Teaching English in Countryside Japan: A Day in the Life of an English Teacher

[Music] teaching English in Japan is very different to the image that I had in my mind before I came here as a high school teacher in Australia I was working really long hours mostly getting up at 5:00 a.m. and working right through until 6:37 at night but my lifestyle here in Japan is actually very different and it might have something to do with the fact that I'm living in the countryside but I'm finding the pace of life is definitely a lot slower here today I want to take you on just a regular day in my life and what it's like living in Japan and working as an English teacher unfortunately for me yesterday I realized I had the start of an eye infection happening so I'm going to take you on the journey into the doctor's office with me because a couple of people asked how the health insurance system works here so I might go through that as well on my way to work let's go let's go let's go let's go although I don't start work until 11:00 today my habit of waking up early hasn't changed and I've woken up at 5:30 this morning so I've got a few hours between now and when the doctor surgery opens and before I have to go to work so I'm going to do a few jobs this morning I'm totally a creature of habit and I always have this same morning routine where I have a bit of vinegar to start my day and then I move on to my vegetable juice and then breakfast today my school will be supplying a Bento Box for myself and the students for special class that we're running so I'm just going to have some toast for breakfast and of course I'm Australian so I've got to have my vegim Mite if you haven't tried vegim Mite before it's a very salty spread it looks like chocolate but don't be deceived it's not sweet at all a lot of people say it's an acquired taste I'm the type of person that likes routine but unfortunately my work schedule changes dayto day if I wasn't going to the doctor's surgery this morning I probably would have popped into Hino coffee to grab myself a coffee and do a little bit of video editing before I started work but that's not going to be possible today so I'm having a coffee at home I'm also going through the comments as I usually do in the morning and I thank you very much for everyone who gives me a comment or a like or a sub subscribe so I do take my time every morning to respond to everybody thank you so much for your time as well I am really glad I've bought this house here in Japan because it it's been a good incentive for a lot of my friends and family to come and visit me because they have a place to stay I did make a video on buying this house if you missed it I'll put a link above because I know a lot of people people are often interested in the purchase costs of the house there's only a 1 hour time difference between where I am in Japan and my home back in Australia most mornings I call friends or family um I always try and get hold of one of my sons to have a chat to them and just remain connected with the People Back Home finally spring is here and the weather has really warmed up so I have a little bit of time before I have to leave home so I'm going to go on a quick walk around the area just to see what the farmers have planted I'm trying to get some ideas of what to plant in my garden because all my winter crops have finished and I'm ready to plant something for the spring summer I didn't get any ideas from my walks so I'll have to keep my eye on that so I'm headed off now and I'm taking the back roads to work these roads are super narrow but they go past the river and I can check out the cherry blossoms they're in full bloom about a week ago so I'm driving into town to the parking station and from there I'm going to walk to the doctor's surgery which happens to be right at the main station you can't make a booking here it's just first come first served hopefully I'm early enough so I don't have to wait long I use the my number card which keeps all my health records so I pay 7,400 a month for the koking keno hwen which is the national health insurance scheme mine isn't sponsored by my company so I pay it myself and that means that I pay 30% out of pocket and 70% is covered with my health insurance so for this appointment it cost me 1,900 Yen out of pocket and I now have to fill a script for some medicine all up for the three medicines it cost 630 Yen again this is subsidized by your health insurance so I have finished everything a lot earlier than I thought because I didn't have to wait at the doctor surgery and I heard at the station that Daiso has opened a new shop called standard products so it's like Daiso just a little bit better quality also a lovely subscriber through my coffee link sent Millie some money and said must buy Millie a toy so I'm going to do that right now thank you very much Rosemary and I'm sure Millie is going to really appreciate it we'll find out when I get home tonight well I've enjoyed this shopping a little bit too much and I need to get a wle on because I've got to start work in about 15 minutes so I'm going to rush back to the car now and drive to work one of the bonuses of my workplace is that I have free parking and that's really convenient for me to be able to drive to work some days now the weather's warmed up I also have the option of riding my bike so my working hours start 30 minutes before my first class and that gives me about 30 minutes of prep time to get everything ready that I need for the day on average I teach between four and five classes a day and today I have the full load of five classes I'm the only native speaker at my school and there are two other English teachers who are Japanese we're a tight-knit English Department and we get on really well the Australian consulate has given me a great lesson plan today for our arts and crafts class today we'll be doing some Aboriginal art paintings in English Eng February February March March April April May May finished okay I'll come and get it YY so today we had a typical Japanese chicken Kento for our lunch and then I hit straight back into teaching my other classes the company I work for is a not for-profit organization and some of my classes are with students that have special needs I have a 10-minute break in between classes but it's pretty much go go go the whole time I absolutely love being a teacher and I find it to be a very rewarding and satisfying career but it is also very mentally and physically draining at times so on a day like today when I've taught a full load I need an easy go to dinner something that is going to be quick and healthy I've come up with this one bowl Wonder dish which I absolutely love and it's just so easy all I have to do is have some cooked rice ready to go in the fridge and I buy some frozen KAG chicken and that's just microwavable and ready to go I'm also loving Japanese pickles so I always throw a couple of pickles in as well the only thing I really need to do to prepare a head is make sure I have cooked rice either in the fridge or the freezer ready to go you could probably put anything in this bowl I always eat in front of TV and at the moment I'm watching the best show on Netflix it's called extremely inappropriate and it's hilarious it's about a uh it's about a single father who comes from the showa era who time travels into 2024 it's absolutely fantastic I really recommend you watch it if you can't watch Japanese Netflix you might have to get a bpn to watch this one so over the colder months my nighttime routine has been to have a hot bath before bed and I did bring a whole lot of sleep tea over with me from Australia I'm sure you can buy it here but I still have enough of a supply to keep me going and I like to spend a bit of time with Millie about now because she has been home alone most of the day so I can happily report back that she absolutely loves the new toy thank you very much again she just she's such a delight so unlike my teaching job back in Australia I don't have to do any marking any reporting and I don't have too much prep to do every day so I don't take my work home with me of an evening I just have time to relax this has allowed me the space and time to Foster things that I'm interested in and one of the things has been to start this YouTube channel and to share with others what life is is like for me uh living here in Japan and in somehow help or Inspire others who are looking to do the same thing thank you again for supporting the channel and if you have any questions or anything you'd like to know please let me know in the comments see you next time bye

Channel: Chani Japan

Views: 67,957

Keywords: English teacher in Japan, #JapanTravel, #RuralLife, #EnglishTeacher, #JapaneseCulture, #CountrysideLiving, #DayInTheLife, #JapanAdventure, #ESLTeacher, #ExpatLife, #ExploreJapan, #TeacherVlog, #LivingInJapan, #TravelVlog, Japan, living in japan, japanese language, work-life balance, work life, working visa, teaching english in Japan, Japan travel, English teacher, rural life, country living in japan, day in the life, teacher life, akiya, living in japan vlog, living in japan as a foreigner, Jet

Id: G1HdUlljPxY

Length: 12min 18sec (738 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 13 2024