So I just thought I'd check in. I'm not sure what I'll say, but at least I can say a few things.
Well, I got a job about a month and a half ago. I'm teaching English to kids from 1 year old to 15 years old. Well, actually my oldest just left so I guess it's only 1-13 years old. I had a little bit of a rough start, but it's actually a pretty nice little workplace. I'm also making about $27 an hour after the conversion, so the money isn't bad either. Actually, I mean, it's freaking amazing, haha. I'm only working 2 days a week (an hour and a half Thursday and all day Saturday) for a total of maybe 9 1/2 hours (not including clean-up and set-up time), and making over $900USD a month (soon to go up after I'm out of the trial period), so... yeah.
Actually, though, when everything from food ($5.00 gets you a footlong at subway in America. $6.00 gets you a six inch at subway in Japan... if you don't want cheese. That's extra.) to entertainment (want to go see a movie? That's anywhere from $17-$23. On special days, though, you can see them for... about $12. Without the snacks.) is twice the amount in America it comes out to less. Still, it's quite a lot in the long run, and if I can save some money, I can spend it back in America where I'll get more for my buck.
This job, though, won't end until almost the end of August, so I'll miss a few days of class back in America. On the bright side, though, they told me that if everything goes well they'd love to sponser my visa when I finish school so I can come back to work with them. I'll need to work a little extra if I want to make enough money to live, but since it's a pretty well paying job (from $34USD to $42USD an hour after exchange, depending on the type of class you teach, which most people teach many different kinds) I can make a bit of money working at nights on other days (which is when most people look for English lessons) and start paying off my school loan and start saving for... well, I guess a house (it'd be nice to be able to live in a house in Japan, but even a small one is expensive since there's no space here), retirement, whatever responsible adults save for.
Well, I think that's going to be all for today. I hope I can keep on updating with more little posts like this.
See you!
--Caitlin
