I’m sitting in a bullet train en route to
Tokyo from Kyoto. It’s an absolutely gorgeous day, first of May; sunny and
balmy, I can’t help but smile. But I have butterflies in my stomach for reasons
I haven’t fully fathomed yet. The following six days will be a little traveling
holiday before I get ready to start my new job as an English teacher in a small
city in southern Japan.
I feel nervous yet excited about my new
life in Japan that’s about to start for real. I’ve been here two months now and
thinking back I was pretty reckless (or just plain silly) to come here without
a job waiting for me: there have been very limited options for me work-wise and
I ended up not getting a job in Kyoto, which was something that I had really
hoped for. And I can honestly say that without having a friend here I would’ve
been much worse off.
I met a Japanese man during my summer holiday in Japan
last year and we became good friends. He invited me to come and stay with him
in Kyoto when I told him I had completely fallen in love with Japan and I’d
decided to return after my previous teaching contract in China ended. Having a
friend, a local who has been able to help me with anything and everything has
been priceless, honestly. I truly feel I would’ve been lost without his help
and guidance – or at least things would’ve been A LOT harder for me on every
turn.
I thank my lucky stars on daily basis for having a safety net here. It has made all the difference for me.
As it comes to my love for Japan it is definitely still rising in
scales. After my vacation here last year I was so stoked about this country and
told everyone about my decision to just fly here in search for a new beginning.
A friend did hand me a warning before I left, saying that though I loved Japan
so much during my holiday it would be a completely different thing actually
living here long term. I didn’t like hearing that, but I grant now it had a lot
of truth in it. When I got back here and wanted to settle down I found out that
I can’t for instance get a normal SIM card for my phone as a tourist nor can I
rent a house independently. To be able to function “normally” I needed a work
visa. The only way to get that was to be employed.
It was quite hard to realize
how everything seemed so strict and there were rules for everything. Some I
thought were even ridiculous, like what they call “key money”, which when
renting an apartment is pretty much two months’ rent you give (!) to your
landlord because of his good will to rent the place to you… Traditions like
these are - I hear - starting to change slowly. Possibly due to the population in Japan
getting more “Western”, who knows.
Even if it has been somewhat difficult
getting a job here and sometimes local customs irritate me I can’t say that I
find any of that off putting at the end of the day. I am still in awe how
functional, modern, yet traditional Japan is as a country. I love how people
are polite, shy and smiley. I get a positive kick every time a subway station
attendant loudly gives thanks to people for buying their tickets, when in public
transportation people scooch over and make way to give seats for more people,
how there is this air of calm and positiveness. Right now I’m wondering why
anyone would ever want to live anywhere else than Japan; the food, the culture,
the people, could it just get any better? I think I’m on a Japan-high.
Yes, my love affair with Japan is only
starting but I can’t wait to get it on full gear. Here we go!
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| I even love these cutouts you can find in many places all over Japan! |
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