#5 I Am Not Rich

I have a concern that anyone reading this thinks I'm super rich and can easily afford all the associated costs with going to live in Japan and Sweden, especially consecutively. This is definitely not the case; there are a variety of factors that allow me to do this at a relatively low cost. In Japan I will be working as an assistant English teacher so I will be earning while I'm there. In Sweden I will be attending college and it is unlikely I will get a job, but as part of the programme each student gets a grant to help.

The Japan facts:

• To start off with the most important bit, the company pays for my flights to and from Japan. This is a HUGE factor as they would have cost me around €1,000.
• Another big factor, my accommodation is arranged on my behalf and is paid out of my gross salary, which brings me on to my third major factor: I earn about €600 a month, basically just for food and other living costs.
• The company also provides the following: free orientation and teaching materials as well as a hotel stay and transport from the airport on arrival in Tokyo, free health insurance cover, free transport within Japan from Tokyo to wherever I will be placed, and from my accommodation to the schools I’ll work in.

So as you can see, this is much cheaper than a holiday in which I would have to pay for flights, insurance and accommodation and the rest myself.

The Sweden Facts

• These are a lot less clear at the moment, but I do know that I will be receiving a grant of up to €1,500, which will go a long way.
• Flights with luggage etc will set me back about €150 return, it sounds like a lot but it costs €26 return on a bus to college from my house – so that would equal about 6 trips home if I were in Ireland (and I would go home more than that).
• As for accommodation, it’s looking like €400 a month, which is roughly the cost of my accommodation at home anyway – although I have to buy things such as bedding and stuff which I would have normally just have brought up from my house. I’ll also have to fork out for travel to college (I'm told a 3month travel card for the bus, train and metro will set me back about €135) while in Ireland I was in walking distance from college.
• As for things like food, there are shops like Lidl (which is quite low cost for anyone who doesn't know) which I would often shop in Ireland too.

I still believe that going to college in Sweden won’t cost me too much extra than at home – although I will probably not realise the extent until I return home this time next year.

I see this in my future (credits: World Of Stock)

So while I have outlined that my trips are not as expensive as they may seem, I have had to fork out for things such as more climate-appropriate clothes, plus a few expensive extras such as a video camera.