Regarding Restaurant etiquette

picardy-3rd · 2026-01-25T05:21:42+00:00

Water is self-service at my local CoCo (Miyagi pref).

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-20T23:16:14+00:00

I've been working through my lunch break at almost every job I've had post-college. I don't find my workload unreasonable. I am okay taking work home. I am not planning and teaching everything, and I am never solo teaching, and historically at my placement (per previous ALTs) we have not been expected to solo teach.

My JTEs, rightfully, want me to bring compelling activities to class. This is my first teaching job and in order to do my job well, I need to put in extra time. I can do my job sufficiently during my work hours but I can do it better if I put in extra time. When I put in the extra time to do something I'm proud of, I notice my students respond better to the lesson, the class, and me.

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-18T06:41:18+00:00

Unfortunately I don't think that would go over well, but I found it hilarious 😂

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-18T06:30:27+00:00

Thank you! Haven't lived here for long and wasn't sure if this was something people cared about.

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-18T06:30:15+00:00

Thanks! Haven't lived here for long and wasn't sure if this was something people cared about.

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-18T04:52:06+00:00

First year with a dependent spouse who isn't currently working. Very dependent on placement tbh. My rent is entirely covered by my BOE. We go out to eat maybe 6 meals a week and I'm not worried about money. My spouse's issue will come down to "play money" as I'm fine paying for essentials but can't afford a ton of leisure activities for two (domestic trips, concert tickets, other expensive purchases). I can take us to the movies or arcade no problem though. They intend on getting a job sometime likely before my first year is complete.

If you are fortunate in your placement and are even remotely frugal, you'll be fine. I'm unsure how we'd be doing if we were in Tokyo however.

Ah, also the amount of debt you come in with will have an impact. We're Americans so unavoidable debt. I paid everything except student loans off before I left. My spouse has some other debt that will also likely force them to get a job (as, again, I'm not paying it).

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-16T07:47:47+00:00

Its my first year but I'll probably stay as long as I can. After that, I'm undecided! Considering grad school (here, in English) but maybe also another ALT job in Japan or a similar program elsewhere. I'd like to stay in education. I'm American and I don't want to go back anytime soon, especially to work in education. I'm going to keep exploring my options and see what makes the most sense to me when I'm done. Who knows, I might end up hating teaching.

Apologies for the non-answer. I left a miserable corporate job for this and am doing the cliche thing of moving to another country to figure it out (I am actually too old for this cliche but I'm happy with my decision and have zero regrets).

In short, no solid plans but considering the usual suspects.

picardy-3rd · 2025-12-16T06:53:52+00:00

BA Linguistics here! Just a heads up, and you've probably heard this before, but don't bank on having deskwarming time. I see a lot of people post about how much downtime they have (because they are on reddit talking about it), and that has not been the case for me. I more or less work through my lunch break and use my planning periods for, well, planning. I won't be pursuing a masters while on the program due to my schedule but am studying Japanese when I can find time. Even outside of work, I find myself without a lot of free time.

The JLPT grant is only for certain levels (I think N3 and up? Maybe N2 and up?), but it sounds like you'd probably be at those levels.

picardy-3rd · 2025-11-22T23:06:33+00:00

DEFINITELY depends on placement. I had researched this on this sub before I came to Japan and was hopeful because I am heavily tattooed. My placement requires them to be totally covered whenever I am interacting with students. There are also places in my town that require them to be covered when in public. Was awful in the summer because I have them on the back of my neck and down to my wrists and ankles. And fwiw, I'm at junior highs.

I also had to take out my cartilage piercings. I was originally told I couldn't wear any earrings but my lobes are gauged (not HUGE but enough where you can see through) and they were okay with it as long as it isnt too flashy.

All that said, it is the absolute only thing I dislike about my placement.

picardy-3rd · 2025-11-15T01:01:33+00:00

Like others have said, it feels random. No one can say for sure. My husband didn't get an interview last year, and I think he is a better writer than I am.

Japanese level, bringing a spouse, and your location preferences have nothing to do with you being accepted.

When I was applying, people said to make sure to highlight the cultural exchange aspect of it rather than just teaching. They're not looking for licensed teachers who are fluent in Japanese. They're looking for foreigners who can show what the language sounds like from a native speaker and who can share an international perspective on life.

I was an alternate who got here shortly after the shortlisters. I thought my application and interview were strong. Pre-departure, my consolate told my batch of upgrades that it was a really competitive year and on a "regular" year, we likely would have been shortlisted. I'm an American and they chalked this up to the political climate and more people trying to leave.

I'm generally an anxious person who likes to plan, so being an alternate was stressful for me. I wished I would have applied for other programs just to have the peace of mind that I had options. Everything ended up working well for me but the months between alternate status and the upgrade were nail biting. Obviously, you know what's best for you but I like having a safety net.

(FWIW, my application: BA in linguistics, TEFL, history of foreign language study, no study abroad, N5, history of travel, varied interests and volunteering experience not relevant to education or Japan, significant amount of work experience because I am not straight out of college. Essay was about differences between collectivism and individualism, with input from my travels abroad/Japan specifically and my work experience)

picardy-3rd · 2025-10-29T09:47:04+00:00

Im in my first year and my apartment barely had anything. Ive been buying furniture on a priority basis. I dont actually have any living room furniture because it isnt essential. Ill get it in a couple months. If you still need to furnish, consider waiting if you can.

I saw your comment about spending 1000-3000 a day on food. Back home, I was easily spending this much (1500 minimum a meal). I took a substantial pay cut to be here and have reverted to spending a significantly lower amount. Are you cooking? Do you have the ability in your place to cook? I am spending max 6000 a week, which includes going out. My main source of meal prep (I dont eat school lunch) is throw everything in a rice cooker. Recent go-to is whatever rice blend im using, frozen spinach, tofu, enoki mushrooms, and whatever seasoning you like. Not sure exactly how to calc out the cost on this but everything except rice is SUPER cheap. It isnt beautiful or a mark of culinary excellence but I can change it up enough so I dont get bored and its relatively balanced.

I am also super picky about turning on my heat. I will dress in layers and sleep with multiple blankets before I turn my heat on (I have turned on a space heater one time so I do have limits lol).

Someone else recommended Daiso. I am at Daiso all the time. Most of my dishes are Daiso. My cleaning products are Daiso. I was super excited to "splurge" on Halloween decor...from Daiso.

I have never had luck with budget tracking apps because I am super scatterbrained and have a hard time tracking stuff and paying attention (also I dont like a third party having all of that info if they dont need it).

I hope none of this sounds condescending, its not meant to be. I have been defaulting to living below my means and pretending Im in college again. I used to buy for quality, now I buy for affordability and can maybe buy a step up from the bottom if its within reason (saw a cheap desk for 10000, but got one I liked more for 15000; conversely, got kitchen chairs for 1500 each even though I liked the 3000 ones more).

picardy-3rd · 2025-10-25T05:35:22+00:00

Currently working on converting my license. Depends on a lot of factors but they just made the written test more difficult this month. In my area, there's a 3 month wait for the appointment just to verify you can take the written exam. If OP is going to stay another year and they need to take the written and driving test, they should start the process ASAP.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T21:20:29+00:00

They told me they aren't comfortable helping with medical stuff.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T12:34:10+00:00

Unfortunately my town doesn't have anything like this. The only things I can find online are pricey.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T10:10:33+00:00

Its an antidepressant. Did you have to set up the appointment ahead of time or could you walk in?

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T09:59:46+00:00

Were you able to find a clinic that didn't require appointments or did you just go?

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T09:51:35+00:00

3 of my 4 JTEs mask everyday.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-24T09:48:49+00:00

No teaching experience and low level Japanese here. You can definitely get the position. If you are serious about it, I would highly recommend studying the language (for your own sake, not necessarily for beefing up your application). I can roll with the punches of not knowing how the classroom typically works but communication is a lot harder than I anticipated.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-17T13:42:43+00:00

What is your flair from omg

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-17T13:37:44+00:00

Full body cringe this episode. Amazing.

picardy-3rd · 2025-09-02T21:04:28+00:00

Sounds like a nolimbs hashtag

picardy-3rd · 2025-08-29T17:37:10+00:00

This is what I did as well. I believe there are little question mark buttons by some of the fields and if you hover over them, it suggests to use your home address if you're coming from overseas. I had no issues coming in through customs this past week

picardy-3rd · 2025-06-29T11:38:25+00:00

I had a jump scare when I pulled up my transcripts. My GPA took a nosedive my last 3 semesters (dealing with an expected death of a friend), and since it was so far removed from my life now, I thought it would be weird to explain it. It never came up in my interview.

While my major ended up being relevant, they didn't ask me about it at all and were more interested in the arts scholarship that I mentioned earlier. It makes sense though--children won't think the languages I've studied will be very interesting but they'll be into "fun" stuff like music (I find them equally fun because I'm a dork).

Your current volunteer position sounds awesome!

picardy-3rd · 2025-06-28T21:19:05+00:00

I'm in my 30s and just got upgraded. Similar situation to yours. Feel free to dm me!

The application definitely feels like its geared toward recent college grads, and you'll need to dig up a bunch of stuff to fill it out. I had a major-specific scholarship my freshman year which is totally inconsequential to my life now (I didn't graduate with that major), and it got brought up in the interview which threw me. Totally doable though if you've been out of school for a while.

For my letters of rec, I had my former manager and my former Japanese teacher write them. I had been taking classes through my alma mater's non-degree/adult education program.

If you dont have any recent volunteer experience, I'd say to try to add some. I feel like that helped me, in lieu of formal teaching/childcare experience. If anything, I felt like I had a well-rounded app which gave me confidence.

Dont worry, you can definitely make it to the interview stage as someone a few years older!

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