Toji's Guide/Thoughts on Being an ALT

Ms. Baker (left) is best ALT waifu

In a rare change of pace, I'll be posting a kind of guide here today. I had actually written this up a few months earlier, but decided to hold off on uploading it until it was much closer to the end of my current ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) contract. I figured that since I'll be moving on to a new job at the beginning of next month, I should probably summarize what it's been like for me to be an ALT out in the woop woop parts (a.k.a rural) of Ibaraki  and things to be aware of, for anybody who is thinking of wanting to come to Japan to work. While some might think that ALT work is incredibly easy work, that's not always the case.

Note that these are purely from my own experiences only, and while some of these experiences and pointers may vary from place to place, other pointers are generally applicable to all schools.

1) ALT work does not pay much these days*. 

When I first started working as an ALT in Kamisu city back in mid-2016, I was earning about 13,000 yen a day - approximately 260,000 yen a month. However, after having to move to a different city, my pay was reduced to about 12,500 yen a day - around 250,000. In my current city now? I'm not even earning that. Due to some number manipulating on my employer's part, I'm earning about 12,000 yen a day - 240,000 yen a month. However, this includes the expenses to cover commuting to school. In my previous two cities, the commuting pay was separate from my regular pay.

Regardless of the company, anyone who has been an ALT will generally agree that these days, it's a race to the bottom for companies to pay as little as legally possible to ALTs. While it would seem at first glance that dispatch companies are being tight with money, it's more to do with the Board of Education being tight with the money - but not necessarily by choice. The problem is that the budgets assigned to them by their local/prefectural governments are getting smaller. Despite this, Boards of Education still want good quality ALTs, even if they can't/won't pay accordingly for said ALTs. Dispatch companies want to pay their ALTs more so they'll stay on, but they also want to win more contracts and build up their reputation throughout the country. So it's a snowball effect, starting with governments being stingy on children's education.

While I won't say avoid ALT work like the plague, I would advise that you carefully check how much you will get paid per day - or at the very least, per month. Some job advertisements will show the annual pay, but it seems to be an attempt to hide how little you will be paid. If you can, only take the jobs that pay at least 250,000 yen a month. Also, with the current situation of the CCP virus, dispatch companies are desperate for ALTs right now, and I would dare say that you might have a bit of room to negotiate. Just don't be too greedy if you do try negotiating.

This won't be a problem if you're only thinking of doing a year or two in Japan as an ALT, or using ALT work as a means to get a better job as soon as possible in Japan, but this is not the kind of work you would want to do long term. Some people can make this their living, but I've found those sorts of people tend to be few and far between.

*... However, this is from my experience working for a ALT dispatch company. Companies like Interac and Altia Central are examples of such dispatch companies. If you get lucky and work directly for a city's Board of Education, you will get paid significantly more (I spotted a job-ad not too long ago that was offering 290,000 yen a month), as there is no middle-man taking a cut out of your pay. However, from my own observations, it's rare to see a city's Board of Education advertise for an ALT. In my 5 years in Japan, I've probably seen only 2 - 3 positions advertised, and heard of a co-worker successfully get a direct-hire position. Also, you will most likely need a Japanese driver's license to be eligible for a direct-hire position.

2) Your role will vary depending on your schools. 

Officially, ALTs are there to assist the teacher in teaching English to students. In Junior High School and High School, this will generally ring true. At those schools, there will already be dedicated Japanese Teachers of English (JTEs) to teach English. Your role there will usually be reading from the textbook, checking the students' work, and preparing any extra material that you think may be useful, such as English boards, worksheets and so on. Basically, you get the easy work, and it's no surprise that many ALTs would prefer to work at a JHS or HS. 

Elementary Schools on the other hand... well, that's a different story. Unlike JHS and HS, there's not always going to be a dedicated JTE at an elementary school. There will more often than not be at least one teacher there that can speak English, and therefore, your only point of contact if you have questions or concerns regarding day to day operations at the school (unless you've got some Japanese ability under your belt), but will either not be confident enough to run an English class, or may have other responsibilities running classes for their assigned grade. This means that you will more than likely be preparing the lessons, preparing the materials (assuming the previous ALT didn't leave any materials for you to use) and running the classes, with the homeroom teacher usually playing the assistant role. You may get lucky and have some teachers that will get involved in the lessons and planning process, but I have found that to be the exception, rather than the rule. If you're lucky to have a head teacher who has experience teaching English, and takes charge of lesson planning and running classes for some of the grades - enjoy it while you can. In my five years, I've only encountered two or three teachers who took the lead for the class; two of those teachers were involved in the planning process, while one planned the entire lesson, and kept me in the loop on what they would be doing for what lesson, occasionally asking for my input or ideas.

3) Not all students are created equal.

Presumably, if you're wanting to be an ALT, you should at least have a little bit of experience working with children, or at the very least have the patience to work with children. I mean, you are going to be working at a school after all. A school. Full of children.

While I have been very fortunate to have had pretty good students overall, that streak came to an end this year, with my 6th graders at my elementary school. One class is usually ok, but the other... fucking hell. I hate the class, and I have found that the source of why the class is so bad is down to most of the boys in that class being absolute pieces of shit - disruptive, won't listen, then complain they don't understand because they're disruptive and won't listen. You need to have patience with children, and if you don't have patience for children, or willing to learn patience, do not bother becoming an ALT. 
Generally 6th graders can be arrogant, because they are essentially the kings of Elementary school - of course this comes to a crashing halt the second they go in to Junior high school. But basically, you need to learn to keep your cool in front of the kids, regardless of what happens in the classroom.

In my experience, 4th graders can also be a handful. Oddly enough, despite my earlier comment about 6th graders being arrogant, my experiences have been generally positive aside from this year. The 6th graders I have worked with have mostly been shy, but rarely have they been disruptive. Though the 6th graders that I have worked with for more than 1 year I have found to be a bit more lively, but again, rarely are they disruptive, and I have found those kinds of students to be fun. 
This does carry on a little bit in to junior high school. The 1st graders are usually still full of energy and enthusiasm, though by the time they reach 3rd grade, it's pretty much non-existent - the weight of trying to pass their entrance exams to get in to their desired high school is on their shoulders, and I do not envy the kind of pressure that has been put on them. All I can do for them is help where I can. If they ask for my help, great. If they don't it, that's fine too.

More importantly, what you need to realize is that because you'll be working in a public school, not every student is going to be enthusiastic about learning another language, let alone English. Yes, you'll have a few that genuinely want to learn and improve their English, and in my experience - not just schools in Japan, but language learning in general - girls tend to take English (and language learning) more seriously than boys. That's not to say that there aren't boys who want to learn and improve their English, but you'll find it more likely that girls will be studying harder for English. So, if you aren't getting a good reaction from your students, it could simply be that they're not really in to English, and not necessarily a problem with you personally.
Of course, if you decide to work in an Eikaiwa, most of your students are there because they want to improve their English (or at least, their parents want them to).

4) Welcome to the rice fields, motherfucker. 

While you might get assigned to a major city, and be able to get by with zero or very little Japanese (more on that in the next section), chances are, you're going to be assigned to work in a rural city. Depending on your personal preference, this could be seen as a paradise of peace and quiet, or it could be absolute torture and boredom. If you're in the latter category, I'd suggest finding an apartment near a train station that can take you somewhere more lively for the weekend.

On the other hand, while it is possible to get to your school by bike or walking, having a driver's license from your home country will make you more appealing to ALT dispatch companies, as it means they can assign you to cities and schools where you might need a car. Most companies will provide a car  (for a certain monthly fee) to get to school and to allow you to go about your day to day business. If you do decide to go for a company car, the company will reimburse you for the daily cost of commutes to school, and will pay for the regular car inspections (the shaken/車検). In addition, they will cover any repairs to the car, provided it wasn't your fault. If you have a valid license from your home country, it means you have the opportunity to transfer it in to a Japanese driver's license. 

Also, being in a small rural town means news travels around fast. This also means that as an ALT, you could potentially face greater scrutiny if you're caught doing something you're not supposed to or, just as bad, be accused of something you didn't do (especially if you're a man). Potential punishment can vary between having to leave the city (and your employer having to assign you somewhere else quickly), to being outright fired by the company. I have known this to happen to some friends who are no longer ALTs, but have fortunately bounced back and are still living and working in Japan.

5) If you want better work in Japan, git gud at Japanese, gaijin.

While ALT dispatch companies will advertise that Japanese ability isn't required, it's partly true. While you might not need Japanese to teach English at your schools, you will definitely need Japanese ability to get by outside of school. If you happen to be assigned to a rural city as discussed above, Japanese ability is a must. Need to go to the doctor? You're going to need Japanese to adequately tell them what's wrong. Need to set up an account for your apartment's utilities or phone? You're going to need Japanese. Need to go to city hall for anything? You will need Japanese, but some city halls will have a booth dedicated to assisting foreigners, though I am not sure if this is standard across the country or not. Fortunately, some cities have night schools for learning Japanese, and it might be an idea to take it up if you're thinking of living in Japan long term.

Alternatively, you could work at an Eikaiwa school, which pays more than typical ALT work. However if you want a job in Japan beyond being an ALT or Eikaiwa instructor, you will need Japanese proficiency, along with physical proof of that proficiency. By that, I mean you need to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test - more commonly known as the JLPT (or 能力試験). Most non-ALT jobs these days will require that you at least have JLPT N2 certification, which is roughly the equivalent of advanced/business level Japanese, with N1 being considered the equivalent of native level Japanese. If you can at least get N2 certification, it will open up a lot more job opportunities for you within the country.

If you're intending to take the JLPT, there are plenty of textbooks available to purchase to cover vocabulary, grammar, kanji, reading and listening. The JLPT is held twice a year in Japan (first Sunday of July and December), whereas most other countries only hold it once a year in December. Registering for the test isn't cheap, but the benefit of having that certification is worth it.

6) The Summer Vacation - the good and the bad.

There are two things you need to be aware of concerning working as an ALT in public schools: Your schedule follows that of the school year, and you're paid based on the number of days you work each month. But the thing is, you will receive your pay the following month. For example, your pay for January will arrive in February. Since you won't be working in August because of the summer vacation, come September... see where I'm getting at here?

Some companies will pay between 50-75% of your regular monthly pay to help you get by until you receive your September pay in October. I believe Interac is one of the dispatch companies that does this. Unfortunately, my employer is not so gracious, though they do offer a little extra work during the summer break so I got a little bit of pay to get me through the following month, which was why I loved only having two weeks of summer vacation last year. In any case, it's recommended that before the summer break, you save up some money to help you get through September.

Also, be especially aware if you're starting in August (or even April), this is even more important, as your first pay won't arrive until two months later. Fortunately, my employer was upfront about this part before I moved to Japan to start work. At the very least, you should ask your employer what their policy is regarding pay for the summer break when factoring in the initial cost of moving to Japan.

In Conclusion

Those are my pointers for the moment, though I will be sure to update this post if there are any other key points that I think would be important for anybody who is wanting to become an ALT in Japan. However, due to the coronavirus, it's more difficult to enter the country at the moment, so you'll need to factor the cost of quarantine on top of everything else if you are able to get in to Japan

Lastly, while this post could be seen as hating on ALT work (and there are plenty of former ALTs out there who do hate the job with a passion), ALT work is not all bad. There is some joy in teaching students English, and see them improve over time. But as I mentioned earlier, this is not a long term job. At the very least, it's a good experience, and also a good way to move on to better jobs in Japan - provided you're willing to put that extra work in to be eligible for a better job. On top of that, though, you need to be prepared to accept that Japan is not exactly like what you see in anime and pop-culture. It's quite different from western culture in some ways, but in others it borrows a lot from it too, creating this weird fusion between old and modern. In any case, the first few weeks will be a little bumpy as you acclimate to your new environment, but if you're able to stick it out, you'll come out of it for the better.

At some point, I will probably shift this guide over to my main site, as this will probably get buried by future posts.

New Elementary School - Initial thoughts

Well, it's been 3 weeks since I started at my new elementary school. So, what are my initial thoughts.

It. Is. Small.

My previous school, while not as big as the schools I had back in Kamisu, it certainly wasn't small either. Aside from my 6th graders, all my other year groups were made up of at least two classes worth. My 6th grade was made of just one class, but there were nearly 40 students as a result.
This school I'm at now, there's only class of each grade, which isn't the most surprising part. The most surprising part is the size of these classes. At most, there are probably 20 students in each class, but my smallest class is made up of just 11.

My school is apparently still preparing a dedicated English classroom for me, at the request of the BoE, but I haven't heard anything of an ETA on it. So in the meantime, I go to each class to teach, with the students coming to pick me up from the teacher's room.
I have made an effort to spend time with the students during break time, usually I'm playing dodge ball with students, and they seem to enjoy me playing with them, and the teachers seem pretty happy about it too.

I am still getting used to the different environment and finding a teaching style to suit this school, but I'm slowly getting there. I will admit thought, I'm still sore about losing my previous elementary school. Hopefully I will get in to the swing of things at this school sooner rather than later.

Spring Break/New school year 2018

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so I guess I should start with a very belated Happy new year （笑）.

With the new school year coming up soon, I should probably talk about my situation for this year. Fortunately, I am still staying in Chikusei. However, while I will be working at the same junior high school as last year, I will be working at a different elementary school this year... to my (and my previous elementary school's) disappointment. Some of my teachers at my previous elementary school expressed that they wanted me to stay on for the next school year, and I also wanted to stay on, as I enjoyed working at there: the teachers and the principal were friendly, the students were pretty good for the most part, and I had my own classroom with plenty of resources to use, including a computer and LCD TV, which were very useful for 5th and 6th graders.
The weird thing, was that I was only told about the change in my last week of the semester (while recovering from the flu, but I'll save that for another time), yet I had heard from other ALTs that they had found out about their school changes much earlier than I did. While I'm not mad at my employer for the change of school, I'm a little bit annoyed that they left it to the last second to let me  know, and as a result, I wasn't able to give a proper goodbye to the students. I was able to give a goodbye to the teachers during morning recess. In any case, I will be going to visit my new school on Thursday. I was told by teachers from my previous elementary school that this school I will be working at is also a good school, so hopefully there won't be too much to worry about there.

Also, my girlfriend recently moved to Tokyo to start her post-grad. It also means it will be a lot easier for us to see each other now, where it's now just a 2 hour train trip away, rather than a 2 hour train trip, plus 2 hours on the shinkansen. We had a chance to spend the day in Tokyo recently, where we went to Asakusa to have some monjyayaki, before we walked along Sumida Park to see the Sakura. Afterwards, we headed to Ueno to look at the National Museum of Nature and Science. There was quite a bit to see, including dinosaur exhibits, space technology, and how animals and the environment evolved over time. We eventually went to the rooftop, where the happened to be a small garden for people to sit around and relax, along with a small vendor for coffee and snacks. We had a bit of a rest and had the chance to take in the view of Ueno from high up, something I've never had the chance to do. After a brief break, we left the museum, and went to a cafe nearby for some cake, before heading to Ameyoko to look around. After about an hour, we decided to call it a day, and I headed back to Chikusei.

So yeah, not much has been happening lately, though I did have the chance to see my girlfriend. I am curious to see how things will turn out at my new elementary school, though I will probably get some idea on Thursday when I go to visit.

Preparing for the Interactive Forum

Recently, I have been asked by my Junior High School that I help students prepare for the upcoming Interactive Forum. For those that do not know, an Interactive Forum is basically a competition based on English conversation, and getting students to talk in English as much as possible for a set period of time, while judges assess how each participant did.

Considering that I was working at elementary schools in Kamisu, this is the first time that I've been involved in an Interactive Forum in some capacity. Despite the company doing a quick training session at a recent ALT meeting, I've kind of been going on the fly in helping students prepare for the upcoming competition. Fortunately, there are students that have actually been involved in the forum last year, so because they have a pretty good grasp of how things go down, I'm usually just trying to give pointers on not letting awkward silences happen, and just jump in at any time and just ask a question.
However, for 3rd Grade students, they are required to talk about their town - except it's not as clear cut as I thought initially. Apparently Chikusei is an amalgamation of several, smaller towns and because of that, they can't talk about Chikusei. They have to talk about their town where their junior high school is located. The thing is, according to the students and teachers, there is absolutely nothing of any real interest in the area - nothing for tourists to see at all. Consequently, this puts them at a major disadvantage. What I've tried to do, in order to compensate for the lack of variety in the town, is to explain to the students to try and talk as much as possible about the few things that are in the town. For example, there's a library, I try to get them to talk about why they go to the library, how often they go to the library, and what kind of books the like. By doing this, I'm hoping this helps them to just keep talking, despite the lack of things that are in the area. They seem to understand the idea, especially when we're practicing, although I occasionally need to prompt them to ask questions when there's that awkward silence.

Interestingly enough, I have also been invited to judge an Interactive Forum next month, together with a fellow ALT. This will be interesting to see how this turns out, as it is actually happening at a time I'm supposed to be at school. I guess we'll see how it goes - and hopefully, my students will do well.

Getting a Haircut - again!

You may remember from a previous post of my first experience of getting my hair cut in Japan that did not involve me cutting my own hair.  Well, since moving in to Chikusei, I had been holding off on getting my haircut, at least until I could find a 1000 yen style barber shop. Fortunately, I was able to find two that are somewhat near my apartment - one of them being right next to a supermarket, I opted for that one.

Compared to when I got my haircut in Kamisu, getting my haircut at this particular barbershop was a different experience. In Kamisu, you would write your name down on a booking list, and wait your turn. However, at this particular barbershop, you actually purchase a ticket first from a little vending-style machine. Interestingly enough, it cost only 1000 yen - meaning no 8% tax (or an extra 80 yen in this case) attached to the cost! Anyway, after purchasing your ticket, you take a seat, but you don't just take any random seat. The seats are arranged similar in style to the queue of chairs you will some times find outside of restaurants when it's really busy. One difference I found was there was a sign on one of the chairs to indicate that it's for the next person to receive their haircut. Fortunately, I was the only person waiting at the time, so I went straight for that head chair. Not too long after, the hairdresser called me up, and I handed over my ticket. Like before, I asked for short, and I got short. Also of interest was the signs make mention that they will try their best to get your hair cut in 10 minutes, and in 10 minutes I was already out of there. I'm happy with it, and the students at my schools seem to like my haircut, mentioning that it suits me, compared to my Ray Martin style of haircut that occurs when I postpone my haircut for too long:

Just to clear any confusion, I'm talking about the Australian TV presenter Ray Martin, and not the Canadian politician Ray Martin.

In any case, I intend to go back to the same barbershop when my hair starts getting long again - usually in 4-5 weeks, sometimes up to 8 weeks if  I had my previous hair cut really short.

Life in Chikusei: One Month Later

After nearly a month since I moved to Chikusei, I figured I should write on my thoughts of living in Chikusei so far, and how it compares to life in Kamisu.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my apartment is in a surprisingly convenient location for the daily necessities. From my apartment, I can walk to the supermarket, convenience store, city hall, a 100 yen store, bank, and even a train station that can take me to Tokyo (in 2 hours, but しょうがない ). Unlike my apartment in Kamisu, which was actually a shed converted in to an apartment, my Chikusei apartment is well insulated, so I'm comfortably warm in the winter. In addition, my apartment in Chikusei is furnished. The downsides I've found are that the kitchen is smaller (making storing everything troublesome), and since I'm renting this apartment through the company, rent is more expensive.

In terms of daily goods, Chikusei is straight up more expensive. While it is possible to find cheap things around when it comes to food, I find I have to look a bit harder for cheaper things. For example, I'll go to one supermarket for cheaper meat, but I will go to another supermarket (that is not too far away) for most other things since they usually sell most other goods cheaper. I am also paying more attention to specials and anything in the bargain bin. Actually, I bought two bags of cereal for a cost that is actually cheaper than buying 1 big bag of brand name cereal. Oddly enough, I can't find cheap 5 pack yakisoba like I in Kamisu. Apparently, ramen is the thing around here, as no matter what supermarket I go to, they have plenty of packs of ramen, but hardly anything for yakisoba. As a result of the increase in costs, I'm cooking more often and finding ways to make my meals last longer - though it does give me the opportunity to try and cook new things. Just recently, I tried cooking Jamaican style chicken curry. Eating it with a small amount of rice, I can make it last for three meals - a feat that is tied with the curry rice I some times cook.

For the schools I go to, there are some aspects between Kamisu and Chikusei that I like over the other. For example, I like that the elementary school I go to in Chikusei provides me with my own classroom, with plenty of materials, a computer, and a TV connected to it to use with the text books, though the students (especially the 6th graders) are a bit slow to get things done. The JTE has told me that the 6th graders are constantly being scolded by teachers for this, but it seems to have no effect. Whereas in Kamisu, I had no such problems, though I was constantly having to come up with my own material for lessons (hurting my wallet in the process). In addition, it was a much more casual atmosphere, though it was probably due to most of the teachers in my Kamisu schools being younger than me. For the Junior High School I go to in Chikusei, I have no point of reference to compare in Kamisu, as I was working at elementary schools for those 6 months, so I can't really say which is better. However, I will say that it is nice to be slipping in to the support role and helping answer students' questions, checking their work and whatnot, rather than coming up with lesson plans - though their lessons are a lot more thorough, as they not only learn vocabulary, but also grammar, reading, listening and writing.

In terms of recreation, I have not done all that much admittedly. However, I have been able to find a community center gym that I go to twice a week. I have tried out what seem to be the only two community center gyms available in Chikusei, according to the city's official website anyway. The first one I went to in Shimodate (下館) costs 300 yen per session, but I can work out for up to three hours. However, before that, I had to make a booking for a mandatory orientation session, and those only happen a handful of days in the month. The gym was good, though the lack of free weight equipment left me a little disappointed. However, that gym seems to be really popular, so there aren't many opportunities to use certain pieces of equipment for an extended period, especially if you want to do super sets. However, I went to another gym just recently in Kyowanomori (協和の杜). It's a little bit further from the one in Shimodate, but the best part of this gym is that is free of charge. Yeah, you read that right. Free. I was expecting that the gym would be run down or small, considering I'm paying nothing for it, but to my surprise, it does have a lot of equipment on offer. The equipment seems a bit older compared to the first gym and what I've used in Kamisu, though I will admit that the equipment is at least well looked after. Again, no free weights available, but given that most of the time I have the gym to myself, using equipment for extended periods for super sets has not been a problem, and there is enough variety of equipment to make up for the lack of bar bells and dumbbells. The opening hours are a bit weird though, in that it is open from 9:30am - 4:30pm, and then 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm. It makes getting to the gym after school impossible, but on the other hand, it gives me something to do on the weekend.

Finally, would be the other ALTs. I've only met the other Chikusei ALTs twice, though I have started catching up with one of the ALTs once a week, and helping him out wherever I can with logistics stuff. However, I still I try to keep in touch with some of the Kamisu ALTs. I caught up with one just before school started, and I asked him to let me know whenever he's planning basketball, as I'm always up for it (after doing a few games with him and other friends in Kamisu, and I've surprisingly improved a lot during those games, but that's a story for another time).

So the overall verdict? In terms of accommodation - Chikusei is the winner. In terms of the cost of living, and the schools - Kamisu. It is a shame I had to leave Kamisu, but sometimes these things cannot be avoided. Hopefully, I can go back to Kamisu someday, even if only for brief visit.

Getting a Japanese Driver's License

After over an hour's drive to Mito from Chikusei, and a five hour wait between submitting all my documents to getting my photo taken and some final details, I have finally received my Japanese driver's license. The best part of it, is that I don't need to renew my license until 2020. However, with all the patting myself on the back and jerking myself off over such a tremendous feat in the history of gaijin...

You know what? I will just skip to the part of the general process of transferring your home country's license in to a Japanese license, should you ever need to drive in Japan beyond one year.

Before you even go to a Licensing Center, you will need the following documents:

- Your home country's driver's license * (more on this after)
- A translated copy of your driver's license (which has to be done by the Japanese Automobile Federation, or JAF)
- Your passport
- Your residence card
- Your certificate of residency, which shows your current address and your nationality (you can get this from City Hall - it cost 250 yen when I asked for one in Chikusei)
- Passport size photo, though you can do this at the licensing center. The one at the Mito licensing center can do it for 800 yen, though 8 photos, so it's handy if you need extra photos in the future.
- Decent Japanese language proficiency. If you're not that confident in handling this on your own, I would recommend you bring someone with decent proficiency, or if you are lucky, bring a native speaking friend along.
- Also, I would recommend bringing a book, or something to help pass the time (I brought my 3ds), as you will be waiting around for long periods of time

In truth, I tried to apply two weeks ago, and found out that I needed the certificate of residency. From various material I had been reading online, the information regarding the required documents led me to believe that my residence card alone would have been sufficient, but that wasn't the case. It's called a juuminhyou (住民票), literally certificate of residence. As I mentioned above, you will need to go to your city hall and request for one. They will want you to tick a number of boxes which indicate what information you want displayed on this certificate. I was not too sure what specifically the licensing center wanted, so I just checked all the boxes to include all the information just in case. It costs 250 yen, so this won't hurt your wallet at all.

Next, you will need to head to the Driver's Licensing Center in your prefecture. Depending on where you live, this could be a fairly short trip, or it can be a long one. The licensing center for Ibaraki prefecture is located in Mito, and it takes a little over an hour from Chikusei city. Besides bringing money to pay for your license, I would recommend either bringing food and drink along, or have some money to buy some food and drink, as this can take up most of your day. In addition the booth for applying to transfer your home country's license to a Japanese one is only open for a very short time - for the center in Mito, it is only open from 9:00am - 10:00am weekdays, so you may have to take a day off to do this. I was lucky this time around, as due to schedule changes for my schools, I had today off, so I did not have to worry for applying for time off.

Once you arrive at the Licensing center, you will need to head to the booth for transferring international licenses in to Japanese licenses. It should be marked in English as well as Japanese, otherwise, just look for 外国. They will give you some forms to fill out, and they will point out which fields you need to fill in, and you will receive a separate form to check some boxes. In Mito, they also gave a separate English form for this on top of the Japanese one, so you know what the questions mean. Basically it's asking whether you've driven under the influence of alcohol, ever passed out due to medical conditions, and so on. Once you have filled that out, you return to the booth, and they will ask for all your required documents.
With regards to your home country's license, they will want to know when your license was first issued. If your driver's license does not contain that information, you will need to obtain that from your country's department of transport, or equivalent for that, otherwise you will not get any further. I have also read that some people who renewed their license before coming to Japan have also encountered difficulty, as you are required to have stayed at least 3 months in your home country after receiving your driver's license (hence, why they want your passport). I had actually renewed my license a month before arriving in Japan, so I was concerned I would not get approval, though my driver's license had the date of when I first received my license, which was over 10 years ago. Apparently this was fine for me, but I have heard other stories where this is not the case, so it is possible this could vary from prefecture to prefecture. I asked the JAF at the time I had my license translated, though they said I would be fine. In any case, just be aware of this. Oddly enough, they asked me about the nature of the driving lessons I took in Australia, such as how often I had lessons, how often I practiced, and whether I took some form of test. Since it had been over ten years, I couldn't remember the specifics, so I ended up giving general answers, which they seemed to be satisfied with.

If all goes well, you will end up in one of two situations. Japan appears to have some sort of agreement with the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Taiwan, South Korea, or USA (only Maryland or Washington)
If you happen to be from any of these countries, congratulations!  You do not need to take a written or driving test. In fact all you need to do is take a very simple eye test which only takes less than 2 minutes.
If you are not fortunate enough to be from any of the above countries - you will need to take a ten question true/false test before doing a driving test. I don't know much about this section, as I fall under the former category and only had to take the eye test.

After my eye test, they took me to another room to get my photo taken. Since I went there in casual, my photo does make me look a bit scruffy, but compared to other photos for licenses/passports, it is not actually that bad. Anyway, after some more waiting, I finally received my license, and some instructions about instances on if I move or change my name due to marriage. They also gave me a small leaflet explaining in greater detail those things. By the time I was ready to leave, it was already 3:00pm - over my half of my day gone right there, add to that the drive back to Chikusei, and I didn't get home until just before 4:30pm.
I have to admit, compared to the system of getting a license in Australia, Japan's system is a bit of a pain to go through. If not for the fact I live an hour away from the licensing center, I would have gone home in between waiting periods. I don't remember having to spend an entire day at a licensing center in Australia just to get my driver's license, though I suspect things have changed since I first got my license over ten years ago. All in all, it certainly was an interesting experience - and while there plenty of pages online that highlight this process, I felt like adding my two cents on my experiences going though the system in Japan.

New life in Chikusei

Wow, it's been over 3 months since I last posted any entry for this blog. I could explain the various reasons for why I've not been updating, but I'll just skip to my current situation in Japan.

Just last week, I moved from Kamisu city to Chikusei city. The reason for this, was that I found out in early January that the Board of Education in Kamisu would not renew its contract with my employer. It shocked them, as they believed that they had a good chance of having another 3 years in Kamisu, but I heard that the past 2 were not exactly the best for the company and its ALTs in Kamisu. In any case, all ALTs working for the company had to move out on the 27th of last month. Some ALTs decided to return to their home countries at the end of the semester; others - including most of my friends - chose to find work in other companies in Japan (ALT or otherwise); while a few (including myself) opted to stay on with the company. In my case, I have only worked with the company for 6 months, and to take a chance to go with another company, and deal with all the costs associated with moving to wherever another company would place me, I felt it would have set all my plans back - including the decision to go back to my home country during the summer break, and to go to Kyoto during the winter break to visit my girlfriend.

Just before leaving Kamisu, the company offered me a few choices on where I could work. All of them unfortunately offered less pay than what I was receiving in Kamisu, though I ultimately decided on Chikusei. While the pay is still less than Kamisu's, it was probably the highest paying out of all the options that were given to me.

Despite only having been in Chikusei for over a week, and not having the chance to fully explore the wider area, I'm certainly happy with my apartment, and ease of access to most necessities from my apartment. Unlike where I was living in Kamisu, I can easily walk to a supermarket, city hall, post office, convenience store, and even a train station within 5 minutes of my apartment. The train station especially is convenient when I went to Tokyo for a week to see my mother, who was visiting. Because of this, I'm not having to use my car so much to get around - usually for getting to the two schools I'll be working at.
Speaking of which, I had the opportunity to visit the two schools. Unlike in Kamisu where I was working at elementary schools only, I'll be working at a Junior High School and an elementary school. The Junior High School staff seemed to be really busy in preparing for the opening ceremony happening either today or tomorrow, but the elementary school staff seemed nice. In addition, they seem to be really on board for the team teaching, in that they want to hold a regular meeting once a week so that we can plan the lesson together. I welcome this, compared to when I was in Kamisu where I was effectively given free reign on what to teach the children, using the Kamisu plan as a loose guide on topic ideas. Do not get me wrong, I have no hard feelings against those teachers, but for new ALTs, the kind of support that this school is providing would have really helped for those 6 months, though the teachers seemed to be really happy with my work, so it all worked out in the end.

I will be starting school next Monday. I am a little bit nervous, simply because I have never worked at a Junior High School before, though I have been told that it is vastly different compared to an Elementary School, where the ALT's role is more to support the teacher, rather than running the class. I will just wait and see how that goes.