Confusion about my future

Hello everyone,

It has been only days since my last update but I am kinda of confused and need to get some things off of my chest. Today is June 22nd, my 25th birthday and I am trying to figure out what I should do with my life. Currently, I am working as an English teacher at a juku located near my house. It is a job that pays the bills, however, it is not what I want to do with my life. Currently, I am registered with two companies that are offering career seminars this coming weekend. Although it would be a good opportunity for me to attend these job fairs and aim for a career, I am starting to think this is not what I want for my life.

As you might know the Japanese hiring process is long and tiring and I know first hand how tough it can be. To tell the truth I don`t want to deal with all of these stress again. I feel that part of me wants to get the cooperate job. Yet, I feel that this is not the path in life I want to follow. Although I have lived in Japan for a total of five years and I know Japanese culture like the back of my hand, I don`t want to assimilate myself into a cooperate culture that is very different from my own.

Many people in my position would just attend the job seminar because it is an opportunity that should not be missed but I don`t feel that way.....

New Job

Hello everyone,

Once again I am sorry for the late update but I have been really busy recently. First of all I finally got a job in Japan. I am currently working as a Juku / English language teacher. A majority of my students are kids between the ages of six and fifteen. Although the this job does not differ much from my previous part time job. I feel that the kids at this school seem to be more diligent. Moreover, I also get to work close to my house. My new job is located only 10 minutes from my apartment which means I do not have to deal with all of the crowded trains in Tokyo.

Besides getting a new job I have also been planning on a August trip. I am currently planning on traveling to China. ( hopefully Beijing) But, I am unsure if I will be able to save up enough money by then as well as get a reasonably priced ticket. It has always been a dream of mine to travel to China and experience the diverse culture that the country offers as well as all of the interesting foods.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention I also graduated from TUJ. The ceremony was held on June 05 and it was nice to get in touch with all of my friends from University and get to celebrate this occasion with them. Soon after graduating I applied for a working visa and I was granted a three year working visa in Japan under the status of ""International Affairs".

Besides this nothing new has been going on in my life but I will be sure to update my blog on a regular basis and try to upload some pictures from my graduation ceremony.

Talk to you all later

Long time no update

Hello everyone,

I am sorry for my late update... I have been somewhat depressed these last three weeks. I have had both good and bad things happen to me. Shall I start with the good news or the bad news first...

Well, being the glass half full type of guy I am; lets start with the bad news first to get all of the bad karma out of the way. Early last month I found out that I had failed my final interview with Rakuten. I was quite crushed that I did not pass the interview because I have put months of hard work into writing all of the essays and preparing for the interviews. However, my good friends somewhat cheered me up because they said that I deserve to get a better job than a salary man. Many of my friends have also stated that if I had entered Rakuten I might have become a some what of an @$$. None the less, I feel like a realty TV star. In sense I had made to the finals only to lose... I can finally relate to all of my favorite contestants on my favorite show The Apprentice.

However, the good news is that I have finally graduated from University. I know right... about time. Moreover, I have also been offered a job from a small Juku located fifteen minutes from my house. I have also decided to jog every evening from this last week... I have recently put on some weight ... most due to my hard work looking for a job and doing class work. Currently I have jogged a total of 20 miles in a total of five days. I think this a good record for someone like me who has not exercised in ages.

Thanks again for reading my blog

My interview with a company

Hello,

Today I had an interview with a company I have been trying to enter for the last six months. Due to the earthquake and many companies closing due to this it has been over a month since my first interview with this company. As many might not know that in Japan most companies do not only have one interview like companies in the USA. In Japan many companies have a long and complicated selection process when looking for potential candidates. Similar to America the first step one has to do is send a resume to the company. If the company accepts your resume they will ask you to take a entrance exam. The exam differs from company to company however, the most used exam is the SPI exam. Most of these tests have math, English, or Japanese language components. If you pass this test you will be able to take part in the first interview with is usually a group interview with three to five candidates in the same room. If you pass this interview you might be asked to attend another group interview followed by a group discussion. If you make it to the next step you will be able to have a one on one interview with a manager from HR. If you pass this interview you will attend a final interview with an company executive.

Here are the steps again
1. Entry sheet
2. Test
3. Group interview
4. Group interview 2 " depends on company"
5. One on one Interview
6. Final interview
7. You got the job

Anyhow, back to my story. Today I had an interview with a company, it was my second interview so I was guessing that it would most likely be a group interview with other foreign students. Like always I arrived about 30 minutes early to the interview office in order to get myself situated. However, unlike the previous time the place was crowded with applicatants waiting for an interview. Upon sitting down my name was called along with three other people and we were asked to follow a man to another section of the building. Once we arrived to that section he asked us to take as seat and wait to be called on for an interview. The other two applicants who were seated with me started to chat with each other and I found my self chatting with them as well. After talking to them about the selection process I found out that this interview was our final interview. I was quite shocked to hear this because unlike them I have only had one interview prior to this one, while on the other hand they have had in the range of four to six interviews.

After 10 minutes or so I was called back for an interview. Knowing that I was an American I was given a interviewer who spoke great English. Upon entering the room I was asked to give a 2 minute long introduction about myself.

After the first 15 minutes of the interview he asked if I could do an interview in Japanese. I said it was okay; although I preferred to have the interview in English my mother tongue. The questions were the same as the English interview except for the final question which was " what does life mean to you?"

I was totally at loss for words when he asked me this question... Not only was I supposed to answer in full but I was supposed to answer it in Japanese.

To make a short story short I think I bombed this last question and it might have sabotaged my chances of entering this company but I will keep you guys updated.

Cherry Blossoms on Sunday

Today I was invited by a friend mine to join his Hanami party. This was my first time to ever attend a Hamai party in Shinjuku Gyoen. I arrived a little early in order to get some shopping done before heading to the park to reserve a spot. When I arrived in Shinjuku I was surprised that there were so many people waiting to get into the park for Hanami. After a good 20 minutes of looking my friend and I finally found a place and secured our spot. While waiting for the rest of the party we snacked on potato chips and other unhealthy snacks.

After the other two members showed up; we enjoyed chatting about politics, life in Japan and many other interesting topics.

It was a great day and it was nice to meet new people.

More Walks and Sakura

Today, I decided to go for another long walk in order to lose weight. This time Jess decided to join me again on this long journey. On our way to the final destination we ran into some nice Cherry blossom trees and took some pics.

Enjoy !!

Cherry blossom and the weightloss plan

The weather has really warmed up here in the Japan capital of Tokyo, which means it is time for me to start my walks again. Years ago I used to weight a total of 350 pounds but after returning to Japan and eating a healthier diet as well as maintaining a healthy diet I have lost a total of 170 pounds. Yet, recently I have been busy with job hunting and school which means I do not have time to eat healthy nor exercise. Which in return has led to me gaining some weight...




So today with the start of spring I decided to go back on the Lawrence diet which helped me lose all of my extra weight a couple of years back. Yesterday after my class ended I decided to walk from the Azabu Juban area to Shinjuku. My friend Jessica from school and also a native of Durango decided to join me on this two hour walk to the center of the city.

Along the way we saw many cherry blossom trees and decided to take a couple of pics.

It was a nice day with good talks, good walks and best of all good sushi :)