Life in Japan
I wrote this in response to an email from Tina, but since I got long winded, I thought I should post it here too. BTW, this site only shows up in Japanese on these school computers, so I hope I get this to post alright.
What I do:
I am teaching English, but I get the feeling that a lot of my job is just interacting with the kids, other teachers, and townspeople in general. Give them some international experience, and all that.
Cost of Living:
The cost of living in the major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, or Kobe is quite high, but I am living in a rural area of the smallest prefecture of Japan. My rent equates to about $130 a month and I make a little over $2600 a month after taxes(there is $300 for manditory social and health insurance, though). My apartment is a fully furnished and decent sized; one bedroom, a kitchen, living room/study, and a bathroom. I have heard about some people living in the main city in my prefecture, Takamatsu, paying about two or three times as much to live in a single small room that is a bedroom and kitchen in one. On the other hand, they live in a full fledged city while my neighbors are all rice fields and everything in my town is closed by 6:00 besides the supermarket.
Countries on my list of places to go after Japan...well, it`s not a definate list, but I have a few I have been thinking about.
Austrailia(I already know the language, so it would be easy to get around.)
Taiwan(Natalie seems to enjoy it, and I could teach there like I am doing here in Japan.)
Dominican Republic(I have a Dominican friend who tells me about it all the time, and I took 3 years of Spanish in High School. While I am not fluent or anything, I could get around and probably become fluent quickly. I could maybe find a real job as an engineer or something there, since people with advanced skills are greatly needed. It is kinda like Mexico but less corruption and more beaches.)
Latvia(Very pretty place, very strong economic growth. I could probably find a place there, but I have heard that learning slavic langauges is rough. Latvia holds a special place in my heart since my family emigrated from there almost a century ago. Any remaining familial ties I had were undoubtedly exterminated during the Holocaust, but it would still be interesting to live in the home of my ancestors.)
Croatia(A bit dangerous, given the rebels, revolts, and wars dealing with the former Yugoslavian territory, but things have been doing well recently and the economy is growing fast. It is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world, but like Latvia it has a Slavic language.)
England(It is basically America with funny accents, more history, and a slightly modified culture. I wouldn`t stay here too long though, I don`t think. Why live in England when you can live in America?)
That is my list for now. I`ll probably have a whole different outlook in a year or two when I finish my stint here.
Food:
Ramen is not the big thing where I am, it is Udon. After about 4 or 5 days of Udon in a row, you get kinda weary of it. As for things cooking at home, at first I was living of yogurts and butter rolls, then I found microwavable pizzas and french fries. I attempted to make rice, but I failed. The rice in resturaunts here is amazing, better than anything at home, but my rice is have soggy, half crunchy and always bland.
Once I got my bike I was able to investigate my neighboring towns, and I have found some better food stores. In Takase, I found a super sized Marunaka(Super Market), where I found real cheese, pasta, sliced bread, bananas, brocolli, and other things. Unfortunately, I can`t understand what most pakages say, so I can`t really cook many things or find many things except by sight. I managed to find a Cook-san last night that had salt, some kind of seeds, something like teriyaki sauce, and a cute checkout girl to boot. I also fixed my rice cooker(after breaking it last week), so I was able to actually eat rice. It is still crappy, but its food.
What I do:
I am teaching English, but I get the feeling that a lot of my job is just interacting with the kids, other teachers, and townspeople in general. Give them some international experience, and all that.
Cost of Living:
The cost of living in the major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, or Kobe is quite high, but I am living in a rural area of the smallest prefecture of Japan. My rent equates to about $130 a month and I make a little over $2600 a month after taxes(there is $300 for manditory social and health insurance, though). My apartment is a fully furnished and decent sized; one bedroom, a kitchen, living room/study, and a bathroom. I have heard about some people living in the main city in my prefecture, Takamatsu, paying about two or three times as much to live in a single small room that is a bedroom and kitchen in one. On the other hand, they live in a full fledged city while my neighbors are all rice fields and everything in my town is closed by 6:00 besides the supermarket.
Countries on my list of places to go after Japan...well, it`s not a definate list, but I have a few I have been thinking about.
Austrailia(I already know the language, so it would be easy to get around.)
Taiwan(Natalie seems to enjoy it, and I could teach there like I am doing here in Japan.)
Dominican Republic(I have a Dominican friend who tells me about it all the time, and I took 3 years of Spanish in High School. While I am not fluent or anything, I could get around and probably become fluent quickly. I could maybe find a real job as an engineer or something there, since people with advanced skills are greatly needed. It is kinda like Mexico but less corruption and more beaches.)
Latvia(Very pretty place, very strong economic growth. I could probably find a place there, but I have heard that learning slavic langauges is rough. Latvia holds a special place in my heart since my family emigrated from there almost a century ago. Any remaining familial ties I had were undoubtedly exterminated during the Holocaust, but it would still be interesting to live in the home of my ancestors.)
Croatia(A bit dangerous, given the rebels, revolts, and wars dealing with the former Yugoslavian territory, but things have been doing well recently and the economy is growing fast. It is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world, but like Latvia it has a Slavic language.)
England(It is basically America with funny accents, more history, and a slightly modified culture. I wouldn`t stay here too long though, I don`t think. Why live in England when you can live in America?)
That is my list for now. I`ll probably have a whole different outlook in a year or two when I finish my stint here.
Food:
Ramen is not the big thing where I am, it is Udon. After about 4 or 5 days of Udon in a row, you get kinda weary of it. As for things cooking at home, at first I was living of yogurts and butter rolls, then I found microwavable pizzas and french fries. I attempted to make rice, but I failed. The rice in resturaunts here is amazing, better than anything at home, but my rice is have soggy, half crunchy and always bland.
Once I got my bike I was able to investigate my neighboring towns, and I have found some better food stores. In Takase, I found a super sized Marunaka(Super Market), where I found real cheese, pasta, sliced bread, bananas, brocolli, and other things. Unfortunately, I can`t understand what most pakages say, so I can`t really cook many things or find many things except by sight. I managed to find a Cook-san last night that had salt, some kind of seeds, something like teriyaki sauce, and a cute checkout girl to boot. I also fixed my rice cooker(after breaking it last week), so I was able to actually eat rice. It is still crappy, but its food.
posted by Omega037 @ 8:05 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:16 PM,
b0b said…
ah you're making the rice wrong then. first off, japan probably has like eight different kinds of rice (i kid you not) and it's always a good idea to mix short and long grain rice because it makes it less bland. i don't know what kind of spices they have in japan, but always at least add salt, cumen, garlic, and onion.
as soon as you can find it though, boil corn, beans, tomatoes and toss those in as the rice starts to boil down and the water level drops. you might want to mix it with tomato paste afterwards too, but it'd be fine without it
when you're filling the pot with water, place your hand on top of the rice and only use enough water to barely cover the top of your hand. you have big hands so maybe a little less than that actually. basically you want to put in enough so the water level is 3/4" above the rice
gambate dan-kun!
Post a Comment
<< Home