Shoes

[ljoekelsoey4]

Okay, here's what I brought:
1 pair of combat boots (I like hiking )
1 pair of Blundstones
3 pairs of dress shoes (1 indoor, 2 outdoor)
1 pair of sneakers (outdoor)
1 set of sandals

For winter/wet the fashion out where I am is big, insulated, wellies. You can buy them everywhere, in every size imaginable, and noone cares that you look like a moron. The other thing to note, I LOVE my dress shoes (very very comfortable) which is why I brought so many. One of em is my school shoes and the teachers love taking the piss out of the fact that I'm the only person wearing dress shoes inside. Everyone else wears slippers, sandals, sneakers, in various states of disrepair.

If you're going to be doing ES, bring indoor sneakers. In fact, if you plan on using your sneakers outside, bring a second pair for indoors as well.

what are blundstones?>

[Patryn]

tough workboots (not sure if they have steel caps in them, but probably depends on which ones you get)

[notJiggit]

For work you can pretty much wear whatever. Most people at my school wear terrible sandal thingies.

A pair of loafers will be comfy, convenient and look better than what 99.9% of people are wearing, so long as you remember to bring some oxfords to special events. If you're strapped for cash I would recommend getting something like these:

http://oakstreetbootmakers.com/footwear/natural-chromexcel-beefroll-penny-loafer

If you have a more comfortable financial situation then I would recommend a pair such as these:

http://www.alden-of-carmel.com/index.cfm/Shoes-Leisure_Handsewn_Moccasin_100.htm

Hope this helps.

[Patryn]

lol. not sure if just trolling, but wth... almost $300 for a pair of shoes for people on a tight budget? o.0

[Kirari]

A pair of loafers will be comfy, convenient and look better than what 99.9% of people are wearing, so long as you remember to bring some oxfords to special events. If you're strapped for cash I would recommend getting something like these:

http://oakstreetbootmakers.com/footwear/natural-chromexcel-beefroll-penny-loafer

Wow, the strapped for cash version is a $300 pair of shoes? I may be alone in this, but I'm one of the $50-and-under set, lol.

@Patryn - ah, I'm naive about these things. Didn't even think he might have been trolling.

[notJiggit]

Think about it this way.

Being a foreigner: 300 cool points
Dressing like most Alts dress: -250 cool points

Dress well and your kids will think you are cool for longer. This makes them more interested in you, which will make them more likely to want to speak to you, which they have to do in English.

Plus imagine how much those shoes would cost you if you want to buy them in Japan. A lot more, that's how much.

Really it's a bargain I wish I could take advantage of.

Edit: I'm not trolling. I would buy those shoes in a heartbeat if I didn't live here. Will have to pay like $80 import tax and then if they don't fit I can't send them back easily. But otherwise don't see anything wrong with the price.

[Lianwen]

If you`re a woman, US Sz 9 1/2 and under, you can fit into the Puma`s here. The don`t sell them in `woman`s` sizes like in America, but in the Junior`s sizes. Junior`s sizes tend to be a bit wider in the fit than the woman`s sizes of the brand. I actually prefer to shop in the Junior`s sizes for Puma.

I can`t say how popular size 7s are in Japan, but I can find 4s, 5s, and 6s pretty easily in any sports store.

If you want to buy Pumas but are unsure of what size you would be in Juniors, you can go to a shoe store and try on their Puma`s from the Junior`s section. I find they run large and have to go down a size.

Size conversion chart:
Juniors USA (WOMAN) JAPAN
1 4 19
2 4.5 20
3 5 21
4 6 22
5 7 23
6 8 24
7 9 25 (usually more 25 1/2)

I really love my Pumas and I can find more color variations here than in America. They tend to run around the same price as a Junior`s size in America, too. Unless it`s the Body Trains. Buy those in America. They`re oodles more expensive in Japan. Also. My kids looooved the Pumas I bought in Japan as inside shoes.

[Siyris]

Think about it this way.

Being a foreigner: 300 cool points
Dressing like most Alts dress: -250 cool points

Dress well and your kids will think you are cool for longer. This makes them more interested in you, which will make them more likely to want to speak to you, which they have to do in English.

Plus imagine how much those shoes would cost you if you want to buy them in Japan. A lot more, that's how much.

Really it's a bargain I wish I could take advantage of.

Edit: I'm not trolling. I would buy those shoes in a heartbeat if I didn't live here. Will have to pay like $80 import tax and then if they don't fit I can't send them back easily. But otherwise don't see anything wrong with the price.

I'm not sure if you're speaking from experience or not, but I've had the opposite be true o.o My kids are actually more interested in talking to me when I don't look 'like a teacher' to them. On the days I wear a suit I'll get a comment about 'Oh, sensei, you look like an adult. Do you have a meeting?' where as on days I dress more casually (not slummy.... just not in a suit -- my schools are pretty casual) my students are more likely to talk to me.... it decreases the distance they feel and makes them more comfortable just chatting with me.
Also, the times students talk to me most are when they see me on weekends dressed in jeans and a t-shirt or something else that is just comfortable.... they love seeing that the ALT is just another person... and as most ALTs are younger than the other teachers at the school, the JHS kids (and probably SHS though I can't say for sure) love realizing that you like the same sorts of things as they do .... video games, t-shirts, bands, tv shows, etc.


Also, I would not advise anyone to spend more than $40 or so on a pair of indoor shoes. My three pairs cost me a total of $100..... $300 for one pair is a bad idea when you consider everything else you're going to have to pay for at the start of your transition to Japan.

[Gizmotech]

Also, I would not advise anyone to spend more than $40 or so on a pair of indoor shoes. My three pairs cost me a total of $100..... $300 for one pair is a bad idea when you consider everything else you're going to have to pay for at the start of your transition to Japan.

If you've never worked for 6 hours/day then this is sound advice. However there is always something to be said for good, VERY comfortable shoes, especially if you're on your feet all day in front of a class, and usually they are expensive. It's one this I won't compromise on

(For those of you thinking things like "vans" and such are comfortable all day, think again.)

[notJiggit]

I'm not sure if you're speaking from experience or not, but I've had the opposite be true o.o My kids are actually more interested in talking to me when I don't look 'like a teacher' to them. On the days I wear a suit I'll get a comment about 'Oh, sensei, you look like an adult. Do you have a meeting?' where as on days I dress more casually (not slummy.... just not in a suit -- my schools are pretty casual) my students are more likely to talk to me.... it decreases the distance they feel and makes them more comfortable just chatting with me.
Also, the times students talk to me most are when they see me on weekends dressed in jeans and a t-shirt or something else that is just comfortable.... they love seeing that the ALT is just another person... and as most ALTs are younger than the other teachers at the school, the JHS kids (and probably SHS though I can't say for sure) love realizing that you like the same sorts of things as they do .... video games, t-shirts, bands, tv shows, etc.


Also, I would not advise anyone to spend more than $40 or so on a pair of indoor shoes. My three pairs cost me a total of $100..... $300 for one pair is a bad idea when you consider everything else you're going to have to pay for at the start of your transition to Japan.

Dressing well != dressing like a teacher, especially not a Japanese teacher. It also doesn't mean dressing more formally.

I do speak from experience. Recently had ensoku, where I wore a casual shirt and chinos instead of the crummy tracksuits worn by every teacher. Cue screaming fainting children climbing over each other to talk to me.

In any case, teachers wear running trainers or plastic sandals day to day, so loafers will stand out while being work appropriate as well as looking better and being practical. Cheap shoes will look cheap, feel cheap, and fall apart much more quickly.

[Kirari]

I think it is possible to get nice loafers for under $300, though. I'm sorry, but saying that $300 is what you would pay for one pair of shoes only if you are strapped for cash and can't afford the $600 ones (at the moment) is somewhere out in Mitt Romney land, honestly.

Many of us are trying desperately to come up with the 250,000 yen just to make sure we can afford to live, with rent, crazy key money, buying a $400-500 cell phone, and as I've recently discovered, the possibility that we may have to pay up front for the TO hotel and transportation to our area (not being refunded until a couple of months later). I think it's safe to say that $300 for one pair of shoes is considered a huge splurge for at least a simple majority of us. Otherwise, we wouldn't need a job like this.

I think it's clear to most everyone at this point that we want to be comfortable while still looking professional. If we see other teachers at our schools going the tracksuit and sneakers route, then we'll have to decide at the time which is right for us. I don't think I'll be regretting buying a $30-50 pair for at least the beginning. If the only way I can get my students to talk to me is by wearing expensive shoes, then I have a lot of work to do.

[cookiehearts]

If you are in the UK, New Look do ballet flats really cheap and they are dead comfortable after a couple of wears. This is where I bought a lot of my indoor shoes from.

[nyc_to_japan]

I think it is possible to get nice loafers for under $300, though. I'm sorry, but saying that $300 is what you would pay for one pair of shoes only if you are strapped for cash and can't afford the $600 ones (at the moment) is somewhere out in Mitt Romney land, honestly.

Many of us are trying desperately to come up with the 250,000 yen just to make sure we can afford to live, with rent, crazy key money, buying a $400-500 cell phone, and as I've recently discovered, the possibility that we may have to pay up front for the TO hotel and transportation to our area (not being refunded until a couple of months later). I think it's safe to say that $300 for one pair of shoes is considered a huge splurge for at least a simple majority of us. Otherwise, we wouldn't need a job like this.

I think it's clear to most everyone at this point that we want to be comfortable while still looking professional. If we see other teachers at our schools going the tracksuit and sneakers route, then we'll have to decide at the time which is right for us. I don't think I'll be regretting buying a $30-50 pair for at least the beginning. If the only way I can get my students to talk to me is by wearing expensive shoes, then I have a lot of work to do.

+1!!! I'm working two jobs plus some side freelancing work right now and I have no idea whether or not I'll be able to have enough money by the time it's time to go, and so $300 for shoes is definitely not an option. But you can definitely buy great shoes for much less money. I have never spent $300 on a pair of shoes in my life, and I've had many successful teaching jobs. Granted, they were in America, but still.

I'm just jumping into this topic out of nowhere and haven't really read the comments up until kirari's, so perhaps I'm speaking out of turn/context, but +1, Kirari!

[Fukuisaurus]

I'll chime in here too.

I wear North American size 13, Japanese size 31cm. It's virtually impossible for me to buy shoes here unless I get them specially ordered. So naturally I had to bring ALL my footwear from home (which is unfortunate because shoes take up so much damn space in one's luggage). If your feet are larger than US size 10, you will probably have a hard time buying shoes here too.

(For guys), here's what I suggest you bring:

MANDATORY - things you definitely need

1 pair of dress shoes for formal events - you'll be wearing them a lot your first week, but after that you'll hardly ever need them.
1-2 pairs of casual everyday footwear
1 pair of slip-on indoor footwear (these can be anything from slippers to running shoes, just make sure they're easy to slip on and off - you're going to be doing that a lot).

OPTIONAL - things you might want

Sandals for summer / going to the beach
Athletic shoes for running / hiking / outdoor sports.
INDOOR athletic shoes (if you plan to buy a gym membership - most gyms won't let you use your outdoor pair).
Additional pairs of indoor footwear - it's ideal to have 1 pair for each school you teach at, so you don't have to carry your indoor shoes around with you.
Waterproof boots for rainy / snowy weather - depending on where you live, you may not need these.
Any other specialty footwear (e.g. Snowboard boots, Ice skates, Dancing shoes, Surf shoes, etc. etc.)

[Siyris]

Also, I would not advise anyone to spend more than $40 or so on a pair of indoor shoes. My three pairs cost me a total of $100..... $300 for one pair is a bad idea when you consider everything else you're going to have to pay for at the start of your transition to Japan.

If you've never worked for 6 hours/day then this is sound advice. However there is always something to be said for good, VERY comfortable shoes, especially if you're on your feet all day in front of a class, and usually they are expensive. It's one this I won't compromise on

(For those of you thinking things like "vans" and such are comfortable all day, think again.)

I think we'll have to agree to disagree here. I got my $20 tennis shoes from a clearance rack and they are the most comfortable things ever... and they've held up really well. I also got two $40 pairs of shoes -- one is a pair of loafers (really comfy with a memory-gel sole) and the other is a pair of sketchers sneakers for the Elementary school... most comfortable shoes ever. Again... my three pairs of indoor shoes totaled $100 and all of them are prefect for me. I suppose it depends on the person and what kind of shoes he/she is used to, but for me, the cheaper shoes are holding up just fine and are perfectly comfortable for standing all day... or if need be, chasing small children around.