Hi! I(26M) am moving to Japan in a few months (July or August) and I’m kinda nervous about this. So I have some questions. I’d appreciate some help.(Also, sorry for any mistakes. English is not my first language.)
First, I know that omiyage is important and I don’t want to be seen as rude but my question is to exactly who I have to give them? Neighbors and coworkers, right? But in an apartment there’s a lot of neighbors and in a company there’s hundreds of workers… Maybe it’s a stupid question, but I’m really struggling with this.
I’m also planning to bring my computer with me. I did some research and decided to disassemble it and leave some components here. But is it better to put it in my carry-on baggage or in the checked baggage?
My last question is, is it relatively easy to find a new job later? I’m keeping in mind that my first job there will probably be a not so good one (factory), so I plan to work in it for a year (more or less) then try to find a better job in terms of human contact, experiencing the culture and society, things like that. Maybe a shop/restaurant attendant?I’d really appreciate it if you could share your worst or better job experiences so I can avoid or look for good opportunities.If you have any other tips or advice to tell, I’d love to hear from you all.Thanks!!
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EDIT putting more info that I’ve been asked about:
* **Do you have a degree?**
I’m getting my degree in languages (japanese)
* **Do you have non-conditional residency (eg. a Japanese spouse, unforfeited citizenship rights, etc.)**
I’m sansei, my grandfather was japanese. But I think I need to keep working to get my visa renewed.
* **Do you speak Japanese?**
Yes. Not so good right now but I lived in Japan as a kid and was fluent back then. Now I forgot many things but I’m studying and I know that I can remember it all when I got more contact.
* **Do you have experience in a sought-after industry in Japan?**
No.
3 comments
We’re moving to Japan in a couple weeks. We have two large, checked suitcases each. These suitcases will contain as many pieces of clothes as we can fit and individual computer components. We will buy new cases once we arrive in Japan.
I’ve tried a hundred different angles on the PC thing, and it’s the best option. I was quoted $2,300 US to ship our two computers over by air, and frankly, I could rebuild them for that. I could ship them by sea (as I’m doing for my other computers that aren’t out primaries) but that’s 9-18 weeks.
Our carry-ons will contain anything that has lithium batteries. Notably, game controllers.
I can’t really answer your other questions, though. Sorry!
> First, I know that omiyage is important and I don’t want to be seen as rude but my question is to exactly who I have to give them? Neighbors and coworkers, right?
Oh, omiyage is absolutely not as important as all this. Especially when you’re moving from abroad to Japan. I really don’t think anyone will expect this from you, I wouldn’t worry at all. At most, bring a few long-life individually wrapped snacks and then, once you’ve been there for a few weeks and you’ve met your immediate coworkers and met a few neighbours, you can give something to them. But even this is totally not expected, only do it if *you* want to.
> I’m also planning to bring my computer with me. I did some research and decided to disassemble it and leave some components here. But is it better to put it in my carry-on baggage or in the checked baggage?
Either is fine, whichever works for you. If it’s in checked luggage make sure it’s very well padded in a rigid box of some kind. If it’s in carry on luggage, you might get asked about it at airport security, so make sure you can show it to them without having to completey pull everything out. Maybe put the components in a transparent container that you can just take out in one go?
> My last question is, is it relatively easy to find a new job later?
There’s a ton of factors here, and I don’t know if anyone will be able to give you concrete advice unless you tell us some more info:
– Do you have a degree?
– Do you have non-conditional residency (eg. a Japanese spouse, unforfeited citizenship rights, etc.)
– Do you speak Japanese?
– Do you have experience in a sought-after industry in Japan?
It would be worth editing your OP to add this info!
Forgive me for I am bad with computers but afaik my husband took out some part from his pc not sure what part it was and then we bubble wrapped the whole thing and checked it in. Worked fine after we assembled it when we reached