The International Schools Review Forum

Lets play a game! Its totally matter or preference I guess, but, here goes--

Same Salary (dollar for dollar 60k-70k usd) similar packages.

Where would you rather be? Why?

How about the same question for London vs. Paris

Anyone wanna throw out any others....

I will be biased because I am a Japanophile. Here are my reasons as to why I would choose Tokyo over Hong Kong :

1) SALARY & BENEFITS : My colleagues and I have been here for around 10 - 15 years. Many teachers in Tokyo have stayed for years and there are very big, good reasons. The salary is one of the highest in the world with the yen having a very high purchasing power after Zurich.

2) CLEANLINESS : I'm a neat freak and I like clean cities without the stink. Tokyo ( and most of Japan ) is freakishly clean with high city inhabitants' tax for very good reason. Waste management and city maintenance is highly organised, frequent and efficient.

3) POLITENESS : I hate to say it, but there are very stark differences in the behaviour of people from Hong Kong and Tokyo. When you shop in Tokyo, you can definitely tell who are the Chinese tourists as opposed to the Japanese citizens. The citizens are quiet, polite and give leeway while the visitors are loud, pushy and insist on grabbing at goods like they were at a bargain sale of a store going out of business.

4) THE SEASONS : I like the cold breaks ( winter and fall ) after hot and humid summers. The seasons are important to my physical and emotional well being as I love to exercise. Japan has beautifully stark seasons.

5) FOREIGNERS ARE TREATED WELL HERE : Despite the fact that Japan is no longer a politically "isolationist" country in the most obvious sense, there is still a sense of awe for foreigners. We do get preferential treatment, no matter where we go in Japan. People are very polite, friendly and accommodate us well even if we do not want them to go out of their way. Even though we don't take advantage, it is nice to be treated with respect and warmth even though you don't know the language etc.

I'll begin with I lived in Japan and have only visited friends in Hong Kong. My impression is more people speak English in Hong Kong and the expat network/lifestyle/nightlife is better developed. I agree with the former poster and my preference would be Japan because I became so fond of it and my Japanese friends were a lot of fun. There was always something new and interesting to experience. The air quality in Hong Kong is worrying but Tokyo can be bad, too. It all depends on the type of experience you want.

Stockholm or Tegulciapa?

You might have asked Tokyo vs. Hong Kong vs. Bangkok???

Id pick Japan as well. At the end of the day HK is just a business park, meets shopping mall. Japan I could see myself making a career. The HK night scene gets old after a while. That said there is a lot more english and its more casual and laid back in HK. Japan always seemed formal to me even when it was "relaxed".

Stockholm, its not even a contest.

Bangkok, for me anyhow, is a really fun place to visit and holiday but its a different kinda place to live. The levels of pollution, poverty and the caste system all affect its livability.

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Ichiro-- I totally agree! The question was created looking for to be completely biased and personal. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I guess this is just a survey of experiences.

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Do you think Tokyo is affordable? I mean If you had two schools with near identical packages in HK and Tokyo-- would they be about the same as for cost of living?

Yeah, If you leave out housing, Japan and HK are about the same cost of living wise. There are ways to make HK more affordable (like shopping on the mainland) but what you save in money you loose in time and (and to some degree transportation). The biggest expenses in Japan, are housing and transportation.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Yeah, If you leave out housing, Japan and HK are about the same cost of living wise. There are ways to make HK more affordable (like shopping on the mainland) but what you save in money you loose in time and (and to some degree transportation). The biggest expenses in Japan, are housing and transportation.[/quote]

Really? I found food to be a bigger expense than transport in Tokyo. Trains are relatviely cheap and depending on the school, you may even be able to walk to school. You always have to eat, though, no matter how close you live to school.

I lived in Kyoto, not Tokyo, and I was single (well dating) so I ate out a lot (very small apartment) and I lumped that in with my entertainment expenses. I didn't have a lot of food at home, basically breakfast stuff, snacks, noodle cups and drinks. My fridge was a 140L one. My entire apartment (1K) was 15 jo (I had a large balcony, by japanese standards, but most of that was basically unusable space). I also ate mostly on the economy, and didnt go for a lot of imports. I was trying to actually "save money", but maintaining a social life was very expensive. What was really happening was I was basically saving for the weekends. Lastly, I was really close to the Kawayuka train station (which means everything really).

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I am thinking of applying to a school in Tokyo. I would love to live in Tokyo. However two of my major goals when I go abroad is to do as much travel as possible & save some money. Everything I read on ISR sings the praises of the school and Toyko except cost of living. Staff say the housing allowance is not at all adequate and you must add a lot of your own money. So my question to those of you with experience in Tokyo: once I pay for part of the housing and pay for basic living expenses (not lots of eating out) will I be able to have a decent quality of life, afford to do a lot of travel and save some? I have 16 years experience so would hopefully be higher on the pay scale. Thanks for your advice.