DescentBB

So I'm moving to Japan in one month to work as an English teacher for elementary/middle school students. I studied in Osaka for a semester in 2009 and also spent six weeks in Japan in 2008. I'll be living in the northern part of the country, in a town in Iwate prefecture about an hour's drive from Morioka, the largest city in the area.

The contract's only for a year and there's a good chance I'll move elsewhere when it's over, but I'm pretty much planning to stay in Japan indefinitely. I have a pretty good grasp of the language at this point and more or less know what to expect in terms of customs and everyday life, but the job is still a little intimidating.

Anyone else worked or lived in Japan for any extended period of time?

Not me, but do you know the "I Am a Japanese School Teacher" editorials ? Good luck -- you may want to get a cup...

Yeah I've been reading those almost since they started. It's possible that they had some sort of weird influence on me, but I didn't become interested in learning Japanese and stuff until years later so maybe not.

Those editorials were the first thing I thought of.

Hey, good luck Firewheel. Post back when you get the chance; I'm always intrigued by the experiences of Westerners in new cultures.

Has anyone heard from Firewheel?

ThunderBunny wrote:Has anyone heard from Firewheel?

viewtopic.php?p=282004#p282004

I'm doing fine. I'm in Osaka for job training for the next few days, then moving to Iwate after that.

Everything's pretty much fine around here. Nobody's freaking out or particularly worried about the nuclear power plant, etc. Power and food is fine in Osaka, apparently things are going back to normal in the parts of the north not hit by the tsunami. Some of the other non-Japanese here are really angry about how sensationalistic the western media has been over the whole reactor thing.

Firewheel wrote:Some of the other non-Japanese here are really angry about how sensationalistic the western media has been over the whole reactor thing.

Is their news covering our news to critique? I don't think it's bad. Just curious.