Living together in a new apartment

 久しぶりだね。

Yeah, it's been about two months since my last post, and I have been busy.

I was planning to do post about renting apartments in Japan, but before I knew it, my fiance and I have moved into our new apartment. Perhaps I will do that post another time.

Having lived in LeoPalace apartments for most of my time here in Japan, it's hard to describe what it's like to be able to cook in a decent sized kitchen. It also feels weird sleeping in a separate bedroom.

Rent is actually cheaper than my last apartment, considering we are splitting the rent. Even if it was just one of us, it is only a little bit more expensive than the previous apt, but there's just way more space. Even better is that internet is free. It's a basic plan, but given that neither of us plays games online or uploads videos constantly, it's just fine.

In terms of location, it's a little further away from the train station, but still near. But the best thing about the area is there is a lot going on. Plenty of restaurants, shops and even a mall nearby. City hall is within a reasonable walking distance, but because it's closed on weekends, there is fortunately the citizen's service centre. I went there last weekend to give my notice of moving in to the city. Luckily, there was hardly anyone there, so my registration and residence card were processed within the hour. In addition, my regular gym is near the station, which is much more convenient than taking the train every time I wanted to go. While it is a smaller branch, it has just about everything I need for training, though I still think the one in Tsurugashima is the best one I've used so far.

However, moving together with my fiance also brought some problems to light: I have way too many Gunpla for my own damn good - I didn't realize I had another two boxes that I never bothered to open after moving to Saitama 3 years ago. At my fiance's suggestion, I've sorted through what kits I will keep, what I will send back home, and what kits I will sell. Deciding what ones to send back and sell was actually surprisingly easy. It's what I wanted to keep that was the most difficult. To make it easier for me, aside from one kit, the rest are all kits that I haven't built yet. They are also kits I want to customise in some form or another, and they are kits that I have really wanted to build for some time.

I also have some Transformers figures that I sorted through, both official and third party. I decided to keep two of my Iron factory figures. Sadly I will be sending City Commander/Ultra Magnus back to Australia. The ones I want to keep will be Miko the Hunter/Windblade and Rush beats/Jazz. Possible review idea in the future? I still Rushbeats represents the best legends Transformers figures Iron Factory produced at that time. I'll get in to a rant about that once I get around to reviewing it.

We are still adjusting to our new home and new life. But in any case, we can now finally focus our attention on getting married.

We're in the end game now

So, I've recently started making preparations to move to my new apartment in less than a week. Compared to other times I've moved, this time is particularly stressful. This time, I don't have the support of my employer to help me move my stuff (because I'm leaving the company), and in addition, I'm moving to a completely different prefecture. Also, I have to factor in packing and moving my girlfriend's things too, whereas in previous cases, it was just my stuff.
Fortunately, many of the things that I brought over from my previous apartment were already boxed up. However, a significant number of boxes are dedicated to... all my gunpla. Not just built kits (of which I have plenty of), but also a respectable back log that I have built up since I moved two years ago.

As for transporting my boxes, I was initially going to use the moving service offered by Leopalace (moving in to another Leopalace apartment), but the cost with them turned out to be more expensive than the initial set up costs of my new apartment. So I settled on a combination of renting a van to move some of the furniture and bicycle, and the Yamato service to send most of my boxes for same day delivery. 

And after all that, I have to finish up cleaning the apartment for inspection for Sunday afternoon. 

So yeah, pretty stressful next week.

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.

(Unofficial) Last Day of School

Today was my (unofficial) last day of school. Technically, my last day was last Thursday, which was a sudden announcement by my employer. However, my school invited me to come in today for not only lunch and a proper farewell, but also to see the students, who have come to not only submit their three weeks' worth of homework, but also to get the results of their last test. It was also an opportunity to give a proper farewell to the students in the Art Club that I joined at the beginning of last year.

We all gathered in one of the spare rooms, where the head of the club gave a short speech, before her and each of the members one by one gave me a farewell letter that they wrote. I gave them a short speech in return - I told them the usual how fun it was to hang out with them and such, but the most important thing for me was thanks to them, I was inspired to get back in to drawing on a more regular basis, and helped kick my imagination back in to gear... that and having my tablet to draw certainly helped. Afterwards we headed outside in front of the blooming sakura, and with Mt. Tsukuba in the back where we had our photos taken. Some were taken on my tablet, and some were taken on the teacher's phone. I was worried that with the sudden suspension of classes, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to properly say goodbye to them. Fortunately, I had the chance, and have no regrets. I told some of the other students, but not all of them, but with kids being kids, the news will spread quickly before the start of the new semester.

After that, I had a bento lunch provided for me in the teachers' room. Though they also gave me a farewell send off, gave me some flowers - apparently they are called multiple fold Sakura - and I gave a quick speech. Then we had lunch. Shortly after lunch I decided to head off, but not before personally thanking the Principal, Vice Principal and Head teacher for the past three years (despite the principal and vice principal only being in the school for the past 1 and 2 years respectively, but anyway). Just as I was about to head off, the English teachers gave me a going away present and thanking me for assisting them - while most of the English teachers only started this school year, I have worked with one for the last two years, and the other teacher for all three years. The teachers were pretty nice, and it is going to feel weird heading in to new schools with uncertainty of how those teachers will be. Hopefully they'll at least be as nice as the teachers I have had until now.

After that, I headed to Abiko in Chiba to pick up the keys to my new apartment, and to sort out payment methods and parking, because the person I was speaking to previously in their International Support division has oddly gone dark and have not heard back from them regarding my payment and parking inquiries. Fortunately, I was able to get it all sorted it out, so I'm just about ready to go. However, due to how much stuff I have, I will be shifting some of my things in to my new apartment tomorrow morning, before the company comes to help me move the rest on Thursday.

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.

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.

Kamisu City - Initial Thoughts

After about an hour and a half of driving from Mito city, I finally arrived in Kamisu city yesterday afternoon. I had heard, and also read up about how you would need a car to get around. Man, they were not kidding. Since the driving system in Japan is pretty much the same in Australia (left hand drive, right hand steering wheel, etc), it was pretty easy to get to the hang of things. One thing I will say though: I'm not sure if this is just a Kamisu thing, or Japanese people in general, but for a country that is really hung up on following rules, nobody around Kamisu even tries to do the speed limit. On the major roads, I think it's about 50 km/h (which for me is pretty slow, since the average on most roads in my home city is 70 km/h), but it's not uncommon for people to be going faster. On top of that, I hardly saw any pedestrians out and about - at most I probably saw 10 people, with the majority getting around by car. When even the convenient stores have a sizeable car park, it's definitely a sign that Kamisu is car-dominated city.

Anyway, my apartment upon arrival was completely bare - no fridge, no washer, no microwave, not even any curtains. However, I was advised that the fridge/washer/microwave would be arriving on monday afternoon. On the other hand, I had to go out and buy everything else, and I also spent today purchasing the remainder of my necessities. Learning from my times as an international student, I've stuck to purchasing cheap things, including a cheap mattress, a cheap fold up table, and a cheap stool. As I'm not going to start getting paid until late October, I've been putting together goals, and keeping a closer eye on  my purchases so I can keep my expenditure as low as possible. As I also want to travel to Kyoto for Christmas for the 2 week winter break to visit my girlfriend, it's even more important that I try to get on top this now while I'm in the settling period. Fortunately, most of the necessities I've purchased are the sorts of things I can use in future accommodation, so it's short term pain for long term gain.

I will be starting my first day of work on Thursday. I am a bit nervous, especially because I did so-so on my demo lessons during the training, though I was told in feedback that my lesson plan is technically sound; I just need the confidence to be able to perform in front of a classroom of students, and I am hoping this will become easier after the first few days of work.