Teaching Japan: Where Did I Go?
This is part of a series of articles about the experience of living abroad and teaching English for AEON. These represent only my viewpoint and are not sponsored in any way. I will present both the positive and negative.
Ask questions! I tend to gloss over some details while going too far into others.
The other big question I frequently get is “Where did I go in Japan?“
I lived and worked in Nagoya, the fourth largest city in Japan. If you pull out a map and a ruler, it is close to the halfway point between Tokyo and Osaka. It is also one of those places that very few people have heard of.
I honestly don’t know why more people do not know about Nagoya. It is home of one of the three largest temples (Atsuta Shrine), is a busy port, has one of the newer international airports (and a very nice one at that), and is the home of many of Japan’s major auto manufacturers. As an example Toyota City is about 6 miles outside of Nagoya. Well, maybe I know why it is not so well known…
Nagoya is not a technology or gadget center. It is also not famous for having trains so crowded that they require pushers to close the doors. In fact, Nagoya is most similar to Los Angeles, except with much better mass transportation.
But enough general description and back to specifics of where I was. My training and first two weeks of life in Nagoya were based near Nagoya station. After that I lived in Rokuban-cho a little suburban sort of area that was in the general direction of the port. I worked in the Sakae district, also known as the fashion district. If you went to Nagoya and wanted to shop all day until it was time to party all night, this is where you would go. I’ll write much more about Sakae later though, it deserves more time.
So, that is where I was. It’s short, but it gives the general idea, and much more will come out in other bits.
I’m so envious that you lived abroad! You are so lucky. And also…!!! You should provide us with pics of where you lived in Japan.
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Chris Schaffer Reply:
September 25th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
It was a great and hard experience. And there will be pictures. First up will be just a couple of my apartment, more will come soon. I just have to make sure I take the effort to get them from my Flickr account to here.
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