What the hell should I do?

[Crispy]

Hm, haven't been in here for a while, not since I came back from studying in Japan. I'm all graduated now, and looking (increasingly desparately) for a way to get back into Japan and make some money at the same time. However, having heard only horror stories about the big eikaiwa schools, I am searching for alternatives. Oh, and JET and KET (a similar program unique to Kawagoe-shi in Saitama and to my university) rejected my dumb ass. Not being in Japan (indeed, not having a passport until I get a new one to replace my stolen one), I am kind of confused about how to go about finding a non-eikaiwa, or at least non-mainstream eikaiwa job. I can feel my Japanese ability slipping away every day that I am here...

Here's my resume (http://www.willamette.edu/~cmann/resume.htm), do any currrent Japan dwellers know of any jobs that fit this? No matter how crazy, I will consider it.

[Caustic Saint]

Hiya Crispy,

I'm just down I-5 from you, in Tacoma. I came back to the US from a year of teaching in Korea, with a short side-trip to Tokyo. I fell in love with Japan instantly and had my mind set on working there next. Sadly, the opportunities I looked at fell through, as it can be tough to get hired when you're not in the country.

My plan is to head back to Korea in September for another year of teaching and saving. Once that's done, I'm striking out to Tokyo on my own to get set up and find work. Not the exact solution I was looking for, but it'll get me into Japan with a nice cash reserve. I found out in my few days there that it's not a place one wants to be poor.

One suggestion I'd offer you is to take the JLPT, so you can put a measurement of your language ability on your resume that prospective employers will recognize.

Best of luck!

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

Hiya Crispy,

I'm just down I-5 from you, in Tacoma. I came back to the US from a year of teaching in Korea, with a short side-trip to Tokyo. I fell in love with Japan instantly and had my mind set on working there next. Sadly, the opportunities I looked at fell through, as it can be tough to get hired when you're not in the country.

My plan is to head back to Korea in September for another year of teaching and saving. Once that's done, I'm striking out to Tokyo on my own to get set up and find work. Not the exact solution I was looking for, but it'll get me into Japan with a nice cash reserve. I found out in my few days there that it's not a place one wants to be poor.

One suggestion I'd offer you is to take the JLPT, so you can put a measurement of your language ability on your resume that prospective employers will recognize.

Best of luck!

Hey Causty,

Where in Korea were you? What's it like to be a foreigner there. I spent some time in Pusan recently and enjoyed it. You could take a cab all the way across town for about $10.00.

There was a beach area that is near where the foreign community lives that was actually pretty nice. Most of the Koreans I met were pretty helpful.

[Caustic Saint]

Hey Causty,

Where in Korea were you? What's it like to be a foreigner there. I spent some time in Pusan recently and enjoyed it. You could take a cab all the way across town for about $10.00.

There was a beach area that is near where the foreign community lives that was actually pretty nice. Most of the Koreans I met were pretty helpful.
I've lived in Pyeong Taek, Seoul and Bundang (in chronological order). I spent 3 years there in the army, then went back for a year of teaching.

It's very easy to be a foreigner (waygook) in Korea, and here are some of the reasons:

The per capita percentage of English speakers is much higher than Japan.
The language (writing specifically) is much easier to pick up than Japanese.
The cost of living is dirt cheap, as most teaching jobs provide an apartment as part of the contract (utilities are the teacher's responsibility).
Restaurants are everywhere and most are quite inexpensive. (I've had a lunch with 4 other people that filled us all up and cost $15.)
It's geek paradise. They've got the highest BB penetration in the world, and computer stuff is everywhere and pretty cheap.
If you don't mind the black market aspects of a lot of it, you can get any new movie within days of its US theatrical release (if not earlier) for $8-10 on DVD.

I had more fun as a civilian and got bitten quite hard by the expat bug. I don't mind going back for a year just to save my "getting set up" money for Japan.

Korea this Fall, Japan the next! :D

[ramchop]

I had more fun as a civilian and got bitten quite hard by the expat bug.

What's the expat bug? Desire to be an expat, or enjoyment in being part of a close knit community whose common traits lie primarily in being of the same race/nationality?

[Caustic Saint]

I had more fun as a civilian and got bitten quite hard by the expat bug.
What's the expat bug? Desire to be an expat, or enjoyment in being part of a close knit community whose common traits lie primarily in being of the same race/nationality?
I'd say it's the enjoyment of living in a different culture, very different from your own. Also, being with people you'd ordinairly never meet.

In Korea, I had friends from the parts of the US I'd never been to, Australia, England, New Zealand, Canada, Morocco and, of course, Korea. I'd never have such a diverse grouping here in the US. While almost all of us had the same kind of job (teaching), we were still very different - some good, some not-so-good.

It's far more interesting than the 9-to-5 life in the US. I'd say your choice of "desire" is pretty much dead-on. I liked being the foreigner, living somewhere that wasn't what I was used to. I like hearing foreign languages and seeing signs that aren't in English.

Oddly enough, after a month of being back in the US, I was a little homesick for Korea. I missed my favorite restaurants, favorite street vendors, favorite junkfoods and hangouts. I miss more about Korea being in the US than I did about the US when I was in Korea. That, more than anything, told me I should live somewhere other than here.

Sure, it's easier to get stuff done in the US (with a few exceptions), but convenience isn't worth the tradeoff for all the stuff I like. I'm in the process of lightening my material load here, so that when I leave there will be little more than a box of paperwork and a few small things to tie me here. No need to pay for a storage unit or anything. Condense my life to my luggage and a bit of tech, and I'm set to go.

I can't wait!

[Crispy]

I see that I am no longer the subject of this thread...

[Caustic Saint]

It's still your thread, Crispy. Didn't mean to get it sidetracked like that.

Sorry.

[Gaisaradatsuraku!]

I had more fun as a civilian and got bitten quite hard by the expat bug.

What's the expat bug? Desire to be an expat, or enjoyment in being part of a close knit community whose common traits lie primarily in being of the same race/nationality?

Come on. Well all know it's the AznPntrzn!

OOOOOOh!

[cstaylor]

Could you go into a little more detail on your QA experience?

[Crispy]

For three months I worked as the only software tester for a developer of 24 employees. I mainly tested a database backend program that was in a very early stage of development and barely worked at all, but for some reason the client kept wanting to see interim builds for, so it was quite hectic. I had to write the test scripts myself, which was quite challenging because there was no product spec as such (or at least, not one that they ever showed me). I basically waded my way through that, at the same time I would occasionally test various interface things on their main program which actually worked most of the time. I learned a little bit about database design in sql and the place's proprietary language, and the xml interface. Weird times...

[cstaylor]

Ever programmed before?

[Crispy]

Only for class more than two years ago, and honestly I suck at it, always have.

[Snappahead]

I work on contract for a company called IT'sIT - ghey name, but hey what can you do. They are often looking for bilingual English/Japanese computer people - check out their website at www.it-it.co.jp.

I doubt they would pay for you to fly out here from the US, but if you can get over here there are a few companies around that do similar stuff where you could try for work. It is a bit of a risk just turning up here with nothing lined up, but you would have a fairly good chance of finding some part time work to pay your bills until you find something a bit more stable.

As you most likely know, the economy isn't that good here and will probably get worse before it gets better. There is work around though if you know where to look and are prepared to do anything...