chop 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Learn some basic Japanese, Organise your self a k van, buy it ,buy a map, pack the k with all your important gear eg: snow/surf board, music and hit the road, of course you gonna need some money to do this. Japan is a great place with many friendly people, you will find somewhere that you love. Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 Thanks for all the advice, sounds like JES may be worth applying for as well. Looking forward to the winter! Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 wes is that you? There are certain jobs that are harder to get than others. some eikaiwas are great my first one was till it changed. good pay, good hours etc then my bosses changed and things went to crap. Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 Yeah it sounds like it is a little hit and miss with the schools. I am thinking my best approach is to get a job in the best school I can before I arrive, and then see how it goes. Seems like there are plenty of opportunities once I am actually in the country and have some experience. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Get the job, get a visa and quit if the job's no good. Score yourself a kei van. I lived in a Fiat 128 for 5 months Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 good luck try dont try to be any further west than kobe. Link to post Share on other sites
rezinate 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 another thing u can look for is working hours. I managed to get a job that usually started in the afternoon around sapporo, so I was able to go boarding most days b4 work. Had alot of trouble staying awake whilst teaching, but it was worth it imho. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 a friend named barok did that here in nagano as well. i dont know if i could do that though Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 10, 2006 Author Share Posted July 10, 2006 Boarding everyday before work sounds appealing, but I am not sure I would be able to teach for the rest of the day. Looking at a job with ECC at the moment - they reckon you get 7 weeks holidays a year - this seems pretty high ? Link to post Share on other sites
rezinate 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 dont be a pussy..... go drink some coffee and conquer those mountains! Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 you get about 20 stat hols a year with any job. plus 10 or more vac days. At ECC though you cant really pick your long vacations. Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 Yep, that last post I wrote was rather soft I have to admit ! Link to post Share on other sites
Yuki's Passion 1 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 7 weeks: 1 week Golden Week 1 week Obon 1 week Xmas 1 week + of Japanese holidays They must include Sat's and Sun's there Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 Cheers FT re: ECC. Had an interview with AEON yesterday, find out in 2 weeks whether I was successful. Requested a position in northern Honshu (Yamagata in particular). Will wait and see. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 wow you really want to be up north eh Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 it is a complete unknown to be honest, but i figure being on honshu rather than hokkaido i can at least travel around a lot easier. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 dont always asume north means more snow. its actually more east than north. Big snow fall has many factors one of them being a rapid rise in pressure. Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 yeah i agree, but having been boarding in aus the last few seasons i am thinking i will not be disappointed wherever i end up! i mean we have an 8cm base at the moment !! Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Don't be put off by Fattwins. Yamagata gets plenty of snow. We had 14 metres as daily accumulation and over 2 metres of compressed snow pack by the end of last winter. It starts snowing some time in December, and it stops in late Feb/early March. During that period, If you can't see the mountains it's snowing, and if you can see them, it's going to snow. (Edit. Same photo, but I've airbushe out the powerlines) Link to post Share on other sites
rezinate 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Share Posted July 11, 2006 Quote: Originally posted by danharman: yeah i agree, but having been boarding in aus the last few seasons i am thinking i will not be disappointed wherever i end up! i mean we have an 8cm base at the moment !! ahh yes, but your forgetting that conditions are great, with an excellent 2cm top-up of man-made snow in some areas..... actually, heres an excerpt from my favourite resort, Mt Selwyn (my brother was actually the poster boy for them a few years back) ------------------------ 24hr Snowfall 0 cm Snowdepth - Average 15 cm The cover is in great shape following cold overnight temperatures, and looks set to stay that way throughout the day. oh, and thats not all!! "Township is open to the very top, and New Chum Bowl is 60% full of man made snow. The Ski School rope tow is in great shape for first timers, and the Toboggan Park is open. " awesome!!!! Link to post Share on other sites
danharman 0 Posted July 11, 2006 Author Share Posted July 11, 2006 He he, exactly what i am talking about rezinate! i subscribe to the daily alerts from hotham and every day this winter the report headlines "Snowguns have been running all night". Having said that, it is good to get out there (and it is snowing as i write this). Yamagata sounds great ! Link to post Share on other sites
chop 0 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Where ever you end up you will find something special! that's Japan. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 last year was something crazy though every place got plus 40%. Link to post Share on other sites
soubriquet 0 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 Oishida had an extra 1 metre. Looks as if we missed out. Link to post Share on other sites
Fattwins 0 Posted July 12, 2006 Share Posted July 12, 2006 thats too bad we had 8 in dec 4 in january 1 in feb and more than 4 in march Link to post Share on other sites
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