The Brilliance of Drinking Parties

Without a doubt, one of the best Japanese inventions is the drinking party. There's no bad excuse for a drinking party, and it beats the average night out in LA.

Assuming you avoid the Hollywood bars with the $20 cover, $20 parking, and $20 drinks, not to mention the long lines, a night out in LA still doesn't beat a drinking party.

My average girl's night out tends to go something like this. The girls and I go to a packed bar where we have to yell to hear each other, and push and claw in order to move. We start dancing, guys start approaching from all sides, but of course, they're the ones that you don't want to approach. You spend the night fighting off creepy guys.

Average night at a drinking party... You sit at a table with friends. Share small dishes of oishi food (because in Japan, everything is oishi). Drink. The first word I learned in Japanese, and it's an important one to know when going to a drinking party, is nama birru (beer on tap). I also quickly joined my school's ASSS (association of students and staff for sake). The best part of the drinking party, though, is that you can actually have a conversation with the people you're out with. With large drinking parties, people usually rotate seats so they can spend time with everyone.

The one down side, is going out to meet guy/ girls. Although, the Japanese have invented a cure for this, the goukon. This was one experience I decided to avoid while in Japan...

Moving Half Way Around the World Without Even Visiting First

Before moving to Japan, and after arriving, many people have asked if I'd been to Japan before. My answer, nope. This shocked a lot of people. Why move half way around the world, commit to at least a year, without even knowing what you're getting yourself into? Good question. I was excited for the adventure, but that first week in Japan was intense.

I arrived at the airport, early despite having my flight delayed. Someone was supposed to pick me up from the airport. He had a picture of me, I had no idea who he was. He arrived an hour late. Now, maybe if you know the person, it's not that bad, but to be standing in an airport in a foreign country you've never been to with no idea how to speak the language, where you're going, ways to get there, or who you're waiting for, it's a bit nerve wracking. And then loads more fun when you get paged on the PA system and told to make a phone call to someone with a completely different name than the person you were told would get you. And then to try to figure out how to work a public phone.

Once finally on the way, we take a train to Shibuya (one of the busiest station in Tokyo) on a Saturday evening. Running after two guys, carrying heavy bags after hours of sleeplessness. When we arrive in Azamino, in the suburbs where I will be working for the next year, it's snowing, hard. By the time we arrive at the school, my black jacket is white with snow. I was told, repeatidly, that it was very rare for it to snow that much in Tokyo.

In the following weeks, several people told me I had met them that night. This was a surprise to me. Thankfully, I was soon taken to a hotel following a lady from head office. Before she left, she asked if I needed help with anything. I asked for directions back to the train station, she told me "go up, down, left, right, left and right." Exact words. Japan is very much a place where "the streets have no names" to quote U2. So glad I have a great memory.

Exhausted, I feel asleep almost immediately. To be waken up to an earthquake. Welcome to Japan!!! And yet, after the ordeal of the previous day, I was excited to start my adventures.

Deciding to Teach English in Japan

For me, the decision was easy. I had family members that had taught in Japan. I knew which companies were good to work for, and which weren't. Since my decision to teach English in Japan,
I've had several people ask me for more information. I figured I might as well go over the ins and outs of finding in work in Japan.

The reason why I chose to work in Japan is not my love for Japanese food (I'm a vegetarian who doesn't eat any seafood). It also wasn't a keen interest in Jpop, Harajuki style fashion, or Manga. My decision to go to Japan was two fold. One, I wanted to explore somewhere else. Somewhere different. For me it didn't really matter where. The second part of that decision was the fact that in order to teach English in Japan, all you need is a BA in anything. For most other countries, teaching certification of some sort is required. Not Japan.

So what are the steps? The first thing was finding the right company to travel with. Based on just about everyone I've talked to, your best bet for teaching in Japan is the JET Program. The difference between the JET Program, and other private schools is that this is government sponsored. You were in public Japanese schools, and usually pays the best. So what is the down side? One, it's very competitive. Two, they send people to Japan only once a year, in August. And you need to have the application in by November of the previous year. If that meets your timeline, and you can get in, though, it will be worth it.

For those who don't go with the JET Program, your other option is private English schools. GEOS, AEON, and GABA are some of the bigger one. As far as I know, they all seem to offer similar perks. They help you find an apartment. I was given a housing bonus because I lived in an expensive area. They pay for transportation between your school and home. Offer bonuses. I went with GEOS and had a great experience, although I think they may only be hiring from Japan at this point.

One other important thing to note. It's not as easy to get a job as an English teach in an Eikaiwa (English school) as it once was. There used to be another English School, NOVA. NOVA went bankrupt a few years ago and many English teachers who thought they had jobs in Japan suddenly became umemployed. Which is why a lot of companies have changed polices to hire only outside of Japan and also hire English teachers from within in the country.

Other things to keep in mind:

*apply at least 3 or 4 months before you want to go because visa's take a while to obtain
*the interview process can be intense, but teaching isn't half as bad
*it's an amazing experience.

The Beginning of my Adventures

From a young age, my parents have instilled a love of travel to me. By the time I was 15, I'd see more of the world than many people see in their lives. More than that, I've always wondered how people can be born, grow up, and settle down without experiences something more. There's so much the world has to offer, even in one's own city. In college, I studied abroad in Italy. Post college, I spent a year teaching English in Japan. And in less than two months I will once again embark on another experience abroad. Even at home, I attempt to have at least a weekly adventure. I have gained a lot from my experiences. I hope to pass on some advice from my weekly adventures.