Jason Phillips (Onilne TEFL Graduate)

Teaching English in Japan

Hi Rebecca,

I just wanted to drop you a quick email to thank you for all your help and let you know how I got on with my job search. I am now working at a school in central Tokyo, teaching secondary school children.

I arrived in Tokyo a month ago but I needed a bit of time to adjust before I started looking for work. This is what I did for the first week. I considered going home more than a few times but somehow managed to see it through. You can't get a moments peace here, no matter where you go or what you do. I was in a hostel right up until I started work so I could not even get any privacy at "home". I would definitely recommend that teachers get their own room if they can afford it, at least for the first week because I guarantee they will want to escape it all at least once.

After a week in Tokyo my funds were significantly smaller so I started looking for work. I scanned the ads in Monday's paper and started the long process of applying for jobs. I was lucky, I had my redundancy package to see me through, but I can imagine finding work in the city would be difficult for anyone on a budget. After submitting my CV to schools across the Tokyo, following up with numerous interviews and receiving more than one job offer, I finally accepted one. The school in question had been recommended to me by one of my friends at the hostel, so I knew it would be reliable.

I am beginning to settle into life here now and I am really enjoying teaching. Again, thanks for making this possible.

Please pass on my thanks to Yesim†,

Jason

* Rebecca is an expert TEFL adviser at i-to-i.
† Yesim is one of our online TEFL tutors.