>>10527631Oh jesus are you doing JET? I'm so sorry. Everyone who I know who did JET or an equivalent came out of that program with a not so great life, mostly because extending their adolescence in Japan wasn't the best life choice. A lot of them I went to school with (I'm now 26) have been bitching on Facebook a lot about how hard ~real life~ is. I am very, very, very glad I didn't fall into that trap.
From what I hear, you guys get paid pennies. If you have a Japanese degree, it's likely they are gonna ship your ass to somewhere remote and not pay you much more, so don't expect to be teaching and fashionable in Harajuku. You need to prepare to live a life of relative poverty.
My recommendation would be to stock up on very solid basics that will survive as long as you can. UNIQLO is an awesome choice in Japan, but sizing tends to be difficult. If you're going north, stock up on some serious ass cold weather gear - don't fuck around, Japan gets freezing cold. Conversely, if you're going south and anywhere near water, get some really good summer basics that breathe(!! - the Kansai area is BALLS ASS HOT AND HUMID). You'll probably be expected to wear at least a dress shirt to work, so I'd get a large number of them that are (1) tailored, (2) non-iron, and (3) reasonably sturdy. Irons in Japan can be weirdly hard to come by, as is dry cleaning (at least in some areas).
Also, more real talk: teaching English in Japan is not a career, it's a stepping stone. There will be a point when being the ~cool Gaijin~ becomes tiring and you need to grow up and stop fucking around with Japanese girls. You need to develop an exit strategy. I'm happy to help you brainstorm - like I said, a lot of my friends went your path and blew up on impact, so I've had similar discussions before.
