While this has been over a year late, I present to you the emails, edited for personal details. Looking back, I've changed my mind about a lot of things but most of the stuff still holds.

This can be one long read so feel free to bookmark the anchor links for finishing later. The funny thing is, I still haven't met Matthew and I haven't been in contact with him since the last email.

Let's begin! Follow the line.

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August
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September
23, 24, 30

October
02

Nice to meet to you.

To answer your first question, I work at a company called Nova - they're the biggest English conversation school in Japan. I'm working in their multimedia center which basically means I teach students via internet through a webcam and headphone/mic. My work place is in Namba which is one of the two bustling areas of Osaka (the other being the very trendy Umeda). They're essentially the downtowns of Osaka with many of the entertainment and shopping areas densely packed around.

I looked on a map for [CITY] and it's [X] stops from the airport on the Nankai train line. It's quite far away from Namba and Umeda and most of the busier parts of the city. Although I passed through when I arrived here, I really don't remember what it looks like. My guess though is that it's a bit quieter and probably has less people, stores, and all that good stuff. I wouldn't be too let down by this because after living near the heart of Osaka for 9 months, I wish I could get away and hide in quieter areas. Also, travelling to Namba or Umeda from [CITY] shouldn't take too long if you take an express train on the [TRAIN] line.

As for teaching English, have you ever taught before? Tedious and repetitiveness will be two words you use often while teaching, especially if you work for one of the big conversation schools (they're known as the McEnglish companies). If you're working in a smaller and flexible school, you'll probably have a better time. My company does not allow teachers to have social interaction with students outside of the classroom. Although this goes against a little rule in something called The Constitution, teachers have been fired for breaking it. So, I hope your company lets you make friends with your students because some of them will turn out to be really great people who will help you out in Japan. In my office, it's nearly impossible to meet my students anyway since I'm teaching on camera, my students could be anywhere from Hokkaido to Okinawa.

Now that I've scared the crap out of you about teaching, here are some good points. Watching a student progress over time is very satisfying - you actually feel like a teacher. Also, most English teachers get paid a very nice salary compared to Japanese workers. The income tax is non-existant compared to Canada (I think I pay around 6% tax!!!). A lot of people are able to save money and/or go travelling. Food here, although expensive at times, is fantastic (if you like octopus and squid and all sorts of strange tastes and smells). The variety of electronics is amazing - there is a store called Yodobashi Camera that houses about 6 huge floors filled with gizmos and gadgets. Most importantly, there are more attractive girls than non-attractive ones.

As for keeping your mind intellectually stimulated, many people take up Japanese martial arts courses. You'll find them all here, even ones you've never heard of. How is your Japanese? A lot of things I wanted to do would require an intermediate level of Japanese. I came here with zero knowledge and I've only recently started taking lessons - I'm now about to get by in most simple daily situations but not yet ready to do many things. There are plenty of museums around Osaka. There's a huge library that has a big selection of English materials (books, tapes, CDs, DVDs). There are a lot of things to do - just depends what you like I guess. Osaka is a huge city and will have everything you can imagine. Another thing that everyone does is travel around Japan. Osaka is situated close to Kyoto, Kobe, Nara, and a bunch of mountains - plenty to see and do. Tokyo is just four hours away by bullet train too.

Now that I'm beginning to sound like a Osaka tourism promoter, I'll end this email here. I hope this helps and if you have any more questions please let me know. When are you arriving?

- Jerry.

PS. It might be a good idea to pick up a good Japan/English dictionary and also some good English grammar books. Also, the Lonely Planet's guide to Japan has a lot of info about Osaka and the Kansai area.

Oh yeah, I know Nova, I actually interviewed with them too when they came on campus earlier this year. I decided to go with [SCHOOL] instead tho, since they seemed to offer a better package (specifically more holidays...heh)

I'm guessing [CITY] won't be too small of a city, my interviewers told me that they wouldn't have an [SCHOOL] branch in a city unless they felt they could find enough students to support it. They also told me that it's about a 30 min express train ride from Namba, so that doesn't sound too bad...still close enough to the downtown area that I can probably go every weekend...

I've never taught before, but I've heard the same thing about teaching from a friend of mine who taught in China last year...gets to be really repetitive and tedious, and he was glad to go back home after 4 months of it. My school isn't too big, well at least not in terms of staff size - they said I'm going to be one of 2 foreign teachers there, and there are 3 Japanese teachers. The multimedia position sounds pretty cool, sounds like there's less pressure than actually teaching your students in person...I think Nova's the only one that offers that too right?

How much do you usually save every month? I guess it'll depend on your own personal lifestyle, but if I eat out more than I cook at home, will I still be able to save a decent amount? oh and also, are you living with roommates? That was another thing that sorta scared me off from Nova...I didn't wanna get stuck living with a bad roommate for a whole year.

My Japanese is at a very basic level right now. I took the first 2 beginner courses in university, but I've forgotten a lot of it already. I can say a few basic things, but nothing too complex...

How much does a bullet train ride to Tokyo cost? I want to go there more than once, but if it's very expensive, I don't know how often I'll be going...

I'll be arriving October 11th this year, so I still have time to just relax a bit more in Canada before I leave.

Thanks again for all your help!

Yeah, [SCHOOL] is a big company too. Wow, if you're going to be one of the 2 foreign teachers there, expect your students to be in love with you. I'm quite sure you'll have more fun than me. I rarely ever see the same students more than once and even then, most of the time, they don't remember me nor I remember them. I think Nova was the first to offer multimedia but I'm positive at least one other company does it also - I just can't remember if it was [SCHOOL] or [SCHOOL].

As for saving, my girlfriend and I were living off one paycheck up till last month so we weren't saving much but my friends say they save about 50 to 60 thousand yen. In dollars, that's about 600 to 700 bucks. Of course, eating in or out will be one of the biggest expenses. I hate cooking so I usually just go to the convenience store and pick up a bento lunch box - it comes out probably around the same cost as cooking (groceries are really expensive).

I requested to be in a single apartment so I have no roommates (other than my girlfriend). I pay about a hundred dollars more every month than my coworkers but I enjoy the privacy. Plus there are lots of English speaking companies that can help you find another apartment too.

Don't worry too much about your Japanese, many people here don't make any effort to learn the language and they can still get by. You can probably find a bunch of language exchange partners from your job.

And finally, the bullet train, or Shinkansen, comes in three flavours. There's the express train (the Nozomi) that only stops four times between Osaka and Tokyo. It costs about 15,000 yen (close to 200 bucks). The other trains, the Hikari and the Kodomo (I think it's Kodomo) stop more times and thus take longer. They're about 12-13,000. The Nozomi took about 3.5 hours for me to come back from Tokyo.

- Jerry.

Yeah with [SCHOOL], they told me that most likely I'd be teaching the same groups of students for the whole year contract. That was another thing that appealed to me about [SCHOOL] compared to Nova...altho I'm surprised that you have that great a variety of students doing the multimedia teaching - I would've thought that there are far less multimedia students than there are regular students.

hmm..$600-700 isn't bad at all, I was hoping to save $10k on the year, so if I can get somewhere close to that, I'll be really happy. I don't mind cooking, but if it costs as much to get a bento box as it does to cook stuff, I think I'll probably end up getting bento boxes as well. What kinds of stuff can you get in those boxes?

that's cool that you've got your own place...how big is it? They were telling us at [SCHOOL] that the apartment will be about 10x12 sq. ft, including the bathroom and kitchen area. That's pretty small, but I'm guessing that's pretty standard for a single apartment in Japan right?

well I'm planning on taking Japanese lessons when I get there, my interviewers told me that there is a community centre in my city where they offer Japanese lessons for free! But the lessons are just taught by local volunteers, who probably don't speak English much or at all, so it might be a bit hard to learn from them, but hey it's free right?

$200 isn't too bad at all...how many times have you been to Tokyo before? Is it worth it to just go for a weekend trip? How much do hotels cost there?

Oh, one more question...Internet access, what kind of access do you have set up, and how much does it cost? Also, do the ISPs there have download limits? And are their news servers any good? Since I won't have access to North American TV next year, I'm gonna be relying on newsgroups for my favourite TV shows...and also for any new PS2 games....heh.

Lotsa questions!

I'm staring at a bento box right now and it has rice and a whole variety of things - chicken, shrimp, beef, some vegetables, some meatballs (weird huh?), and some unknown stuff. There are a bunch of different bentos that come in different sizes and they're all no more than 500 yen (about six bucks). I'd go crazy with just bentos so I have my weekly McDonalds, Subway, something called Okonomiyaki, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's good eating in this country (one of the reasons why I haven't gone insane).

You know, I've been here so long that I forget about square footage measurements. 10x12 sq. ft sounds about right for a single apartment. that's a 1DK? Mostly, they measure rooms by the number of tatami mats. My "bedroom" has 6 mats, it's slightly smaller than an average Canadian bedroom. I have a "den" that measures 4.5 but I really don't use it except to stash books and cds and cigarettes. My kitchen is about 6 as well but since I don't cook, I don't use it. I wouldn't worry too much about the apartment - you'd be surprised how fast you'd get used to it.

I've been to Tokyo twice - once with my girlfriend and the other time with a friend. Tokyo is a huge place so I've only managed to visit all the tourist places and also some smaller places that some local friends took me to. The hotels are a bit pricey - one place we stayed at cost about 10,000 a night per person and it wasn't even that nice. I also tried a "capsule" hotel and that cost about 3,000 for the night - it was definitely a strange experience (free porn though).

A lot of people go travelling to other SE asian countries while they're in Japan. Airfare is actually quite cheap. Guam, Saipan, Thailand are popular places, as are China and Korea (the South flavour).

And the last, and most important question - internet access. Right now I have an 12mbs ADSL connection that's costing about 3,000 a month. The phone line costs about 800 a month so it's actually a bargain compared to the 1.5mbs I had in Canada. You can also get cable modems with free cable, wireless access, dialup, and ISDN. ADSL is recently becoming very popular so there are promotions everywhere. I have no download limit. I don't use the news servers so I really can't say about that. I am having trouble with online games and their settings. If you want North American TV, you might want to check out "SkyPerfect" - they sell satellite hookups with Fox, Discovery, TSN, and all those familiar things. I miss Fox, nay, I just miss The Simpsons really.

That's about it. As always, let me know if you have more questions.

- Jerry.

PS. Pardon my shit grammar today - I just got home and I'm all Englished out for now.

The bentos definitely sound interesting...do they usually require you to microwave them? I think I'll be eating a lot of that fast food type of stuff as well, so hopefully my city's big enough that they'll have more than a few fast food joints.

Hmm...I'm not sure what 1DK means, I think I've seen the term before, but I can't remember what it stands for, so I'm not sure if it is 1DK or not. So is your bedroom actually a separate area from your den? like are there any walls between them or is it just one big space? During our group interview for [SCHOOL], they showed us some pictures of a typical apartment, and it looked as tho the apartment was just one big room, except for the washroom which was separate. The kitchen looked like a small cubicle area that was in the hallway towards the main room. It looked really tiny, but I guess if I don't do any cooking, I won't mind at all.

Wow I've heard about the capsule hotels...how does that work? how did you even have a TV in there? isn't it almost like a coffin?

sweet...I'm definitely planning on doing a lot of travelling while I'm there...have you been to many other Asian countries yet? Nova doesn't offer too much vacation time right? but I guess weekends are enough to go to other cities in Japan.

wow.........12 mbps? that's insanely fast...are cable modems just as fast there? and do you use wireless at all? I'm just wondering...I mean, if somebody else in my building has a wireless router set up, then it might be easy to 'share' their internet access...

actually if you want simpsons episodes, check out this page : http://www.bigtorrent.tk/

It's got DVD rips of a few seasons there, as well as some other TV shows. You'll need the BitTorrent client to download them, and I think the page also has a link to the main BitTorrent homepage where you can get the client.

Thanks again for taking the time to answer all my questions!

I bought a microwave when I got here so I use it fairly often but the cool thing about convenience stores and bentos is that when you go to the counter and pay for it, they offer to nuke it with their industrial microwave - it takes less than a minute to heat it. You can then take your hot bento home to eat without a microwave. If your area is anything like mine, don't worry about having food joints - there are probably 10 restaurants within a ten minute walking radius.

A 1DK means there is 1 bedroom, 1 Den, and 1 Kitchen. The first number shows how many bedrooms. Other common abbrevs are 1LDK - the LD stands for Large Den (for a single person apartment, this is a lot of room). My bedroom is separated from my den by sliding doors. So technically, my apartment is just one big room with 2 sets of sliding doors dividing the kitchen, den, and bedroom. Actually, I took down the doors between the kitchen and den - the place looks much bigger without those doors.

And capsule hotels are quite neat. I probably wouldn't go again but my friend and I just had to try it (you know, just to tell people I've been). The capsules are stacked 2 high and if you can imagine "room" the size of a single bed - that's essentially a capsule. It's big enough for me to sit up. In the capsule was a small tv (hanging from the top), a radio built into the wall, an alarm clock, and a very small place to put your belongings. There's a public washroom and some showers and a hotspring. I didn't go to the hotspring because there's a whole racial problem here about foreigners not being allowed in. The asshole clerk asked my Japanese friend if we "knew" the rules of behaviour in a hotspring. If we said no, we weren't allowed in. They would never ask a Japanese person that question. It's not like foreigners will walk around the hotspring bitchslapping other people - I mean, you just sit there naked and relax! So, we avoided it.

I haven't been travelling outside of Japan but I'm planning to go to Korea this September. It all depends on time and airfare. Nova gives 10 days paid holiday. The neat thing about my place though is that I can swap and slide with coworkers to extend my holiday or just take unpaid holiday. I think I can take another 10 days unpaid so if I wanted to, I can take 20 days off straight.

I'm not too sure what kind of speed if offered by the cable modems. I haven't tried wireless but some people at Nova do - I've seen them surfing in the staff room. Kinda neat.

Has anyone told you yet that you should bring some deodorant and other personal supplies? The stuff they have in Japan is quite different than at home so a lot of people can't get used to it here.

Alrighty, as always, more questions are welcome. Hey, outta curiousity, what made you want to come to Japan? And Osaka at that?

- Jerry.

Your apartment sounds pretty nice...is a 1DK the smallest it gets in Japan? or is there such thing as just 1K? And what is your washroom like? Does it have a shower plus tub? Do you have one of those funky electronic toilets?

wow...the capsule hotel does sound interesting...but having a room the size of a bed? that's kinda freaky to me. Are they all just in one big hallway? And is the racial thing that bad if you're Chinese? I mean, as long as I don't open my mouth, will they be able to tell I'm not Japanese?

Yeah I heard about the shift-swapping thing...that does sound pretty good, being able to take long weekends almost whenever you want to. And 20 days straight? wow...that's pretty sweet. You could go all over Asia with that much time!

For your ADSL net access, do you get fast speeds to all North American sites as well as Asian sites? Just wondering, cuz for me, usually accessing sites in Asia is slower than accessing North American ones.

Yeah actually I read about that on a message board, so I'm planning on bringing a year's worth of deodorant, shampoo and soap.

Well, actually, last year, I was thinking about doing an exchange program. I was looking at places in Europe and Asia mainly, and then I figured I'd go for Japan, since I was interested in it, and I'd already taken one Japanese course at the time. Then I figured instead of being a student there and not having any income the whole time, why not work there instead? So at first I started looking at the tech/computer jobs in Japan through the online classifieds. During my search, I came across a lot of teaching jobs, and that's how I found out about the "big 4". I found out that they actually pay more than a starting tech job would, so I figured I'd do this instead. When I interviewed with [SCHOOL], I told them I'd prefer to work near a big city, preferably either Osaka or Tokyo, so that's how I ended up with Osaka. How bout you? Why'd you initially go? Justin told me you've already been there a year, and you're planning on staying on for another year...

My girlfriend's mother bought me the microwave so I'm not really sure how much it costs. It's a pretty damn smart microwave too - push a button and it'll automatically set the temperature and time based on how much the food weighs (it's not always foolproof as I've bitten into icy frozen stuff before). It also has an oven range setting and even an autoclean thing - not really sure how it works.

1DK is the smallest, practical apartment. There are smaller options but I doubt anyone with a sane mind would like one. There's this tv show I watch about idiots who survive on low low budgets - they rent out these "apartments" which are nothing more than a small room. I've seen 4.5 tatami mat sized rooms for rent in rental magazines. A 4.5 room is roughly 2m x 2m. Oh yeah, 1K's are also common but usually the room is decent sized. I have a really small washroom with a tub that's better described as a big blue washing basin. There's a shower too. My apartment is pretty old so I don't have those cool electronic washrooms. The washroom is the worst thing about my apartment.

Attached is a picture of the capsule hotel I stayed in while I was in Tokyo. The boxy thing in the upper left is the television. If you can imagine 2 of these capsules stacked on top of each other and then a whole room filled with them, and then a building filled with floors filled with these capsules, you got the picture of a capsule hotel. The one I went to had about 7 floors I think.

As or racism in this country - it's prevalent but not too bad. Being asian has its benefits too - as long as you keep your mouth shut, no one will ever suspect you're a gaijin. When you start speaking English though, you'll get surprised stares - it's rather annoying sometimes. However, not being white will also have its disadvantages too - some idiots might not view you as a true English speaker. Also, many white folks enjoy easier times hooking up with Japanese gals.

As for the ADSL, I get good speeds everywhere. The only thing that pissed me off was the crazy high ping in Quake 3. My friend in Vancouver hosted and I had a ping of 200+ (I got my ass whupped because of this).

Lastly, I'm in Japan because of two reasons. One being the job situation in Vancouver. I majored in Accounting and I sucked at it too so jobs weren't knocking on my door (Enron and Worldcom and the collapse of Art Andersen didn't help either). Secondly, and more importantly, my girlfriend lives in Osaka and having a relationship with someone across an ocean was not too good for either of us. Hence, here I am. I've been here for 9 months so far and I'm planning to stay here for awhile.

It's fuggin hot right now in Japan. It's only about 27 degrees but the humidity is crazy. Sad thing is, it's going to get hotter soon - I heard it gets to about 35 or 36 degrees with even more humidity.

Do you know any people in Japan right now? If not, give me a shout when you're here and I'll show you around a bit.

2m x 2m??? that's tiny!!! how could you possibly have a bathroom and bedroom in an apartment that small? Is your shower area open? like, it's not part of the bathtub, and the shower area is sort of like a wet room?

Man that capsule hotel room looks tiny...I dunno how comfortable I'd feel staying in a room like that. I guess it's an experience tho.

Yeah, at my [SCHOOL] interview, they told me that as an English teacher, some students might not think I'm qualified to teach English simply because I'm not the typical blond haired blue eyed foreigner. Have you ever come across that with any of your students? And if so, how do you deal with it? And yeah, I've heard that even ugly white guys can pick up hot japanese girls...but hey what can you do right?

Internet access sounds pretty good there. I think I'll be happy with it, especially considering how my cable access has been slowing down ever since more and more people in my neighbourhood have started signing up for it.

Ah I see...yeah long distance relationships, especially the type of distance you would've had, would've been near impossible. So are you planning on settling down in Japan? Are you going to look for accounting work there?

Heh, well it's the middle of summer right now so I guess it'll be awhile before it cools off. I've been to HK before during summertime, so I'm expecting weather somewhat similar to that.

Nope, I don't know anybody in Japan right now, so yeah, I'll definitely let you know when I arrive so I can check out all the sights in Osaka.

just a couple of quick questions..

1) Do the banks there have online banking set up in English? I want to be able to transfer money back and forth between my Japanese and Canadian accounts, and I'm hoping to be able to do this easily from the web...

2) How much do long distance calls to Canada cost via landline and cellphone? I'm not sure if it's worth it to get both, I'd probably just get a cellphone if the difference in long D costs aren't too big.

I do believe they have English online banking but it depends on the bank. I've been sending money back the old fashioned way so I really can't offer much. Your school staff will probably be setting up your account for/with you so should ask them then.

As for the LD costs: landlines are EXPENSIVE. A 10 minute call to Vancouver costed about 500 yen - about $6. I think it's about the same with a cell (or maybe cheaper with certain discount plans). So if you don't need the landline, it's definitely not worth it. Only reason I have one is for internet.

Your flight's coming up soon?

thanks for the info, I'll have to look into that online banking thing. I use it all the time right now, and it's just so much more convenient than having to go to the bank or ATMs all the time.

wow I guess I'll probably try to stick to a cellphone only if possible...it's possible to get high speed internet without having a landline right?

My flight's not til October 9th, still have a bit of time left, but I haven't booked the flight yet. I'm probably gonna start looking around for good deals this weekend.

Yeah, landlines are too expensive in this country. To buy a number (which you'd own forever), costs a couple hundred bucks. I'm renting mine so I'm not paying that much... I think about forty bucks a month including my ADSL.

Weird, I left for Japan on October 9th too. It's a sign!

As for internet, you don't need a line for cable. Quite a lot of people use wireless connections here but I think they don't offer really fast connections, the most common is probably 64kps. ISDN is still pretty common around here but slowly being replaced by DSLs. I haven't met a Japanese person who uses dialup yet.

The cellphones they have now have pretty damn good digital cameras. So far, the Sony model for Docomo sports a 1.3 megapixel camera. That's exactly the same as my old digital camera and it's probably 3 times smaller. They're not too expensive either, around 100-150 bucks for the newest ones (with activation).

wow....freaky coincidence...

yeah I'm planning on getting a digital camera when I'm there, and I was thinking about getting a cameraphone too, but then I don't think they're compatible with the networks back here in TO, so the phone part won't be of much use to me when I come back here...

Yeah landlines are easy to rent. You go to the same phone company where you would buy one. The hardest part is getting a Japanese speaker to come with you. You can also buy used lines but they are pricey too.

To do anything though, you'll need to get an "Alien Registration Card". It's basically an ID that screams, "I'm a foreigner". I'm sure your company will give you info about this.

I have no idea about cable speeds and prices but I assume it would be comparable to cable back home.

The phones aren't compatible back home but they're about the same price as regular ones. Actually most phones come with cameras now.

Are you just thinking of staying one year here?

wow I guess I might as well just get a cameraphone then. Do they have any 2 megapixel models out yet? And how much storage do they usually have?

Yeah I'm planning on just going for the year. I guess it could change depending on how much I like it there, but right now I'm saying just one year.

I think 2 megapixel cameras are either brandspanking new or will be out very soon. My friend just bought a phone and the best resolution he gets is 11XX by 8XX I forgot the exact pixel numbers.

I'm planning to stay for the next couple of years or until my Japanese reaches what I think is a satisfactory level. Whichever comes first I guess.

It's fucking hot and humid lately but I think by the time you get here, it'll cool down considerably. I remember my first week here had some of the best weather ever.

so you're gonna return to vancouver after that? what about your gf?

how long does the hot/humid season last? and for the winter, will I need to pack a lot of sweaters? What did you pack when you first left for Japan? right now, I'm thinking just clothes, laptop, and PS2...can't really think of much else to bring with me.

I have no idea what I'll do when or if I leave.

I wouldn't worry too much about winter. When you arrive, it won't be too hot. Supposedly, the crazy humidity only lasts about a month. Surprisingly, it did get pretty cold in winter. I packed a lot of sweaters but I didn't need them too much. If anything I would've packed more shirts, ties, socks, and pants because that's what I wear most of the time (for work). I took over a bunch of photos and posted them around the apartment so that they could remind me of home. I also brought a power bar because I wasn't really sure if my laptop would work with the 100VAC here (it does). One more note - the outlets in this country do NOT have a third grounding wire so if you're bringing stuff with plugs, if they're three pronged, you're out of luck.

Well, actually, what I did was, I bought a universal adapter that took my computer's three prong, then I sawed off the third prong on the adapter. That way, I wouldn't damage my computer's AC and the adapter was pretty cheap... about $5 at Radio Shack. The only risk was whether or not it would fry my computere. It hasn't so far.

I brought a few books along, mostly stuff I haven't finished reading and/or haven't started. Um... what else... not much more. You might want to bring some extra cash for the first little while as the price differences here are really shocking. Oh yeah, an English-Japanese electronic dictionary would've come in handy but I didn't think I would need it.

That's about it, everything else I just bought here.

wow is it safe to do that? saw off the grounding plug? sounds kinda risky, but it seems to have worked so far for you...but isn't there some sort of adapter you can get, from the 3 prongs to 2 prongs?

yeah actually how much cash did you bring with you initially? [SCHOOL]'s telling us $1500 CDN...but will that be enough for my first month? I probably won't be travelling too much or going out too often that first month, so I'm hoping that'll be enough to cover everything else...

Some of the phones can take video clips but are usually very limited in size - ie. 5, 10, maybe a little more at most.

The grounding wire is only for electric surges so what I did was also bring a power bar with built in surge protection so it should be safe... theoretically anyway. I looked high and low for a 3 to 2 prong converter but some guy at RadioShack said that it was illegal in Canada to remove the grounding wire. It makes sense but I never confirmed it.

$1500 should be plenty for a month but keep in mind you'll be buying some things around the house initially - personal stuff, detergents, cleaners and whatnot. Just do not be like me and blow off a chunk of money in a few days because of all the new and flashy and wonderful things they have for sale. Go cheap for the first while until you're used to the prices. I had to wait six weeks before I got my first cheque because I get paid in the middle of the month. I had to take cash out of my visa. I didn't take much cash with me because I blew too much of it right before I left Vancouver. I think I brought about 8 or 9 hundred. I can't remember.

- J.

hmm...I guess I'll get a cameraphone to start, and then before I return to Canada, I'll get a regular digital camera. What do you do with your phone after the contract's up? Do you keep it or do you have to return it to the phone company?

wow, I'm gonna be so tempted to buy some new gadgets too when I get there. guess I'll just have to hold out until I get my first paycheque before buying anything major. And probably gonna have to eat really cheap too for the first little while. Basically back to the student lifestyle for the first month, hehe.

but didn't you also arrive around the middle of the month? how come you had to wait 6 weeks to get paid? I'm hoping I won't have to wait over a month to get paid, but I'll just have to deal with it anyways.

You get to keep your phone.

Don't worry too much about the money situation. I didn't mean to scare you heh heh. You'll be eating fine. It just takes some time to get used to some of the prices: 6 apples for 350 yen, half a watermelon for 1000, 3 potatos for 100. Prices are seasonal too, I've notice fresh produce being on sale more often these past 2 months. I would just not hit every restaurant you see right away.

I started work on the 13th or 14th so that month's paycheque didn't come until mid Nov. So actually I waited 5 weeks. It wasn't too bad as my girlfriend had money. We mooch off each other so equally hah hah.

Oh another thing(s) to bring: if you might be teaching kids here, some toys or dolls from home might be fun. I'll be starting kids lessons soon (after initially turning them down) and I wish I had some things like a killer whale, moose, or beaver plush doll so that I could Canadianize these kids. Not a biggie though

- Jerry, Tired and Sweating

Hmm that's something to think about...I may be teaching kids so that'll be helpful. I thought you were teaching in Nova's multimedia area tho? Are you switching now?

oh btw, I found a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter...I was talking about it with my cousin, and apparently my uncle has them, he found them at dollar stores a while ago. They're just a small 1 piece thing that, well, takes 3 prongs and converts it to 2. I borrowed a couple of them from him, should come in pretty useful.

That's a pretty good price for your ticket. I paid 900 and that was a discounted ticket (one way only bleh).

I'm still teaching at the multimedia center but we do kids lessons too. They have a basket of puppets and toys and crap but they're all worn out and soiled - I don't want to touch them. Plus, there are a lot of companies looking for kids teachers, especially in the summer. I haven't decided if I want to take up a few more lessons outside of Nova, but it's an option.

Heheh, leave it to the dollar stores to come up with something so obscure as a 3:2 prong converter. By the way, you might want to pack a few extra games just in case because it's hard to get good English software here. There are cool games but some of them only come in the Japanese flavour. Also, the stuff they do have is crazy expensive.

- Yep!

is it easy to find students to teach to outside of school? And is it easy to keep the school from finding out? I'm curious about that, just earning a little bit of extra cash on the side...but I think it's a pretty big deal if they find out about it...

yeah actually I'm planning on bringing my PS2, plus a few games. I don't really play too many PC games anymore, I just find it's so much easier to fire up a game on the PS2 and play it..

I had to pay for my own ticket. Actually, I only got a one way and I regret it now since it wasn't too much for for the open ended and I'm feeling a yearning to go home. It's crazy expensive to get a ticket from Japan.

It's quite easy to find private students. There are companies that help you too. You get paid usually a lot more for private work but of course, it's not consistent and usually just part time. I didn't know you'd get in trouble. At Nova, they don't say anything about having a second job except that if you have one, it should not impede on the job at Nova.

You know the cool games on PS2 are released here months ahead - I saw FF12 a long time ago and it looked pretty cool. (FF12? Or FF11? I'm not sure - I don't play them). I guess the Japanese versions don't work with the North American consoles though.

Hey I never asked but how did you meet Justin? Are you close friends with him? I haven't talked to him much lately but I guess he's doing his job thing and all.

Anyway, till the next episode...

hey that's pretty good then...have you found any private students yet? I'm sure that [SCHOOL] explicitly told us that we're not allowed to have side teaching jobs, I think it's cuz they're afraid we'll 'steal' students away from them...

wow that's cool. I wouldn't mind trying out the new final fantasy...of course it'd all be in Japanese so I wouldn't get too much of the story. I think Jap games should work on the North American consoles tho, since we both use NTSC.

I'm not that close friends with him, we were both in CS at Waterloo, and I met him through some other friends I think. I talked to him whenever I ran into him on campus, but I haven't talked to him too much since we graduated...

Sorry for not writing in so long, your email sorta "got lost" in my inbox. I think I deleted it by accident and didn't know until I checked my trashbox recently. So, I guess you're gonna be leaving fairly soon. You all packed to go? The weather has suddenly become much cooler lately. It's actually a bit chilly in the mornings.

Anyway, let me know how's it going.

- Jerry.

no worries man.

Yeah, I've only got 2 and a half weeks left, it still hasn't hit me yet that I'll be gone for a year. Haven't started packing yet, I should probably start soon tho. I did pick up some supplies for the year tho, like contact solution, deodorant, toothpaste...

definitely looking more and more forward to it tho! I got some emails from the teacher I'm replacing, and I found out [CITY] is a pretty small city (population's only [NUMBER]), but it's only a [NUMBER] min train ride from downtown osaka so it won't be too bad. She also sent me some pics of the apartment I'll be staying in, and it's actually bigger than I expected, so I'm happy bout that. Well when I get there and finish training week I'll definitely give you a shout...

Matt

Nova recently hired a whole bunch of people too. They're just rolling in about now, doing their training, and hopefully lessening the lesson load for us old timers.

It's pretty damn nice that that teacher emailed you all that information. I wish I knew more about what I was getting into. You know, I'll probably envy you, being in a small city, because I'm tired of the grind here.

Hey, roll around your lawn and go look at nice mountains, rivers, and anything green. Trust me, you'll miss it soon enough.

- Jerry.

really? I dunno how it's gonna be in a small city, I like living in the city, but I think I won't mind a small city either. Why do you say it's such a grind in the big city?

heh yeah, I think that's one thing I really take for granted, all the green land we have here.

Only one week left til I leave!