The city is located north of Sendai. About 15 minutes by the Shinkansen or 1 hour by car or bus.

It is an average sized city in Japanese standards but when compared with the ones in Czech Republic the city is big. Osaki is located north of Sendai, about 15 minutes by Shinkansen and 1h by car or bus. There is everything you'd need, a lot of grocery stores, a gym, swimming pool, lots of restaurants and pubs. Surprisingly, there are all the popular fast-food chains here, like McDonalds, KFC, Dominos, pizza hut and Starbucks. Although I'd recommend eating in the local restaurants and shops. There are not really a lot of touristic attractions here.

There are some beautiful places around Osaki that are just a train ride away. I was on the Narugo mountain, it was a nice hike around a thermal lake. Then I descended into a Naruko Onsen village that has a lot of thermal baths around. You can also take a ride to Matsushima to a famous bridge called Fukurabashi Bridge that connects to Fukuurajima island. Sendai is also a nice large city to visit! I bought a "JR pass" for a week, so I could travel all around Japan on the Weeklong Obon holidays. I made a trip all the way to Hiroshima in just one afternoon, I've then got to experience Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.

Alps Alpine is an electronics manufacturer, making all sorts of small electronic components like buttons and encoders. They are now starting to focus on the automotive area. I was working in the R&D division. All my colleagues were pleasant. The only disadvantage was, that nobody could speak English well, mostly not even a bit. But everyone was trying to, and modern translators were a big help.

A lot of my work included programing and data analysis. Thanks to me already working at Alps Alpine in Czech Republic I was given mostly tasks that were around the same area of work. I have obtained a lot of knowledge, especially programming as I was using Python a lot. I've learned to properly use the Pyside QT library alongside PyQtGraph.

The salary I got was the maximum that you can get in Japan without the working Visa. If I were just staying at home, paying only for food and some of the cookware I needed, I think I would manage. But when I wanted to travel, I needed my own finances.

As I have mentioned before, some of my employers and colleagues knew a tiny bit of English, but most of the time a translator was required. Knowing Japanese is an extreme plus, you won't feel alone that much as Japanese people are interesting and pleasant to talk to. If I were to stay in Tokyo, English would be all I need, but since I was far North, away from any popular touristic destination, everyone knew just Japanese. But it is manageable, and I got used to it fairly fast.

It was a large apartment, in Japanese standards, although it was in a "Japanese style". This meant I didn't have a proper table with a chair, but a futon and that's it. Employer paid for it and provided me with the Futon and bed covers. I needed to buy all the kitchen equipment, personal hygiene etc. I had a working internet, as well as an ethernet plug for my laptop. I got used to sleeping and living on the futon, it was a cool experience.

When we arrived from the airport, we've met with an IAESTE member that helped us get to the employer’s Tokyo location, she was very helpful and nice. There was an organized event by the IASTE members of Japan, it was a fun and day of meeting other students and enjoying the Japanese culture.

I've met foreign students only at the IAEST events, but there was a lot of opportunity to use the WhatsApp group where other internship students were.

The Japanese culture is complicated and important to understand at least the basics of it. There are some unspoken rules that is best to follow. For example, you don't point at people, you bow instead of shaking hands, you call people by their Last name and use "-san" at the end in professional speak. Japanese people are often really kind in public, they won't really tell you what they think about you. Because of this "yes" means "yes" and "maybe" means "no it's a bad idea". Also, do not eat on public transport like buses or trams and do not tip! There is much more culture and etiquette connected to Japan. You can do almost any sport you'd do in Czech Republic. Swimming, gyms, cycling, tennis etc.

I was ready for a different cuisine, and I was so surprised. Everything that I've eaten was good. I was always scared of seafood, but when there, I tried it with no hesitation and loved it. My favorites were Ramen and pork bowls. It was a bit hard to convince myself to not fear restaurant since I didn't know any Japanese, but all the waiters were really pleasant and understanding. I was really surprised about yakitori, those are meat skewers of any kind, really good and worth the try. There was also Teppanyaki, where you have a grill as a part of table and order stuff which you then grill by yourself! There was so much to try around and experience that I did not manage to try everything so don't fret if something similar happens to you to!

Any popular messaging application. I used WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, Discord everything worked without any problem.

Definitively don't be angry on the people are not speaking the language you want, you are in their country, you should know their language, be thankful when they do speak English and cherish it. Look online for some basic cultural rules that you should follow and live into if you want to feel accepted and comfortable. Don't feel scared about not knowing Japanese, it might be hard, you will feel homesick, sad, but you will adjust, and it will just get better and better as the time goes. Body language and translators often help a lot. Don’t be scared about asking the locals for help, most of them are pleasant and nice, but shy people that are always happy to help.

If you are coming to a company, you should really buy a few long pairs of black or blue pants. Jeans are not considered a part of the work dress code. And yes, even if you are going in summer. If you buy thin and comfortable ones, it may be even pleasant to wear them. A few Yen in cash form will not hurt, although I was able to find an ATM fast and withdraw some. Otherwise, you can buy a lot of the things you'd need there. For example, Daiso is a cheap shop with things costing around 100 to 300 yen. So, kitchen equipment can be bought there.

I had an opportunity to see a beautiful country with an interesting culture and learn a lot of new things while there. I will surely visit again whenever I get the chance!

Most of the communication was handled through email, although a lot of the IASTE Japan members communicated through WhatsApp.