Zhanteimi

Honestly? I was about to graduate university with a useless liberal arts degree, and I was mildly wondering what I wanted to do with my life (I'm not the kind of guy who ever really worries about anything, just take what's put in front of me). I was also about to marry the girl of my dreams, and she, having grown up in Rome and Tokyo, suggested leaving the country and seeing what the rest of the world had to offer. "After all, teaching English in Japan is an easy start."

So off we went. We graduated on a Monday. That Friday we were married (this was all planned months in advance, not some kind of shotgun wedding). The next day we were on a plane to Japan. I started teaching my wife's parents private classes while they were on furlough for the summer, and that gave my wife and me three months to find steady jobs of our own. We found teaching jobs no problem.

Working in a cram school wasn't what I wanted to do, though, because it's second shift, and I was starting a family. So I went back to school and got my Master's so that I could teach at the university level. Got my first uni gig in 2001 and have been doing that ever since.

Also, while I was working the night cram school, a coworker who just happened to be Christian (a rare thing here) asked me if I wanted his wedding officiant job. I was perplexed, but he explained it to me and offered me his job because I was also a man of faith and he didn't want to give the job to someone who wasn't a believer. I took that job and worked it freelance for a while, but I wasn't getting as much work as I could.

So I joined a wedding company who specializes in that sort of thing. All of a sudden, my number of weddings (and thus my pay) increased, and just this year, it has doubled, so I'm very happy about my promotion.

In the end, I decided at about the seven-year mark to stay in Japan for as long as my kids are living with me because the health care is top-notch. All children's health care, no matter what, is free until the age of 16. The other draw was the fact that Japan doesn't give a shit about me or my kids. I can educate them however I like, I can believe whatever I want, and no one is going to interfere. That bubble was attractive to me, and my kids are turning out happy, healthy, and educated. My three oldest who have made / are making plans for their lives, have left / will be leaving Japan behind.

Japan uses me, I use it right back, and when I've had this negative-population-growth country foot the bill for the raising of my children, my wife and I will leave and go...wherever.

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Zhanteimi

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