One popular thing this week seems to be to blog about “life altering” moments and experiences. This got me thinking about how I ended up in Japan and what events and decisions lead me down this path.
In April, I will be celebrating my 12th year in Japan. I never thought I would be here this long and if you had told me twenty years ago, you’ll live in Japan, get married to a Japanese bloke and have kids, then I would have probably laughed in your face. Twenty years ago I was about to enter University as a mature student. Seven years earlier, I had just left school (junior high) and got a job in a hairdressers through the YTS scheme. (A Youth Training Programme in the 1980s in the UK) After a few years as a hairdresser, I became bored and knew that I couldn’t do this for another 40 odd years. I made a very quick decision one August, after a month Inter-railing round Europe, that I wanted to go “back to school” to get all those basic qualifications I couldn’t be bothered to get when I had the chance. One week later I was enrolled at college and working nights at an energy-sapping catering empire. (Pizza Hut – students’ best friend!) 90% of the staff were all Uni students. It’s all very “Educating Rita”, but just like Julie Walters in the film, I am an ex-hairdresser who went on to study English at University. If I hadn’t made this decision, I would probably still be perming pensioners’ hair in Stockport.
After graduating Uni, I went straight into a Post-grad course to get my teaching licence. Fast forward to the mid-90s and I am Head of Media at a rough inner-city comp in Newcastle Upon Tyne – the largest comprehensive school outside of London. Stress up to the eyeballs, mountains of paperwork that MUST be done yet once it’s filed never gets looked at! Another summer holiday allowed me to spend far too long naval gazing and pondering my future. Teaching was great, but the admin and the marking was crazy. One friend suggested I find a new job.
So imagining myself living in Prague or perhaps Paris or Barcelona, I looked at The Times ED Supplement to search for my dream job abroad. To my surprise there were no jobs in the destinations I’d imagined, but there were three very big ads for jobs in Japan (NOVA, JET, GEOS). I’d never really thought about travelling to Asia let alone living and working there. Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching Stephanie Beecham’s ordeal, as Blanche, in a Japanese concentration camp in the BBC’s popular TV show “Tenko”, but I had, I am now ashamed to admit, NEVER heard of Hello Kitty! I can even remember watching “Monkey Magic” on Sunday mornings as a kid, but I just wasn’t interested in Japanese culture at all. I couldn’t even use chopsticks never mind tie an obi!
Anyway, not really expecting anything to come of it, I sent off applications to all three companies and interviews were set up. I only went to one (NOVA) as I got offered a job and if I hadn’t come to Japan through this route, I would never have got off my arse to sort out the particulars that were required to come and live here. NOVA did everything and before I knew it, I was on a plane to Narita and then had my hand held all the way to my new apartment in Fujisawa. I had a three year visa which meant I could stay longer than the year I had originally anticipated, I could change jobs at the end of my contract with NOVA having found somewhere else to live. Each year, I would tell myself, “one more year, there’s still so much to see and do”. The truth is, teaching here is great. I love teaching and in Japan I can do just that. Admin for me, as a foreigner, is minimal. I can keep ahead of the game because I don’t have piles of A-level Literature and Media essays to mark and assess. My job is enjoyable because it is manageable. I’m busy, but not depressingly so. Teaching in the UK is anything but manageable and it is, in all fairness, depressing.
Though, I do have fond memories, too. I particularly remember the six 16 year old girls who surprised me by waiting at the airport to wave me off shouting “Sayonnara Pet!” I am still in touch with them to this day. Aawww!
