A European's move towards Japan
I booked my ticket. One way only. The flight is on May 4th, 11:20 and I will arrive in Japan on May 5th, 12:00.
It is very exciting and I feel exhilarated. Finally I’m moving forward.
There are so many little things to still take care of though. Sometimes, when I look at those and the pile of boxes in my apartment, I wish I could just get up, close the door and leave everything behind.
And then I remember that unresolved issues have the tendency to return and haunt you when you least expect it…
I have just started a langage tandem for Japanese! This is a pair of people, where one is a native (or at least fluent) in the language the other wants to learn.The idea is to meet and to spend half the time speaking one language, the other half of the time the other language.
According to wikipedia, the tandem idea was developed in the 1970s. It is used at universities for incoming foreign students for example, but with the new possibilities of the internet, a personal meeting is not necessary any more, and people can also do their tandems by skype or online chats, or simply per email.
My tandem partner is Tomoko san from Nagoya who has been living in Germany for about 5 years now, and who has recently moved to my town. Although she says she only speaks English with her (German) husband, her German is much better than my Japanese. Tomoko san is a great person, and as we are the same age, we have lots of things to talk about. And we do so – mostly in German (and some English, I confess), but sometimes in Japanese too.
And I think this is ecactly what such a tandem is about: speaking. And listening comprehension of course. At least I don’t think I could seriously teach German grammar to anyone, my knowledge of that comes mainly from the comparisons I drew when learning English.
In any case, I’m very glad I’ve met her and we have agreed to meet twice a week for now. When I told her I wanted to permanently move to Japan soon, she promised to help me getting up to speek. I’m looking forward to it!
There are a number of sites – not affiliated to any universities – where you can try to find a tandem partner. (Hint: google for “tandem + language you want to learn”, for example “tandem Japanese”) It’s possible and preferrable to meet in person, or on the internet. Unfortunately, some of the websites you’ll find will allow you to post your tandem request for free – but you can only contact people if at least one of you pays additional fees… Very annoying!
I just received the results of the JLPT (Japanese language proficiency test) I took last December.
I failed.
Not spectacularly, as I passed the minimum requirement for each part the test, but I failed to gather more than 50 % of the points overall. Yes, this is disappointing, but not altogether unexpected.
First of all, with all the goings-on in Austria last fall, that required me to travel quite a bit, I was occupied with other things, so my studies had to take a back seat, unfortunately.
Second, I did not know enough vocabulary – by far not. That means, I spent too much time in trying to figure out the meaning of certain words from their context – and even without doing this, the time for the test is very limited, especially for the reading part. So there were many questions I didn’t even get to before the time ran out.
In the end, I only have myself to blame for my failure, of course, but still, I learned some valuable things:
A few facts about the JLPT:
Want to take the test yourself? Check out the JLPT site – with all sorts of hints and tryout exercises and links to institutes where you can take the test and learning materials and…
When moving, especially internationally, the first and most important task is to minimize the amount of possessions one has to ship.
I have tried to do this as much as possible in the last few years already, primarily by not accumulating too many new things. I am an avid reader, but have tried to get most of my material from the local library or online as e-texts or audiobooks. I have tried to “make do” and “use up” as many other things as possible, clothing for example (thank goodness I work in a very fashion unconscious profession) or household goods (how many sheets or towels do you really need? And more cookware would only lead to my doing the dishes even less frequently…;-))
So, when starting to plan my exit strategy to Japan, I thought I could move with a minimum amount of necessities, even without getting rid of too many things.
But then, of course, while you’re busy making plans, this life thing happens… Last autumn it so happened that I inherited the family home back in Austria. It is a large house with basement, attic and garage, and while my family was not prone to hoarding, the house was still full to the brim with 20+ years of accumulated clutter.
It took me many weekends and my complete Christmas vacation to deal with, well, most of it. Some things were easy: outright junk, most of the furniture, family heirlooms. The other 70 percent, however, are the difficult ones: books, kitchen ware, linens, towels, memorabilia, assorted “I don’t really want it, but I just can’t throw it away”. However, I managed to unclutter and toss and whittle those 70 percent down to 12 cubic metres.
12 cubic metres, a great part of which I still don’t need or want, but need more time to sort through and make decisions about.
12 cubic metres that have just arrived and clutter up my apartment…
I have just cancelled the lease for apartment – it will end in May.
That I am going to leave has been clear for quite a while now, but still, I procrastinated considerably on sending that email. It seems I am more afraid of this step than I’d like to admit to myself. It’s not the moving as such of course, I have moved five times in the last seven years, and while I don’t enjoy it, I got used to it and can almost consider myself an expert.
No, I think it’s the fact that I don’t know what will await me on the other side. So far, there was always at least a job waiting for me, and almost always people I knew beforehand. In all cases I have been received very friendly, and people have always tried to help me settle in as quickly as possible.
No such thing this time. It’s just me, myself and I. The friends I have in Japan may not be able to provide as much help as I may need.
Giving up already? No way. Every time I pushed through my initial fears, the outcome was well worth the pain, and I never regretted persevering. Still, that voice is nagging inside my head “You give up all your security, so what if…?” It’s not easy to make that coward stop…
I spent last Sunday online looking for employment opportunities in Japan.
The good news: There are plenty of open jobs for foreigners.
The bad news: Unless you’d want to do something else than teaching English…
I’m not good with kids, so I’m not sure a teaching job would be a good fit for me. And also, I’m not an English native, although only “native level” is required for most of those positions. Also, I am confident that my grasp of English grammar – as I had to study it rather painfully – is better than that native’s whom I overheard teaching in Korea once (“We use future progressive to give our speech a more warm and friendly feeling.” Honey, I’ll be believing that when hell is freezing over…)
However, even if you don’t want to teach, there seem to be enough jobs around – but those require rather fluent Japanese, which I don’t think is going to happen within this year.
I could start as a student again. There are student visas permitting up to 20 hours of work per week. But then, I’m not sure I’d want to be a full time student again right now – I believe I’m too old for that – or not old enough? Besides, most classes would be taught in Japanese anyway, and language schools preparing you for university are extremely expensive.
What about being a tour guide? Showing people MY beloved Japan sounds great, no? Well, of course there is an exam for this as well, so you have a basic understanding of the country and the language you want to use, and the exam is – you’ve guessed it – administered in Japanese.
The final good news is that any job I have found so far seems to be very well paid – for Western standards at least. And finding a job may be much easier once I am actually in the country. So I’ve not lost all hope yet, at the start already.
In the worst case, I can always bite the bullet and teach English. Meanwhile, there is always the hope that this blog makes me rich quick… 😉
Moving to a new country, nay, a new life even, requires some serious thoughts and planning.
Unless you are of the extremely adventurous persuasion, who can move anywhere with only a carry-on and a week’s notice, of course.
In my age, however, I need somewhat more security, so here is a list of things that require some thinking and research beforehand.
Living arrangements
Japan is obvious, but which region and city? I have visited many cities in Japan, from Otaru in Hokkaido to Fukuoka in Kyushu. I have seen Hiroshima, Tokyo, Sendai, Niigata… but none of those places have fascinated me as much as Kyoto. It is wonderful with its mixture of traditional and modern Japan, and with about 1.5 million inhabitants it’s tiny for Asian standards – especially when compared to the moloch of Tokyo. Also I hope that in Kyoto, being a center of touristic activities, it may be a good place for foreigners seeking work.
Employment
That is the next thing to worry about. I will need a work visa to be able to work in Japan, to be able to open a bank account, etc. This means I will need a job, preferrable before moving there. That, however, is the tricky thing, as so far I have only decided that I need a change of career, but not to which one. Apparently, there are many foreigners living and working in Japan illegaly on a 90 days tourist visa, but as I want to build my life there, this is not an option. Some serious soul searching has to follow, and rather quickly at that.
Language
Japanese is a rather diffcult language to learn for a European. Once the japanese writing is mastered – the Hiragana and Katakana – there are still thousands of Kanji – Chinese characters – to learn. Not to mention the grammar, which is completely different from any Western language I’ve ever studied. The simple sentence “I want to go to the library” turns upside down into “Library to go want”, with all the action hidden in the verb at the end of the sentence. I have been learning Japanese on and off for two years now, and it went fairly well in the beginning. However, once I reached the heights of Japanese politeness, with new expressions, vocabulary, and grammatical delicacies, I found myself facing an enourmous roadblock. I will have to invest some serious work here, to not only be able to talk somehow, but to talk politely.
Belongings
While I would love moving with as few possessions as possible, unfortunately this does not appear to be feasible. My life so far has created an abundance of stuff: family heirlooms, treasured photographs and beloved pieces, practical and useful belongings, in short odds and ends of an existence I am not willing to give up entirely. Of course there is the option of leaving some of those things with well meaning friends and getting them piece by piece, but I think this may only strain the relationship with my friends, and besides, it only postpones the problem. So, I will have to sort through all my belongings one by one to decide what to do with them. Some decisions will be easy: I cannot take any electrical appliances, as electricity in Japan has 110 V only. Others will be hard: I love my books, all 1000 of them… and what about my heirloom china? I have found that it’s easier for me to part with things if they go to a new home where they are used again. I hope I will find many such places for many of my things.
Help
A big move like this one is not possible without some help from outside. So far, I have kept rather quiet about my plans, but sooner or later I will need assistance on various levels. The first thing to do is go to the Japanese embassy to find out about visas and other legal procedures before an immigration. Also, I know quite a few people – both expats and natives – in Japan, although not all of them live close to Kyoto. I want to let them know about my plans, and I will try to overcome my fears and actually ask for help once in a while. Maybe this way, things will go as smoothly as possible. There is one person I would like to ask being my mentor for Japanese culture and customs, but I want to wait with approaching him once I have actually arrived in Japan.
Big plans, long to-do list. I hope I will manage all of this in time…
This is the year when it will happen.
So long wished for, so long imagined.
No more.
No more wishful thinking, no more unfulfilled dreams, no more imaginary life.
This year I will make it real.
I will move to Japan.
Finally.
This year will bring the biggest change I have ever made. At this point, my future is uncertain. All that is certain are the things I will leave behind: My country, my friends, my career, in short: my life as I have lived it so far.
And for what?
For Japan.
What does that mean?
I don’t know. All I do know is that of all the countries I have lived in (5) and have visited (14), it calls to me the loudest. All of it – country, people, culture – and still nothing, because I have no words to describe what it is that pulls me in. It’s like a maelstrom I cannot fight, and as I have now decided to stop resisting, all I can hope is that it will not spit me out again.
This is my declaration.
These are my plans.
This is my journey.
It starts now.