Hello, and welcome to my first blog post!
After months of preparation, packing our belongings, and saying our goodbyes, we finally arrived in the small town of Usa City in Oita Prefecture. I’ll be living with my partner, Jesse, who will start work as an English Teacher at the beginning of September. I am on the job hunt for an English teaching position in Japan.
What it is like so far
We arrived just in time as Japan was experiencing its hottest temperatures on record, with the temperature reaching 36 °C and humidity making it feel over 40 °C. Jesse had a packed schedule ahead of him, starting with a JET conference in Tokyo with thousands of other JETs before heading to Usa City to set up his apartment, open a bank account, get a car, and immediately start work in this rural part of Kyushu.
After settling into Oita’s town, the heat hit Jesse hard. On the first day of classes, he had to walk through the rice fields in his brand-new suit to get breakfast, only to return drenched in sweat. He learned the hard way that wearing a dark suit during Japan’s heat would make him feel like a soaked poodle.
I arrived without the pressure of work, spending the first week taking the train from Tokyo to Usa. But that didn’t mean I could escape the hot summer heat either. I’ve never experienced such a hot summer before. Once I reached Usa city, I was happy to settle into apartment life (with air conditioning!).
As I arrived quite late on the first day, around 5:00 p.m., I decided to skip any official tours and headed straight to our apartment. We had only the essentials for cooking set up, but it was enough for now. We went out quickly to pick up groceries for dinner and returned to cook our meal using locally sourced ingredients.
Our Apartment
Our two-bedroom apartment has never been lived in. We pay around 50,000 yen per month (approximately 443 CAD), considered high-end for the area. As Vancouverites, we couldn’t be happier.
Across the street, there’s a picturesque rice field, a kindergarten, and other apartments. Several big box-type stores, including drugstores, groceries, and home hardware stores, are also within walking distance.
However, a rural setting like this is better experienced with a car. Jesse bought a used car from one of the JETs, leaving for 50,000 yen. It’s an adorable “K car,” a small car designed to be compact, efficient, and affordable. It also grumbles at stop signs, and the steering wheel is stiff and sticks. But it works, and we can explore, and that is all a car needs to do for us.
More soon. Love, Mika.
Pingback: Our First Apartment Shopping Day in Japan
Pingback: What a Typical Japanese Meal at Home Looks Like in Rural Japan