Leaving Japan: Resignation Timeline

I’ve found in my personal experience that there is a wealth of information online about the process of coming to Japan (I wrote about my own experience here), but a lot less about what happens when the time comes for you to leave.

As of writing this, this is around the time ALTs are submitting their intentions to stay or leave as it’s coming up to the end of the school year, so I hope this is somewhat helpful.

I remembered to log a lot of what I did with dates, so you can tell from making the decision to actually leaving took six weeks – and this really was a tight schedule. Most people make their decision months in advance. So please heed my warning and take more time than I did to get your life in order.

Nevertheless, this is how it went for me working for a dispatch ALT company.
Dates are in day/month order as is standard in the UK.

06/11: Booked flights home to the UK and told my family. Start advertising furniture and appliances for free on Facebook expat groups and our ALT group chat on Line.
08/11: Sent letter of resignation to my company giving the minimum 30 days notice. Received a call in the evening from my manager asking if I’ve thought this through, but he was very kind and understanding as he knew that I was recovering from surgery. Company sends through a ‘leavers pack’ with a bunch of forms to complete and return.
15/11: Tell my teachers I am leaving and advise my final day. Arrange leaving parties with my favourites.
26-27/11: Leaving parties with teachers:

06-10/12: People come to pick the items I’ve been advertising up from my apartment. (IMPORTANT: Work around YOUR schedule, not theirs. If they’re too busy or flake, immediately offer to the next person or make other arrangements ie. take to the thrift shop or dispose.)
08/12: Last day at junior high school. I’m shadowed by my replacement.
09/12: Last day at my elementary school. I’m shadowed again by my replacement.
10/12: Representative from the company comes to survey the apartment for damage. The actual landlord will do an inspection after I move out. Go to city hall with representative to do leaving process. This includes notifying the city that you’ll no longer be a resident, and to set up a proxy to receive my pension/partial tax refund when I return home. There are various resources online about this and it’s way more complicated than it needs to be.
10-12/12: Leaving parties with friends.

13/12: Clear the last of my stuff out of my apartment. Finish packing and forward luggage to airport hotel using Yamato. Gas is turned off in the evening.
14/12: Water is turned off in the morning. Move out of my apartment and catch the shinkansen for a farewell weekend in Tokyo.
15/12: Check into airport hotel at Haneda, reunited with my luggage.
16/12: Residence card and visa are voided at the airport. Fly home.

N.b. one of my suitcases arrived at Newcastle International with only one of it’s four wheels but しょうがない British Airways were pretty great at coughing up for a replacement.

BACK IN THE UK: Receive final pay after two months, minus 20% tax and mandatory apartment cleaning fees. Also receive my sickness benefits from when I was recovering from my operation. Applied for pension/partial tax refund and discussed with proxy still in Japan.

~ Carla

Life of an ALT: My Last Days at School

Hi everyone!

I’ve been back in the UK for a few months now and already looking back on my time in Japan. I’ll write a longer retrospective in a little while, but in the meantime I thought you’d like to know about my final days at both of my schools.

Part 1: Goodbye, Junior High School…

For my last lessons at Junior High School, I asked my JTEs if we could keep it casual and was given the go-ahead. I did this quiz for all the grades – so I did the same lesson 12 times (16 including Elementary School, more on that later…) but the kids really got into it.

My JTEs were always pretty strict on sticking to the curriculum, so the rare times I got to stray brought big sighs of relief all around.
I think no matter where you are in the world, the phrase “no textbooks today, everyone!” while the TV gets wheeled in gets you a big round of applause.

The class clown in one of the top sets took the opportunity to ask if I liked his new haircut and if I thought he was an ikemen in front of the whole class. I really did dish it back to them, so I pointedly looked him up and down, looked thoughtful, then replied “meh…so-so” while everyone exploded.
“No, Miss Carla,” he insisted. “Very sexy hair!”

Every class had written me letters and cards and there was a little presentation at the end of the lesson. They then did a very formal thank you with a deep bow – always a bit jarring when they did this as mere minutes beforehand they were all giving each other noogies and wedgies and the middle finger. But very sweet.

I had one student I’ve taught from 2019 burst into tears. I finally managed to console her, then on a whim I unhooked the Yuri Katsuki gatcha charm from my USB that she admired every day and gave it to her. More tears!

I’m really not a big anime fan, but Yuri!!! On Ice is one of our favourite shows so we bonded over a mutual love of Yuri and Viktor.

Near the end of the day, the whole school gathered in the gym for a short farewell ceremony and to hand over to the new ALT who had been shadowing me all day. Typical Japan, a lot of pomp and circumstance over nothing at all, but I felt very loved.

I’d also been told 24 hours prior that I had to give a speech, which was really the last thing I needed to sort on top of all the moving stress – but I did my best.
“Don’t worry, it just has to be short,” said my co-teacher.
“It’s going to have to be!” I replied.

I was incredibly nervous and stumbled a little, but it seemed to get the message across.
Here’s what I said in my usual piss-poor broken Japanese..
(I stole most of it from various corners of the internet.)

Look at those tense shoulders.

下手な日本語ですいません。

皆さんとお別れするのは悲しいです。この にー年間、 オー世話 に なりました。 ありがとう ございます。○○中 の皆さんは元気で明るく積極的で，私もこの学校に来るのが毎 日楽しみでした。ミナーさん 新設 で、 渡し を 受け入れて ください ました。校長先生と教頭先生はじめ○○年間の援助をどうもありがとうございました。先生の皆さん特に○○先生、皆さんも本当にお世話になりました。先生方は忙しい合間をぬって，私の質問や疑問にていねいに答えてくれました. 頑張って、ね！新しい所で皆さんがいなくて､寂しいです！皆さんお元気で。

本当 に ありがとう ございました。

Hello, everyone.
Please excuse my poor Japanese.

I am sad that I have to say goodbye to you. You have been kind to me for the past two years, thank you very much. Everyone at ○○ Junior High School was so positive and energetic that it was an absolute joy to come to work every morning. Everybody has been kind and has accepted me.

I wish to thank the principal, vice-principal, and everybody else for all of your help during my two years here. I have become really indebted to all of the teachers as well, especially ○○ sensei and ○○ sensei.
No matter how busy you all were, you always found the time to answer any question that I had.

Good luck. I will miss you. Take care.
Thank you very much.

The message seemed to get through as I got a big ol’ applause afterwards, and my JTE told me she could some students were leaning forward because they were listening so intently. Bless them.

Unfortunately for the school, I had to leave mid-week as I had a whole bunch of stuff to do before I actually flew home and the teachers had their big meeting so there was no formal goodbye.

I managed to hand out my goodbye presents to the principal, vice-principal, and the JTEs and also take a few quick photos before they said goodbye and they went to the meeting.
There was nobody actually in the teacher’s room apart from the janitor who I have a big soft spot for (he was so accommodating when I was recovering from my operation and had some new dietary restrictions) so he actually saw me to the door.
I took my shoes from the cupboard in the genkan and put them in my backpack, took one last look at the lobby, gave him a final bow and a wave, and left the junior high school for the last time.

Just like Whitney, I get so emotional, baby, and was surprised that I didn’t cry.
“Wow, that wasn’t so bad…” I thought to myself, as I walked to my bus stop.

Cue, the next day…

Part 2: Goodbye, Elementary School…

OK, OK. So ending my contract mid-week wasn’t wholly an accident. I maaaaay have also timed it so I would have my final teaching day co-teaching at the elementary school with my best-friend Haruna.

FUN FACT: I actually enjoyed my commute! I got to school around 7:50am, so the bus was very quiet. It was a nice time to catch up with people from home due to the time difference, and also just play some tunes.

Usually, at elementary school, we followed the textbook to the letter, but because it was my last ever class, I showed Haruna the lesson I had done at the junior high school and she gave the OK to do a simplified version.

(The new ALT was shadowing me again and I think he was a bit put-out because it was his first time teaching elementary school and I think he wanted to see how a regular class was run. But that ain’t my problem, hun lololol.)

At the end of every class, I was presented with a preciously bundled lot of letters; scrawled “I love yous” and “I like English” among coloured pencilled drawings of Splatoon inklings, Animal Crossing villagers, Among Us crewmates and (rather worryingly given their age) Squid Game pink soldiers. Thanks, guys.

I made the mistake of telling Haruna about my speech from the previous day, so she insisted I give the speech again but just to the teacher’s room since it was after school club activities day and the bairns would be busy.
(I’d learned in Japan it’s best to keep your gob shut lest you be dragged into stuff like this, but I had a momentary lapse!)

It seemed to go over pretty well again, and my desk-mate who came to my (secret, shh!) goodbye party told me I spoke very clearly and sincerely.

Haruna had unfortunately missed my big moment as she was dealing with a parent (always means business when hops out of her trackies and puts her suit on…) and she suddenly hurled back into the teacher’s room, disappointed that she’d missed it. So I took her outside the teachers’ room and did the speech again for her. Andddd that’s when the tears started. From both of us. And they didn’t stop.

And so as the clock crept past 4pm, the time finally came for me to leave. I felt my heart in my throat as I packed my chopsticks, diary and mug into my kånken with a sense of finality. My usually messy desk (my friend Matt was appalled when he substituted for me) was empty except the textbooks and post it’s I’d left behind for the new guy.

As I stood up to leave, Haruna suddenly barked “Carla is leaving now!” and to my huge surprise, all the teachers stood up and applauded as I walked through the teacher’s room to leave. I think it was then that I started Kim K-level bawling.

For the final time, I turned, bowed and said お先に失礼します (“Sorry to leave before you”) and everyone replied お疲れ様です (“Thank you for your hard work”) and readers know that I was in bits.

Haruna and some of my favourite teachers followed me to the genkan to see me out of the building, waving and applauding as I walked through the gates and headed to my bus stop.

And that was that. A happy chapter of my life had closed.
Now the time had come to leave Japan…but that’s for another post.

~ Carla

Goodbye, Japan!

Me and Quentin Bear are in the middle of packing hell.

So I have big news.
Now that my friends and my schools know, I can announce that after two and a half incredible years…I am leaving Japan next month!

This isn’t quite the end of this blog yet – I still have some draft post that are half-finished, and I’m definitely planning on some more updates when I’m back in Blighty and fondly looking back on my time here. You’ll all have to put up with me for a little while longer yet!

I’m of course really sad to be leaving Japan, but I unpacked some of my feelings in this personal post a few months ago. And while of course I do have pangs of doubt every now and then, I’m fairly certain that it’s the right decision for me.

I won’t be The Geordie Gaijin for much longer…just a regular Geordie lass.
(Although I should actually confess something now – I’m actually a Sandancer. But shhh…don’t tell anyone.)

~ Carla

Hospital and Surgery in Japan

CONTENT WARNING: This post mentions hospitals, surgical procedures, needles and mental health. There are no photos except the one directly below.

Yes I’m still banging on about my gallbladder, haha!

I was in hospital for 14 days in total, and this was how the process was for me.
Out of everything that has happened this year, I didn’t have “spend a fortnight in a Japanese hospital” on my 2021 bingo card.

Yes, during my stay I kept a diary of sorts because frankly there wasn’t much else to do.
And as I always say, this blog is somewhat of a diary for me to look back on in years to come.

You can check out my brief introductory post here, and my post about Japanese hospital food here.

DAY 1.
After 3 days of pain and vomiting I went to a regular clinic who did some tests and said I must go straight to hospital with potential gallstones. Since my Japanese isn’t great, my company sends a representative to make sure I understand everything.

I swing by my apartment to quickly pack a bag, thinking I’ll only be away for a night or two – ha!

At the hospital I have an x-ray, CAT scan and ultrasound scan and am diagnosed with an inflamed gallbladder and gallstones. The doctor predicts I’ll stay in hospital for two weeks which is a big shock.
The first week will involve fitting a drain and going on a course of antibiotics to reduce the infection, then the second recovering from the actual gallbladder removal.

Later, I had an emergency procedure where they fitted a drain that took away all the fluid that had built up. I was awake during this with only a local anesthetic – not even a sedative! It was really uncomfortable and a little painful (especially when he activated the suction – it felt like all my internal organs were being pulled) but was over in about 25 minutes.

I’m admitted to a ward and to keep the costs down I chose the basic 6-person ward. I hadn’t eaten for 3 days anyway, but the doctor puts me on a fast, although I can have water. I get an IV drip and start a round of antibiotics.

As I don’t have everything I need due to the unexpected admission to hospital, the nurse says I can make some online orders. I buy some essentials using Amazon Prime and order a pocket WiFi as the hospital doesn’t have any and I’m afraid of running out of data coming up to the end of the month. (My contract doesn’t allow for any “top ups”.)

DAY 2
My Amazon order and WiFi arrives. I have a chance to call home via Whatsapp and tell my family I’m in hospital. I feel suddenly very homesick and wish I was back home in the UK. Only some blood tests today.

I share a ward with a very old, confused lady who is up all night talking to herself and buzzing the nurses so I don’t sleep well the first few nights. The nurse puts me on sleeping medication.

DAY 3
No tests today. I can start drinking tea – a wonderful day! Starting to get into the swing of hospital routine.
The sleeping medication is crap so I ask for something stronger, which I’m surprised I’m given without a quibble.

DAY 4
Had another ultrasound. My blood tests have come back showing that the inflammation is going down. I start being able to drink a little carton of high calorie protein drink for lunch and dinner, but I don’t really have an appetite yet.
Starting to feel a little down, but a phone call with my friend Sam cheers me up.

DAY 5
MRI test – I felt a little claustrophobic, but it was OK. Changed wards for some reason, and way prefer this one as the patients are much quieter and I’m next to the door (as opposed to in-between two beds like before) so I have more space. But the constant footsteps and checks still keeps me awake. I wish the nurses would take care to be more quiet at night.

Some IV fluid leaks into my arm, leaving me with a big, hench, Popeye arm for 12 hours.
The surgeon visits and says that as my infection is going down, the gallbladder removal is unnecessary but I can go ahead of I want. I say I definitely want it removed and he tells me there’s an operation space in three days time.

DAY 6
No tests. I’m allowed a small lunch and dinner. I’m told I have an endoscopy tomorrow, which I really don’t want and discuss it with my doctor, but he explains it’s impossible to do the gallbladder removal without it so I decide to proceed.

DAY 7
Endoscopy, one of the most unpleasant parts of this whole experience. Although I take a disgusting medicine to numb my throat, the sedative they gave me is weak and doesn’t really work. I end up crying like a baby, and have a sore throat for the next few days. However I’m told that the result is clear and the nurses help prepare me for surgery the next day by giving me a gown (which interestingly folds over yukata-style) and some compression socks.
The representative comes back so we can go over information with the anesthetist and I can sign some forms.

DAY 8
The representative comes to see me off to surgery and returns afterwards to check with the doctors how it went so she can report back to the office – I also ask her to speak with my family, which she very kindly does.
Surgery begins at 11am and finishes at 1pm. It’s a little delayed as the doctor struggles to find a vein for my IV as they’ve been popping out all week and my arms are sore and swollen from all the needles.
I’m extremely sore and groggy after the surgery and am surprised with the lack of pain killers – I’m basically given glorified ibuprofen despite having 3 cuts in my abdomen and one right through my belly button.

I move into a room of my own for the night as there’s one free. I have a catheter which feels gross and I’m determined to get it out as soon as possible – the nurse tells me as soon as I can walk to the bathroom she can take it out, but I only make it as far as the seating area before my incisions hurt too much and I have to go back.
A kind nurse helps me back into my own pyjamas in the evening, even this small act makes me feel more human.
I’m surprised to have dinner served, but it’s all “claggy” food – a texture I’ve never been able to stand – so I hardly eat anything.

DAY 9
Back on the ward and I’m happy to have a bed next to the window. I’m very sore, but manage to walk slowly to the bathroom by myself (using the IV as a walking aid) so the nurse removes my catheter. I go for an x-ray, but the staff are kind of rough and impatient with me, despite being out of surgery less than 24 hours. But during my stay they’re the only staff I meet who I really dislike.
Because of the pain in my chest scar I get breathless easier so the nurses keep me on oxygen.

DAY 10
Supposed to be discharged tomorrow but I don’t feel ready as I’m still very sore, can’t walk very far and have some anxiety so I’m allowed to stay in hospital over the weekend. I’m so tired now of eating white rice for every meal and the staff are concerned that I’m not eating properly, so they send a nutritionist round.
Once I explain that I don’t usually eat rice every day – let alone three times a day – she understands and I’m allowed to buy some regulated snacks from the FamilyMart conbini on the ground floor.

I’m still a little breathless, but the nurses tell me my peak flow is normal and tick me off when they catch me sneakily using the oxygen. The nerve!

DAY 11
The surgeon visits. My scars are healing well and bloods are almost clear so I can go home on Day 14. I’m eating better so the nurses remove my IV and drip. I take a peek a look at my scars – one on my breastbone, two on my stomach and one through my belly button. They look very neat and I thank the surgeon for his very good handiwork.

DAY 12
Rest day but I feel kinda restless and depressed. I use the opportunity to catch up on my sleep.

DAY 13
Rest day. Very restless still but I’m allowed to take a shower and gently wash my hair which cheers me up.

DAY 14
The representative comes to take me home. We go through all my medications and I get an appointment for a follow up later in the week. I pay my hospital bill – around £440 – and go home.

I ended up spending another two weeks recuperating at home before going back to work. It was a bit of a struggle recovering from surgery while living alone – but I’ve about made it to the other end.

I’m about one month post-op now and the scar on my breastbone can still feel a little irritated when my underwear rubs against it, but my other scars have healed wonderfully. I’ve also still been pretty fatigued but this is slowly improving.

I also feel a dull pain if I’m moving about too much or vigorously – but both my schools have been absolutely fantastic throughout this entire thing and I’m still on a reduced schedule compared to my usual teaching hours.

I’m still a bit sore around the area where I had my drain, then the operation, but was told at my check up that this is to be expected as I was cut twice.

All-in-all, I did find the Japanese hospital experience very pleasant. The language barrier was the main issue for me – but this is my fault rather than theirs of course. But most of the doctors and nurses were very kind and understanding.

Because of Covid I wasn’t allowed any visitors (except the representative) so it could get pretty lonely and boring – thank God I thought to pack my Kindle and writing stuff.

Ahh well, if nothing else – it’s another funny story to tell when people ask “So what did you do in Japan, then?”

~ Carla

Universal Studios Japan in 2021

On the suggestion of my friend Farrah, I made a pit stop at USJ on my way back from Faith’s wedding in Kyoto.

I’m not a huge theme park kind of person, and I especially wouldn’t usually go on a weekend. But being that there’s still no international tourism and the park is still capped at 60% capacity, I though I’d chance it and I’m so glad I did.

One of the main draws for me was the fairly new Super Nintendo World area, the first of it’s kind in the world. I’m really glad we went for opening, because we got there at 9am, and by the time we got to the timed entry ticket booth, tickets were already sold out until 3pm.

Of course while we waited for 3pm to roll around we explored the rest of the park…

I found the flying Ford Anglia!

• 

  Hogwarts welcomes EVERYONE home.

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  Dervish and Banges.

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  The wand chooses the wizard at Ollivanders…

• 

  He wasn’t open, yet!

All attractions (except the new Demon Slayer ride) were under a 15 minute wait – so amazing! I’m not a big fan of rides as I get really motion sick, but I thought I’d be brave and go on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

Know that I absolutely screamed my head off all the way around, much to the amusement of the bairns either side of me. (I ended up going on two more times, since there was no wait!)

• 

• 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Butterbeer – it was way too sweet, and had a weird purfume-y aftertaste. I like the plastic cup, though!

The cast members are all amazing, everyone from characters to cleaners stop and wave at you – I bet they’re exhausted by the end of the day from being so cheerful.

I had a bit of a funny turn when I was in the queue for The Three Broomsticks. Embarrassingly I suddenly felt sick, dizzy and claustrophobic and when I asked a friendly witch that I wanted to leave the line, they sat me down at a table with a large glass of ice water and an ice pack. So kind – Madam Rosmerta should be proud of her staff.

Originally I thought I was just tired from lack of sleep and a bit dehydrated and did feel much better afterwards. However now I do think it was the start of my gallbladder going haywire. I was able to enjoy the rest of my day – the only downside being that I lost my appetite and didn’t get a chance to try most of the snacks I was eager to. しょうがない!

Its creator is a transphobic TERF but Hogwarts welcomes *EVERYONE* home.

I enjoyed the other areas of the park – the only place I avoided was anywhere I saw signs for Minions. Japan seems to have a blind spot for the annoying yellow wankers.

• 

• 

A shop selling only products featuring the fluffy unicorn from Despicable Me.

After a quick bite of some overpriced pizza…it was finally time for Mario.
Let’s a-go!

I treated myself to a Luigi Power-Up band which you can use to interact with the world around you and collect coins on the USJ app. Usually I’m not lured in with gimmicky crap you can just use in the park, but as it’s also an amiibo, it at least has another use.

• 

• 

I really loved the open area, reminiscent of the famous grassland-themed worlds with heaps of easter eggs to find. It was the only part of the park that was a little too busy for my liking, but it’s kind of to be expected.

I didn’t have a chance to have a close look at everything as there were a lot of excited bairns running about giddily, but I thought it was really great and inventive for casual and hardcore fans alike.

• 

• 

I spotted some cranes in the background too which looks like it’s the beginning of the recently announced Donkey Kong extension opening in the next few years.

Because I’m a giant kid, one thing I really wanted to do was go to the Mario and Luigi meet and greet – and know that I’m not even joking a little bit when I say that when I heard the announcement I practically yeeted kids out of the way to get to the front of the line. Not my finest moment.

Worth it tho:

We of course went on the two Nintendo rides – Yoshi’s Adventure and Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge.

I was originally going to give Yoshi a miss as it looked like it was mostly for little kids – but when I saw a big group of fanboys in their 30s mooching on ahead of me, I thought I’d give it a try.

It was so cute and full of easter eggs from various Mario games!

• 

  Captain Toad from Captain Toad’s Treasure Tracker

• 

  Baby Mario from Yoshi’s Island

• 

  View from Yoshi’s Adventure

• 

  SO cute!!!

Sadly, I found the Mario Kart ride a bit of a let down – the inside looked very impressive with the walk-up themed around the various Bowser’s Castle tracks and cast members in cute pit-crew gear. But for the actual ride you have to wear these VR goggles and they didn’t fit on my head very well so I had to move around a little to make the 3D effects work.

When they did work though, it was pretty cool!

• 

• 

  This shop specialised in Mario-themed omiyage.

I enjoyed looking at the park merch, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything in particular that caught my eye.

All-in-all I really enjoyed my day, and we managed to spend 8 hours in the park before starting to lag.

I’d really recommend giving it a visit, especially if you’re currently in Japan and before the park gets packed again.
It was only about £59 for a day ticket which was well worth it in my opinion!

~ Carla

Hospital Food in Japan

As you may have seen in my last post, I recently (and unexpectedly) spent two weeks in hospital with with cholecystitis (inflamed gallbladder), gallstones and ended up having surgery to get it removed.

For the first few days I was given an IV and put on a fast – I wasn’t too fussed because I’d had no appetite for days already and been unable to keep anything down anyway.

Days 4 and 5 I could only have this high calorie protein drink three times a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It had a sort of yoghurty-texture and a sweet apple flavour. Not too bad, but after a few days I was sick of the sight of it.

Six days in, I was allowed to have actual food. Some days were definitely better than others, but I ended up taking photos and logging what I ate because frankly there wasn’t much else to do.

Nearly every meal came with some sort of rice and green tea. While I couldn’t get enough of the tea (I’m British after all!), I quickly tired of eating rice three times a day.
In fact they sent a nutritionist round one day as they were so concerned I wasn’t eating much of my rice…of course in Japan you are expected to clear your bowl. But once I explained I’m not used to eating rice so often, they understood.

Rice porridge, fish, carrots and onions, tomato jelly, yoghurt drink, green tea:

Rice, chicken meatballs, braised spinach, apple, green tea:

Rice, teriyaki fish, cabbage and tomato salad, spinach, orange, green tea:

Rice porridge, prawn dumplings, sweet potato, meat and vegetables, mixed tinned fruit, green tea:

Rice with furikake, miso soup, Japanese fish cake, egg salad, yoghurt drink, green tea:

Rice, silken tofu, pumpkin, brocolli, carrot, pickles, green tea. (One of my least favourites because it was all the same soft, claggy texture.)

Rice, miso soup, salmon, ham salad, green tea, milk (I forgot to tell the staff I can’t drink milk beforehand):

Rice, white fish, green beans, steamed sweet potato, aubergine, kiwi fruit, green tea:

Rice, fish, cabbage, mikan orange, pickles, green tea:

Vegetable curry and rice, salad, pickles, green tea. (This was luuuuush!!)

Rice and furikaki, pork, broccoli, daikon, green tea:

Oyakodon (egg, chicken and scallions on rice – loosely translates as “mother and child”), miso soup, pickles, apple slices, green tea:

Rice and furikake, fish, mixed vegetables, pickles, green tea:

Bread, margarine and peach jam, scrambled eggs, tuna salad, Yakult, green tea:(This was my last breakfast and it was SO good not to have rice for once!)

Know that I still haven’t touched rice since I came out of hospital.

While there were some hits and misses, it’s definitely healthier than the fare masquerading as food in UK hospitals. I remember when I had my kidney operation as a teenager I refused to touch the hospital food and instead survived on saltines and Lucozade for a week.

Unlike the UK, Japanese hospitals aren’t free (even with health insurance) but the meal plan wasn’t too bad at ¥700 per day (around £4.50 or $6.00USD).

~ Carla

An unexpected turn of events…

Proof that you never know what’s around the corner… last week I was rushed into hospital with cholecystitis (inflamed gallbladder) and gallstones.

I’ve already had my first emergency procedure the night I was brought in which has controlled the inflammation, and I’m due to get my gallbladder removed tomorrow morning.

Japanese doctors aren’t really forthcoming with a lot of information, they really seem to take it one day at a time and I’ve really have had to politely but firmly badger them for updates and time frames.

I was a little freaked when I was first admitted as you can imagine. My Japanese still isn’t great and I only have an interpreter with me when I have an actual operation. But all of the staff are really kind and we rely on broken English, broken Japanese, gestures and Google translate. I’m also well brushed up on hospital lingo now!

But onwards and upwards – let’s hawk this thing out then it’s the finishing stretch.

See you on the flippity flip!

がんばります!

~ Carla

UPDATE: 01/11: I’ve had my surgery and after another week in hospital I am finally recuperating at home – sans gallbladder! It hurt more than people on the internet told me it would – and I’d consider myself to have a pretty high pain tolerance. But I’m doing OK!

BBC Newcastle Interview

This weekend I had a chat with the lovely Tamsin Robson at BBC Newcastle about being the Geordiest gaijin in Japan.

Our actual interview was around 10:30pm Japan time due to the time difference, but the beeb made me sound a lot more coherant than I actually was. ありがとうございました!!

If you’d like to listen, you can here for the next 27 days:

~ Carla

PS: Also, I’m aware that I messed up the phrase for “good luck” – it’s きっと勝つ ”kitto katsu” not きっと かっと which is literally “KitKat”. ಇ(˵ಠ_ಠ˵)ಇ

On top of being tired I was kinda nervous too! ごめんなさい。私はミスをしてしまいました。

Japan Keeping Me Humble #19

A Bug’s Life

Recently some of the kids asked if I’d like to meet their class pets.
The class pets:

• 

• 

For some godforsaken reason, it’s somewhat of an annual tradition for Japanese kids to spend the summer raising and caring for these beetles (kabutomushi and kuwagatamush), dutifully feeding them fresh fruits and jellies.
Apparently, they’re “cute”.

It’s a no from me.

~ Carla

The Leaving

After living away from your home for an extended period of time, it’s kind of inevitable that you start looking back on your life retrospectively:

“What have I achieved?
What did I come here to do?
What is there still for me to do?”

Failure to answer these questions and one living in Japan could perhaps find themselves in what I call ‘ALT-limbo’ – simply drifting from home to school, school to home, lather, rinse, repeat.

While the pandemic has moved these goalposts somewhat through nobody’s fault, it’s sometimes hard to see the 森 for the 木 so to speak. But I also don’t want to become another resentful, bitter gaijin; burdened and resentful of one of my favourite countries in the world.

Japan is currently going through its *counts on fingers* fourth state of emergency, mostly a consequence of a government who are frantically scrambling to save an Olympics that no-one wants.
It was golden week in May, a 5-day weekend that pretty much everyone in the country gets off – and just like last year, everyone was encouraged to stay home.

After the best part of five months I recently reinstalled my social media apps on my phone. While I’m usually pretty good at keeping up to date with the happenings in jolly old Blighty, I don’t think I’d realised how much the UK is beginning to open up again.

I saw my friends smiling and waving and clinking glasses in places I know. My mam sent me a selfie in Primark. My best-friend Sam threw a peace sign from our favourite pub in Glasgow.

Meanwhile, for the past few months it’s mostly just been me in my apartment. Alone.

“What the f*ck am I doing here?” I actually said aloud to the four walls on particularly gloomy Saturday, and threw my phone huffily away from me after an hour of scrolling through happy reunions at pub gardens and bottomless brunches.

“What have I achieved?
What did I come here to do?
What is there still for me to do?”

Too much time indoors means too much time to think.

Japan isn’t my first time living abroad.
I left Australia in 2013 after living there for a year and it felt right. I was ready. Honestly I don’t think I even cried properly. I caught my flight from Melbourne with nothing but excitement and anticipation ahead of me. There wasn’t a single regret in my bones as I landed at Heathrow, caught the tube and saw Sam waiting tearfully at the Kings Cross barriers.

So, when do you know that it’s time to leave Japan?

I had this conversation with my friend Liz – who is actually leaving Japan this summer – over a socially distanced al fresco lunch as she prepares for a period of uncertainty and unemployment ahead.

“Six years in Japan is quite enough for me,” she said. “But I don’t think I’ll ever know if it’s right.”

She’s right about the six years thing. After just two years, I sometimes find myself weighed down with cultural fatigue.

My pal once described Japan as “one big, awesome theme park.”
I sort-of get what he means, but living in Disneyland would do your nut in after so long.

After two years at the same schools I now feel like part of the furniture – which has it’s pros and cons. I’m sure teachers letting me have free reign in class comes from a good place as they find me reliable and have confidence in my lessons, but working in the confines of a tight schedule plus ad-hoc duties, I have extra responsibilities compared to a lot of ALTs.

However I am given the greatest gift of all: that I’m usually left alone to my own devices.
Many ALTs find themselves under constant surveillance from their schools. But long as I look busy and don’t take the piss, I’m free to do whatever I want between classes.

While age is a social construct (at least that’s what I keep telling myself), I recently turned 32 and it’s kind of unavoidable to look towards the future.

Sure, if I was a 21 year old fresh out of university with body parts that are still perky and a back that didn’t worryingly creak first thing in the morning, then staying in Japan for years and years and years would definitely be a good option.
But there are simply other things in my life that I want to achieve.

It’s easy when you’re living on the other side of the world to put higher stock in connections made here as you find yourself content in your gaijin bubble, warm and fuzzy like mold.

The longer I stay in Japan, people I’ve grown close to inevitably move on, either elsewhere in Japan or back to their home country. I find constantly both making new connections and letting friendships go mentally taxing, often akin to the grief of a break-up.

Unfortunately, that’s just a fact of expat life and comes with the territory. This didn’t bother me much when I was a young’un in Australia, staying in hostels and taking day trips to see koalas with people I barely knew and would probably never see again.
But the older I get, the less tolerant I am of such relationships, preferring a deeper attachment with a smaller group of people. It’s exhausting to constantly be saying farewell.

So while I’m not saying I’m about to split from Japan anytime soon, I am asking myself when will the (rising) sun begin to set on my time in Japan?

I’ve always toyed with the idea of moving to Japan ever since my friend Hayley suggested it to me nearly ten years ago now over pizza in her Sydney apartment, recounting tales of working at an eikaiwa during the day then partying in Tokyo until the early hours.

I started officially planning to come to Japan in 2017, then actually applied in January 2019 for an Autumn arrival.

During this time at my old job in the UK – through every crappy shift, being yelled at down the phone day-in-day-out, through every event I declined, everything I sold on eBay – I counted down the days until the big move.

Now what?

Is there really a perfect time to leave Japan?
Honestly, I’m not sure.

Even when the day comes and my plane touches down in Newcastle, I don’t think I’ll ever be sure.

~ Carla