# Moving from the U.K



## em8kate

Hi everyone,
It looks like we might be moving from the U.K to Japan this summer, I would love to hear from anyone that has done the same thing for advice, do's and dont's! We are being moved over through my husbands work QVC and he will be working in Chiba. I have two small children aged 5 and 2.5yrs and I have a big dog 
I would love to know any great schools possibly private international ones, I have searched the web but word of mouth is better! Also if we need a car? Can we take our electrical stuff over and what the chances are of getting a house with a garden for the dog! If anyone could chat with me it would be great.
Thanks
Emma


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## larabell

You should look through some of the archived posts on this forum because almost all of your questions have been discussed in detail over the past several months.

To summarize: Electrical stuff is a problem if you're coming from the UK because the voltage here is 100V as opposed to 220V there -- but you can generally find adapters. Even with an adapter, however, the video format is different here but you might be able to rent/buy a dual mode TV that will allow you to use UK-based game machines, etc.

Houses with attached gardens are rare, and you probably don't need a car right away unless you plan to do some weekend driving because public transit is pretty good here.

However, since you'll be in Chiba there may be some slight amendments to the general case advice. First, depending where you are in Chiba, you *might* be able to find a place with a small yard. And, if you do, you'll almost certainly be far enough from anything significant that you'll definitely need a car. I guess that's the basic trade-off. Either you're out in the boonies and you have a bit of land surrounding your house or you're close to the city where transit is no problem but you have to rely on public parks to walk your dog. Obviously it's not quite as simple as that but that's a very common trade-off.

I don't know of any international schools in Chiba-ken but maybe someone else has some ideas. Is your ex-pat package already fixed or do you still have time to negotiate the terms?


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## em8kate

larabell said:


> You should look through some of the archived posts on this forum because almost all of your questions have been discussed in detail over the past several months.
> 
> To summarize: Electrical stuff is a problem if you're coming from the UK because the voltage here is 100V as opposed to 220V there -- but you can generally find adapters. Even with an adapter, however, the video format is different here but you might be able to rent/buy a dual mode TV that will allow you to use UK-based game machines, etc.
> 
> Houses with attached gardens are rare, and you probably don't need a car right away unless you plan to do some weekend driving because public transit is pretty good here.
> 
> However, since you'll be in Chiba there may be some slight amendments to the general case advice. First, depending where you are in Chiba, you *might* be able to find a place with a small yard. And, if you do, you'll almost certainly be far enough from anything significant that you'll definitely need a car. I guess that's the basic trade-off. Either you're out in the boonies and you have a bit of land surrounding your house or you're close to the city where transit is no problem but you have to rely on public parks to walk your dog. Obviously it's not quite as simple as that but that's a very common trade-off.
> 
> I don't know of any international schools in Chiba-ken but maybe someone else has some ideas. Is your ex-pat package already fixed or do you still have time to negotiate the terms?


Hi, 
Thanks for the reply, I just wrote what i was thinking about.. It would be nice to meet some people that live in japan and who have found out the tips already.. My husbands work is in Chiba but we can live anywhere, the two British schools are the other side I think.. I'm going to meet/see them in feb to see what I think. We are staying in rapoongi ? Hyatt I think so I can check a little of japan out. It's very exciting


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## pasturesnew

*hu*



em8kate said:


> Hi everyone,
> It looks like we might be moving from the U.K to Japan this summer, I would love to hear from anyone that has done the same thing for advice, do's and dont's! We are being moved over through my husbands work QVC and he will be working in Chiba. I have two small children aged 5 and 2.5yrs and I have a big dog
> I would love to know any great schools possibly private international ones, I have searched the web but word of mouth is better! Also if we need a car? Can we take our electrical stuff over and what the chances are of getting a house with a garden for the dog! If anyone could chat with me it would be great.
> Thanks
> Emma


hi Emma, Im a Brit in Tokyo, arrived back in October, similar situation to yourselves but only the 1 little one...I work and live in Akasaka, if you want to chat let me know. 

regards

PasturesNew - Andy


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