[Sangetsu]

I've been teaching in Japan for 3 years now, and I've had a good time. The pay for the work I do is quite fair, considering I only work 26 hours a week. My classes are not overcrowded, the students are fun, and I get along with the other teachers and faculty quite well. I just transferred from the countryside to a new school in the metro area of Tokyo, and I find working in the city enjoyable as well.

In the countryside I rented a small house in a secluded area, and it was quite nice. The commute to work was a little long, but still easily within walking distance. Now that I'm in the city I'm back to living in a small apartment, but I'm looking at getting into something bigger soon.

Since my work schedule is rather easy, I have a lot of extra time to do other things. A few months ago I began exporting items from Japan as a way of making a little extra money. To my surprise the demand has been better than I expected, and now I'm making a lot of extra money; last month this extra money was actually more than what I earned in regular pay at my school.

There are still lots of opportunities for foreigners in Japan both inside and outside English education. In my case being a foreigner has actually helped me quite a bit, and allowed (forced) me to look at options I probably wouldn't have considered had I been a Japanese.

If you can find a job, by all means come to Japan. It may or may not be the place for you, but regardless of how you eventually feel about the place, it will be a good experience for you.