I haven’t had much luck finding a job in the US, so after a little bit of soul-searching and some good reports from friends already over there, I’ve decided to take a job with ACE teaching English to people of all ages in Japan. I’ll be flying into Kansai International on the 31st, and teaching in Hiroshima.
I know some Dopers have had similar jobs in the past. What, as a white 26-year-old American male with little spoken Japanese, expect from my time in Japan? Any major hurdles you wish you’d known about before you got there?
dolphinboy, there are plenty of reputable services that contract to English speakers with college degrees to teach conversational English in Japan and other parts of the world.
I have two friends who are leaving on the 26th to do the same thing, but I don’t know any more about it than that it sounds exciting.
People are going to freak out about you, every day. By this I mean, you will be walking down the street minding your own business, when you will hear somewhere nearby a cry of “Waaaaaa!? Gaijin!!” This will happen pretty much every day. After a year, there will even be people who have seen you at least every week that year who will still cry “Waaaaaa!? Gaijin!!” one day.
So expect that.
Not that I had a bad time or anything. That was just something kind of funny that happened, and that can be a little annoying if you’re in certain moods.
There’s lots of really nifty sight-seeing to be done.
There’s lots of good thinking about inter-cultural issues to be done and acted upon.
The food is awesome. Japanese food is far more (and far better) than just sushi and miso. And if you’re expecting hibachi-style stuff, realize this: In Japan, a “hibachi” is a kind of table which serves to warm your feet as you sit next to it. You do not cook on a hibachi.
The TV is great to watch, even if you don’t understand it. I went several months without realizing my TV was capable of recieving English subtitles for most English-language broadcasts. To avoid this problem, get clear with some fellow gaijin early on as to which little symbol means “Show me the english subtitles” on your remote.
I’m not going to say anything about “what the people are like” because it’s just anywhere else: Some are friendly, some are not, some are nice, some are not, some like to party, some like to read, and so on and so on.
Japan is loud. People yell all the time. You will be suprised.
I lived in Tokyo for almost two years and had a great time while I was there. A couple things that you may find difficult.
The cost. No matter how many times people tell you before you arrive, some things are a shock when you see it. Fruit and Veggies are really expensive (especially compared with what I was used to in Canada). Decent beff is costly, though pork and chicken are pretty reasonable.
Space/housing. Do you have housing provided? Most ESL type jobs provide some kind of (crappy) housing, and finding a decent place takes a lot of time and effort. Plus you need to put up like 5 months rent in advance, if you can find a place that will rent to foreigners. Like cerebus said, you’ll need to redefine your idea of personal space. On trains there is none. Those pictures you may have seen with people being pushed onto trains are real.
Language. For a country that has been learning English for quite some time, it is really quite difficult still to find English speakers, even in major banks in major tourist areas. And I lived in Tokyo. I imagine Hiroshima would be even worse. Take a Japanese course.
If you have a decent sense of humour and an ability to adapt, you’ll do fine. Japan is a great place to live, and I think Hiroshima is a great city (though I have only visitied) Good luck!!!
I lived in Japan from 1947 to 1956. Basically an army brat was I. From age 4 to 13.
At that time there was no safer place to live. I could roam all over Tokyo by myself on their very efficient, but very crowded, train system ------at 10 yen a pop. ---------(Which was like 3 cents—easily covered by my $1 a week allowance)
Not sure why the Japanese would tolerate an American kid brat among them on a daily basis. But they did.
I remember that the Japanese were always super polite. If they had any bad feelings towards their occupiers----they kept it well hidden.
One thing I do remember is that the Japanese, in a crowded situation, definitely smelled like fish. (I remember also that the Japanese thought us Yanks smelled like cow farts)
One thing to keep in mind is that drinking, and drinking heavily, is a very common activity. As long as you don’t get obnoxious or violent, there’s really very little social stigma attached to it. It’s also a very good way to get to meet the locals. Whenever I have to travel overnight to a rural town, I have dinner at one of the local izakayas (pub-restaurants), and every time, without fail, I’ve ended up in a long friendly conversation with the other people there. It’s also a good way to pick up everyday, conversational Japanese.
And in general, Japan is still really safe, even in the cities. Supposedly the neighborhood I live in now is one of the rougher ones in Tokyo, yet I don’t even feel nervous when I jog home along the river at midnight.
May I suggest that you buy a copy of The Geographer by Jim Riva.
Jim lived in Japan for 10 years and wrote a novel about it. One of the funniest books I have ever read.
Hoo boy, that’s a loaded question. Westerners who live in Japan seem to have a compulsive need to explain Japan to other people. You’ll get it after you’ve been there for a while. The thing to remember is that, while there are some generalizations that can be relied upon, descriptions of Japan very much follow the old parable about the 3 blind men and the elephant. You know, one touches the trunk, the other’s feeling the tail, and the other is feeling the ribs, and look foolish arguing about which of 3 animals they’re actually describing.
As to the slice you’re getting into, you are taking a job in a company called private eikaiwa. You should know that in the office environment, they highly value unflinching dedication to the job, respect of the status quo, and strong restraint of expressing any non-trivial personal opinions (except at organized boozefests, where it is expected). You should also know that the private eikaiwas have a bad rep as far as being slave shops, although not all of them are like that. To some extent, there’s an understanding that eikaiwas are the Ellis Island of would-be immigrants to Japan. A lot of people sign on to get the work visa and then start looking for something better immediately. If you like it, you might consider applying for the JET program which is much like an eikaiwa job but (generally) with better compensation and benefits.
I started a Wiki for people in Japan to contribute their experiences and knowledge… I ended up not getting a lot of contribution outside of some of my friends, but we collected some good stuff. Have a gander, it’s http://www.takipedia.org . Note… it’s not Wikipedia, everybody thinks it’s Wikipedia. You can think of it as the Japan expat version of Wikipedia.