Rate of updates here has died down somewhat, which can only really mean I'm settling in I think. I'm getting used to how things work here and getting into the role of a student here, which, in a sense, means there's less to talk about. That, however, has given me a little time to reflect. As much as I detest whining on the internet about problems, this post may contain a little bit of that.
Having been here a mere two weeks now, although it feels a lot longer than that, I've realised just how expensive Tokyo can be. Granted, my main two purchases thus far have been a six month commuter pass and a phone, but all the little bits and pieces have added up pretty fast. We were advised to take £1000 worth of yen with us before coming here for the first month, which I took slightly less than, but I didn't expect to go through that quite so fast.
In summary, after a couple of weeks, I've already become concerned about money. Rent wise, I'm actually going to be paying ever so slightly less than I did in my first year at Sheffield, but that didn't allow for a lot of freedom. This quite possibly means I'm going to need to try to find some sort of job while I'm here, if I'm to do the things I've been hoping to do for the past couple of years.
I'm well aware that this isn't a holiday, and I'm not going to begin treating it as such. I'm here to improve my Japanese, all in regards to reading, writing, speaking and just general understanding. I have thankfully remained strict with what I've been spending my money on, with a day trip to Tokyo Game Show, and today buying a couple of books, but somehow my money has still depleted quite rapidly. I'm hoiping it'll balance out in the coming weeks, but for the time being, I'm concerned.
I'm not sure if writing this had much of a point beyond getting it out of my system, but that's probably enough navel gazing for the time being.
I had the same problem. My advice is get a job teaching English at an 英会話 as soon as possible. It's easy, good money and great experience if you ever want to come back to Japan. Even if you don't want to teach English it'll look good on your CV.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely going to be on the look out for something like that. Anything that offers at least a little bit of money will be useful!
ReplyDeleteAny idea if I should go somewhere in particular for that, or should I just keep an eye out for advertisements?
Either look out for ads in local magazines and papers - there'll be loads of 英会話s in Tokyo looking for native speakers - or go round some 英会話s, ask if they have any work and hand out your CV. When I worked at one in Kobe I was introduced by a friend who'd worked for them, so you can try asking around your friends as well. That's probably the easiest way in tbh.
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