WORK IN CHANGE OF ACCOMMODATION: TOKYO

I still remember when, being in Kuala Lumpur, we registered in two pages: kiwihousesitters (which would allow us to take care of 3 different houses and a few pets in New Zealand) and workaway (a website that gives you the possibility to find jobs in return of food / lodging).

The idea was to use both in New Zealand but in between housesitting, travel by van and some paid work, the workaway was parked in the forgetfulness of our projects ...

... Until we decided to visit one of the countries that we most wanted to know (and that more fear infused our bank accounts): Japan. The idea was to travel for a little month and spend another whole in the capital of the country of the rising sun: Tokyo. There was only one problem: accommodation in Tokyo is very expensive. Eureka !! We lit the bulb: What if we look for a workaway?

Said and done: in a couple of days we contacted a few hostels in Japan and, although most of us replied that they did not need staff for the dates we requested, there was one that gave us the ok: we were going to work in Tokyo for a month!

Let's try to clarify some things about workaway, before telling our experience.

1. What exactly is workaway?

It is a way of traveling where you contact companies that allow youwork in exchange for accommodation (and in some cases food). There are several online platforms where these works are published, we recommend www.worldpackers.com, the options are endless!

2. How much time in advance do you have to look for work?

You may, hopefully, find work from one day to another). In our case, we requested positions in May for December and the vast majority of hostels answered that they were already covered. We would tell you that the best thing, to work in hostels, is to contact a few months in advance.

3. What jobs can be found?

Not only hostels live workaway! There are individuals who are looking for someone to teach their children languages, old women who need children to paint their homes, farms that are looking for people who take care of their animals or collect fruit, also in restaurants and much more ... there are even owners Boats or sailboats looking for helpers!

4. Do you get paid?

No. The idea is that in exchange for a few hours of work you will receive accommodation (and in some cases food). We know of people who, after having started working as a volunteer, received small salaries, but they are the vast minority ...

5. Do you have to pay?

Yes and no). To register on the platform you must pay a annual quota of 49USD for one year, but be careful, if you use this link you have a10USD discount! Olé! There is a way to pay nothing: if what really interests you is to work as a housekeeper or receptionist in a hostel, what you can do is get the emails of the main hostels in a city (you can get listings of hostels on tripadvisor) and send them an email explaining what you are looking for ... surely someone is interested (especially if you speak English and another language!).

6. What is the minimum stay?

Most places ask for a minimum of one month's stay, although there is no fixed rule.

7. Are there other similar websites?

Yes: it is the case of www.workaway.info and www.helpx.net (very similar) or www.wwoof.net (which focuses mostly on work on organic or nature-related farms).

OUR WORKAWAY EXPERIENCE IN TOKYO

Our job was to take care, along with other 4-6 partners, of cleaning a beautiful hostel in Asakusa, the traditional neighborhood of Tokyo.

The work was very quiet and nothing heavy. The hostel had 7 floors: the main one, with the reception and common area, from the first to the sixth with private rooms and bedrooms and the seventh where the communal kitchen was located and another common area.

On a work day, it was normal for me to touch you clean a few rooms and a bedroom plus the bathrooms on one floor (3 wc and 2 showers).But there were also days when I touched youclean the kitchen and reception floor, or the terror of every housekeepers:clean all the bathrooms!

These were our tasks:

1. Clean the rooms / bedrooms

• Do Beds, on average about 10-15. The good thing is that the rooms had futons, so it was not necessary to have sheets, you just had to fold them and leave them at the foot of the beds.
• Clean with koro koro (On the first day we freak out: to clean the comforters and mattresses this great invention is used, it is a roller with a roll of paper with glue that, when it passes through the surfaces, catches hair, lint, dust, etc.). technology!).
• Pass the Vacuum cleaner in the rooms and in the hallways, clean Mirrors, and the powder of the room.
• Lower the garbage.

2. Clean the bathrooms

You don't need much explanation, right? Nobody wants to clean bathrooms ... unless you're not an expert housekeeper (and we, after 3 months of housekeepers in New Zealand, are already mega-cracks haha). It was really the least tiring and less heavy task: considering that the bathrooms were cleaned every day and that, unless the shift arrived, they were practically unpolluted. In addition the soaps we had smelled so good and the Japanese are so kawaii that to clean we had a sponge with a smiley face ... they are so cute!

3. Clean the kitchen

• Scrub any dirty dishes.
• Clean the ceramic hob.
• Fill sugar, salt, tea, coffee & co.
• Mop the floor.
• Wash the rags and scourers.
• Vacuuming.
• Order.
• Lower the garbage
• Occasionally clean the refrigerator and throw away things that either had no owner, or were gone.

The workaway life

We entered every day at 11 and at 14 we had finished, and every day they gave us sweets, sweets, chocolates and cakes! The truth is that the best was the hostel staff: super nice !! Nana, Ayumi, Challin, Takako, Koichi, Konitan, Ruico, Ryoji and Erika 🙂

In exchange for these 3 hours of work we had free accommodation (not in the same hostel, but in a building, which we called 'Tonpachi', in the same area). Here we lived with about 15-20 boys who came from every corner of the world (Japan, Indonesia, Australia, France, Taiwan, Italy, Germany ...).

My roommates (there were also two very rare Taiwanese who almost never spoke :-p)

We had common dormitories (separated by sexes), community bathrooms and kitchen and a lot of freedom: as we already told you, when working only 3 hours, the rest of the day you could use for whatever you wanted ... And in Tokyo there are so many things to do!

On our last day we were organized a farewell party with homemade food that had been prepared by the mother of one of the girls in the hostel and gifts ... including a little card with our cartoons (they made me with the smiling smiley sponge of the bathroom lol, not in Seriously, the Japanese are so kawaii !!).

Another tip was that we lived in the Asakusa area, our favorite in Tokyo, full of locals, traditional corners and options for cheap dining (we also lived about 100 meters from the ROX shopping center, where every night we were going to buy dinner at 50% of discount at the Seiyu supermarket!).

During the month we spent there we enjoyed ourselves as dwarves: we were able to calmly meet many corners of Tokyo (which freaks out!), We shared experiences with nice people, we did barbecues, purikura sessions, beer picnics, community breakfasts of which they are cool and great excursions

It was certainly a great experience ... we recommend the workaway and work in exchange for accommodation 100% (and who knows ... maybe we will go back to Japan!).