Things to do before moving abroad.
Hello again from a rainy Tokyo! The last couple of days the weather hasn't exactly been up to spring standards, raining on and off, but hopefully next week when my parents arrive it will be sunny! So ready for a break after working two six day weeks. Anyway, in today's blog, I thought I'd talk about some of the things you need to do BEFORE you move anywhere overseas. It's very important to take care of a few things before you jet off, so you don't get into trouble later on.
1) Sort out a visa! This should be at the top of the list, and is probably the most obvious one. It will also probably be the most time consuming part of the process. If you already have a job lined up, check with your company if they will help you with this. I got very lucky with my visa situation. My company helped me with this process, and I even managed to score a five year visa right off the bat due to good timing. I have a Specialist in Engineering and Humanities visa, which is for anyone working in the humanities (eg education) and engineering. Japan is crying out for foreign English teachers in the lead-up to the Olympics, so they want us to stay for longer periods of time, hence why I got five years. Getting five years on this visa is a new thing, introduced around the end of 2017/ beginning of 2018, and it seems to be people applying from outside the country that get it, not the ones already here renewing their visas, so I just timed coming to Japan very well. Most other people are not so lucky and usually only get one year, especially if they want to work in a field where there's not so much demand. But definitely do your research into what kind of visa you'll need and what paperwork you need to provide, because it can be a lot! I needed to provide university transcripts, medical information, as well as my flight information. Also check where your nearest embassy is. For me, it was Wellington. The Japanese embassy would let me send my passport and documents to them in the post, but they wouldn't send it back to Wanaka for me, which meant either I had to nominate someone to pick it up for me and send it, or I had to go and get it myself. I chose the latter and went up to Wellington just to pick up my passport, which was a bit of a hassle living in the South Island, but it was better to have it safely in my hands than risk it getting lost in the post with the visa inside.
2) Talk to your bank! You need to tell your bank where you're going and roughly how long you'll be gone for so they don't cancel any cards on you if you try to use them abroad. Also speak to them about getting a credit card to use in case of emergency, especially in the first month or so because chances are you won't be getting paid until about a month after you arrive. Also change some of your money into the local currency of the place you're going so you have some cash on hand. This is particularly important if you're coming to Japan because, as I've said before, cash is still king here.
3) Pay (at least some of) your student loan off. If you have a student loan, make sure to pay off as much as possible before you leave. I know it's difficult to pay it off entirely, but making a dent in it will help a lot, especially if you're from New Zealand. For kiwis, once you leave the country for more than six months, your loan is no longer interest free, so having a lower student loan means less interest, and it means the two compulsory payments you need to make each year will be less as well. So try to get that loan balance down a bit if you can.
4) Save, save save. You will have a lot of initial expenses when you first arrive. Think furniture, appliances, and any other home goods you might need. Again, I got lucky as I am in company housing, and they provided a bed, table, chairs, fridge and microwave for me, but I still needed things like a kettle, pot, mugs etc. Check with your accommodation provider what comes with the place first because the person there before you may want to sell you some things, and some things may be included with the apartment too. You want to have enough to buy what you need and get through your first month, because as I said, you probably won't get paid until about a month after arriving. It's important to have a good amount to get you through till that first paycheque comes through.
5) Learn the basics of the language! Honestly I can't stress this enough. I don't know what I would've done if I'd come to Japan not being able to read at least hiragana and katakana and knowing a lot of the basic phrases you need to get by. It will really help if you can speak a bit of the language and if the alphabet is different like Japanese, being able to read it will help a lot especially with things like menus at restaurants and labels on foods. This is crucial if you have allergies or other dietary requirements, because you'll want to know what's in your food. Luckily I don't have any special requirements, but for people who do, reading the labels is so important. It will also help you to make friends if you can start a conversation and understand a bit of the language.
6) Spend time with friends and family! Finally, some not so practical advice haha. Spending time with family and friends before heading off on a big adventure is so so important, because chances are, you won't see these people for at least a few months, if not a year or longer! Enjoy the time you have together, eat all of the foods you know you won't be able to find overseas, and do all the things you know you won't do for a long time. I kinda wish I'd eaten more pavlova and mince pies. :P
7) Don't panic! Everything will eventually turn out ok, even if you may feel like there's an overwhelming amount of stuff you need to do. It will all sort itself out. Just think about all the adventures you're about to have, and the hard work to get there will pay off. All the saving, paperwork and time you spend sorting things out now will lead to a great time in your country of choice!
That's all I have for today's blog, hopefully this was some solid advice for anyone thinking about moving abroad any time in the near future. My next blog will be about my trip to Osaka and Hiroshima with my parents! They arrive on Monday, so I'll be tour guiding and translating for the next wee while. Hope everyone back home had a lovely Easter and ANZAC Day too! Neither of these holidays are really celebrated in Japan at all, which felt kind of strange last year, but this year I was kind of used to not celebrating or talking about these days at all haha. Anyway, thanks as always for reading, and I'll be back again soon with another update!
From Japan, with love,
Hannah. xx
1) Sort out a visa! This should be at the top of the list, and is probably the most obvious one. It will also probably be the most time consuming part of the process. If you already have a job lined up, check with your company if they will help you with this. I got very lucky with my visa situation. My company helped me with this process, and I even managed to score a five year visa right off the bat due to good timing. I have a Specialist in Engineering and Humanities visa, which is for anyone working in the humanities (eg education) and engineering. Japan is crying out for foreign English teachers in the lead-up to the Olympics, so they want us to stay for longer periods of time, hence why I got five years. Getting five years on this visa is a new thing, introduced around the end of 2017/ beginning of 2018, and it seems to be people applying from outside the country that get it, not the ones already here renewing their visas, so I just timed coming to Japan very well. Most other people are not so lucky and usually only get one year, especially if they want to work in a field where there's not so much demand. But definitely do your research into what kind of visa you'll need and what paperwork you need to provide, because it can be a lot! I needed to provide university transcripts, medical information, as well as my flight information. Also check where your nearest embassy is. For me, it was Wellington. The Japanese embassy would let me send my passport and documents to them in the post, but they wouldn't send it back to Wanaka for me, which meant either I had to nominate someone to pick it up for me and send it, or I had to go and get it myself. I chose the latter and went up to Wellington just to pick up my passport, which was a bit of a hassle living in the South Island, but it was better to have it safely in my hands than risk it getting lost in the post with the visa inside.
2) Talk to your bank! You need to tell your bank where you're going and roughly how long you'll be gone for so they don't cancel any cards on you if you try to use them abroad. Also speak to them about getting a credit card to use in case of emergency, especially in the first month or so because chances are you won't be getting paid until about a month after you arrive. Also change some of your money into the local currency of the place you're going so you have some cash on hand. This is particularly important if you're coming to Japan because, as I've said before, cash is still king here.
3) Pay (at least some of) your student loan off. If you have a student loan, make sure to pay off as much as possible before you leave. I know it's difficult to pay it off entirely, but making a dent in it will help a lot, especially if you're from New Zealand. For kiwis, once you leave the country for more than six months, your loan is no longer interest free, so having a lower student loan means less interest, and it means the two compulsory payments you need to make each year will be less as well. So try to get that loan balance down a bit if you can.
4) Save, save save. You will have a lot of initial expenses when you first arrive. Think furniture, appliances, and any other home goods you might need. Again, I got lucky as I am in company housing, and they provided a bed, table, chairs, fridge and microwave for me, but I still needed things like a kettle, pot, mugs etc. Check with your accommodation provider what comes with the place first because the person there before you may want to sell you some things, and some things may be included with the apartment too. You want to have enough to buy what you need and get through your first month, because as I said, you probably won't get paid until about a month after arriving. It's important to have a good amount to get you through till that first paycheque comes through.
5) Learn the basics of the language! Honestly I can't stress this enough. I don't know what I would've done if I'd come to Japan not being able to read at least hiragana and katakana and knowing a lot of the basic phrases you need to get by. It will really help if you can speak a bit of the language and if the alphabet is different like Japanese, being able to read it will help a lot especially with things like menus at restaurants and labels on foods. This is crucial if you have allergies or other dietary requirements, because you'll want to know what's in your food. Luckily I don't have any special requirements, but for people who do, reading the labels is so important. It will also help you to make friends if you can start a conversation and understand a bit of the language.
6) Spend time with friends and family! Finally, some not so practical advice haha. Spending time with family and friends before heading off on a big adventure is so so important, because chances are, you won't see these people for at least a few months, if not a year or longer! Enjoy the time you have together, eat all of the foods you know you won't be able to find overseas, and do all the things you know you won't do for a long time. I kinda wish I'd eaten more pavlova and mince pies. :P
7) Don't panic! Everything will eventually turn out ok, even if you may feel like there's an overwhelming amount of stuff you need to do. It will all sort itself out. Just think about all the adventures you're about to have, and the hard work to get there will pay off. All the saving, paperwork and time you spend sorting things out now will lead to a great time in your country of choice!
That's all I have for today's blog, hopefully this was some solid advice for anyone thinking about moving abroad any time in the near future. My next blog will be about my trip to Osaka and Hiroshima with my parents! They arrive on Monday, so I'll be tour guiding and translating for the next wee while. Hope everyone back home had a lovely Easter and ANZAC Day too! Neither of these holidays are really celebrated in Japan at all, which felt kind of strange last year, but this year I was kind of used to not celebrating or talking about these days at all haha. Anyway, thanks as always for reading, and I'll be back again soon with another update!
From Japan, with love,
Hannah. xx
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