kangaeru

I studied abroad in Japan for 4 months, January 2005 - April 2005. I lived in a town called Hikone in Shiga-ken, about a 40 minute train ride away from Kyoto, and located directly on Lake Biwa. Lake Biwa is the largest lake in Japan spanning some 150km+ at it's widest point, so if you want to look the place up find Lake Biwa and search around there.

The town of Hikone was small by Japanese standards at around 100,000 people. Shiga-ken is considered throughout Japan to be the "countryside" and this was largely true of Hikone--I rode through countless rice paddies on my way to class every morning because I lived in a homestay. I also didn't see other gaijin, not counting other students in my program, very often...probably every couple of weeks, and they were usually in the JET program.

I loved Japan. It is a beautiful country, and their culture is nothing like you will experience anywhere else--it's truly unique. They are very very polite, and their social norms are in many ways completely different from out own--they are not outspoken or aggressive, they are extremely detail oriented, and they believe in doing anything, no matter how menial, with a sense of dignity and honor. You will never find a sleezy cab driver, or a cracked out janitor--everyone who takes care in how they do their job and shows pride in themselves is treated with respect. There is no wide spread poor, uneducated under class in Japan like we have in the states, which also makes the crime rate almost zero. You will not see even 1/10th of the police presence we have in the US over there. One of the advantages I had while staying there was that I was actively learning Japanese--I had taken 3 intensive semesters at UMass prior to going (one intensive semester = one year of normal ciriculum, so I was at a 3rd year language level), and I was studying abroad to continue those studies and improve my ability through language immersion.

You know how most people in the US would know "konichiwa" and "saiyonara" if you said it to them on the street? This is also true in Japan, and ironically all they know is "Hihi" and "Byebye". So, if you want to work in Japan and not be miserable, you need to learn some Japanese in a hurry. You will be able to ask the most basic questions like, "How much does this cost?" ( "kore ha ikura desu ka?" or, "Where is the post office located?" ("yuubinkyoku ha doko desu ka?") Those phrases are pretty simple and you could pick them up easily, but then things get hairy when the person you're asking questions of can only respond in Japanese.

"yuubinkyoku ni ikikata ha, kono michi de masugu ni itte, sorekara yottsume no shingo de migi wo magatte, mata masguni iku to, yuubinkyoku ha ashi de go roppun ato michi no hidari ni aru to omoimasukedo..."

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To get to the post office, you go straight down this street for four stop lights, when you get to the fourth stop light take a right, and then go straight for another 5-6 minutes on foot, and it should be on the left side of the street.

Once you study some basic Japanese, the language seems a lot less mystical. The grammar is difficult and learning hundreds of kanji if you want to read and write is a death march, but to be able to speak and understand important things can be accomplished in only about 6 months if you dedicate yourself to it. The pronunciation of the language itself is easy because it only consists of letters followed by the same 5 vowels (a e i o u), so the hard part is really aquiring a working knowledge of basic grammar and word conguation, and developing a vocabulary pool.

Living on the east coast, I didn't think Japan was that expensive. Groceries cost about the same as they do over here, although restaurants are a little bit pricier. You can still eat out at hole-in-the-wall noodle shops for like 5-10 bucks, but expect to pay around 15-20 dollars if you go to a restaurant to sit down. Keep in mind that the custom of tipping is non-existant in Japan, so in reality eating out in both the US and Japan is about the same. Cars are expensive, but subways and bikes are cheap. Electricity and gas are also very expensive, so use your appliances sparingly and don't leave lights on when you are out of your apartment and the costs of living will be very close to what it would be like living by yourself in NYC or Boston making ~30,000 a year. You are comfortable, but by no means wealthy.

If you want to make some side income, you can offer private english lessons. Private english speaking lessons, depending on who your clients are, range from 3,000-5,000 yen per hour (30-50 dollars). There are international resource buildings in almost every town in Japan, and you can post listings for private teaching lessons there as well as find ads posted by Japanese who are looking for private lessons. This is a great way to make some extra supplemental income and something which is very popular among JETs. You can make a lot more money off of it in a larger city, e.g. Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Sapporo, etc. Living in a medium-small sized town will not provide the same stream of wealthy businessmen who want to learn English for themselves, or for their children who often take lessons before they are sent off to college or grad-school in the US.

You will be riding bikes, a lot. You will be riding subways and trains all the time. Gas and automobiles, not to mention high way tolls, are ridiculously expensive in Japan and as a JET you will be biking to the train station and moving around almostly exclusively by that means of transportation. On the bright side, the train systems in Japan are NOTHING like the US--their ticket purchasing system is completely automated and very cheap to boot (a round trip ticket to and from Kyoto, a 40-45 minute ride, was ~2,000 yen which is about 17-18 dollars), they accept cash and credit cards, and they always run on time. Furthermore, most lines have cars arriving every 20-40 mins to go some place, so you never have to worry about missing your train and being stuck at the station for a couple hour layover.

I'm still in college for another year, but I plan to go back to Japan after I graduate to work in Tokyo for a Japanese Market Research firm. I will say that I've been to a couple different places in Asia--South Korea, Singapore, and Japan--and I liked Japan the most by far. What you learn really can't be quantified, and it varies from person to person, but at the very least, living in the world outside of the US really broadens your perspective on your own country, and the way people live their lives in our society. We take for granted the social, political and economic conditions in the US, and when you work or live in a country for an extended period where things are completely different, it helps you gain a much more holistic view on a lot the ideologies you developed living in America.

One important thing to note is that many, many Japanese are racist to gaijin. A lot of people will be nice to you, but a lot will also look at you with cool disdain. Furthermore, you will inevitably be harassed by police--you could be walking down the street and they will stop you and demand you show them your passport and visa and explain what you are doing in Japan--no joke. You have to answer their questions and show them whatever they want you to because you're not in America anymore, and you do not have the same rights. A lot of american gaijin get indignant when this kind of thing happens to them, but foreginers have a pervasive reputation for being trouble makers, so if the police harass you or conservative japanese give you chilly looks, don't be surprised and try not to be offended, because that's just how things are. Living in a position like that is a great life lesson in and of itself.

Overall, I'd say Japan is an awesome country, and I'd recommend if you want to go, you learn some Japanese and be prepared to try new things. It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be fulfilling and exciting, and you will come back a wiser and more confident person than when you left.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

btw -- "kangaeru" = the japanese verb for "to think" =)

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