UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

My home for the past six weeks

Since I arrived in Japan a little over 6 weeks ago I’ve been living at my girlfriend Eri’s house. We live in a part of Osaka called Hanaten, situated in a fairly sleepy corner of the city a short train ride from the central district of Umeda. Although relatively small it has everything I could ask for right on my doorstep; there’s a great little bakery, a convenience store and an off-licence literally across the road from the house. Unlike much of Osaka, Hanaten has managed to starve off the commercial progress that has taken over elsewhere and has maintained a very local feel with an abundance of small family run businesses that have clearly been operating for many decades. The majority of the residents give an impression that they have lived here their whole lives and it’s always quite amusing walking from the station to the house and seeing the looks of surprise on their faces when they see me pass by. The schoolchildren are especially excited, often greeting me with open mouthed shock as their mothers try to stop them staring. Clearly there aren’t too many other white people living in Hanaten.

Although not totally organised before coming to Japan I did have a rough plan of what I hoped to achieve and as enjoyable as my time living in Hanaten has been if I’m to stick to my plan I need to find my own place soon, a task almost entirely dependent on finding a job. After giving myself the first couple of weeks here off I’ve spent the subsequent month trying to do just this, searching for, applying for, and interviewing for teaching jobs throughout the Kansai area. The search has actually been a lot more enjoyable than expected giving me the chance to meet some really interesting people and gain a deeper understanding of the business of English language education in Japan. I genuinely couldn’t have done it without the help of Eri though who has routinely searched for the locations of the schools and got me there on time for the interviews (how anyone can find some of the schools without a Japanese guide is beyond me!) I’ve been lucky enough to have been offered several positions and in the end I have accepted what seems to be a really good role with an education company called Berlitz. For anyone who has read my previous blog post you will have noted that in the current climate the type of contracts being offered are not always that great so it was a relief to be offered a secure and relatively well paid position. There are some pretty decent added advantages too such as paid holidays, medical insurance and even the use of spa resorts throughout Japan!

Hanaten Shopping Street

Aside from my job search I’ve had a good chance to travel around and I’m slowly beginning to comprehend the vast size of Osaka. The transport systems are quite incredible with multiple lines operated by different companies, different stations and complicated ticketing systems, not to mention the fact that all directions and signage are written almost entirely in Japanese (although my Japanese speaking ability has been improving steadily, written Japanese is unfortunately still beyond me!) The transport is an amazing feature of Osaka life though, it’s always on time, runs until the early hours of the morning, and you can get almost anywhere you want, whenever you want. On the downside it’s expensive and I mean REALLY expensive, I’ll never again complain about the cost of a London Underground Travelcard!

Regardless of the high prices, the complicated travel networks have allowed me to travel regularly and explore the nearby cities of Kyoto, Kobe and Nara and although not held in particularly high esteem by many in the tri-city area of Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto, Nara has been my particular favourite destination. Situated about 40 minutes away by train it is surrounded by beautiful parkland (an aspect that is missing almost entirely in Osaka) that is home to a huge heard of semi-wild deer. The city itself has a beautiful old town centre overlooked by the towering Horyuji Gojunoto temple and is also home to the Todai-ji temple which houses the worlds largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana. Thankfully I’m still amazed by each new temple that I come across which is lucky because i've still got plenty more to see as a travel further around Kansai (there are 16,00 in Kyoto prefecture alone!)

The dominating Horyuji Gojunoto Temple in Nara

A street in Nara

As you can see, life in Osaka has been a great experience for me so far and I’m hugely excited about the next few months, Spring is around the corner and with it will come Sakura season (the flowering of the cherry blossoms), it is clearly a special time of year to be in Japan. Shops already have displays of cherry blossoms in their windows and even the beer cans have sakura designs on them in celebration. For me personally it signals the end of the cold winter months and the beginning of the warmer months bringing with them a fresh start in my new country. I can’t wait to start teaching and enjoying summer in Osaka.