour from central Tokyo. It's peaceful, the air is clean, but I can go to Tokyo after work if I want. There are basically no foreigners around, but my Japanese is improving by leaps and bounds because of it. I wasn't thrilled to be working in an eikaiwa last time I was here, but it was honestly a lot better than a hagwon. I worked for GEOS before and requested Hokkaido, but I got Gunma... which I would not recommend. I would take pretty much anywhere over Gunma.

My experience with apartments here compared to Korea: both jobs have set me up with a Leo Palace ( http://www.eg.leopalace21.com/index.html ), which are generally pretty nice. It's a little bit less spacious than my (admittedly really nice) officetel was in Korea, but they always have a BATHTUB, something I dreamed about in Korea.

Oh, and about starting money: You'll maybe get your first paycheck around the 20th of your SECOND month here, that's how it works at a lot of the companies here for some reason. So a little bit more money saved would be good if it's possible, but you would probably be all right.

Anyway, feel free to message me if you have any questions closer to moving time, or look me up if you end up close to me (I'm in Saitama, western Tokyo-metro area).

[ciccone_youth]

Hey- thanks so much for your advice and feedback!

Yes, I'm looking forward to the things that will actually be different from Korea- no more spitting (or less), rude behaviour, and overload of drunk foreigners. It will be nice, I never was one of those disgusting foreigners of the whole Itaewon scene

Today I got a call from Donna at PKC, and I got my COE!!! Next step is the consulate, and then... Japan. Crazy! I'm so excited, it's happening!

[Apsara]

A bit less spitting perhaps, but it definitely happens here I'm afraid.

As for drunk foreigners, Roppongi is Tokyo's version of Itaewon, and no shortage of them there. All you have to do is avoid Roppongi though...

[ciccone_youth]

[fat_chris]

[ciccone_youth]