All the practicle stuff

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I moved into Ebisu's on Monday, and have spent most of the week sorting out practicle stuff: hunting round 100yen shops for stuff for my room (from a nice little pot plant to a much-needed soap dish), stocking up on food, working out where the shops actually are, and of course all the admin. Below is a suggestion of how to approach all this:

Alien Registration Card:
When you come to Japan on a working holiday visa, you have to get an alien registration card. To do this, go to your local ward office (mine is only 10 minutes walk, they seem to be evrywhere) and fill out a farily simple form (all in English). Take along your passport and two passport sized photos. Make sure you get proof of application, and also get a proof of address certificate. Using these two proofs, you can get stuff like bank accounts and mobile phones, which would otherwise need the alien card (as this takes several weeks to arrive, waiting for it isn't really practicle). The proof of address form cost me 350yen, everything else is free.

Mobile Phone:
Once you've done this, the next step is the mobile phone. This is tricky, as not only do different companies have differnt policies, but different shops will give contradictory information. I went with Softbank, where I was told that all contracts were two years, so I needed pay as you go (fine by me). However, in Japan pay as you go options are pretty limited. So I had no choice of phone or package. I paid approximately £45.00 for the initial phone/sim and £15 credit. The credit zeros every 60 days unless I top up, in which case a new 60 days starts. I can see myself having a load of credit on this phone at some point, and making long calls home to use it up!
When getting a phone, check carefully what it can and can't do. Many seem to not send texts, but this isn't a huge problem as they send to e-mail addresses instead, and you get an email address that will be received on your phone (so works like a text but also works from a PC - kinda handy) However, some will only do this between phones of the same company. It's worth wandering around until you find an english-speaking shop assistant, or taking a Japanese speaker with you.

Bank Account:
Then head for the bank. Don't do this before getting a phone, as you need to have a phone number to give them. I went with Shinsei bank. My account apparently has some sort of foreign exchange facility or something, but goodness knows what. However, I was given an info sheet in English, and an instruction booklet, so while I don't quite understand the exchange feature, I know there aren't any horrible charges or anything. Again, check this sort of thing carefully.

In my case, all this was followed by my contract signing with GABA on Thursday. It's rather annoying that the signing, and my three days training, all take place in Osaka, meaning a pretty long commute.

Set up costs:
Allow plenty. Seriously. Ok, so if you really pay attention to what you pack, and are incredibly self disciplined when you arrive, it can be done pretty cheaply. But . . . I felt I needed a nice plant for my room. And a laptop (ok, you may resist that one ). And then there's random stuff: I needed a bed sheet. Went to supermarket, found nice bed sheet for £2.50. Fine, not a huge expenditure. Except that I then added a teapot (approx. £6) and a nice mug (approx. £4). So yeah, unless you have the self discipline of a rock, and are willing to live in a very bare room, allow a decent amount of cash for odds and ends, besides the obvious stuff like transport and food and so on. Rember even stuff like food will be more at the start as you buy things like oil, seasonings, big bags of rice etc. to keep you going for a while.

Also, even if you have a job lined up and are staring soon after arrival, payment tends to be in arrears. So I will get paid for my July work (which won't be much - only 1 week) on 25th August. My first decen pay cheque is likely to not arrive until 25th September, when August's earnings will go in. This does mean that a month after finishing I'll get a nice cash injection, but it means I've really got to have enough money to cover myself until the end of September - nearly 2 and a half months in Japan.


Ok, great, that's all the practicle stuff done! But . . . I've been absolutely miserable. Monday I just got hit by this huge wave of homesickness, and it's still with me. I've been crying in shops and on the street at random things that make me think of home. I've been absolutely balling my eyes out in the privacy of my own room. I want to come home so badly.

I'm not going to. I know once I start work, and make friends, things will be a lot better. And come autumn, when the weather will be more bearable, and James will be over for a visit, and I'll have hopefully picked up some Japanese, things should be really good. But at the moment I almost can't believe it'll happen.

I know that's not ususally the sort of stuff that gets posted in a travel blog. I've read so many blogs and stories and articles about people having an amazing time. I really don't know if I've felt unusually bad, or if everyone goes through really bad times but just doesn't talk about it.

But yeah, if you do get homesick and lonely, you're not the only one! Please don't let this put you off though: I'm sticking with things, rather than hopping on the next flight home, because I'm sure things will get better. And at least some people I've talked to have said they really don't get homesick, so you might not be affected by this anyway.

And on that jolly note . . . ciao for now.

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