(upbeat music)
- ITA, is that you?
Oh hello, from Tokyo.
I'm Amber, and I'll be showing you around
a day of my life.
Let's go.
Sorry, today's a bit of a really yucky rainy day,
which is min in March and April.
Usually in Japan, June-July is the rainy season.
So sorry, today's a bit of a dreary day.
But before I start--
I'm from the East Coast of America.
I started my TEFL certification 3 years ago,
and I've been in Japan for 3 years now.
I did my TEFL certification online.
I worked a lot and saved money.
And with my time in Japan, I've worked 3 school jobs
like, different kinds of schools, and I met my fiance.
So, if you have any questions, please shoot away.
I'll answer them during my lunch break.
Now it's time for work.
Ah, congratulations!
Where are you moving to?
I would say to bring deodorant,
snacks that you might miss, and shoes.
I wear 7 and a 1/2 in U.S. size
and I cannot find my size here.
No, I initially just wanted to come here for a year
and then travel around Asia after I saved up some money.
Japan does pay on the higher end in Asia.
But I fell in love and never left.
You have to remember you're moving to a new country,
so life is gonna be different now.
And it's gonna be fun, don't get me wrong,
but you have to be willing to go with the flow
and adapt to your new country that you're gonna be living in
so, sometimes that's really difficult.
They just built the biggest Starbucks in the world
near my work, and I've been trying to get in
for 2 weeks now, but it's so full.
No, I didn't know any Japanese before I came.
I couldn't even read hiragana or katakana,
which is the writing system that they teach young kids
before they start learning kanji.
You don't need it to teach, but it makes your life
a lot easier once you get here if you know some.
It's not impossible.
I have worked with someone from Poland and from France.
They are fluent in English, but they're not native speakers.
But it depends on the company.
Some companies are stricter than others, so good luck!
Alright, update.
I'm in the largest Starbucks in the world,
and it is insane.
What's it like dating an American girl?
- It's same as dating a Japanese woman.
No different.
- Everything's the same?
- Yeah, everything same.
We don't have
any different culture or, Asian people,
we don't have anything...
Same.
Man.
- Woman.
- Woman. Well, man.
- Same. (clap)
- Man, woman, woman.
- Hi.
Alright, so what's rude in Japan?
Don't what?
- You shouldn't bring your
towel to
the public bus.
- So leave it outside.
- No, you can bring, but you don't take your bus towel
to the bus.
- Oh, inside, okay.
- It's so rude.
- And then the chopsticks?
- When you use chopsticks, you can't pass any food
using your chopsticks to other one's chopsticks.
- Okay.
- That's it.
- That's it?
- Mhm.
- Aight.
Heard it here first.
I had a lot of questions about accommodation in Japan.
It can be expensive.
If you find a realtor that will accommodate to foreigners,
it's not so expensive.
And the other option is to do a share house,
and share house is very reasonable, so
those are your 2 options.
Yeah, in Japan, you should have a Visa
before you come here, like, to work.
In other countries in Asia, it's chill.
Like, you don't need one.
But in Japan, you really should have a Visa
to work before you come here.
It's very strict.
As always, thank you so much for watching
my Instagram takeover,
and for asking all of your great questions.
If you have any more questions,
I'll leave my Instagram handle somewhere over here.
And I hope you have a good night.
(upbeat music)