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Camille spent a year in Japan on a WHV before going back to school

Meghan

Interview

09-07-2024

Camille spent a year in Japan on a WHV before going back to school

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Article Summary

Meet Camille, a 24-year-old student from Paris who embarked on an exciting Working Holiday Visa (WHV) adventure in Japan. After completing her master's degree, Camille chose Japan for its allure and the personal challenges it presented. During her stay, she lived in Tokyo and juggled various jobs—from working in a cheese shop to teaching languages and assisting at a film festival. This allowed her to fund travels across Japan, exploring places like Kyoto, Osaka, and even experiencing the snowy onsens of Hokkaido.
Camille's WHV journey was transformative, giving her freedom, personal growth, and the chance to overcome everyday challenges in a foreign culture. Her advice to future WHV participants is to shed biases, embrace mistakes, and truly immerse themselves in the local and diverse cultures. Curious about how Camille turned an embarrassing moment with a Starbucks emergency button into a memorable anecdote? Dive into her full story to discover more about her adventures and insights from her year in Japan.

Camille

Current location

Tokyo, Japon

Occupation

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1. Can you please introduce yourself?

Camille

Hi, my name is Camille. I’m 24 and I’m a student in Paris.

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2. What country did you pick for your WHV and why?

Camille

After finishing my masters degree, I decided to go to Japan and spend some time thinking about what I wanted to do next, but also to travel and to challenge myself. I chose Japan because it has always been a country that fascinated me. And I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone.

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3. How did you spend your working holiday?

Camille

For my working holiday, I chose to be based in Tokyo. It’s a city where I could make friends and find work more easily. My goal was to work a few weeks per month and then spend my earnings on travelling around Japan. I had many jobs: staff at a cheese shop, English and French teacher, babysitter, model, and assistant at a film festival! As for travel, I made trips to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Mie prefecture (birthplace of shintoism), the northernmost island of Hokkaido, and Okinawa. I skied in Nagao, and also did my first solo trip to Hiroshima, Miyajima, Tomonoura, and Naoshima!

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4. What has your WHV experience brought you?

Camille

For me, embarking on a WHV for a year brought me two things: time and freedom. It was the first time in a while that I was free from routine, and that I was able to use my time however I wanted. It’s a true blessing to have so much freedom to choose. Also, it was an opportunity to realise a few personal achievements:

Learn a new language
Make friends from many countries
Travel solo
Learn to overcome day to day obstacles in a foreign environment
Adapt to a new work culture
Build new routines in a new country

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5. Best memory from your working holiday?

Camille

Admiring the sunrise from an onsen in snowy Hokkaido, while listening to the noises from the local geese!

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6. Any advice for prospective working holiday makers?

Camille

Don’t go with biases and expectations that you saw in movies
Don’t be afraid of making mistakes
Don’t only stay within your own expat bubble in Japan; go meet people from other countries too (and not only Japanese either!)
Take the time to travel, spend several days in the same spot, try slow tourism
Escape the traditional Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka itinerary and explore other corners of Japan
Don’t be scared of trying!

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7. What are your plans now?

Camille

I’m continuing my studies and hope to work in my desired field, so that I can save for an eventual working holiday in Taiwan.

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8. And an interesting anecdote to wrap it up?

Camille

My limited knowledge of kanji characters led me to press an emergency button in a Starbucks in Shibuya by mistake, causing alarms to go off. All the Japanese customers turned to stare at me and I couldn’t even explain my error. This incident was my main source of shame during my working holiday! Of course, I got over it and I’ll never forget those kanji characters.

Meghan

Ancienne rédactrice web pour Pvtistes, je suis Québécoise. J’ai réalisé un PVT en France de 2022 à 2024. Je vis maintenant à Prague, en Tchéquie.

Former writer for Pvtistes, and I'm from Quebec. I did a WHV in France from 2022 to 2024. I’m now living in Prague, Czechia.

Camille spent a year in Japan on a WHV before going back to school

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