Working in Japan

[randombs]

Oh yeah, I figured they wouldn't. I'm assuming that's just in the beginning and that, if they asked me back, they'd sort it out? A friend has been going back to teach at the same school from London for the past few years now so I imagine they're sorting his out...

[JU!]

@Ghost

I used to live in Yokohama and work for Aeon Teaching English for 3 years and enjoyed it. My advice is finish yr degree then go. As the degree can open many doors. And as others have said get you a job and visa. I got a 3 year visa to start with as Aeon are a large company. Pay is quite good compared to the U.K, as others have mentioned though tax can be a lot after the 1st year. Japan is a great country to live although you can normally only take a week off max holiday at a time for most jobs, which was one of the reason I decided to come back to England for now.

Regards to other jobs I never really tried to get any due in part to my now wife deciding to want to move to the U.K too, but your Japanese would have to be quite good N2/3 perhaps poss N4 at a push, and as others have said you would probably need a visa first. When I did look I used Gaijin Pot but never applied for any. Already had a visa at the time, although this visa would have to be changed to suit the job if the company would sponsor you which is the difficult part. Good luck.

So we talked it over yesterday and, despite what I said earlier, here's my new plan:

1) Visit her in December for a few weeks
2) Apply for a working holiday visa either before or after the visit, depending on how many places they have and other factors, such as whether I could do my quick visit without mucking the working holiday visa up(reentry permit, for example)
3) Try and get a month off work to do CELTA 4-week full-time course in January or leave my job to do it
4) Apply for a ALT/teaching position in Tokyo somewhere, or as near to there as possible
5) Either go to Japan before April when school starts and teach English for a bit or, if I'm still at my job, work there until it's time to leave
6) Enter hardcorps Japanese-learning mode and either carry on teaching English there for a while if possible or look into an IT job once my Japanese is good enough

In short, keep an eye out for my upcoming sales thread full of a Saturn and a Megajet

Sounds like a plan. Teach English for a year or so see how you both feel and go from there. If you do ever return to the U.K, just make sure you have somewhere to stay and prepared to work anywhere in the country as took me about 3 months to find a job back in the U.K and looked everywhere. All the best.


Just to add:

Sakura house is good for short term Japanese Accomodation, make sure yr aware of key money deposit though.

Look at The Guardian Newspaper Tuesdays I think for education jobs. Has Japanese company teaching stuff and Celta adverts etc. More come up arnd September I believe.

[Ghost]

After a good long think about the situation I've decided to finish my degree and try to get some teaching qualifications and japanese lessons along the way. I'm single now as well as my girlfriends trip here was a complete disaster, she basically got angry at me over everything and is a complete clean freak (I'm not kidding, she refused to let me even touch her unless I washed my hands first and she would shower 3-4 times a day). Anyway I'm going to knuckle down at uni and try to get a career in film, if that doesn't happen by the time my degree is finished I'll move back to Japan and try and teach there.

[noobish hat]

A Japanese woman turned out to be mental? That hardly seems likely...

[Yakumo]

Shower 3 times a day? Wouldn't let you touch her without washing your hands? Time to move on mate. That situation would only drive you crazy in the long run.

[randombs]

But you'd be clean as a whistle!

@JU!

Thanks for the advice and well wishes, I'll check out Guardian this week. On Friday I gave my presentation to my parents(dad in particular, mum already sort of knows). Usually my dad shoots down my plans with a 'don't be ridiculous' kind of phrase, like when I decided I wanted to do a Masters last year but this time he said "You've got your plan sorted, I think you should do it. If it doesn't work out just come back here".

They did tell me not to go to Japan in December, though, and to save my money(can't stay at hers cos her dad's there). Better idea would be to pay for her ticket to come here for a visit because she could stay in my flat.

Also I visited the embassy and the guy said there are still plenty of spaces for the working holiday visa, and that they rarely fill their 1000/year quota. Part of me worried if he was being malicious but I trust him

Arranging a meeting with the company director to let him know what's going on and see what they can do about giving me January off. Now that my plan is fixed, there's no reason to wait and tell them later.

[kryss]

A Japanese woman turned out to be mental? That hardly seems likely...

Nationality rarely has anything to do with it...Sadly not being true. Get out of dodge!!

[randombs]

The Story So Far:

Spoke with the director on Wednesday and told him my plan. I won't have to leave the company to do the course. Even better, I'll be working those weekends so will get some money.

They're advertising the position for my replacement which is exciting as I'll be interviewing the hopefuls

I interviewed someone for a p/t junior tech support position yesterday and he's starting next week, but he's not my replacement.

After January, I'll be working there in a reduced role with a short notice period so I can leave whenever. Ideally, I want to get to Japan mid-Feb in time for her birthday but I'm not holding out much hope for that.

My flat mates, the darlings, have started getting in touch with people they know in Tokyo to see if anyone can offer me a room in the beginning while I look for a flat which is just aces.

[noobish hat]

Get a place with Create, you can organise it all before you even arrive. No key money or any of that ****.

http://www.accommodation-japan.com/eng/index.php

[randombs]

Sweet, thanks! I've bookmarked it so I don't forget.

[randombs]

Applied for three jobs via Gaijinpot last night. Two are ALT positions and one's with Gaba just in case(plus Gaba could be handy for extra income). They tell you how many others have applied and one ALT position had 30-odd, Gaba had around 60 but the second ALT position has had over 900 already

Now that I've got my CV and decent cover letter sorted, I'll start looking on other sites as well and just keep sending out applications for anything that looks interesting.

[randombs]

Getting nervous now!

I think I mentioned it already but I got an offer from BorderLink. Don't know where, yet, but the pay looks good and it's very likely to be a primary school. I sent the necessary documents and am waiting for my certificate of eligibility to get my work visa, which should arrive some time in February.

Checking out Create, their prices are very good!

Gf came round in December for two weeks instead of me going there which was just aces because she got to meet my lot and they adore her(and she adores them) and we got to spend xmas together. It's really cemented the relationship and now our only concerns are work-related, which is a huge weight off our minds.

I'll be leaving as soon as possible after getting the visa sorted. I'll sign up with Gaba or a similar company once I'm there and get some convo classes under my belt before April(I'll be able to work pretty much full-time during that period and will also work on weekends during the year once I start with the school if possible. Would also be handy because I'll have August off with no holiday pay so could earn during that time).

I'm in the final two weeks of my CELTA course. It's mental but has been pure gold in terms of preparing me for the classroom. While it's not necessary for the actual ALT job, it'll definitely help with my work and it's also a recommended qualification for Gaba, etc.

Can't wait to go

[noobish hat]

Haha, so long as you don't go to Gaba looking for full time hours.

[kryss]

Lol, Gaba. Teachers flocked there when NOVA tanked and most never saw a single student.

[randombs]

Not too fussed about hours as I'll just take what I can get from the various companies. As I say it's only temporary. I'll be taking enough money to last until I'd get paid in May so anything earned would be a bonus, even just some evenings.