#35 Farewell Japan!

Although I have been home from Japan almost a month, and technically it was last year too, it is only now that I have written about (most of) the things I did there. At only 20 years of age (although I did turn 21 while I was there) I managed to survive four months in a foreign country, about 9500km away from home. Well done me! So this is really just a post to tie up any loose ends I can think of.


Asakusa and Shinjuku, the old and the new, two very different sides of Tokyo.

My Top Tokyo Destinations:
So after living in Tokyo for four months, I managed to see everything I wanted. And there was still a few things I didn't see, such as sumo wrestling. I was disappointed I never got to leave the greater Tokyo area and visit Kyoto and all the wonderful Japanese cities, but I never had the free time, and it would have worked out quite expensive too. Nevertheless, not everyone can say they spent 4 months of their youth living in Tokyo! So I've been thinking about what my number 1 place was and I can't decide, so instead here's a list of a few of my favourite places, in no particular order:

Shibuya
Shinjuku
Harajuku
Akihabara
Odaiba
Minato Mirai 21 (Yokohama)
Skytree
Tokyo Tower
Ueno Zoo
Tama Zoo
Tokyo DisneySea

Living in Tokyo
I would recommend it to anyone! The trains are really only ridiculously overcrowded in the mornings from 7am until 9am, but they do get busy again from around 6pm until maybe 8pm.  Despite what you hear, the chances of you being train-groped are really, really low, so don't worry. Everything (well, most things) in Tokyo are signposted in English, and English information and leaflets are almost always available. The only problem is most people can't speak/understand English good/at all, so a phrase book would be handy if you can't speak any Japanese. The Japanese are very helpful people and do their best to understand what you want, or to get across what they mean. It's not as expensive as they say, but groceries can't be got as cheap as in Ireland or the UK (and probably America). The trains are expensive because you can't get a return ticket, or a monthly ticket that covers you for wherever you go, or a student ticket. . .or basically anything that could make it cheaper. But I think every Japanese company will refund your travel expenses for work, so it's not so bad. For girls, Tokyo has shops like Forever 21 and H&M so it shouldn't be too difficult to find clothing if you're UK size 16 or under. After this it may get a little difficult, the same for shoes, once you're under a UK womens shoe size 6 (can be pushed to a 7) you're fine, but after this it'll cost you a lot in specialist shops. It really is very safe, but at the same time a few months before I went an Irish girl my age was murdered (although by Americans, not Japanese) so just because it's notoriously safe, you shouldn't be foolish about it either. がんばって! (Ganbatte, it means "good luck" or "go for it")



Teaching
I worked as an English teacher and I have realised that I have never addressed it in this blog. But just to sum up for those wondering, my experience was overall good. I had to wake up around 6am, I started work at around 8.30am and I stayed in school until around 3.30pm (times vary a little between schools, as well as how many classes you have, but most people seem to have pretty full days), and then you would have to plan classes outside these hours too if you don't have time in the school day. I worked mostly at an Elementary school, but also at a Junior High School. At times they have an irritatingly low level of English, but you get used to it. In Elementary school you can't help but feel they learn nothing, as they don't get homework and can't read or write English, which often limits your classes to playing card games and chanting words over and over. Junior High School they actually learn things properly and you feel you accomplish something, although the classes you plan need to be more detailed than Elementary school. I can't discuss pay because I was an intern so it's different. I only spent four months teaching and to be honest, at the end of it I was very tired. I'm not sure I could work at it for a year, but at the same time I have no interest in being a teacher, and I find children very annoying! So there. If you want to get to Japan, the only way is teaching English, and although it's not the best of jobs, I would definitely recommend it. It's worth it to spend every weekend and spare minute wandering around Japan! I am planning to go back for a year when I graduate from college. Maybe I'll see you there :)

Welcome to Japan