Other Pointers for HJU Exchange Students
As the only US exchange student to HJU, you get some great benefits that can’t be had in other programs, not limited to your own bike, apartment, and the opportunity to take classes with other Japanese students. You also are provided with a cell phone and even a job.
Jobs
As a HJU student, there is one job you simply have to do: it’s tradition. A 20 minute bus ride from Hiroshima Station (1.5 hours walking about 40 walking) is a small school for the deaf (rougaku) where once a week a group of adults gather together for an English conversation class (Eikaiwa). You will be asked to come and lead these meetings, helping with turns of phrase, pronunciation, and the like. For this, you get paid a whopping $40 for 1.5 hours, plus bus fair, and atop all that make some of the best adult friends you’ll ever have, adults who will go out of their way then to help, entertain, and sometimes feed you. They also are a great fountain of information about Japanese view points and can help explain things (like the difference between kabuki and kagura). It’s a wonderful experience, though keep in mind, it IS a job.
My recommendation, as was that of the student before me, is to discuss current events, media and movies. You also might want to teach idioms, phrases, or slang words though make sure to get the class' input. Keep in mind that the level of the students varies greatly. Some speak like natives. Others can barely form a sentence. Though it can be hard, you should at least try and get everyone to speak at least a bit though don’t be surprised if they refuse. Also, be sure to talk slowly and clearly but without being weird or condescending.
If you need or want more money, there are always people looking for native speakers to teach them. This includes most the girls on campus. However, you can also go to sites like
At one point I had 4 jobs besides the conversation group, which I think is a bit too many. Two is probably a good amount. Keep in mind though, students are likely to quit on you for various reasons, sometimes without even telling you! One girl I was teaching for example repeatedly missed or cancelled lessons to a point I ceased to bother asking her. I came to understand that this was probably a method to quit lessons but save face. Another woman simply didn’t feel I was doing her enough good which, not being trained, is understandable.
Cell Phones, House Phones, and Internet Connections
As is often mentioned, the Japanese use their cell phones for pretty much everything. It shows in the phones themselves. The technology bundled into the little things is amazing…and a bit scary. My US phone was old when I left, so the new bells and whistles that are only now becoming common place in the states were quite a surprise! Lucky for me, the phone I got in Japan was simple in comparison to some of the devices my companions utilized.
HJU has a collection of cell phones at the Kokusai Center, and upon your arrival you will be given one of them. I personally felt the gadgets on it were more than enough, but if you want a fancier phone you can always get one from the multitude of stores.
If you do decide to use the phone from HJU, you need to buy a phone card to make calls. This can be done at most 7-11 convinience stores. Be sure you get the VODAFONE card, which at least while I was there, was covered with balloons. If in doubt, show the clerk the phone and see if they can’t figure out what you need. Once you have a card, you have to add it to your account by dialing in the toll free number, entering a pin code, and so on. When your account balance starts to get low, Vodafone will send you text message warnings. Heed said warnings as invariably the phone will die when you need it most. The same goes for powering it up.
I understand that there are a growing number of people in Japan who don’t own a house phone, preferring to use their cell phones for everything. Nevertheless, you still get a phone in your room. It’s also supposedly a fax and printer, but I have no clue how to set that up and, as I never use faxes even in the states, never bothered. Still, for saving money on the cell it can be useful.
To get the home phone working, upon arriving, either a friend of yours or someone from the Kokusai Center can take you to the phone company to get an account in your name.
The other service you will definitely want to use is internet.
Japan has a variety of different companies and services that are always offering deals like one-year cheap internet as an incentive to take up their service. Keep your eye out for these.
I used the company OCN while the girl before me had Yahoo. Both services were fine and offer high speed internet for around 4000-5000 yen a month. OCN however was a bit of a pain to set up because it is connected to another company, Fletz, and together they’re all part of a larger conglomerate. Thus, getting set up was a bureaucratic nightmare, complete with having to wait a week while they processed everything, apparently installed a new line though they never contacted me as they said they would, then having my computer’s hard drive wiped out when I tried to use the CD Fletz had sent me to set up the net. I still am not certain what that was all about though after reformatting and using the much simpler instructions OCN sent a few days later, everything worked fine. Considering all this, though it might be a few hundred yen more expensive, it might just be easier to go with Yahoo although my friend told me that working with them was no picnic either.
To get internet service you can simply go over to any big electronic store like Yamada Denki and ask to talk to a service representative. They’re usually nice and helpful. If you have qualms about the technical Japanese terms you can bring a friend or maybe talk to the Kokusai Center, although at least when I went to the store there were a few clerks who spoke English.
One note, you will want to do is rent a modem. The company whose service you buy can ship it to you within a few days. At the end of the year, you need to call the company and ask to cancel your subscription at which point you send the modem back as well.
Once you get internet, it’s the best way to connect to folk back home since the price of international calls are ridiculous. Beyond the AIMS and MSNs of the world, there’s also a fabulous free internet phone service called Skype you can get at skype.com.