Three Months In

Well, it's now officially been over three months since I first arrived here in Tokyo. So I thought this would be a good time for reflection on past, present and future.

Thoughts on the past three months:

Before I moved here, I really had no idea exactly what to expect. So it's been great to finally spend a measurable amount of time here and understand things better. I always wondered what would happen.. "What if" I saved my money, quit my job, and headed off to Tokyo? What would happen? What kind of life would be waiting for me there? Now I'm finding out the answer to this question that has been nagging me for years.

There have been some disappointments. The main disappointment has been that I have been unable to secure a job after three months. I thought for sure that after three months of pounding the pavement, something would turn up. I've had some times where I came close, but so far nothing concrete has materialized.

Readers of this blog might be surprised to hear my other disappointment - that I haven't been able to meet my friends so often. This may come as a bit of a surprise, given all the pictures of me hanging out with my friends. But friends that I used to meet 2-3 times a week when we both lived in Toronto, I'm now lucky if I see 1-2 times a month in Tokyo. It's partly a reflection on how busy Tokyo people are, and it's also a reflection on how big Tokyo is. For example, my friend Aichan who lives in the neighboring prefecture of Yokohama, it takes her about 2 hours to get to Kichijoji, including multiple trains and a bus.

But there have been some surprises. The biggest surprise is how quickly my neighborhood has begun to feel like 'home'. I feel very settled, living in my room in Oakhouse. While of course there are many aspects of Tokyo (and Japan in general) that are still unknown to me, the main areas of Kichijoji and Inokashira Park feel very safe and familiar to me.

I'm also surprised how much I enjoy teaching private English lessons. While it's essentially just a way to help pay the bills, I really enjoy teaching my students. I guess because it's really just an extension of what I was doing in Toronto with my Japanese friends.

Thoughts on the present:

Now that I'm back from Taipei, I've been given a visitor's visa for another three months. If I want to stay much longer than that, I'll need to do something different than I've been doing over the last three months, as my dwindling funds and visa status will prevent me staying here long-term. So with that in mind, here is my 'action' plan for the next three months:

1. Get re-acquainted with recruiters. I've met with countless recruiters over the last three months, but all of them know my visa expired in June. Now that I've got a new visa, I need to go back and contact all those recruiters again to let them know I have a new visa and that I'm still in Japan looking for work.

2. Get Microsoft Certified. I worry that simply re-acquainting with recruiters might not be enough. In order to help make myself more viable in the Japanese job market, and as a way to make myself more visible on job searching websites, I will try to get at least an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) certification. I've already obtained the appropriate prep materials so once I've finished studying, I'll take the exam. It's only about $150 US dollars so it'd likely be a worthwhile investment.

3. Hunt more aggressively for private English students. Right now I can get some money teaching English privately, but it's not quite enough to live on (although I'm getting close). I've been looking at ways to get students more quickly so that I can at least fix my financial situation. It won't fix my visa problem, but at least it would let me stay here a bit longer so I can find a way to fix that.

4. Practice Japanese more. When I first arrived here, I noticed my Japanese improving a lot for the first few weeks. But now that I teach English seven days a week, I find I'm speaking Japanese a lot less and therefore I'm not improving as quickly as I'd like. I need to look at ways to increase the amount of Japanese I use in my daily life. Living here is a tremendous opportunity to improve, and I feel like I'm not taking full advantage of that.

Thoughts on the future:

I can hear the words of Yoda, "Clouded, this boy's future is." My future will largely depend on two things: finances and visa status. If I can find a way to stay here long-term, then I will. An IT job with an Engineer visa is currently the only way I can see that happening, but I'm open to other options if I see them come up.

If I can't stay here, then I'll go back to Toronto. But please don't think that if I go back to Toronto, it would be such a horrible thing. I have already learned so much about Tokyo and what is needed to succeed here. Even if I go back to Toronto, there's nothing to stop me from saving my money and coming back to Tokyo again in the future. Plus the skills I'm gaining in English tutoring would help me in Toronto too, as I understand there's a market for English tutoring with Japanese and Korean students in Toronto.

So what can I say to wrap this up... living in Tokyo is an amazing experience. It's something that will stay with me forever, and will permanently alter my way of thinking and perspective on life. And when I look back at my life 20 years from now, I won't have to wonder "What if I had done it?" because I'm here right now, doing it!