Moving

This isn't easy. We've managed to pack a box or two every night over the past week, but very little seems to have changed. It's annoying. Everything is cluttered, nothing seems to have actually been moved, and we now have half a living room filled with boxes.

We have a moving company coming to pick up all of the big, bulky stuff (fridge, bed, kitchen table, etc.), so those items are still making the place look like we don't intend to leave. From what I've been told, the movers will just march in here with huge blue blankets, wrap the computer up, and march it down the stairs. The TV, printer, DVD player, and my dartboard will experience a similar style of abduction. Then we just have to make sure that everything looks mildly presentable for our landlord.

There are a couple of dents in the wall that we're going to have to pay for, but other than that the place is in pretty good shape. The tatami also needs to be replaced, but that's normal. Apparently they're supposed to be replaced every time a tennant moves out.

My back is sore from moving things around (and from playing with the kids), but I'm going to play soccer tomorrow anyway.

Moving

Royal Parks Hanakoganei

Click here for the floorplan of our new apartment. The balcony on the left side of the page is not included with our apartment. That only comes with the apartment on the top floor (we're on the 4th floor).

Measurements are in meters.

Royal Parks Hanakoganei

Moving

I just went to the bank and wired enough money to cover the deposit, real estate agency's fee, first month's rent, and several other miscellaneous expenses for our new apartment.

Wire transfer amount: $7,500.

Moving

Back in Tokyo

It's good to be back.

Lots of stuff on our plate right now. I've got classes to teach, books to read, projects to complete, and a new apartment to move into.

Yes, it's time to move. After three years and four months in our present apartment, we've decided to move on. It's a big change for us to be sure.

And then there are all of those baseball games that I need to go to...

Back in Tokyo

Adam and Sachi's New Place!!

This is where Adam lived for about two months (up until one week ago). Looking in from the entry, there is just enough room to squeeze through to the ladder that leads up to his bed. Sachi had a similar room up on the second floor of this building. Informally, these places are known as 'gaijin houses'. As the guy next door remarked, "It's like living in a jail cell."

Adam and Sachi's New Place!!

At least the sinks were cool.

Adam and Sachi's new bedroom.

Leo Palace (15 minute walk from Seibu-Yagisawa station)

My wife and I having dinner in our old place. The camera is sitting on the fridge in the "kitchen" (pictured below). You can just barely see our bed in the lower left corner, and a ladder leading up to our modest loft on the right. This is a 1R (w/ loft) in Japanese lingo. We'd probably call it a studio apartment, but here it's a one room. Slightly larger would be a 1K, or one room plus a kitchen. We now live in a 2DK (two rooms plus a third room that is big enough to be considered a dining room and kitchen rolled into one).

Leo Palace (15 minute walk from Seibu-Yagisawa station)

Yong-nam doing something in the "kitchen". The kitchen was actually just some appliances lined up on the wall opposite the unit bathroom (pictured below) in the corridor leading to the front (and only) door.

Unit bath in our old place (Leo Palace). This one actually has a tub, so it is spacious compared to the toilet in my apartment in Masan, South Korea. Three S's? They can be done quickly, simultaneously even, in this bathroom.

Leo Palace

When Yong-nam and I first moved to Japan, we lived in a Leo Palace apartment. It was convenient because they don't require a guarantor, deposit, or key money. The apartments are fully furnished, and there's a relatively small amount of fuss involved when moving in.

One drawback is that they're kind of pricey, even though utilities are included in the price (not sure about their new broadband connection service). You have to pay for everything up front. If you plan to live there for 3 months, you have to pay all three months from the start. The more months you pay for up front, the cheaper it gets. Another problem is that the walls are a bit thin.

http://www.eg.leopalace21.com/ is a good place to start. They have buildings everywhere, but unfortunately the English version of their site doesn't let you scroll through them. If you are able to read Japanese, I suggest clicking over to the Japanese side and checking out some of the apartments that are available. You can actually check exactly which apartments are available, and when. The Leo Palace headquarters for Tokyo is in Shinjuku (west exit).

Leo Palace

Housing in Tokyo

It's a nightmare that many foreign people in Japan have faced--finding a place to live. Racism can be a big first hurdle, but there are other obstacles as well.

'Key money' is one of my least favorite parts of the process. This is basically gift money (at least one month's rent); a humble 'thank you' to the property owner for letting you live there. This isn't something that only applies to people from out of town. This form of robbery has been standard across the board for all tenants for a long time.

It is possible to get a good place in Japan without paying it though. Property owners are slowly waking up. They realize that there is plenty of housing to go around now, so some people are starting to drop the 'key money' part of the equation.

One agency that I found that lists rental properties (they also have listings that are for sale) is http://www.res.jp/. They have listings in English and Japanese, and they have a lot of apartments that don't require payment of 'key money'.

I haven't actually rented with them myself, but their website seems promising. This agency specializes in housing in Tokyo, so my apologies to those looking for places to live outside the city.

Housing in Tokyo

Teaching in Japan

Getting a job here as a teacher isn't easy. Correction: arriving here on a tourist visa and getting a job isn't easy. Or at least it wasn't as easy as getting a job in Korea was. Before landing a job in Korea I talked on the phone with another teacher at the school precisely twice before signing on the dotted line. That was back in 2000, and I was basically interviewing him--it was possible to get several job offers within a couple of days.

In Japan there's an over-saturation of native speakers of the English language. Most people suffering from the lack of an MA or PhD (plus publications!) end up going through the large, chain English schools. Shane, Aeon, Berlitz, Nova, Geos and ECC are some of the more prominent ones. Teaching conditions, and they vary from branch to branch, aren't that wonderful. Some chains have more stringent hiring policies, but a number of knuckleheads manage to infiltrate every system.

I have one of those Cambridge-issued CELTA TESOL teaching certificates (which, I might add, are not the easiest things to get ahold of). All that was good for was an extra 3,000 yen per month (US$30) and an extra long interview. They seemed to be concerned that I might not be willing to swallow their one-size-fits-all methodology, or follow instructions from my superiors. I was eventually given the job, and everything went well. I understand that it is much, much easier to get a job over here by going through one of their overseas hiring centers.

Many instructors more experienced and qualified than myself have had to go the 'eikaiwa' (English conversation school) route. I am of course speaking exclusively about the teaching scene in Tokyo. I have no knowledge, or stories, of the way that things work in slightly less urban areas of Japan. What I can say, however, is that you shouldn't come here looking for work unless you have A LOT of money with you. It took me exactly two weeks to secure a job offer. Some will be awarded one more quickly than I was. Others will not.

Aside from paying for food and housing, I had to head to Korea in order to get the visa nailed into my passport. I'm not sure that this is absolutely required, but I have been told that it's the quickest way to start work. All told, I started work about six weeks after first arriving in Japan. That's a long time to be on an unpaid vacation in the most expensive city in the world!

Teaching in Japan

The Move to Japan

"Why did you come to Japan?"

It's one of those questions that you hear all the time. One of my colleagues said at lunch today that most of us out-of-towners come here for the money. I guess it could be true. However, it seems to me that a fair number of people come here primarily for the experience. Once you've been here for a bit, and your camp is properly set up, then I guess the money starts to add up a bit--depending on one's lifestyle, of course. But that's how it works everywhere, isn't it?

I always get nervous when someone asks me that question. I guess I'm most afraid of offending the person who asked the question. It's a fair question. But what is the motive for asking it? What prejudices or (mis)conceptions are propelling it? Is what I say going to reinforce a stereotype? I feel like I'm once again standing in front of an officer at the airport's immigration filter. When they run the bar code on my passport through their computer, what pops up on the screen? How many things do they know about me that I don't have a good story for?

I didn't come here for the money. And that's not the reason why I moved to Korea back in the summer of 2000, either. If you ask me, the money's not that good in Japan anyway. To be perfectly honest with you, it was quite a bit better in Korea. My reason for coming to Japan is a little bit more involved than that. The 'involved' part of it refers to the person I came here with.

The Move to Japan