Hey :) Ich hab in letzer Zeit auch darüber nachgedacht work and travel in Japen zu machen, und wollte fragen wie es dir so dabei geht? Ist es ''einfach'' einen Job dort zu finden? Bist du direkt nach dem Abi hin? Denkst du man könnte das auch selbstständig gut organisieren? Sorry für Fragen spam ^^'
Hey! Oh boy, lemme do the Antwortspam. Ich sehe gerade, dass du auf Englisch gebloggt hast/bloggst, und das könnte, glaube ich, auch andere people interessieren? Also antworte ich mal auf good old 英語.
Answer No. 1: I’m SO GLAD I did this. It was definitely one of the best decisions of my life.
(I was lazy lately, so the current update is: I travelled Japan with my parents and am now studying at Genki JACS again, the school I would recommend to everyone who intends to go to a Japanese language school. Returning to Genki showed me yet again how much better than Asahi they are.)
I learnt so much during these 7 months, not only Japanese. My entire world view changed, I learnt a lot about the country, about myself, about life after school and in the world of [drums, please] working people. I’d recommend it to everyone who has the guts to think about it.
Answer No. 2: Whether or not it’s easy to find a job entirely depends on where you go, how good your Japanese is, how old you are, how much experience you have and whether you speak English like a native speaker or not.
I’ll start with “where”. If you go to Tokyo, you are going to find a job. It might not be your dream job, but it’s temporary anyways. You can always go to Hello Work, and they will probably find something for you - Tokyo is a metropolis and, I’d say, just about Japan’s only melting pot featuring things that are not Japanese. You’re going to find English cafés, like the one I worked at. You’re going to find English students, German students, restaurants, anything.
If you go to the countryside, you probably won’t find a job without experience. I had some trouble in Kyoto already, but I was lucky and Hello Work managed to find something for me.
About your Japanese. Most people will, when you tell them that you are basic conversational level, fall silent for a moment and look very worried. But, you know, I didn’t need Japanese at all in Tokyo. I did need Japanese in Kyoto, but only very basic things, and I improved a LOT there. So you need to know Japanese, but you don’t need to be fluent. It does make finding a job significantly easier though.
About your age. I was 18 when I came here. I was and am technically a minor in Japan. You can find work, but people are going to think twice about it, I think.
About experience. Oh boy. My mortal enemy, work experience. I had NO work experience when I came here. I had had one weekend job for about three months. People on websites like GaijinPot are looking for people with work experience, no exception. You’re not going to become a teacher without work experience, unless you do it privately. You’re not going to work in a company. You’re not going to get a good, well-paid job. You’re going to be a waitress, a private English teacher, a person talking to people at English cafés, a cashier - things like that. But that pays the bills, and that’s all you want at the moment.
That being said, I was never without work for more than a week, so I guess finding a job is not the big problem.
AND: Work should not be your number one priority. As I said, you’re not going to find your dream job. You’re out to find something to pay for your rent and your food that you vaguely like doing and that allows you to focus on the important stuff (sightseeing and shopping and learning Japanese), and that’s absolutely very possible.
Answer No. 3: Yup, I came here pretty much directly after my teacher gave me my Abitur certificate. So many people told me that I am SO YOUNG!!!! oAo While I felt very old sometimes, oh well. #90skid #liketheveryendofthe90skid
Answer No. 4: Can you organise this by yourself? You absolutely can.
And for the love of every God on Olympus, do it.
Don’t rely in organisations, and especially don’t do anything with PractiGo. It’s the only thing about my W&T that I regret doing. They didn’t help me at all.
Rundown of what you need to do:
- Get your visa. Like, immediately.- Organise your flight. Before you get your visa, because you otherwise won’t get a visa, but you should get the information about how to get a visa first.- If you want to, book a course at a language school. I recommend GenkiJACS, they’re in Fukuoka and in Tokyo. I’m in Fukuoka right now and it’s a good place to start, but people in Tokyo speak English, so that’s up to you.- Get your travel and health and whatever insurance.- Get information about how to sign up at a ward office in Japan, how to get a Japanese bank account, how to get a decent phone in Japan (don’t do what I did, don’t rely on the guy at the Soft Bank shop) etc.- Get a VISA card. I cannot stress this enough. This will save your life. And GET ONLINE BANKING. Just do it.- Maybe already look for jobs. I did everything last minute and it worked, but that also means that I only got the jobs you find by doing things last minute.- Definitely already look for accommodations. You don’t immediately need a job, but you have to sleep somewhere. Language schools are going to help you if you need to stay a week longer, but that’s about it.I recommend Sakura House for Tokyo, it’s really good. You don’t need to (and in many cases, can’t) book your stay now, but do some google searches.- Get a decent suitcase and think about what you take. If you’re into Japanese clothes you get at BookOff - don’t take so many sweaters, buy one here. If you’re into Lolita fashion - good fucking luck, you likely already are poor and you’re going to become a lot poorer! :D Take your entire (non-Lolita) wardrobe, because you will spend all the money you don’t need for rent and food at Closet Child.- Get a Kindle, dear Gods, get a Kindle. Books are heavy as hell. I noticed.- Learn how to cook.- Watch the History of Japan video another 20 times, because museums are a lot more fun if you have that kind of commentary in your head.
I bet I missed some things, and I’m not a guru either - it’s possible that I was just very lucky. But let’s say, I didn’t hear of anyone who died doing a W&T in Japan.
In summary: DO IT. It’s an amazing experience, and it’s very possible to manage it even though you are わかぁぁぁいねぇぇ！！
Thank you, that was actually really helpful!
About accommodations; I looked a bit at the Sakura Hoses site, and aren’t 45.000 yen a bit too much a month for a W&Tler? Let’s say I save the minimum to get there (2000 euro), won’t it be gone far too soon before I can even find a job?
