Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Advice for my successor #4

As the days pass I'm becoming increasingly aware of the fact that I don't have much time left here. As of this post, about 3 months. Wasn't it just recently I was telling myself I had half a year left? I guess I'll be finding out about my successor one of these days.


  • This probably isn't the first or last time you'll hear this, but value the time you have here. I don't know you yet, so I don't know if living in Japan will be comparable to anything you've experienced in the past, but chances are it'll be a very memorable part of your life and may very well affect how your life turns out after JET. Whether you're here for one, two, three, more years - it passes very quickly in retrospect.
  • Always go out to lunch with your coworkers when invited. It may cost a bit more than going to the cafeteria, but it helps build a rapport and makes you "part of the team."
  • Even if your Japanese isn't that great, don't be afraid to go into interesting-looking restaurants. If you hesitate, you may finally go in months or years later and realize you've been missing out all that time.
  • Explore. Even small little nothing streets sometimes hide cool shops or restaurants.
  • In class, only use English with your students. Outside of class talk to them in Japanese now and then.
  • Try new foods. Except shirako (白子). Don't try that one.
Mmmmmm....*
*Source: Rakuten

9 comments:

  1. Is that what the Japanese call "Whoremoan"??
    No thanks!!

    Good advice if that is intestines.

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  2. Heh...no, it's worse than that. Though not a big fan of that stuff, either. Thanks for the comment!

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  3. Couldn't agree more. This precious time goes by all too quickly.

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  4. Item #3 & 4 is good advice for casual visitors too. Not to mention that thing in the photo. ;p

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  5. Oh jeez! I didn't know you were leaving. How long have you been in Japan, anyway? I wonder if we were at the same orientation? (August 2010 here).

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  6. It's my third year - orientation was in 2008. And the time has flown! Yeah, I haven't really written a whole lot about my leaving yet. Prefer to focus on the time I have left.

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  7. Going out to lunch with my coworkers is one of my favorite things! Though Spring Break has done a number on my wallet, haha. Totally worth it though!

    Eryk, were you group B? I was at Aug 10 Orientation too! :D

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  8. Can get a little expensive, indeed. =)

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