Correspondence With Your Successor › Leaver's Guide


Correspondence With Your Successor




 

Surely you remember the last few weeks before you left your own home country to start your own Japanese adventure a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. You no doubt had a million questions and worries, wonders and ponderings. There were probably so many things that you wished you could have asked about: where you would be living, what your daily life would be like and what you might need to pack to get you there and started up.

Make contact with your successor as soon as you get their contact details. When giving information, try to be perceptive enough to answer the questions that they cannot possibly imagine yet, from the perspective of someone who may never have even been abroad before. On the other hand, be cautious of flooding them with less relevant information, which will only increase their stress levels in the frantic build up to departure.

Be sure to provide information about the following:

  • Details of your apartment/ house/ shack. Include a plan, a list of equipment, and information about utilities and rubbish (US: garbage) collection, etc.
  • Your Office. Names of key people, a fair assessment of the English ability of your colleagues, suggestions for arrival gifts, etc.
  • Working hours, dress codes, rules you are expected to follow.
  • Schools. How many, where they are, school lunch arrangements, getting to and from them.
  • Your city/ town/ vending machine. Where to shop, rent videos, where to eat and drink, information on hospitals and medical services. Including a map is a good idea.
  • Information about other ALTs/ foreigners living in your area.
  • Financial information. (Salary, how much you spend, how much they should bring, etc
  • Send photos if you want to, a digital camera is ideal for this.

Try to avoid:

  • Too many of your own personal dislikes / likes.
  • Colouring your successor's outlook on working and living in Japan before they even get here.
  • Including personal information about your colleagues.

You are unlikely to receive your successor's contact details and information until the end of May, but in the meantime you can start preparing!