My Experience in...

Hello! My name is Rivky. I'm a student. and this blog is dedicated to my experience in Japan. For you who want to know a little bit things about Japan, make sure to follow, reblog and comment for more posts!

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Work Experience in Wakayama part 2

Hello and welcome!

This time will be the part two of my work experience in Wakayama and it was really a huge change for me, so here goes

After i quit job at the factory, i was thinking to go find a job at a restaurant or bar. But then the headmaster hooked me up with his acquintance. The headmaster was like a father to me, he’s really a nice caring guy.

After a few days the headmaster took me and a few of my friend to his acquintance office. Then we went for an interview. He was nice, very welcoming and don’t mind at all for us being foreigners to work at his place. He owns a few different businesses which one of them was a restaurant. So we got hired!

I was so stoked and worried at the same time about working in a restaurant because i was unconfident about my Japanese. A few days later my “boss” took me to the restaurant for an orientation. I met the manager she was really nice. The employees didn’t talk much because they we’re working, also i’m a foreigner so yeah..

First time working at a restaurant, lot of stuff to remember and to do, vaccum and mop the floor, clean the toilet, water the plants, remembering the menu, and i had to force myself to speak with “keigo” to the customers which is honorific language in Japanese. I watched carefully how to serve the food to the customer, how to talk, how to take phone call! Yes phone call, it was nerve wracking.

After a week surprisingly i’ve gotten used to it. I got closer with my co-worker, they we’re really nice and open about themselves, and i’m really comfortable with them. Months went by, eveything was cake and my Japanese improved a lot and i really proud of myself.

Oh, and the bad experience while i was working there. There is a lot. But there is one that’s really memoriable, i mean going to work from my flat to the restaurant took me 18-25 min at full speed by bike, then there was this moment when i work on morning shift. This man came with his wife, i wen’t to his table to explain the menu thoroughly, but he didn’t seem to understand it and didn’t ask anything, so i go back and waited for his orders. Then i came to take his orders and he looked very puzzled about the menu so i explain the menu again to them but i don’t know if my Japanese is just bad or what, but eveything seemed just fine after this guy came to the restaurant. Then in took his orders. Before i go back to the kitchen, i asked if he want a dessert. But then he yelled at me, telling me he didn’t understand the menu and tell me to go away. I felt really terrible, it’s the first time someone speak to me like that while i was woking in the restaurant. Then i stopped serving that guy and leave all that stuff to my co-worker.

I feel that’s enough about my bad experience working at a restaurant, i can go all day telling you one by one but it’s just too many... one day i probably going to talk more about it when i feel like it.

That’s all about my work experience at a restaurant. I liked the place, my boss was nice, and it was a huge change of atmosphere for me from boring to fun and very social. I’m really grateful for him giving me such opportunity.

Until next post, see you then!

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Work Experience in Wakayama part 1

Hello and welcome

This time i will talk about my experience doing part time job in Japan. I will be separating the post into two parts because i quited my first job and it’s a whole another experience for me, so here goes.

After i arrived at Japan, i all want was to experience the society, and... money. Before coming to Japan, i’ve never had a job before, ever. So it’ll be a new experience for me and i was stoked about it.

From the very start i really wanted to work in a convinience store or a restaurant or a bar, but i felt so unconfident about my Japanese, so the school hooked me up to go to work for a vegetables factory.

The job description is very simple, i just had to cut veggies, carry stuff, and take out the trash. The payment was ok, quite standard ¥800 per hour so i agreed to it, filled the documents and i got hired.

After few days i went to the factory with my friends for orientation. We got our uniform, the supervisor tought us how to sanitize ourselves before going into the factory and all that stuff.

The majority of the factory is filled with old people, and some foreigners like me, from Indonesia, Philipines, Thai, and China. I think you can guess how this went out.

First day at work, i was so confused like everybody on their first time working. I moved to a lot of places within the factory, i cut potatoes, washed cabbages, this and that. But the thing i missed is communication. So i worked 4 hours a day, just cutting veggies non-stop, we get yelled at if we speak too much. It was so boring.

I held up for about a month-ish. I didn’t like place, it was very cold winter or not, i felt like my fingers are about too fall off because i had to grab and wash the veggies from freezing water, it was really quiet and boring, and you are not allowed to listen to music. So i decied to quit because i felt the job isn’t for me. But i applied to other place which i will be sharing in the second part so don’t miss it!

That’s all for it, until next post, see you then!

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The Flat

Hello and welcome!

This time i will talk about my experience, living in a flat in this particular flat in Wakayama.

So the school provided me with this flat. I was living with 4 people, each has their own room. The school charged me ¥33.000 per month, it’s quite old but kinda decent and on top of that it’s furnished.

We got fridge, old rusty microwave that holding onto its life but still works just fine, old rice cooker, old washing machine which i had a bad relationship with, vaccum cleaner etc.

The room is around this big

I was living in 7th floor so it’s kinda windy and nice. The balcony is kinda small but somehow i managed to do jump rope so it’s okay i guess. And the view tho!

Yes loving it.

The thing i hate about this flat is... the toilet.. bathroom... just... no. It’s kinda graphic so i won’t include any pictures, just kidding. I don’t take pictures in my bathroom so yeah... okay.. about the toilet, it’s just old...too old. It’s a small like cubical room and separated with the bathroom so it’s kinda nice. The problem is.. there’s no drainage in the toilet, so how did i clean it? Go figure. I like bidet, but there is no bidet, so that’s a no-no.

The bathroom... a shower and a bathtub. The thing is, the bathtub is ractangular and it’s just fit to the wall, i think that’s just Japanese style bathtub. So it’s a pain to clean the corner of the bathroom because it’s just impossible unless you just take a few parts of the bathtub to disassamble it... it’s too much of work. And basically, the bathroom is kinda stinky because we can’t clean the stuff that got stuck under the bathtub.

I had a love and hate relationship with the flat, but it’s quite decent even though it’s kinda old. Apart from the toilet and the bathroom, everything was fine so.. i survived.

That’s pretty much all i can say for now. I’m sure you can find a better flat in Wakayama for around the same price.

Until next post, see you then!

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Surviving in Wakayama

Hello and welcome!

This time i will talk about my experience, surviving in Wakayama. It’s probably not what you’d expect, or maybe it is?

Japan is an expensive country. That is how most of people think, considering how to the media potray the country. But in fact, it is one of the most expensive country in the world. Is it really?

My answer is no, it’s subjective, but for me it’s not that much (in Wakayama). I came to Japan as a student in Wakayama, not knowing how to pay bills, find a part time job, etc. But somehow i managed to survive.

First of all, food. Store-bought food is expensive. A simple “bento” from 7-eleven cost you around ¥380. That’s a no-no. You need to cook your own food. Don’t know how to? Then learn how to. In Wakayama city, there’s a cheap supermarket called “gyoumu suupaa” (業務スーパー) it was a saving grace. If you’re trying to save money, you can live off frozen food (i know it’s unhealthy but it’s better than just eating instant ramen) or maybe some fresh veggies and rice and that will cost you around ¥3.500-5000 per month no kidding. You can probably find such supermarket in big cities like Osaka or Tokyo. Just do your best and explore.

On top of that, bills. Boy oh boy. Phone bill for me, ¥3.600. Just try to find the cheapest one without internet, because you want a portable unlimited WiFi which will cost you around ¥4.600-5000. It is unavoidable because everybody needs internet. Electricity bill, it can cost you around ¥ 3.500 or maybe 5000. Just make sure to use it efficiently and it’ll cost you around ¥2.500 or maybe less than that. Water bill, they will charge you every two months, for me it cost around ¥4.300. Again, use it efficiently.

Last but not least, a shelter, an apartment, a flat. The school provided me with a flat and furnished. I was living with 3 other people and we have our own room, so yay private space. It cost me ¥33.000 per month. For your case, it might not be the same because it depends on your instituion. In Wakayama the cheapest flat i could find was around ¥35.000 per month one person flat and most of them are unfurnished. In big cities it’s probably around ¥50.000 so be prepared.

I guess you can do the math now and expect what to expect. What do you think about living in Japan? I’ll leave that to your judgement.

That’s all for now. Until next post, see you then!

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Wakayama City, The Beginning.

Hello and welcome!

Okay, so i will talk about my first impression of the city and i will tell my experience through out 4 seasons. Because it’s going to be long i will separate it into different posts, so bear with me.

So, after 10 hours long of flight, i finally arrived in Japan, Osaka, KIX. Me and my friends got picked up by the headmaster himself (he’s a really awesome old man btw). We hop into the bus and went to Wakayama city. It was about 2 hours or so ride, so... it’s not that far from Osaka which is nice.

Finally arrived at the very place where it all began, my life in Japan. First impression, Wakayama city, yeah... not so much of a city. It’s a town. There’s only a few tall buildings like banks or department stores, there was not many people as in the city itself populated mostly by old age so... yeah you can imagine the hype. Moving from a big city Jakarta to a small town was kind of a bit of surpise, i couldn’t imagine spending one year in this town. Obviously, it took a quite a time to adapt.

So, i arrived in october, so it was fall. The weather was nice and breezy, a little bit of rain, a little bit of death(fall)... it was good. Again, moving from a country where it has only 2 seasons, rain and dry, i’m quite excited to experience the seasons. Took me no time to adapt to the season.

Me and my friends stayed in the same apartment building provided by the school. It’s kind of old but,.... wait until you see this

Yep... outside in the balcony, i woke up to this every morning. A sudden change of judgement about the flat.

After few weeks in, i’m starting to liking the town. The quietness is something that i could never be able to attain while i was living in Jakarta. In the morning, noon, evening, night you could almost hear nothing apart from people next to you. A bit of exaggeration but some people might go crazy. No one is honking in the road, no one is screaming. The town grew on me and i’m starting to appreciate it more and more.

A peaceful town is how i describe this small town. I was a bit skeptical at first but you know what,... i love the town, and i really miss it. I probably going to come back next year who knows.

Okay so that’s all for now, i will post more about living cost in wakayama and many more!

Until next time, see you then!

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Intro

Hello and welcome!

My name is Rivky and i’m a student in BINUS University. I major in Japanese Literature and i’m in my last year of university (yay!)

So in 2016 i went to Japan for study abroad about a year. There were a lot of things happening in my life while i was there. Some things were good some things were bad just how life is.

Now that i came back home in Indonesia, i’ve been intrigued to write my experience while i was in Japan. I will be posting most about my experience in Wakayama, since that was the place i lived in. But i will also post a few other places like Osaka and Kyoto.

So please bear with me through my 4 seasons worth of journey in Japan. I can’t represent most of the people but maybe some of you can relate to my experience.

Until next time, see you then!