The Third Year Begins

Not many people know that I nearly didn't make it to a third contract. At least twice last year I was on the verge of quitting, once in April, and again last November/December. In fact, at the end of the last day of work in 2009 I had a long chat with one of my bosses, and I told her everything.

Maybe I just needed to work out where I stood in the big picture of things, because since that day, everything has been great. I haven't been enjoying myself this much since I first arrived in Japan. No doubt there are other factors involved too, but I sure have learnt a lot in this last year.

Another interesting point I learned recently is that my current TV - which I received from the teacher before me, who went by the name of Jamie - was most likely obtained through some kind of dodgy yakuza deal. I met a couple of Jamie's friends in my first week in Japan. I immediately took a disliking to them, for no single reason I can pinpoint. They were covered in tattoos - indeed, one of them was even a tattooist - and had a somewhat suspicious air about them. Whether or not these guys were yakuza, I don't know, but for some reason I wouldn't be surprised if they were.

Really, I should thank Jamie, because he's the reason I'm here - well, that and a bunch of other strange instances. I got my job because Jamie got fired from his, which probably would've happened eventually anyway, but in this case the timing was perfect. One day the poor bastard slept through his alarm and was late to work - not for the first time. When you're a teacher, especially when there's no one to cover your classes, this is just about the worst thing you can do. So it was goodbye Jamie, hello job opening.

So there I was, some 20-year-old kid from Melbourne aspiring to live in Japan. Out of the 50 or so jobs I applied for, just 3 got back to me with interviews. This is the amazing part: all three of them offered me a position. And you know what? I actually said "no" to the first two, hoping desperately to snag a job at some company in the small city of Nagano. I had such a good feeling about it, ever since I first saw their ad on the internet. This was the job I wanted. This was my gateway to Japan.

I nearly threw it all away when I lied BLATANTLY in my interview with them.

I'm not talking about some silly 'slip of the tongue' - my lie was big, stupid, and kept me awake for hours that same night wishing I'd told the truth. Maybe it'll be okay, I thought, surely there's no way they can catch me on it. The next morning I open up my inbox and there's an email from EngForYou, requesting that they talk to the instructor from my teaching course. If they spoke to her, they'd find out very quickly that I'd lied to them epically, and there'd be no way I'd get the job. Well, we'd been warned not to use our instructors as references during the course, so I contacted Emmie, one of the instructors, with every expectation that she'd decline. So of course she replies with an email saying that she'll make an exception just for me, and that she'd love to speak to my prospective employers. Oh, great.

Well, that's it, I told myself. Time to start applying for other jobs. But for some mysterious reason that to this day I do not understand, communication between EngForYou and Emmie never happened. EngForYou sent numerous emails but they got lost somewhere in cyberspace and never reached her. Emmie tried to email them, and this is the weirdest part. For some unknown reason, I received her email instead. "Sure, she just sent it to you on accident," you say. But I'm reading that very email even as I type this. And there, marked clearly in the space for the recipient, is the address of EngForYou. My address doesn't crop up at any point.

How the hell did that email come to me?

At the time it didn't matter. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance I wouldn't get caught...

On the night of my 21st birthday, just after my parents, sisters and I arrived home from a Japanese restaraunt, the phone rang. It was EngForYou. Despite the communication miss with Emmie, I'd gotten the job. By some miracle, my lie hadn't been exposed.

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Next week my third contract at EngForYou begins. With the economy as it is, there will be some big changes to my workplace. With change the theme of 2010, I thought I'd reflect that in this blog. No doubt you've already noticed the change of layout. No longer do I feel the need to string photos and videos together with text and call it a blog. No, my goals this year are more focused. While I'll continue to update as always, keep an eye on the right sidebar as well - that's where I'll be updating photos and videos. This space here is for my thoughts, stories and experiences.

I hope you'll continue to enjoy what I share, and I thank you for your continued support.

Welcome to my lair!