My name is Elaysia Morgan ( I usually just go by Morgan) and this is my story of moving to Japan, going to school in the first half of my adventures and working at Come On Up in the second half. August 2018 I decided to pack my bags, jump on a train to Schiphol Airport (Amsterdam), catch a flight, and live in Japan. This came with a lot of pre planning of course! I currently go to school in the Netherlands, so living in a foreign country wasn’t something I was afraid of as I have been living in the Netherlands for over 5 years. I am a 25 year old island girl. I was born and raised in the Caribbean on a 5 square mile island called Saba and was always exposed to the amazing wonders of traveling. My parents came from two different worlds, my dad also from a Caribbean island (St. Lucia) and my mother from South America (Surinam). Therefore I was no stranger to traveling constantly.

So what brought me to Japan? Trail and error I would say. I wanted to pursue a career in graphic design and fine arts and I realised it was not my dream, business was, trade between countries and the wonders Japan had to offer. So I studied Trade Management Asia with a focus on Japan. When moving here, I did a study abroad program in Osaka at the Kansai Gaidai University which I had a blast. I met people from all over the world and at the end of the program I met 2 people I can consider friends for a life time.

After finishing my semester at Kansai Gaidai and saying good bye to my two best buddies I decided I needed a change in scenery. I lived in Osaka for 4 and a half months, I wanted to move somewhere else for the remaining 14 weeks of my internship. An old classmate from the Netherlands recommended a share housing company called Come On Up and I was immediately intrigued after looking at their company info and what all they do.

I had a job interview in Osaka and less than a week later I packed my things and moved to the Asakusa Kuramae house in Tokyo. This is where I met another life long friend. When entering the house, I was tired and overwhelmed by all the suitcases I carried and the fact that I hadn’t slept in 2 days. My new roommate Summer, greeted me with the warmest welcome from the minute I opened the front door and made the dinner a girl can ask for.

Monday was my first day at work by the Come on up office and I did not know what to expect. Everyone again welcomed me with open arms and were very curious as to what my story was and what I am capable in contributing to Come on up! I got to know most of my co workers and enjoyed working with them. The task given were both interesting and fun. I helped reform the craig’slist ads, create new ads, give opinions on what can be changed as far as advertisement.

I was grateful that the company had placed me in the Kuramae house, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The share house is what I am used to … noisy. One thing I had to get used to moving to Japan was how quiet it was and moving to Kuramae I got that noise back which in a strange way was very comforting.

In addition my roommate Summer also made me feel at home as we shared stories about our life, the different cuisines of our very different cultures and basically just hung out. Before coming to Japan I’ve never lived in a share house and when moving to Tokyo it was an amazing experience and I enjoyed it to the fullest.

If you want to continue following my journey or have any questions feel free to follow me on my Instagram.