I’m looking at a job offer in Misawa area (not military but contract in medical field at the base) and have a family to bring along. I have a tween and teen-aged children. I have questions for anyone with experience moving a family. My spouse will be able to work remotely so income won’t be an issue. If anyone has resources I’m happy to investigate more on my own but just don’t know where to start with these little nuances and an having varying levels of difficulty finding answers to the following questions.
1. Is keeping kids enrolled in American school virtually better than trying to transfer? I know there’s a school on base and have yet to find anything on eligibility for enrollment there. They’re obviously well versed in online school already due to covid and old enough to manage it with little redirection so this would be a feasible option.
2. Housing market/rental recommendations (furnished also great) for the area would be helpful. I’ve read lots of Reddit posts advising not to move furniture and cars but only necessary items. What are must haves other than appropriate clothing and the like? Is there anything you wish you brought but didn’t?
3. I’ve read about the process of bringing pets but want to know if anyone has had hiccups or other advice on that. Is it worth it overall? Is there a limit on number of pets? I have 3 dogs that are my kids life blood so leaving them in the states would be difficult emotionally so we’d really like to make the transition with them for the support they’ll need.
4. Any other advice that I don’t know I need is great too! Thanks in advance.
2 comments
Tween and teen are _extremely_ difficult ages to relocate to a foreign country where they (I assume) will not speak the language and not have any friend network. Just keep that in mind. International schools are only marginally helpful, and frequently end up full of rich asshole kids.
> Housing market/rental recommendations
Yep, don’t move cars, and don’t move furniture unless absolutely necessary.
>I have 3 dogs
Then you’re in for a world of pain trying to find a rental. Apartment is totally out the window, so you’ll need a house. We did the same thing (three dogs) when moving to Osaka, and our agent looked over several hundred rental home listings. Only a handful of them would accept pets, and once the owners heard “three dogs”, the number of options dropped to only three houses, all decently far out of the city. We applied for one and after initial approval, the owner backed out once he saw our dogs (two are large). One was next to a lot of really nasty stagnant water that would just breed mosquitos, so we ended up with only one option.
Why would you move to Japan when you have three dogs and teens?? Do you realize how unfair it is for your kids to locate to foreign country half a world away, where they don’t even understand the local language (or culture) to fit in? That is a selfish idea.